tonight" tomorrow. i'm jonathan betz, live in new york. >> rival rallies raise tensions between protesters in ukraine - each pushing for a different future. >> lost at sea. search planes may have spotted debris from a missing malaysian airliner. >> the family of a former c.i.a. contractor marks the 7th years

sips he's been missing in iran. >> and 13 nuns freed in exchange for hundreds held in syrian prisons. >> we begin in crimea. rallies took place across the country. tens of thousands rallied in kiev. in the southern regions, and parts of eastern ukraine people pushed to join russia. in sox places -- some places protesters were physically attacked. the prime minister announced he'll travel to washington to meet with president obama. >> the prime minister is attending the scene. what are you seeing there tonight? >> well, we are seeing both sides digging in and gearing for a fight. on the one side you have pro-russian activists, militias

and the russian troops themselves. they are fanning out and control not only the important government buildings, but every single base or almost every single base across the peninsula. they seem to be coordinated with pro-russian activists and militias. you talk to them throughout the city and the peninsula, and they are gearing for a fight that they believe activists from the rest of ukraine, kiev, are going to come down. there are more arms that the militias have. they are aggressive and emboldened by the presence of russian troops. you have the ukrainian government based in kiev, untested and insistent that crimea is not going to separate from ukraine. we heard from prime minister arseniy yatsenyuk today. he said, "look, our forefathers, our ancestors fought to keep a united ukraine for generations and we'll continue the fight.".

>> translation: this is our land. our parents and grandparents spilt their blood for this land. we will not give up a single centimetre of the land. let russia and their president know this >> if both sides are digging in, a fight is more likely. >> a major concern. >> with a referendum a week away. are we getting indications that anyone from the west is stopping that election from happening? >> well, they vice-president trying. the united states has had a diplomatic solution on the table with vladimir putin pretty much the day after russian troops arrived. it requires international monitors in crimea, whether u.n. or o.s.c.e., european monitors. for four straight days they have denied access to crimea, trying to drive in to crimea from the

heart of ukraine. that drive is being blocked by pro-russian activists. it's a sign how the troops, pro-russian activists are being more aggressive and emboldened, doing what they want and running law and order. the ukrainian government has used rhetoric to threaten russia. no evidence on the ground out all that the ukrainian military or the politicians in kiev are able or willing to confront russia in crimea. >> what is it like on the streets in crimea. are you seeing an increased appearance of russian soldiers on the ground. >> the soldiers are will staying in the bases. it's pro-russian activists and militias and the line between them is very, very thin. journalists have been targets. a lot of pro-russian activists believe a lot are anti-russians,

spreading lies. pro-western or ukrainian, staying in ukraine, looking west to europe. they have been attacked. we saw is case earlier. we saw half a dozen activists get threatened, people coming up, carrying their signs down. those pro-russian activists are emboldened and feel like they can do what they want. in part because the police are doing little. they have taken a step back, whether unable or unwilling, you have pro-russian activists fighting in the streets with pro-western activists and the police stand by doing nothing. >> nick schifrin on the ground. thank you. >> as russian forces continue to surround ukraine's military, jennifer glasse reports both sides are anxiously waiting to

see what happens next. >> it's a ukrainian command ship with nothing to command. the crew of the ship is doing daily chores. the armed guards are a sign that all is not well. the ukrainian ship cannot go anywhere. >> this is where things get up close and personal. that's a gunship. >> the command are of the russian black sea fleet came on board last week, demanding the sailors sever their relationship with ukraine. the sailors refused. the deputy captain on board says there has been other pressure from moscow. representatives of putin came and offered food and supplies, "we refused. we thanked them, but we don't need their hep."

wives and girlfriend come to the ship to talk to the sailors. she's worried her boyfriend of three years could end up in odessa. where some of the ships have gone. >> translation: i think the government can't do anything here. it will be in the hands of authorities, and they are in hands of russia. crimea can't do anything about it. >> a pro-russian demonstration attracted thousands. authorities believe next week crimea will be russian. some have been to moscow. >> if you could know and feel what it was like in moscow, how happy the russian government was. i thought it was not us joining russia, but russia joining crimea. >> russia continues to consolidate military gains.

last week they took what ships and vehicles they could, and fled by sea. >> life in this resort town is uninterrupted by the political manoeuvring. this man lives here, and says he'll stay, no matter how the vote goes next week. >> i like it here. i love the sea, the nature. i wnt to live here -- want to live here. if the majority want to go with russia, we'll be with russia, but we'll be ukrainians. >> taking out the trash is arduous. no one knows what will happen to the ukrainian black sea fleet and its sailors. >> randall pinkston has been following the u.s. government's position on the situation in ukraine and sent this update. >> the barack obama consideration is signalling strong support for the ukrainian

government. on wednesday president obama will host the new prime minister in washington. he is working with european allies imposing economic sanctions, setting the ground work for imposing sanctions and isolating russia politically. the deputy security advisor say the steps are having an impact on russia. >> if there's a referendum boosting crimea from ukraine to russia, we won't recognise it. nor will most of the world. second, the pressure exerted will go up. the president made it clear, as did the prime minister that this is a first step. we put in place a tough mechanism to increase the pressure and sanctions depending on events and what happened going forward. if russia makes the wrong choice, we have the ability to

