you ever been watching a special edition of the listening post on the media in turkey. next week another special we'll bring you three story on how new technologies are changing what you see in the news. we'll see you then here at the listening post. >> >> in is al jazeera america. i'm jonathan betz, live in new york. lost at sea. a jumbo jet disappears in asia. we are expecting new information in a press conference this hour. >> president obama works the phones trying to end the standoff in ukraine. >> we're going to stop them 2014. >> and republican darlene sarah palin rallies the troops at the republican conference outside washington.

>> malaysia airlines flight 370 remains missing after disappearing more than a day ago. we are waiting for a press conference. there was no new information said the transport minister, indicating that the plane crashed. vietnam is conducting an airsearch. oil slicks were found. they don't know if there's a kbz. the united states navy is sending a war ship to help with the search. it's in the south china sea, and will reach there in 24 hours. families are awaiting any news for their missing loved ones. the plane was on the way from kuala lumpur to beijing when it vanished. >> search efforts continue for

the missing plane as vietnamese aircraft search the area where the plane was last in touch with ground control. families wait for news for the plane that disappeared off the radar saturday morning. 239 people were on board. in beijing, there are similar scenes. there's few details, but the fact that the crew didn't send a distress detail means whatever happened may have happened quickly. >> our focus is to work with responders and authorities and mobilise full support. our thoughts and prayers are with all affected passengers and crew and family members. >> a vietnamese search and rescue member said the last signal was detected 225km west of vietnam.

international effort are underway. here is what we know about the flight path. the trip was 7200, left kuala lumpur at 12:41am. it was expected to arrive in beijing at 6:30am. then it disappeared. the boeing 777-200 has a great record with only one fatal crash. it's been flying for 19 years. experts praised its safety features. >> the aircraft is 12 years old, and we had aircraft flying for almost 20 years, that has flown more hours and flights than this one. if it was a structural break-up, we would have expected to see more problems with the older fleet than we have done. >> boeing is monitoring the situation. but with little information on what happened, no one is willing to guess what went wrong. we learnt that two passengers

were on there with stolen passports. the passports and identities of two e.u. citizens were stolen and used to board the malaysian aircraft. the first is christian cardell. he says his passport was stolen. and the second was 37-year-old luigi moraldi. he lives in thailand and his passport was stolen last year. there are strong similarities in both cases, both men in their 30s. passports stolen in thailand. the kind of information for the investigators looking into what happened to this flight. for e.u. passports, whenever a person is stolen, the respective countries are alerted. italy and austria are members of an agreement, the shangan

information system. interpol would have been alerted. the passports could have been flagged up internationally. clearly something happened that allowed the passports to be used. a key point to notice is that e.u. citizens needed visas. perhaps the chinese authorities knew or didn't know something about what was happening. there are many questions, and a major breach of security has taken placism >> it's rare for a plane to experience problems midflight. takeoffs and landings are using more dangerous. it is one of the safest blans. the boeing can fly 16,000 nonstop and for three hours on one engine. the two engines burn less fuel than the boeing 747, but holds more cargo. the first and only fatal crash in the 19 year history was when

an asiana flight landed short on the runway in san francisco. three were killed. and in 2008 when a british airways plane landed short of the run way. malaysia airlines had an incident in 2005. a 777 incorrectly measured speed, but safely returned to the airport. there's a press conference going on now with the latest. let's listen in quickly. >>..so far no report of sighting at this moment. thank you. >> reporter: [ inaudible ] . >> i think, yesterday we had mentioned in detail, a thing i should not repeat. yesterday - yes, okay. >> reporter: [ inaudible ]

. >> we lost - we lost the signal, the aircraft. we lost the contact. that was at 1:30 in the morning. when we - to confirm such incident, we have to verify with all the neighbouring states in the region. namely singapore and others and be careful in issuing such statement. that's the reason why it took time to do that. >> reporter: [ inaudible ] >> no, not at this juncture. >> reporter: [ inaudible ] confirm that someone from italy

