of al jazeera america. i am del walters. thanks for spending time with us. >> announcer: this is al jazeera. ♪ hello and welcome to the news hour, i'm in doha with your top stories. [ applause ] >> russia welcomes the crimean vote to join its federation and rejects sanctions by the west. i here with the other news from europe. foreign dignitaries are staying away from sochi. and a war lord becomes only the second person to be convicted by

the international criminal court. plus -- ♪ >> the beat goes on in a state of war. al jazeera travels to the border of the democratic republic of congo and the central african republic. ♪ hello, the russian government says it will not go to war over crimea, but it also refuses to accept the threat of more sanctions from europe and the united states. and the russia parliament says that it is up to the crimean people to do if they want to break away from ukraine. peter sharp reports from moscow. [ applause ] >> reporter: a standing ovation for the crimean deputies arriving at the russian parliament. their overwhelming vote on thursday was applauded here,

seen almost as a declaration of independence, nesz age from their murussian brothers, welco home and a promise. >> translator: everything is clear from this side of moscow, no hesitations. i assure you our total support. everyone is just excited about this, because this is a festive occasion. >> reporter: festivities extending to red square and no doubt here that the crimea will be welcomed into the federation, when the bill speeding up integration goes ahead next week. and if the russian majority fail, crimea could become the first territory to join the russian federation since the break of up the soviet union. but concern among observers that

president putin appears to be leading crimea. >> there is no doubt that president putin's regards ukraine's westward drift as a glaft to the long-term security of russia. but the kremlin watchers near moscow believe that the successful popular uprising against an authoritarian government here, sets a dangerous precedent. >> let's bring in peter sharp now, joining us to tell us about the reaction from the kremlin on the threat of sanctions. >> well, it's a pretty rapid

reaction and the kremlin were pretty clear, they said the eu sanctions, and these aren't major ones, were both unconstructive -- extremely unconstructive they said, and they are very unhappy by the order issued by president obama, the slapped travel bans and frozen the u.s. assets of any russian or ukrainian involved in russia's military intervention in the ukraine. so russia getting in early with its reaction to these sanctions which can only be increased if the russian troops don't move out. the eu are preparing major economic sanctions which could be announced next week possibly.

>> and any more details on that length phone conversation between obama and putin? >> yeah, i think both sides still as far away as ever, but they are still talking, and that's a plus. and the russian president said as they foreign minister has been in touch with john kerry. he is flying to sochi tonight where he'll see president putin and brief him on the latest suggestions put to him by john kerry after his talks earlier this week. >> all right. peter thank you very much. peter sharp giving us the latest from moscow. the ukrainian prime minister says he is still being to speak to russia, but insisted that moscow must withdraw its troops first.

>> translator: the decision of the council of the european union clearly states that the so-called bodies of the bodies of crimea took an illegal and unconstitutional decision on holding the referendum, that's where i want to warn immediately separatists, any of your decisions that will be taken illegal and unconstitutional and no one in the civilized world will recognize the decision of this so-called referendum. it doesn't seem like there's any letup in the verbal hostilities between ukraine and russia. >> absolutely not, the border guards are now saying that they believe there are 30,000 russian troops in crimea. that's a huge advance on the

number that was given just a few days ago, 16,000, they believe that russia is reinforcing its presence in crimea, and if they send troops over the border, that will be considered an invasion and the para-olympic team will pull out of sochi. and the natural gas supplier is saying if ukraine doesn't make good on its debts, then it could cut off supplies to ukraine not worrying just for ukraine, but for the rest of europe, because back in 2009, russia turned off the taps that had an impact on europe. >> what has been the reaction from western countries? >> well, we heard from peter

