we leave you with these images of madi gras, in full-swing, fat tuesday. ♪ welcome to the news hour, i'm in doha with the world's top news story. confrontation in crimea, unarmed ukrainian soldiers approach a seized air base. >> it is an unconstitutional coup and a military seizure of power. russia as president denies

sending troops into ukrainian territory. and syria speeds up its efforts to rid itself of chemical weapons. are english and scotts dancing to the same tune? plus crisis talks on pompeii as rains destroy walls that withstood a volcanic rep shun almost 2,000 years ago. ♪ and the diplomatic war of words instancefies around ukraine, inside there has been a confrontation between ukrainian soldiers and pro-russian soldiers. warning shots were fired at an air base in crimea. we have the report from the base. and i believe we can actually cross to hoda who is there right

now. hoda what more can you tell us about this tense standoff that happened at bell bank? >> well it's more that tensions are very high here and everybody is quite jittery. from what we understand is ukrainian soldiers walked out of the base just behind me, towarding the airstrip about 200 meters to my right, and that's where they were face-to-face with russian socialeds. the russian soldiers seemed to be jittery as well. so one of the russian soldiers fired the warning shots into the air. we asked the ukrainians what were you going to try to do? and they said they were trying to resume their job, which is basically maintenance of the machinery on the airfield.

at the moment, they are negotiations inside the base between the ukrainian commander and russian commander, and they should be telling us a bit late whatever is the outcome of that. >> -- the ukrainian soldiers standing down? >> reporter: well, i think that it's a matter of -- you know, when you speak to them -- and i was in [ inaudible ] earlier in the day speaking to some of the ukrainian service men there through the gate, and they were saying, listen, we pledge loyalty to ukraine. to -- that we [ inaudible ] loyalty to ukraine. our chain of command goes all the way back to kiev. and when you ask them, is there

some pressure on you especially by people in the area to switch sides and they say which government? and that's one of the issues here. the regional government is a government that nobody knows in the sense you have these armed men pick up the parliament, then some mp's were let inside, and then you have this new prime minister who is the m man -- leader of a party, who actually only got 4% in the new elections. so there are questions of who are these knew authorities in charge, and the ukrainians saying we are not going to surrender to this government because we simply don't know who they are. >> reporter: the ukrainians [ inaudible ] were met with russian gunfire. [ gunfire ] >> reporter: shots fired into the air warning the troops to stay back. hey, we're local too the men

shout and then . . . >> reporter: the ukrainians carry a soviet flag from the second world war, as if reminding the russians there was a time when these two sides were fighting together. >> reporter: but the standoff didn't last long. a russian commander has been called and was told to hold off. and there was even a lull when a football match was played under the watch of russian soldiers, but when self-defense units

arrive, the ukrainians fall in. so a pass of the military storm. in the crimeian port this soldier said none of his team would vow allegiance. >> translator: nobody at the base wants to switch sides to an illegal government. >> reporter: the russian mainland is just 4.5 kilometers another standoff of courts. some volunteers security staff guard the parliament.

now we do have similar standoffs without the warning shots around many bases in this area. wherever you go you have this pattern of russian soldiers stationed outside, and the ukrainians holding ground inside. now if russia's intention was to take over all of these bases at least as the regional go hopes until the referendum, it seems that that is not going to be -- happen easily, it seems the ukrainians, even though they they don't want to fight, they will not leave those bases if they are forced to. >> thank you very much for getting us up to date. russian president vladimir putin says he hopes russia doesn't have to use force. but he has again denounced what he called an armed takeover.