[ inaudible ] >> we are aware of the situation and doing on investigation at the moment. >> reporter: [ inaudible ] history - the plane had a history of collision. could this be the reason -- >> the having of this incident will be done at all anxious, and th that... >> reporter: [ inaudible ] >> we are doing investigation on that. >> reporter: [ inaudible ] >> same situation, we are doing investigation on that. this is part of the investigation that we are going do. i cannot confirm now.

it's only arisen. >> reporter: we have [ inaudible ] all the documents on the aircraft. >> that is the work of the investigators. we have secured the reports but we are doing having. we are doing investigation on that >> reporter: [ inaudible ] >> it's not very far. it's reported in the media. it's not verified >> reporter: it's not verified [ inaudible ] [ speaking foreign language ] >> reporter: [ inaudible ] ongoing throughout the night. >> yes, yes. >> reporter: the flight. >> no, only by ships. >> reporter: [ inaudible ] . >> no >> reporter: so we can't.

>> reporter: in 2009 there was an air france plane that went down going from brazil to france, and they sent data, but not regular data, data from the flight's functioning. is this the case with mes, is that sent from the aircraft to the mes system. if this is a practice here, was there any indication that it had abnormalities. >> no, there's no sign of an anomaly on the aircraft. >> reporter: do you receive that data, do you have a system that receives that data? >> yes. >> reporter: [ inaudible ] >> families, as you know, a number of nationalities, and most of them in china. some of them malaysian, in malaysia that we have taken care... >> reporter:

[ inaudible ] >> we are investigating. as i mentioned, this investigation is on all angles, we are investigating that. >> reporter: [ inaudible ] >> to mes and other centres >> reporter: sir, was malaysian airlines double-checking the customer manifest list with the database of interpol. interpol says they were not checking the names on stolen passports. >> can you verify your statement? do you know the source of it? we have not heard that. thank you. the next press conference will be at 11 o'clock today. >> reporter: can you just tell us what is the procedure for - when it comes to immigration, if

someone has a passport, what is it -- >> we are investigating on that, thank you. >> reporter: [ inaudible ] you've been listen to a press conference out of kuala lumpur, malaysia, where the doomed plane originated from, painfully lacking in answers. authorities are investigating all angles, including the possibility of foul play, now that we two two passengerers got on board with stolen passports. the oil slick has not been verified, off vietnam coast. i want to bring in captain ross amer, a former united airlines pilot and c.e.o. of an aviation cutting firm. a lot of people will have a hard time understanding how in this day and age, when there's gps and modern technology, that a modern jumbo jet can disappear and be missing for more than a day and no one seems to know

where it went. >> i share that frustration myself. like we talked earlier. a disappearance like this is somewhat unheard of. in this day and age, but on the other hand i must warn everybody that anything that we talk about immediately after an incident or accident like this may turn out to be incorrect. obviously i don't want to speculate. one of the things i picked up from that interview, which the gentleman didn't answer was if someone asked the particular aircraft for malaysian airline was able to receive data from the airline.

all the aircraft would have been sent out. >> my former employer at united airlines could receive maintenance and status of the aircraft throughout the world, and analyse that. >> so is it a constant feed of information? >> it could be a constant feed, yes if it needed. for mins purposes, on certain intervals, this information is -- for maintenance purposes. on certain intervals the information is sent out, but if boeing wanted they could receive the extra information. i would be interested in malaysia airlines had the capability of receiving that data. >> which is one of the many unknowns here. and explain to me the air traffic control system there, because i think the assumption

is that these planes appear on radar constantly, and that somebody is keeping track of where the planes are in the skies. >> it is true for most parts of the world. however, in certain - as we call dark spots around the world there are no radar coverage. unfortunate by, around the china sea, south china sea, around cambodia and vietnam, there is lack of constant radar coverage. there are certain areas where you have radar coverage and i'm afraid in some parts of this flight track, there were no aidar coverage. furthermore the -- radar coverage. furthermore the communication is sporadic. some of those countries down there use the antiquated high frequency or hf transition to talk between airplanes and the