sharpe just a few moments ago how limited the reaction has been from the european union. america has been a bit quicker to about. they put travel restrictions on some individuals, but it's all very small scale. their approach seems to be pushing ukraine and russia to hold direct talks, but the interim prime minister says he is willing to talk with his russian counterpart. all of those conditions you put in a moment ago suggests it could be a long time coming. >> all right. thank you. a malaysian court has sentenced an opposition leader for five years in prison for sodomy. it overturned an earlier a -- acquittal. his supporters say his conviction is political motivated, designed to end his career as a politician. he once belonged to the ruling

coalition which has been in power since itself independence, he was first charged with sodomy in 2000 and sentenced to 9 years in jail, in 2004 the conviction was overturned. following the release he came a leader of opposition parties in malaysia and lead them to their strongest-ever performance in elections in may 2013 >> his supporters have expressed shock and dismay at the decision that said all along the government's decision to appeal the decision was politically motivated. human rights watch had described it as an attempt to remove the opposition leader from malaysia's political scene. and the decision comes days before he was due to take part in a local bi-election, if he wins that it would have

potentially allowed him to lead malaysia's most populous and rich estate, but now he is disqualified from running. it could also effectively mean the end of his political career. he is already 66 years, if he ends up serving his full sentence, he will be 71 years old by the time he is released. but what does this mean for malaysia's opposition parties? he is seen as the strong man who has been able to hold this coalition together. you have an islamic party and on the other side you have a party that is seen as some as prochinese. and it's only his leadership ability, charisma that he has managed to hold the coalition together. and it was under his leadership that the opposition made their

strongest show last year. a kong go least opposition leader has been convicted in the international court. >> that's right. he was found guilty of being an accessory to murder and pillage. 200 civilians were killed, but he was cleared of a number of other charges, including rape and sexual slavery and the use of child soldiers. his co-accused was acquitted more than a year ago. >> reporter: he seemed relaxed as he awaited judgment. >> translator: for all of the reasons put forward today the chamber declares you guilty as an accessory to the crimes committed on february 24th,

2003. >> reporter: he is convicted of one crime and four other crimes. fighting broke out in 1999, rapidly escalating into an interethnic war. an estimated 50,000 people were killed. his crimes relate to an attack 11 years ago on a village in which 200 people were murdered, many of them hacked to death. >> for the victims it brings some hope that what has happened to them has been recognized as an international crime, and that there is a message through the icc, by the international community that this should never happen again. >> reporter: the verdict is an important step for the icc, the court has been accused at being slow and ineffectual.

in its 13-year history, this is only its third verdict. he was found not guilty of a series of other charges including rape and sexual slavery, practices victims of the conflict say have been widely used as a weapon of war. he now awaits sentencing. al jazeera, the hague. well, the trial has been viewed as a test of the ability of prosecutors of international criminal court. it's only the third verdict the court has handed down, since it was set up in 2002. in 2012, a rebel heard was sentenced to 14 years for recruiting child soldiers. later that year, the co-accused was acquitted. at least five cases of collapse for a lack of evidence, others currently on trial or due to stand trial are . . .

so joining us via skype to discuss the verdict is a heard from human rights watch. can you give us a sense of the significance of the icc's conviction, particularly given that he was cleared of allegations of rape and sexual slavery? >> yes, i think the judgment today is a mixed judgment. as was made clear in your report, he was convicted for some of the crimes not for others. he was not convicted as a perpetrator of the crimes, but as an accomplice to the crimes, there have been changes in the accusations. no matter all of that, i it this remains significant for the victims of the massacre that some measure of justice, and some measure of truth has been found today through this

decision at the icc. >> so some measure of truth has been found, but we know there has been criticism against the international krim call court for being slow and ineffective. we were just listening to some of the others currently due to stand on trial, in what way could the icc perhaps act on some of that criticism? >> yes, i think the criticism is only partially justified, as you explained the icc is currently investigating in eight different countries where the situation on the ground is extremely complicated. so it is not surprising that it does take time for the icc to complete the investigations. it's not surprising to me that it has taken until now to have