>> translator: the definition of what has happened in kiev and ukraine has a whole, there can only be one definition, an unconstitutional coup and military seizure of power. nobody is arguing with that? who is arguing with that? legally there is only one legitimate president. it's clear he doesn't have any power. that's understandable. i have already said this and i want to repeat, that the legitimate president in purely legal terms is of course yanukovych. >> rory challenge joins us live now from moscow. we heard from putin who says he hopes he doesn't have to use force to protect the russians in ukraine. what is the message between those words? >> this was a fascinating press conference as much for the style of it as for the content. now the style was essentially

designed, i think to try to puncture the image of vladimir putin as an autocrat. so we had the commandinger in chief of russian's armed forces sitting on a chair relaxed in front of a group of 20 or so journalists, and he didn't start with a fiery bit of oratory he started by asking the journalists what they wanted to ask him? so they asked about yanukovych. he said he was the only legitimate president. and they asked him about if russia would be involved in fighting a war in ukraine. and he said he didn't think that would happen, but russia

reserved the right to use force if it deemed it necessary. and they asked about the issue of crimea itself, and vladimir putin said there were no plans to annex crimea. it was up to the crimeians themselves to determine their future. >> all right. thank you very much. the u.s. secretary of state john kerry has arrived in the ukraine capitol. he laid a flower loo-- floral wreath. we will be live from washington, d.c. in just a moment. but first tim, kerry has arrived in kiev and paid tribute to

those who died in kiev. no doubt this is to show washington's support of a new government in kiev? all right. we seem to be having some technical problems right there now. we will try to get back to tim in moscow, and try to get the latest from john kerry's visit to kiev. let's go to washington, d.c. kerry comes bearing a gift of a $1 billion loan. any strings attached ? >> there are also strings attached. but this is a billion dollars loan guarantee contingent on congressional approval. there is a certain amount of support for such a measure in congress. but the president needs to pass that through congress. it is meant to cushion the fuel subsidies in ukraine. as far as their strings are

attached to any money given to ukraine. they will ask for the end of the social safety net for those who are the poorest. and u.s. officials also quite sanguine that this could end up in russia. >> how much support does the president have in congress with kerry's visit to kiev? >> well, it depends on who you ask. the colder war warriors of the republican party who always feel that president obama has consistently lacked certain sense of power, projection of power on the international stage. john mccain and others have come

out very strongly calling for punitive action against moscow. even they say military action would be absurd and ridiculous. but president obama does have to consider the u.s.'s entire gee you strategic interest. so the request is whether a showdown suits the entire global interests of the united states. there are rumors we might see some sort of sanctions later in the weak, but given that the european union is reluctant to impose sanctions, there are those in the u.s. who say why should we go -- is it only to chest beat is that really going to serve our long-term interests. >> thank you very much for that. and i believe we do have tim

friend now who does join us from kiev. tim, if -- are you there? you are definitely there. >> i am. >> tim, we're talking about john kerry who has just arrived in kiev now and he has paid tribute to those who died in the recent protest movement. what does he hope to achieve in this visit to kiev? >> well, he is coming with these promises of money. a billion dollars in loan guarantees with congressional approval, of course. that still needs to be achieved. he is also saying that the u.s. will make its usual biggest contribution to the international monetary fund. but as he was saying, it all comes with strings. and i think what the ukrainian people are about to face is severe austerity. because none of this money will be forthcoming without some action on the part of the ukrainians, and one of the points is, is the way in which

energy is being massively subsidized here, and that really has to end to make the economy work properly and equally interesting, president putin in moscow giving that press conference. one of the things that will be on his mind is pumping money into crimea. because in essence i suspect this eventually will come a t bah l not with guns, but a battle with hearts and minds, and of course the quickest way to get to hearts and minds is with hard cash. and putin would love to hold crimea up and say look what is a success this is, and what a disaster the rest of ukraine is. >> tim thank you for that. the rest of the days news is coming up including the renewed fighting near syria's capitol, which has again stopped aid from

reaching hungry refugees, and we report from a town at the center of anti-government protests in venezuela. and it's 100 days until the world cup. we'll take a look at how brazil will be using drones as part of their security operations. ♪ syria has agreed to a new plan to remove all of its chemical weapons by the end of april. now the international mission tasked with redestroying the weapons says the pace of removing the chemical weapons from syria is picking up. it also says nearly a third of the stockpile has now been shipped out. here is what has lead to syria being forced to give up his stockpile. government forces were accused of using chemical weapons on an attack last august, more than a thousand people were killed. response, the u.s. threatened a