ground controllers. whereas majority of the airplanes these days that are flying around the world can have satellite communication, instant satellite communication. my fear is that if there was any transmission from the aircraft, any distress transition or a may day signal, may not have been heard by the vietnam es authorities on the hf communication. >> that is because it's not reliable, not every transmission is received? >> that's correct. it's a very old system, almost 50, 60 years old. actually prewar, and they are still used in certain parts of the world. it - it relies on very, very old technology. it's affected by sun activity. all the problems.

so it's very sporadic. i remember when we used to fly to vietnam in my days, sometimes we would give up actually given our - what we call position reports, after so many attempts, we would just give up, and finally maybe after an hour or so, someone would send us a message. >> wait a minute. i want to understand you clearly on that. you're saying when you used to fly american jumbo jets in this part of the world, there would be times where an hour would pass and you would not be able to get in touch with air traffic control? >> over the ocean or in certain parts of the worlds you do not have to be constantly in touch with the air traffic control. in fact, the term air traffic control is not we correct because there are radio

operators that take my message as a pilot. you don't have direct communication with an air traffic controller over ocean. you are talking to a radio operator. in which case right now still in certain part of the worlds, that's the way to communicate with air traffic controller, through another radio operator >> maybe that's why there's an awareness of this missing airline plane went. >> ross amer with aeroconsulting experts. thank you for your insight. appreciate is it. >> more news after this short break.

a week after russian forces

took crimea, monitors were blocked for a third straight day and faced warning shots. nick schifrin has been following the situation on the ground. what are you seeing today? >> jonathan. the observers turned away is what is happening here. more russian troops arriving, enacting policy. they are increasingly acting with impunity. >> in broad daylight in the capital's main shopping street the looting began. pro-russian militia members took the associated press tv's lights. 30 seconds later, their camera. they burst into the studio and held the crew at gun point. ap got some back, but not before two men saw journalists filming. they took his camera and put a gun to his head.

>> it's the worst situation. there's no law. the people doing this are not following any law. >> the lawlessness continued that night. it was reporter pavel. this is filmed from his camera, filming russian soldiers outside the military base. he, too, was attacked by pro-russian militia members. >> they tried to start filming and destroy proof. >> they talking about information and say "you are journalists, and this is a reason i take your" >> it's not only journalists. when 30-year-old nurse protested the russian invasion with a sign reading, "spring, love and peace", the police looked on and remarkably in the case of a pro-russian activist she holds her ground and cool.

today she is scared. do you feel safe here today? >> translation: no, every day i feel in more danger. it motivates me. >> she and 100 activists filled this park in protest, joined by the youngest of demonstrators. she swept away trash, as she'd like to sweep away the russians. she beliefs she must ensure the sacrifices of those who ousted the government is not in vain. why is it worth the risk of being attacked? >> translation: i don't feel i have a joys. people sacrificed their lives in order that i and everybody can live free. >> in crimea, the space for those that oppose russia is shrinking and russia's advocates dance in the streets. they are the majority. they feel they have already won.

they are proud of their soviet war history and confident that the referendum on crimea's future will mean they'll soon be russian. >> translation: as soon as crimea becomes part of the russia, the quality of life will be high. >> right now the quality of life is low, and with little law and order, the future is being decided not by pro-westerners with signs, but pro-russians with shields. >> not only shields, but guns. the new prime minister, pro-russian, declared the first division of the new crimean armed forces. the member pledging allegiance to the crimean state, even though the referendum to decide on the future is not for 10 days. >> nick schifrin live in a tense crimea. thank you. >> president obama continues to push for a diplomatic solution.