three judgments of the icc, and there are a number of other cases going on as you explained. and of course we want the court to be a model of justice, and there are things that can be done to improve the pace of proceedings and improve the quality of the investigations. the judges are looking at some ways to expedite proceedings, and we're looking at the office of the prosecutors to increase the quality of their investigations moving forward. >> and you are saying that not all of this criticism is justified, and yet this is just the second person to be convicted by the court since it was set up in 2002. you are saying that they could perhaps take extra steps. can you take us through what can be done on a practical level? >> yes, i think, you know, the judges are looking at very technical aspects of things that are taking too long in the

proceedings, i'm thinking of translation or other aspects that have taken too long, so those are technical things, but overall i think it's important to remember that justice takes a long time. national court it is often not much better and trials do take time, so there are things that can be done, but the icc will never be a court with accused can be tried in a matter of a few weeks. >> it is good to get your thoughts. thank you. so i'll be back later this news hour with more from europe, including why hundreds of lawyers have gone on strike here in the uk. >> much more to come as well from doha, including how extreme weather in the united states has given adventurers to sample rarely seen ice caves. ♪

but first, syrian forces are continuing their assault on a rebel strong hold near the border with lebanon. it lays north of the capitol of damascus and it is an extremely important strategic ground. fighting continues in the area, forces loyal to president bashar al-assad are also said to be carrying out an aerial bombardment of the area. the turkish prime minister has threatened to ban facebook and youtube. he says the websites cannot be blocked. this follows a series of anonymously recorded interact n interactions. hedynys the allegations. egypt says it is recalling

its am bahs -- ambassador from qatar. relations have soured since egypt care rid out a crackdown on members of the muslim brotherhood. several leaders have fled to qatar, but are wanted for trial in egypt. the trial of the three detained al jazeera journalists have now spent 69 days in prison. they are accused of having links with a terrorist organization, and spreading false news. al jazeera jekts the acquisitions. the central african republic --

>> the situation in central african republic remains extremely grave, and urgent action by all is required to prevent further bloodshed. the violence has lead to the total breakdown of the state locally and nationally. state institutions which were weak have now totally collapsed across the country. >> i do not remember any field visit in my eight-year tenure as commissioner that caused me such anguish as my recent trip to the central african republic. was deeply shocked by the brutality and inhumanity that has characterized the violence happening in the country, and its consequences on the suffering of the people. >> as the violence continues to escalate so too does the number of people fleeing.

over 700,000 people have been displaced because of the fighting. a further 290,000 people have sought refuge in neighboring countries, and nearly half of that number have thread the violence in the last three months alone. and around 62,000 refugees are currently receiving food aid in the democratic republic of congo. malcolm reports from the democratic republic of congo here the border of central african republic. >> reporter: almost everyone on this boat have had relatives killed or gone missing. they have been hiding in a church for weeks, fearing for their looifrs. now they made it to safety. >> translator: it was a lot of gunfire that's why we fled. i don't know where my children are, or my parents. >> reporter: the un says nearly a million people have fled the

violence. on this side of the river is the central african republic. and on the other side is the democratic republic of congo. since december thousands of people have fled to this side to get away from the violence. the refugee settlements are in such remote locations that they can only be accessed using boats like this. this factory is a landing site on the congo side. the villages on the other bank were deserted weeks ago. but a citydy trickle keep landing here. this man arrived here with his fact bull of gunshot. he says his girlfriend had an affair with a militia member, and then a group of them came for him. >> translator: i managed to get up and run away, as i was

running they shot me in the back with a shotgun. >> reporter: he was lucky to get away. this man left when his brother was killed. he said he was targeted simply for not having a traditional hair style. >> translator: he want into some anti-militia, they saw him, and they said because of his haircut he was a muslim, and so they killed him. >> reporter: these people showed us a dance routine here at the landing site. ♪ >> reporter: they used to perform to hundreds of people back home, but they say the music scene stopped with the violence. it will probably be a long time before they can perform again. along with thousands of central africans, they are about to begin new lives in exile, and it won't be easy. but this it seems is their way to forget for a moment, the pain of what they left behind.