military strike on syria, but russia helped bring about a deal with president bashar al-assad promising to destroy the chemical arms. a time line was drown up. syria was supposed to have given up its entire arsenal by february 5th, but the deadline was missed. >> as you know the syrian authorities have submitted the revised plan with a timetable of around 60 days in order to accelerate and intensify their efforts to ensure timely removal for onward destruction. and we anticipate a lot of action in the month of march. so far i was able to report to the executive council that as of today nearly one third of syria's chemical weapons material has been removed or destroyed inside of country, so it's a benchmark of progress. renewed fighting south of

syria's capitol has stopped aid to the refugees. thousands of people are trapped inside. but rival fighters are showing few signs of putting down their weapons. [ gunfire ] >> reporter: this is what shattered the fragile truce. it is home to mainly palestinian refugees. rebel fighters came back accusing syrian soldiers of sticking to the previous trust. that means people won't be getting anymore food or outside help. and for some that could mean the difference between life and death. >> translator: i am sick, can't you see? i am starving. >> translator: my son is very sick. there are no doctors to see him. i ask for medicine and they hold

me just feed him rice and bulger, but i have nothing to buy it with. >> reporter: fighters on both sides are accusing each other of breaking the truce. rebels pulled out agreeing to let palestinian gunmen keep the peace here. but the rebels say supporters of bashar al-assad were smuggling in weapons. syrian forces deny that. activists say around 100 people are believed to have died of starvation since the blockade began almost a year ago. these queues just some of the thousands trapped here. this young boy said his brothers were starving and his father was dead. the failure now to hold the trust doesn't bode well for the

un's releases across the country. a security council resolution opened the door to get aid into syria, but the head of the un says violence and syrian government bureaucracy is impeding progress. and as always it is the people who suffer. scotland's first minister will be making his case for independence from great britain and london. let's more on that from felicity. the 750,000 scotts living in england will not have a vote. as reported centuries of cultural interaction have left many scottish with a complicated attitude. >> reporter: it's fast, fun, and above all it's scottish.

♪ >> reporter: but this is london to be precise, the headquarters of the english folk dancing and song society. ♪ >> reporter: here many of the dancers see scottish culture as a crucial part of a wider british identity. >> it has its distinctive qualities. >> yeah. >> essentially you want to be proud of everyone in the united kingdom. >> yeah. >> so, you know, that's why we are involved in this sort of thing. >> there is a union between england and scotland. i'm scottish myself, but we have the queen, and the proms and all of that sort of thing. >> reporter: and what they have at this restaurant is ott -- authentic scottish food.

>> the use of the euro and the british government ruled out keeping pound, the majority of our customers feel that a yes vote on the 18th of september would be a mistake. >> reporter: that's born out by an opinion poll suggesting that 64% of people in england and whales want scotland to remain in the united kingdom. on tuesday scotland's first minister will be in london pressing the case for independence, but here they are not too worried about scotland's political future. >> i enjoy the music and dancing, and that's not going to change. if it is a separate country, i shouldn't need a pass port to get into scotland, although you never know. >> reporter: and we don't know how scotts will vote come september, but having a good time and culture will always go hand in hand.

the first ever recipient of a permanent artificial heart has died in a french hospital 75 days after the transplant. before the operation, the 76 year had been given just days to live. it was hoped that the artificial heart would extent life for up to five years. 2,000 years off it was preserved the ancient roman city of pompeii is crumbling away. the italian government is meeting to discuss the problem, given added problems over the past few days due to heavy rain. >> reporter: in pompeii, history just repeated it's a when an arch of the temple of venus fell to the ground, it was only the

last of a series of collapse in the last few years, all blamed on mismanagement. but pompeii experts say the archaeological site is suffering from the same old problems. >> translator: what pompeii needs is every day maintenance. it's a problem that drags on for years. it needs bricklayers, restorers, all of the basic experts needed to stop the ruins crumbling. >> reporter: pompeii's preservation has been marked by problems since its discovery in the 19th century. after 2,000 years when it was buried under more than 10 feet of volcanic ash. when it rains for many days, the many acres of site yet to be excavated become water logged,