he spoke with six world leaders. randall pinkston has more on what they had to say. >> president obama is working during his weekend get away in florida. the white house released a picture of his conversation with the french president francis hollande. he talked to david cameron, italy's prime minister, and the leaders of the baltic nations. the message with all of them the same. grave concerns about russia's violations with international law, calling for vladimir putin to pull the troops back, reconfirming support. secretary of state john kerry was on the phone with russian foreign minister sergei lavrov. they have had two face-to-face meetings and on saturday the state department said john kerry carned sergei lavrov that conditioned military escalation and steps to annex crimea would close off the space for

diplomacy. >> the question is is sergei lavrov missing. apparently not. they are pulling troops into crimea, ignoring calls to tend them back. earlier this week russia sank two patrol boats to stop ukraine entry into the black sea. at the pentagon, they have seen enough to be concerned. >> it's a clear violation of lots of international obligations russia has, and the 1997 basing agreement with ukraine. which prevents them from the kind of activities we are doing. we are concerned about the activities. blocking off ukrainian naval bases by sinking patrol boats into the waterways. and essentially establishing operational control of the crimea. >> the u.s. and western allies threatened russia with sanctions. so far they have not been

imposed. the europeans are concerned if they are imposed russia might turn off natural gas supplies. house speaker john boehner said nations asked him to ship more american gas to central europe. >> randall pinkston reporting from washington. we'll have more on the response in crimea and whether sanctions make sense. that's in the next half hour. also - two major retailers announced they are closing stores to focus on online business. does that mean more brick and more tar stores will follow. that's next.

>> and welcome back to al jazeera america. here are the top stories - a day and a half of searching yielded no sign of a missing malaysian airliner. 239 passengers and crew were on board the boeing 777 when it vanished over the south china sea. authorities are going to expand the area it's searching.

the associated press says one of the three american was philip wood on texas. he's described as a technical storage specialist at ibm. his ex-wife posted a picture on facebook saying, "he's a wonderful man, his sons and i want peace and quiet right now." a company in sufficient yin texas announced that 20 employees were on the flight, 12 from malaysiansa, eight from china. moving to the ukraine, international observers were blocked from entering the region for a third straight day. president obama and u.s. allies called on russian troops to pull back. >> as the standoff in ukraine continues the european union is trying to pressure russia with tough talks of sanctions. as russia's biggest trading

partner, it may not work. >> it's been described as the cathedral of consumerism. this is the european ma'am. a floor filled with top brands from london, paris and milan. the face of a new moscow facing the threat of retaliation. shoppers anxious about what is ahead. >> it will influence us. the minimum damage is european goods will be more expensive. we work with foreign companies. >> we'll be fine without europe or the usa. we'll cooperate more with other companies. >> at the brand new financial center, the mood is a little more relaxed, fearing that the sanctions are a 2-way street.

>> they can cut both ways. russia is europe's biggest trading partner, accounting for 40% of trade last year. no surprises that the e.u. failed to share washington's enthuse ias -- enthusiasm. germany accounts for 30 e.u. exports to russia. they put up for sale a pair of mist ral helicopter characters, part of the $1 billion deal with russia. london is a safe haven for russian billionaires, spending $900 billion on the london property market, with 70 russian companies listed on the london stock exchange.

>> vladimir putin says we may lose something of this function. we don't expect that there will be damage to russia's economy. >> in moscow the kremlin is drawing up a raft of measures if sanctions are imposed on russia. a new law allows moscow to cease information. the new legislation defend our sovereignty from threats. >> on thursday, the assets of viktor yanukovych were frozen, and 16 others. that sanction net could be widened now, following news that the crimea's decision to join the russian federation. >> and joining me now to talk about whether sanctions will be effective is lincoln mitchell, a consultant and advisor at columbia university, and alexander cooley, a professor of

geopolitical science. sanctions - is this a good idea to impose sanctions on russia? >> it is a good idea. it may not be the most effective. >> why is it a good idea? >> if we can get the u.s., it would be effective. it's not likely to happen. it's a good idea because the u.s. should do something. it will make a bit of an impact, and it demonstrates that we are not going to sit by and do nothing. to think that it will be enough is wrong. >> i know we are doing something, but are we doing anything. we have a different between sanctions towards states and vividuals. so the sanctions discussed by the u.k., germany france, none will go - the u.k. has financial interests. transits through the city of london. it's worth a lot to them.