malcolm webb, al jazeera, in the democratic republic of congo. let's bring in the head of the central african republic mission, and is joining us from the capitol of bangui, our reporter was reporting from the drc. what does this tell us about how bad the situation is in central african republic? >> the situation is horrible. first of all for the last year actually there has been tremendous amount of violence towards the population, and over the last few months this violence has increased tremendously with now populations not only fleeing from their villages and living out in the bush, and having a hope of returning back to their villages now we have total

populations, 20, 250,000 people have now fled the country because they fear for their own lives. it's quite horrible. >> you have just returned, i understand from an area called cabo, what is the situation there in terms of humanitarian needs? >> well, it's quite difficult, this violence has been effecting the population for quite a long time as well as humanitarian agencies we have also been targeted with attacks or robberies on our compounds. on saturday a group of men came in, took some of the money, and then an hour later, a second group of men came in and wanted to do the same thing. we didn't have anything to give them, so it was quite, quite difficult for our team. our team was then forced to evacuate, which means that all of these people don't have basic

access to health care. to see them having to evacuate for these reasons while they need us at their most difficult times, it's quite -- quite hard for the population. >> so then what does this mean in terms of your work over there? you say you have had to evacuate. are there any plans to go back? if so when? and you keep talking about the increase in violence, despite the presence of french and eu pae peace keepers. what needs to be happen? >> protection needs to happen. it's as simple as that. the troops are trying to do their best, but it's not enough right now. it is not enough for the

protection of the population but as well the assistance of the population where there is a great number of needs. they have to scale up their work and we will continue to do that. we will return hopefully in a few days because we believe we need to be with the population when they have these great needs. >> thank you very much. still to come on the al jazeera news hour, how the war of words between kiev and moscow is effecting assembly lines in eastern ukraine. coming up i'll tell you why record-cold temperatures have transformed this small town into a booming winter destination. attracting thousands of visitors from around the world. and in sport bad news for arsenal. details with jo a little later. ♪

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hello again, the top stories on the al jazeera news hour. russia says it will retaliate if the european union and washington impose further sanctions. and malaysian court has sentenced an opposition heard to five years in jail for sodomy. he plans to people. congolese war lord has been found guilty of the war crimes charged by the international criminal court. more now on our top story in the growing tensions between russia and ukraine. russian forces are still present in ukraine's crimea region, but it's unclear which area they control. >> reporter: russian soldier

come and go around crimea leafing everyone to know their next move. >> translator: they left at midnight. we don't know why or where they went. they are still in some bases, and in others they are being replaced by so-called self-defense units. >> reporter: on wednesday the soldiers were inside this base. armed men had stormed it in the dead of the night and sabotaged the missile defense system. there is so many questions about who these men are. this might give a clue. this is a food ration box. it says russian military. so one can confidently say that at least russia is putting its full weight behind these men. it is also backing the regional government. >> translator: this scenario was

not written in crimea. it was written in moscow. they are told what to do, but they don't know the plan. the mp's didn't know they would be voting for a cessation when they went to parliament. >> reporter: the government still has to gain legitimacy a under the watch of his closest ally. >> translator: they have the right to determine their destiny by any other people. we were invited here to maintain order. >> reporter: this major says he was ashamed when the soldiers entered his base, and now they are gone. and his unit are building new defenses.