then the soil starts pushing against the ruins and this is the result. in 2013, the european union pledged around $150 million to pay for sweeping restoration works with state-of-the-art technology. one year on, only one of the 39 planned works have been completed. >> translator: the restoration work is in progress and the next few days we'll start to secure entire areas to make sure there won't be anymore collapses. >> reporter: with pompeii falling further into ruin, time is running out before this site really does become history. all right. you are up to date with the latest news here from europe. let's return now to doha. thank you. well there has been more fighting between anti-government protesters and police in the venezuelan capitol. riot police used tear gas to disperse protesters.

and at least one protester was dragged away by police. the jailed leader is urging his supporters to continue rallying. the protest started last month in the western city where students took to the streets against rising crime. demonstrators have been setting up barricades to show their outrage. adam reports from san cristobal. >> reporter: trying to save what they can. a burning car cleared from a ransacked bakery. we arrived as frightened people are still fleeing the scene. across the street witnesses say progovernment gunmen set it afire and then shot up the neighborhood. >> translator: for 15 years the socialist government has been arming poor people. >> reporter: just up the block, a different story in this brewing conflict. these people cheered the destruction of protesters

barricades. this man says food and medicine deliveries weren't getting through. >> translator: we are tired, so the whole community got together as a collective and decided to clear the barricades from the streets. we have got to clear the streets in the whole state. >> reporter: the national guard has been called out to keep control in many neighborhoods here, but many say they just show up when it's too late once the damage has been done. these neighborhoods have people living in close quarters who are totally for the government or totally against it. and what seems like small arguments elevate quickly into violence. progovernment residents say they want peace. something the protesters mock. >> translator: this isn't peace. this isn't peace, the man screams. then they show us what they mean. bullet casings from the attack just moments before we arrived. we couldn't verify when the shots were fired or accusations

that the national guard is protecting the gunmen. authorities wouldn't speak to us immediately following the clashes. this has been the center of anti-government protests that began last month. mainly middle classed protesters have set up the barricades to show their dissatisfaction. violence could spread quickly here. the question is whether the government forces have the ability or will to protect residence if this tinderbox catches fire. the latest winter storm in the u.s. is barely over, but another one is expected to hit the east coast. icy conditions have been felt away from the coast too with traffic on one texas highway forced a back up of nearly 25 kilometers. and a television news reporter was blasted with a wall of snow

from a plow. while in northern virginia, children took to their sleds to take advantage of the weather. as illegal israeli home construction grows in the occupied west bank, the prime minister, netenyahu, is in the u.s. taking up his peace effort. also ahead, the evidence stacks up in favor of a vaccine that can help prevent cancer. and children in kenya are under pressure to take up running for a better future. we'll have that story a little later this hour. ♪

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al jazeera america. we understand that every news story begins and ends with people. >> the efforts are focused on rescuing stranded residents. >> we pursue that story beyond the headline, pass the spokesperson, to the streets. >> thousands of riot police deployed across the capital.

>> we put all of our global resources behind every story. >> it is a scene of utter devastation. >> and follow it no matter where it leads - all the way to you. al jazeera america, take a new look at news. ♪ i'm in the al jazeera headquarters in doha. let's get a run through of our top stories. pro-russian forces have been involved in a standoff with ukrainian soldiers in crimea. warning shots were fired as ukrainians approached.

vladimir putin says ousted president viktor yanukovych was pushed from power in an unconstitutional coup. and the russian leader has warned that any sanctions the west places on his country will backfire. both the european union and the u.s. are considering financial punishment. kim explains their shared business interests and the impact sanctions could have. >> reporter: as russia winds up its next move so too does the west. the u.s. has already suspended military operations and says it could take aim at russia's financial institutions. >> we have urged russia to meet its international commitment and choose a path out of

confrontation. >> reporter: trade between russia and the u.s. is worth around $42 billion a year, and u.s. exports to russia are worth around $1 billion annually. but compared to the u.s., trade between the eu and russia is far more significant. it is worth around $460 billion a year. a lot of that comes from russias gas. but conversely the european union is russia's biggest investor. so while russia may have its hand on the gas tap, it may prove too costly to turn off. >> the latest data we have seen so far has shown that the russian economy is actually slipping into recession, so they need the gas and oil revenues to keep their economy going.