france has a defense contract. germany does three times more than the states in trade. i would not expect the europeans to go along. it's easy for us to say it. what makes sense is go for individuals, target what they care about - their assets, ability to travel. >> putin's friends. >> yes. >> going after his friend and colleagues. that will have a stronger effect? >> if everyone is on the same page. if only one country imposes them, that will not be effective. >> is that something europe may be more willing to embrace. >> might be. it's a heavy list with europe. it creates an environment ratcheting up the tension and there's not a consensus within europe that that's what they want to do. those are folks with a lot of money, employ a lot of people. i think it's a good idea. i support it but wouldn't get it.

>> someone who is a passive observer. time and again it seems like russia has the lef ridge and can do what they want and the westmead it clear they are not going to push back too hard. am i wrong? >> i wouldn't say all the leverage. what is happening in crimea, in reality is more important to the russian state than the american state. this is very, very important to them. it's not extremely important to the united states. it's a moment, right. a moment where it's going on and you have to look at it and maybe you can get in a few jabs. in the bigger picture of american security and interests, it's not paramount importance. >> should the united states continue to push this forward? >> the u.s. is in a tough position for a couple of reasons. on the one hand you want to give russia outside to de-escalate, you want to give them the ability to go to the brink, but not over - the door is always open. the u.s. is a global leader.

it has allies and has to reassure them. that's why they are on the phone, expanding training in poland, it's a tough needle to threat try and find a way out. >> what is it that president obama can do that would be face saving. president obama's political future is not going to live or die, just as president's future is going to live or die. what he could do to save - the best thing barack obama could do is create jobs for middle class minister. >> you think americans don't care. what strikes me, and i have been talking to a lot of people like alex. talking to the media. no one said once, and even if you listen to the lindsay grahams and the hillary clintons, they say that putin is hitler, but they are not saying,

"the american people won't tolerate this", i suspect if good research was done, it would show that. no matter what obama does, they could theoretically send a troop of special forces in, capture and kill osama bin laden, and the right wing would say he's week - sorry, did that already happen. >> is there a movement - a move, a way out for president obama to solve the crisis and move on? >> no. >> he can put pressure, but at the end of the day vladimir putin wants crimea, more than it's relevant to the u.s. president. >> that makes it tough, that russia will face sanctions and difficulties, but it will be on the international level. on the regional level russia has a lot of cards here. >> i'd modify that to say russia feels they have to have crimea.

we feel we want a unified western looking ukraine. they feel they have to, we feel we want to. >> where does vladimir putin next move. >> that could lead to more interesting questions. he - i assume he realises if he pushes into other parts of eastern ukraine, he'll bite off more than he chews, he'll have a counterinsurgency. that is off the table. if he talks crimea, you take it, incorporate it into russia, as the newest province. now you have a ukraine that lost the most pro-russian voting block. in an election they'll vote for the people that bring it into n.a.t.o. putin - all of ukraine is important. by breaking it up, this is dramatically damaged russian standing in ukraine.

>> certainly russian influence and the rest of ukraine will be diminished. the other problem is building the regional integration projects. how do you commit to kazakhstan, belarus, partners, eurasian union and say, "we'll have rule of law in which russia abides by preestablished standard", it will be difficult for russia to ensure a lot of other soviet satellites that it's a rural-based power. >> do you expect russia to do something more radical - grab ukraine, cut off gas supplies to europe. are these things that are on the table? >> these could be on the table. going further into ukraine is on the tail. if you are putin, the russian