wheth well the crisis in ukraine is hitting the eastern region. russian investors appear to be delaying investment. >> reporter: the ref lugs has brought bad news for this town. a russian customer has delayed signing a big contract for machine tools until it becomes clear which way ukraine is heading. under the new boss the factory is diversified into wind turbines, but still relies on russia for more than 60% of its business. >> europe market is completely different. our business not well prepared for europe market. our productions not competitive in europe market. >> reporter: in the regional capitol a new governor has just

been appointed. the economy is one of his most urgent priorities. >> translator: many people in the region are having big problems because of travel in the banking sector, many banks are on the brink of collapse. many cash machines are empty. >> reporter: like many towns in eastern ukraine, they still honor their soviet past. this whole region is heavily dependent on russia for trade and jobs, so maintaining good relations is crucial, regardless of people's political opinions or how they see their national identity. but some people from this region supported the revolution and paid the heaviest price. this man left his home for kiev to join the protests on

independence square. he was killed by sniper fire on february 20th. >> translator: now i'm not thinking about anything. i would like to see comfort. i would like to see peace. >> reporter: the national poet of ukraine looks down on the main square, at the foot of the statute flowers laid in honor. in this pro-russian stli are those who cherish the idea of ukrainian independence. let's bring in the director of the eurasia democracy initiative. he is joining us live from new york. peter, so i'm sure you have heard the talk of sanctions on behalf of some nato countries in the european union, but the united states itself has

announced visa bans on targeted russians and ukrainians and president obama also authorizing freezing assets, so why is the u.s. taking a harder position than the european countries? >> well, you have to understand that president obama has been facing calls from members of both parties, his -- the democrat party and republicans who have been criticizing obama for wishy washy stance with regard to syria before, and now with regard to ukraine. no doubt they are wishing to score political points against president obama, but he is under a lot of pressure to show a strong hand against russia, which is something that europeans are not facing. >> so what you are saying is obama is making such statements just because he is bowing down to domestic pollty pressure in

the united states? >> i lost sound -- >> what you are saying, then is obama is bowing down to domestic pressure? >> hello? all right. i'm afraid we have lost our guest from new york, but we'll try to bring him back a little later on in the program. amid the crisis over ukraine, the winter para-olympic games are kicks off in sochi. >> that's right. the opening ceremony is due to get underway in the next half hour. russia's president, vladimir putin has told the ukrainian para-olympic chief that sports events must not be affected by politics. earlier putin took part in a flag-raising ceremony, but dozens of vips and foreign ministers have canceled their

plans to attend. while the world is focused on escalating tensions in ukraine, putin is having the games will have a positive impact at least in russia. let's go to peter sharp who joins us for more on this. peter we now now that the ukrainian team is going to participate in the games? >> that's right. it was a will they won't they situation for quite a few days now. whether this team would be prepared to compete at a time when russian troops were basically inside their own country. well, the head of the ukrainian paralympics committee was reached by phone by president putin last night, and he said basically -- he told putin that the only thing that was important to him was that peace be maintained, and they came to

no agreement last night. it was only seven hours ago that ukrainians decided they would stay in the games, but they left this very, very stark warning that if the situation escalated to any degree, the 31 athletes will leave as one. and the -- the head of the committee said they are going to find it particularly difficult to concentrate under these special circumstance. >> so for now at least we know ukraine is going to take part in the games. never the less put tin is short of a new guests. what is the atmosphere like over there? >> he is short of a few guests, but if you think of the scale of this crisis that has escalated almost by the hour over the last week, i think a lot of people would say he is very lucky the

games are going ahead as they are. putin is using the games to say -- and he told this to the head of the whole paralympics situation, he said he hopes the games will cool down the situation in the ukraine which some critics would say sounds disingenuous. but the games are going ahead and i think that is something he'll be pleased with. >> peter sharpe in moscow thank you very much. hundreds of lawyers have taken part in a decision to cut legal aid. >> reporter: they should have been in court, but instead they were bringing britain's criminal justice system to a halt right outside the place where it's laws are made. lawyers and campaigners pressing the government to change its plans to cut the legal aid budget by several hundred million dollars. patty hill endured one of the

biggest miscarriages of justice in history after being wrongly convicted in an ira bombing. >> this is going to get the police on the crime prosecution service a clear fate. because the people who will be representing you haven't got a clue about how the system works. >> reporter: protesters claim that the cuts will create a two-tier legal system, those who can afford to pay for advice and eventation and those who can't. >> the legal system has been held up as one of the best in the world, but lawyers here say that reputation is under threat because of these cuts. a ministry of justice spokesperson told us that the legal aid system costs just over $3 billion a year. it is one of the most expensive