>> reporter: the uk's willingness to impose sanctions has been further questioned after a document was discovered saying that it should look to joining other eu members in imposing travel bans and other restrictions. the un insists all options for its response to russia remain on the table. but those could be driven by purse strings rather than politicians with the markets ultimately in control. the construction of illegal israeli settlement homes doubled last year. now that's according to israel's central bureau of statistics. work began on more than 2,500 homes in 2013. palestinians say the

construction is jeopardizing any peace deal. president obama says . . . and obama has warned benjamin netenyahu that time is running out to salvage the faltering peace process. the two leaders met at the white house, and netenyahu is now addressing a powerful pro-israeli lobby in the capitol. he has spoken about the danger posed to israel by iran's nuclear program. >> letting iran enrich uranium would open up a pandora's box of nuclear proliferation in the middle east and around the

world. that must not happen. >> tom akerman joins us live from washington, d.c. tom just give us an idea of what netenyahu actually hopes to achieve by addressing aipac. >> aipac is what americans like to call the amen corner, the lobby where israeli prime minister no matter what his political persuasion is always expected to get a very warm welcome. in this case netenyahu not for the first time has been getting standing ovations for repeating the points, the talking points that he has been making over the past few months if not years, and they can rely -- or he can rely on the support of aipac, this group to go out to capitol hill and lobby their congressmen on the israeli points,

particularly the israeli insistence that iran cannot be trusted; that there have to be verifiable guarantees that it will dismantle not just freeze its nuclear program and particularly what the israelis regard and what he just a few minutes ago reiterated to the israeli's position that iran has no peaceful intentions with his program given its heavy water reactor program and its intercan't tental ballistic program. the bulk of their efforts here is to encourage them to apply further pressure on the u.s. congress if need be to -- to legislate propecktive further sanctions even before the current negotiations with iran either fails or the -- the iranians walk away from the table or to -- to the western power's mind has failed to comply with the agreement so

that these sanctions be implemented immediately and not wait for a log time. that's the message that netenyahu gave them today. the message that the chairman of the senate foreign relations committee who proceeded him says he will pursue. but the obama administration is at loggerheads with the netenyahu government because their insistence is if there is that kind of aggressive pursue answer of further sanctions right now that the iranians could walk away, and that could sabotage -- torpedo a very delicate process that is ongoing right now. >> tom, thank you. now an egyptian court has banned the activities of hamas, the palestinian group that rules the gaza strip, and ordered the group's assets to be seized. it is accused of plotting with

the government to carry out the violence. this needs to be endorsed by egypt's go before it comes into effect. egyptian army chief says he cannot ignore calls from citizens for him to run as president. sisi says official procedures for his bid on the presidency will begin soon. he is currently the defense minister, and will have to resign from that post before he can officially announce his candidacy. and al jazeera continues to demand the immediate release of their staff being held in egypt. they have now spent 66 days in prison. they are accused of having links with a terrorist organize. al jazeera rejects the charges. another journalist has been held since august. he has been on hunger strike for

more than a month now to protest against his imprisonment. turkey ranks number one in the world for jailing journalists, that's according to the committee that protects journalists, which say that prison terms can be long and court procedures slow. anita has more. >> reporter: in 2012, this reporter alerted the world to the large number of journalists behind bars in turkey, when he fonted that he himself was facing an 11-year sentence, he sought asylum in germany. >> translator: the public has the right to access news. to prevent this, the state uses violence, oppression and anti-democratic laws. >> reporter: there are around 63 journalists in turkish jails. the committee cite lower

somebodies, but turkey still tops their list. the largest number of journalists are those covering kurdish rights. >> translator: it's not only the kurds we see [ inaudible ] rising, and they are getting arrested too. >> reporter: the 2013 protests exposed new fault lines in turkish society. many main stream media outlets did not report the clashes when it first happened, and journalists later lost their jobs. many describe a climate of political and commercial pressure on media in turkey. they explained the big media ownerers have more important business interests than just the publications, and don't want to lose their privileges.