government, you have to think about the end game. you have to think about what happens the day after tomorrow, and those are the really tough questions. they are not going to get - there's a lot of - we - you haven't seen china, who russia tries to see as saying "we like the move", china doesn't like the move. >> cutting off gas is a two-way sword. 70% of russian national gas comes from european sales. the sales to europe are more important than they are to europe. >> you don't think they'll cut off the gas but expand further. >> i don't want to predict what they'll do. they'll try to find ways to retaliate against the west to signal whatever you can do, we can do that two. >> thank you both for your time tonight. we appreciate it. >> our pleasure. >> former vice president can't said sarah palin ended the

conference with jabs at president obama. >> something happened. that hope and change your - it went from a catchy campaign slogan to a reality and along the way hope and change your, yes, we can, it became no, you can't. no, you can't log on to the website. no, you can't keep your health care. no, it can't make a phone call without president obama knowing this is the third day this week you dialled pizza hut deliver. senator ted cruz of texas was second, rand paul came in first in the straw paul. and ben carson came in third. libby casey wraps up the event.

>> not only did senator rand paul won the straw poll, he won with 31% of the vote, above any other contender. the only other that cracked double digits was ted cruz with 11%, and it's smaller from there. the c.p.a.c. voters are young. more than 60% are 40 years or younger. their decisions are reflective. libertarian views are reflect. sarah palin gave the crowd what it was looking for. red meet and pushed back against the g.o.p. established. it capped off three busy days of c.p.a.c. >> guns, god and liberty, scenes that brought together the conservative wing of the republican party. the biggest unifier a dislike of president obama. >> the president spent last week proving that he was incapable of being ineffective.

i believe he can be as ineffective. in key largo as he was in the white house. c.p.a.c. had a chance to speak to the conservative base. others, used the opportunity to get right with the base. like new jersey governor chris christie, who wasn't invited last year because he worked with president obama on hurricane sandy release. >> we have to talk about what we are for, not against. >> deciding what it should be is another. there's a divide in the ranks of c.p.a.c. attendees over what should be the priority. 19-year-old nicole grew up on a dairy farm. she said they don't determine her vote. >> i'm o focussed on the economics, not so much the

social issues. options for going to school or health care. i'm a student. i do not want to go with obamacare, i want my own choice. >> the issues were front and center for senator rand paul of kentucky who pulled in some of the biggest crowd. >> the time is now, let us stand together for liberty. >> it was not just office holders playing to the crowd. with 2016 presidential field open, some relatively new voi s voices. >> this ship is about to sail off niagra false and we are about to be killed. we have people saying, "there's barn concludes on the ship let's get them off." forget the barnacles, we got to get the ship turned around first.

>> the 2016 race is a ways off. the 2014 midterm elections next. a lot want to see the republicans take over the senate, hold on to the house and push on from there. >> libby casey at the end of the c.p.a.c. conference. we'll continue on the malaysia airlines flight missing for 24 hours. a news conference was held. scott heidler is in kuala lumpur, and is standing by live. some of what you heard from the news conference there? >> yes, there weren't too many big things that came out of the press conference. we didn't anticipate that. it's only been daylight in this part of the world for a couple of hours. the searching went on overnight with ships on the water. there weren't aircraft in the air. that's how we are going to see development on the search and rescue, that has five nations involved, including the united

states, a destroying on route to the area from south china see. pc orion surveillance aircraft on the way down from japan. we'll get more detail on how the operation is going on. >> these press conferences are held by the malaysian airlines official, and really no advancement on the search and rescue. they set up a coordination centre. we are on the outskirts of the airport. about 15 miles from here there's a coordination centre set up to work with both the investigation and the search and rescue operations. >> scott, what about the reports of an oil slick off the vietnam coast. do the authorities reveal whether that is helping to focus the search? they acknowledge they heard of reports. they have not been able to investigate or get ships close

to the areas. that report came from the vietnamese officials, based on aerial surveillance. until they have eyes on the water and get close to see if that could have come from the downed aircraft, then they'll confirm that. they are aware of it in the press conference. it took place in the last hour. >> no firm answers on the missing malaysian plane. scott heidler reporting for us live. >> more news after this