in the world, and had to be reduced. she added we have spoke oefrn the past years with sol it will fors about the reforms, and our final plans reflect many of the changes they asked for. lawyers told us, though, that jobs could go, and the criminal justice system will be affected. >> they are going to go [ inaudible ] within a matter of months, and when that happens there will be impacts in the cities. >> reporter: this is becoming an increasingly bitter row. there will be those who won't be able to get legal advice in the future who stand to lose out the most. >> that's the news from europe. sad rab has designated the muslim brotherhood along with other organizations as a terrorist group. it has warned those who join

could face 5 to 30 years in prison. in egypt protests have been held in at least two cities. two people have been killed in the capitol of cairo, demonstrations were also held in alexandria. still to come, the mega city built on debt, chinese officials grapple with the legacy of infrastructure and construction boom. the frozen shoreline of alaska's bering seacoast will be the next challenge in the iditarod. i'll report on the progress.

♪

hello again, more than 8,000 workers have gone on strike at a chinese ibm factory. this video was taken by an ibm worker, and it is said to show employees in blue factory uniforms outside of the facility. the factory is part of ibm's computer server business which it is selling to a chinese pc maker. and the workers want higher pay for those transferring or better redundancy deals for others who quit. while china's growing debt problem will be one of the main issues on day two of the national congress gathering in beijing. robert mcbride has more. >> reporter: enjoying the

wintery sunshine. for people on this sprawling public housing estate, life looks better thanks to massive public spending. living in modern apartments for about a hundred u.s. dollars a month. >> translator: the local government pays at a lot of attention to improve the city's infrastructure, and create better living conditions. >> translator: the city has been making great progress in cent years growing a lot faster than neighboring areas. >> reporter: while residents count themselves lucky, the city has been counting the costs. these developments are a legacy of the former heard, imprisoned last year in the highest profile scandal to hit the chinese leadership in decades. mostly under his leadership, this mega city doubled the size of its rail system, it tripled its road network, and public

house estates pushed the cities boundaries ever further into surrounding farm land. the growth has stood out in a country of extravagant infrastructure projects who's true costs have raised concerns among international investors. criticism that china hasn't been as transparent as it could be about the amounts of debt being rung up by local governments has lead to more audits. they make for disturbing reading with many provinces and cities taking on huge debt compared to their incomes. in china as a whole debt surged nearly 70% in two years. far more than officials had publicly admitted. but that's balanced by the central government's strong control on the economy. >> translator: economic development varies widely between the provinces, but we

transfer revenues to balance it out. we believe overall the debt is under control. >> reporter: the president has reigned in public spending. the government hopes rising domestic consumption will provide an alternative economic driver. this city has plenty of consumption, but given the widening wealth gap, it also has its less well off, who could be facing suffer -- tougher times. now for a sports update. >> the english [ inaudible ] gets underway on sunday. but there has been a blow for the gunners. they'll go into the match with news that jack willshire will be out for at least six weeks after

fracturing his foot. it's a blow to the title hopes. >> i believe first of all it was accidental, and that he will be out for six weeks, and that will give him, of course, it's a blow for him, for us, and from now on you want to get him to recover as quickly as possible. we want to help him to come back as quickly as possible, and prepare for the rest of the season >> the two nba finalists from last season have gone head to head, and this time the runners up came out on top. the spurs snapped a five-game regular season losing streak. 111-86 victory as tony parker finished with 17 points and 4 assists. nhl eastern conference

leaders pittsburgh are looking over their shoulder to chicago who are just behind them. nick lindstrom has his number 5 shirt retired, two seasons after finishing his nhl career. after the ceremony was over his old team were beaten by the colorado avalanche in overtime. bottom side in the nhl eastern conference, the sabres beat the tampa bay lightning. the goalkeeper had 43 saves on the night. st. louis have cut anaheim's lead at the top of the conference to two points. the 2012 stanley cup champions, kings made it a 2-6 win. the kings struck back just 40