when corruption investigations were launched in mid-december the government pointed to a new hidden enemy. the internet filled with rumors and allegations, and the government passed new laws to control them. >> there is a war going on. this panel state which is in the hands of [ inaudible ] are illegal, but they are also very difficult to fight, so -- so the government needs extreme measures. >> reporter: turkey is locked in a vicious circle of conspiracy theories, paranoia, a free media could break the cycle, but it's more under pressure than ever. a study of more than 100,000 women in australia has found that a vaccine against the hpv virus which can cause cervical

cancer is effective. the virus is one of the most common sexually transmitted diseases. about half of the world east sexually active population contracts it at some point in their lives. in some cases it can cause cancer. the australian study looks at a hundred thousand women living in queensland where the program has been running since 2007. it found that those women who received three doses of hpv vaccine were 4% less likely to develop abnormalities. jessica is a cancer research at uk's can -- senior health information manager, and she joins us now live from london. jessica thank you very much for making it on the show. let's talk about australia's vaccination program. it has been running since 2007,

but in terms of medical research, this study really does seem to be in its infancy, doesn't it. i mean it's still too early to tell if the vacation is effective. >> this study demonstrates in real life happening what we know would happen from all of the various trials of this vaccine which have been done. and there have been several trials of the vaccination, and all have shown a very significant benefit against all types of cervical abnormalities. the really new and exciting thing with this new study is just showing that what we expected to happen from the trials really does come through in practice in a national vaccination program, just really doubleproofing that the results that had already been seen from the trial, so very encouraging news today. >> it certainly seems so. and the vaccination has been available since 2006, but

there's still a very low uptake in comparison to other vaccines, like flu vaccines. why do you think parents are reluctant to have their children vaccinated from hpv, something that could save them from cancer? >> well, within the study, the reason why the vaccination rates appear to be so low was just because of the timing when the data was collected for the study, and the actual uptake rates in australia at the moment are significantly higher than what was found in the study. just taking the uk for example, the average uptake rates are roughly around 90% or so, and that has been -- although we do have very high uptake in the uk, high uptakes exceeding 70 to 80% have been found in many countries that have the vaccination available. as you mentioned, it is a highly effective vaccine, and it can reduce the risk of getting

cervical cancer, so really the benefits are very profound. >> right, but jessica, the debate over the effectiveness of vaccinations, any vaccine really is always a motive. how do you convince parents that these vaccines can save the lives of their children when there are several vaccines that have resulted in death or lifelong problems. >> there have been cases when people have thought that serious adverse consequences have been caused by the vaccination. on investigation most of those cases, particularly the uk-based ones, with which i'm most familiar have been found not to be linked to the vaccine. this is at least as safe as many ore vaccines which are available. it is a very safe vaccine with no real serious complications

associated with it. and it reduces the risk of getting a disease such as warts, as well as cancer. so the benefits outweigh the harm. >> thank you, jessica. coming up in sport, the chicago bulls winning streak comes to an end in brooklyn. suna will have all of the details. ♪

time for sport now, and here

is suna. >> thank you very much. it's 100 days before the start of the world cup. brazil is spending a lot of money on improving security ahead of the event. not all say it is necessary. gabrielle reports from santa maria. >> reporter: it buzzes over head, taking off for another training flight. this is one of the new $12 million israeli-built drones purchased by the brazilian air force. it is ready to patrol the skies during the world cup. >> translator: images will be sent in real time to other security agencies, where quick decisions can be made. >> reporter: the drones kept a close eye on the brazilian national team bus during last june confederation's cup, and during the match outside the stadium, the back images of street protests, looking for any