>> the latest job report shows

u.s. employees added 175,000 jobs. retail took a hit, losing 4,000 jobs. we have more on how the internet may be playing a role. >> thanks. many people are wondering how much of an impact the internet is having on retail jobs. news came that staples and radioshack were closing stores in favour of expanding online sales. according to the u.s. department of commerce, ecommerce has been on a steady incline in the past 10 years. retail sales increased 4.2% in 2013. digital sales rose to 16.9%. $263 billion. online sales account for 5.8% of all retail. most of our growth does no come

from online shoppers but web shoppers spending more money. they say loyalty programs play a big part of that. consumer comfortable levels are critical. 60 to 75% of muk and software is brought online. 40% of books are purchased on the internet and less than 5% of groceries on the internet. other better paying positions have been represented. the number of retail web marketing professionals to grow by 35%. by 2017. and the number of retail web merchandising professionals to grow by 41%. >> courtney healy reporting.

>> we are joined by a senior analyst from in other words.com. why do you think we are seeing large retail stores closing branches. >> yes, it's a trend. the environment has been setting up for this. this is something we'll see in the years to come. the internet and rise of online shopping is a factor. there's a few others. obviously the post recession, consumer spending is hurting the stores. especially stores that cater to middle class consumers. oversupply and overexcess of retail stores. it's been around in u.s. retail for a decade. we went into an environment where we saw office supply stores on every corner. there was a strategy that having more stores was a good thing because it was easy to cater for consumers. you get consumers that wouldn't

have to drive or walk as far. now it's not viable. >> do you think more people are going online or is it an example of stars property not adapting to current trends, customer demands and people are taking their business elsewhere. >> staples and radioshack have serious head wind in the area of expert sees. staples have problems as traditional models go away as businesses shift to web-based products. radio shack has a big wireless component. and that market is saturated. it's a bit of everything. changing consumer habits and a bunch of stores that are reactionary to change your. >> is there a bunch of stores that have done a good internet

based model. >> amazon really anticipated where the market was headed, and growing its business. it's the number one seller in the world. other stores are doing well here. wal-mart is an example. online business. wal-mart is experimenting with same-day shipping to sort of get there faster to consumers through the internet. there are other stores. the key here is that some of the biggest retailers are better positioned to execute the turp around. staples and radio shack don't have the time and money to keep up with the bigger players. >> thank you matthew, talking to us from san francisco on the changing trends in the retail and online world. thank you for your time. >> finally. women around the world express a desire for equality on international women's day. outgoing president hamid karzai in afghanistan called for an end

to violence and encouraged women to vote. demonstrators remembered the loan woman protestor killed and in india sand artists sent a message that every woman is a queen of hearts with a sandsculpture of queen elizabeth ii. international women's day today. that's the show. thank you for joining us. i'm jonathan betz. i'll be back is the 11:00 p.m. more news and a look at the headlines after this short

break.

sna >> this is al jazeera america. i'm jonathan betz in new york with the top stories. we continue to follow the breaking news out of asia. there's no sign of a malaysian airliner this disappeared

overnight. a 12 of mile oil slick suggests it crashed into the south china sea. 329 were on board. one was philip wood from texas. a linked in describing him as a technical storage specialist at ibm in malaysia. and his ex wife posted this photo on facebook saying: >> warning shots fired as european military observers tried to enter crimea. russia's annexation of crimea would close the door to diplomacy. the libyan government is threatening to bomb a tanker of north korea. libya is refusing to let it leave because it brought oil from a rebel group crawling the area. libyan government mandates control over oil sales. >> senator rand paul of kentucky came out on top in the c.p.a.c.

straw poll - the early list of hopefuls. former vice president yal candidate sarah palin was likely to give the closing remarks. >> those are the headlines. "america tonight" starts now on al jazeera. [ ♪ music ] >> and good evening. thanks for joining us. you're watching "america tonight - the weekend edition", i'm joie chen. we begin in the san francisco bay area, exploring a place called home. the mission is home base for a