seconds after a goal, and eventually went on to win 3-1. it has been more than two months after michael shoe mocker was hospitalized after a skiing accident. but his condition remains largely unchanged. his manager said he is still being awoken from a medically induced coma. he has had a number of blood clots removed from his brain. it has been called the last great race on earth and competition is heating up, as the annual iditarod shred dog race nears its finish in alaska. >> reporter: this race traverses the huge state of alaska, and we're here at the west of the race. the rareses are coming out of the hills, the hills you can see to my left, those are the last really rugged bits of terrain

that they have had to go through, but it wasn't theater rain that challenged them it was the absence of snow. dog sleds and dog teams were bouncing and tumbling over logs and tree roots, 11 or 12 mushers had to drop out, it was a mess. another daunting section of the trail lies ahead. the frozen expanses of the bering sea. several days racing still to go before they get to the finish line. but iditarod will tell you, it's all about the challenges. you are racing against yourself as much as you are against others. it's you and your dogs in whatever section of the trail, whatever challenge you face, you do it to win, to finish, and just to be sure that you can. we'll know in a sfu days who has

won this year's race. >> there's more sport on our website. check out aljazeera.com/sport, and there's details on how to get in touch with our team using twitter and facebook. that's all the sport for now. >> jo thanks very much. u.s. climate scientists are reporting a warming of the central pacific ocean which they say should result in a el niño phenomenon. that's when the temperature of the water raises. it's not clear why this happens, but when it does it has a dramatic effect of weather around the world. it results in warmer average temperatures. who of the hottest years on record were both during el nino cycles. it generally triggers droughts in many regions, and while parts of the u.s. and south america

get heavy rain and flooding. in the past it has costs millions of dollars in damage. extremely cold weather in the u.s.'s midwest has allowed thousands to cross the great lakes on foot giving them a chance to see ice caves for the first time since 2009. >> reporter: this small summer resort town isn't accustom to hosting visitors, so when hundreds of people started showing up, the chef says it was somewhat unexpected. >> i'm pretty sure we have almost tripled last year's numbers. >> reporter: bayfield is located on lake superior, during the winter it is typically shut down, but social media changed that, when a photo of one of bayfield's best-kept secrets was posted on triter.

>> that most almost immediately went viral. the next morning when i woke up we were at almost 85,000 views. >> reporter: this is what she posted majestic images of ice caves. the unseasonably cold weather has created a gallery of ice formations, and the minerals from the porous cliffs have created a display of color rarely seen. it is also accessibility, typically you could only be able to get here by boat, but because of record-cold sub zero temperatures -- right now it's minus 25 degrees celsius, you can get here by walking across the frozen lake. >> it's buflt here. >> yeah, even though it is freezing. >> a chance to get in and under and around all of these things, and it's just tremendous.

>> reporter: but the ice displays are weather permitting. no one is sure just how long they will last or whether they will ever be seen again. >> this is unusual because climate is decreasing the average amount of ice on lake superior. obviously this is an unusual year, but we know this is not going to be typical. we are describing this as an endangered national park experience because we don't know if your kids or grandkids will be able to do this. >> reporter: more than 80,000 have braved the temperatures to get to the caves. on weekends they are attracting 10,000 views aday. it's a rare glimpse of a natural phenomenon none that may never be seen again. we're back in just a moment right here on al jazeera with

another full bulletin of news and all of today's top stories. that's coming your way. ♪

>> welcome to aljazeera america. i'm del walters. and these are the stories we're following for you. ♪ prayers and protests in crimea as ukraine says the number of russian troops in that region has now doubled. >> the freedom of the individual must come before the power of the state. >> republican presidential hopefuls playing to their base at c-pac. >> it really is like a drug. you don't have to think about the real world. >> ungi