trouble that could arise. the brazilian air force makes it very clear these drones won't be used with weapons. they will only be used for surveillance and reconnaissance. but it's on the ground where the biggest threats to football could occur. it was a violent street protest that nearly toppled the football tournament last year. on this day, rio's riot police are doing a simulation on how to best prepare with updated training and fancy equipment. supplemented by more boots on the ground. brazil is a country with plenty of security risks with violent crime, and there is also the potential for terrorism and cyber attacks. brazil is spending more than $1 billion on world cup security, raphael says it is too

much money with too little accountability. >> translator: all discussions around the world cup security spending have lacked transparency. society needs to know what are the threats that exist for the world cup that justifies this type of spending that the government has done. do those threats really exist? >> reporter: brazilian officials respond they can't wait to find out the risks after the fact, while the drones are just one of the new security tools at their disposal, it's now landing to refuel, but promising to take to the skies once more when the football matches begin. barcelona captain has announced he will leave the spanish giants at the end of the season. the 35-year-old's decision comes days after [ inaudible ] but has only played 12 times this season

due to knee injuries. he has spent all 14 years of his career having made his debut in 1999. they won the champions league six times and six spanish la liga titles. david warner scored 145 runs for australia as they declared again on day 4 in cape town. this time on 303 for 5. south africa have just lost their 4th wicket. they need 443 runs with 6 wickets left. and there's a tense finish in the asia cup finish between bangladesh and pakistan.

326 for 3. and in rely there were a ton for pakistan. and [ inaudible ] equalled [ inaudible ] history with just 81. lebron james called the career high as the heat beat the bobcats. the heat have won all of their last eight games. >> it means everything in the sense that first of all i was able to do it in a win, second of all, you know, i probably had -- i would say three or four just heat-check shots where out of rhythm and just taking them. and third for me to be able to do it with a group of guys that i just could do anything for. it means so much. these guys are true brothers of mine. and the nets beat the bulls

96-80. williams top score we are 20 points for the nets. jason collins made his home debut for the nets. kenya's globally recognized for its world class athletes, but as katherine sawyer reports, children are now under pressure to become runners because of the financial rewards. >> reporter: children at this school in western kenya start their routine evening training session. they are the schools best runners. this region is famous for producing top world athletes. and so the children from the school most from poor backgrounds hope to soon join that list of the running elite. this boy is 14 years old, and the best female runner so far. >> translator: i started running when i was in class 4. i worked very hard. i wanted to be like my favorite

[ inaudible ], and assist my familiar and village. >> reporter: but gone are the days when running was just for fun. it is still a passion of many children, but now it's loaded with pressure to perform and bringing the big money. winning international races is lucrative. those who have made it, and millions of dollars in prize money and sponsorship. this region has produced many running champions and because of that there is a lot of pressure on children to follow that route and to win medals. >> they assume by beibeing excelling in athletics they will become breadwinners in their family. >> reporter: like in many other sport many don't make it beyond the tracks back home, but those who do graduate to a training camp. the high altitude attracts

thousands of and looets from around the world. this man has helped children for over 30 years now. he runs a school that has been credited for the success of sennian runners. >> we try to get our young athletes to realize that it's not just all about money; it's not just all about the business of it. it's also about life, your lifestyle, and your values in life. >> reporter: back at home, amy found out she got accepted into the training program at the prestigious high school. running to her is a ticket out of poverty. that's it for me, i'll hand it back to you. >> thank you very much. stay with us here on al jazeera. we have another full bulletin of news for you, right at the top of the hour.

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welcome back al jazeera america. i'm del walters. these are the stories we are following for you. america's top diplomat heading to ukraine. secretary of state john kerry meeting with the key players in kiev. >> translator: this was an unconstitutional coup. >> reporter: and vladimir putin speaking out about the represents. president obama outlining his budget wish list and