exert significant pressure. the hope is that russia will not make the choice. there's a way to resolve in in a way that takes into account russia's concerns and restores the sovereignty. despite strong objections from the u.s. and europe, russia appears to be achieving objectives on the ground in crimea. the former u.s. defense secretary robert gates, who served barack obama and george w. bush doesn't think that russia will relinquish resolve, and believes there are objectives beyond the crimean peninsula. >> i think there's a need for russia to create a sphere of influence where russia has economic security relationships with these countries that make them lean toward or do the bidding of moscow. >> with the russian military in control of crimea, and pro

russian supporters, the next step is the vote next weekend. >> part of the ongoing crisis in ukraine involves a constitutional argument over crimea, a researched um on joining russia unconstitutional. we have a closer look. >> the pro-russian marchers support a referendum saying it is a legal right to self-determination. the prowe were movement in kiev says it acted legally in overthrowing the parliament and taking power. all you are citing law books and the ukrainian constitution. moscow says the maydan movement is illegitimate was it acted outside the war. >> it is an unconstitutional

revolt and military seizure of power. i said this before and i want to repeat it. there are only a few reasons why a president would be changed. his death, impeachment or resignation. >> a problem is that it's been changed repeatedly sips the fall of the soviet union. recently, under ousted president viktor yanukovych. when the courts reinstated a version makgis office more powerful. that was a source of anger leading to the protest in kiev. in the latest constitutional argument, the new government in kiev, and many in the west, including president obama say crimea's decision to hold a referendum on joining russia is unconstitutional. professor vladimir is a lawyer. he says the parliament overstepped its authority, an unacceptable move anywhere in the world. >> the majority of the

population - can you mag reaching that point, they demand cessation. >> russia's intervention sparked on international crisis talking in more than regional players. russian troops consolidate their hold, all the while, on crimea. there'll have to be a legal framework for government. this country is in real upheaval with pressing threats internal and external. the words in this constitution may be little more than a tool to justify either side's claim had been legitimacy. >> cyber security in ukraine has been under attack. a u.k. defense contractor sis sophisticated cyber spies hacked ukrainian computer systems 22

times since the start of the year. bae systems says well-funded professionals stole information. the report does not name russia as the source, it suggests attacks originated in moscow's time zone. join us at 8:30 for "the week ahead", and we'll examine the growing crisis in ukraine. respecting world order is the topic: >> interpol is trying to determine the true identities of two passengers who managed to get on a malaysia airlines light. authorities are still searching for the jetliner that vanished over the south china sea. a vietnamese plane found objects that could belong to the aircraft. we go to kuala lumpur. do authorities feel like they are getting closer to finding the missing plane?

>> this piece of information, although unconfirmed, is good news. it comes on the same day that a singapore navy briefly - unfortunately for a brief time, gave people a short-fall hope that was false. singapore navy said earlier on sunday that it spotted pieces of debris which it thought might be part of the missing plane. now, malaysian civil authorities confirmed that that is not true. that happens to be pieces of rubbish floating in the south china sea. with regards to the information given by the vietnamese authorities, there is no confirmation as such. malirn civil aviation say they have not received the information from counterparts, but the aircraft is going to return to the area monday morning. hopefully we'll have more information in the coming hours.

>> a day after two large oil slicks were spotted in the south china sea comes another development. reports say vietnamese aircraft spotted what may be parts of the missing malaysia airlines plane in waters of southern vietnam. the navy planes have returned to base. they'll resume the search on monday. the missing surrounding flight mh377 has deepened. the plane may have deviated from its course and turned back, but it never issued a distress signal. questions are being asked as to how two passengers travelling on stolen passports could have boarded the flight. >> behind me is where passengers leading kuala lumpur airport go through imyags. no officials in any country checked the interpol database for the italian our austrian

database it can't be told whether they were used to cross flights or borders. >> interpol is checking other passports against its record of stolen or lost travel documents. malaysian investigators have said they are looking at footage taken by security cameras, in particular of the two men travelling with the stolen passports. >> on the possibility of hijack, we are not ruling any possibility. however, it's important to state that our main concern is to focus efforts on finding the missing aircraft. >> relatives of passengers on board have been anxiously waiting for news. until the aircraft has been found, there'll be no answers, only questions and an agonising wait. >> interpol said that it's not only checking those two passengers travelling with stolen documents, they are

connecting the entire manifest and saying that there are a few documents that are suspect. now, interpol in a sharply worded statement said that it hoped a situation like this wouldn't happen, and it didn't understand why it would take a tragedy before countries put prudent measures in place. the fact that passengers were travelling led to speculation that a terror attack could be behind the disappearance of the flight. it's too early to speculate. as security experts pointed out, it's not just people who want to carry terror attacks out who have motive to travel with false documents. traffickers, smugglers do it. in the aircraft is found, it's too early to draw conclusions. >> a lot of unknowns.

thank you. >> how does a major airliner disappear off the face of the earth. the short answer is it doesn't, but the technology we use to track them could shed light on what happens. radar is most effective over land. when it comes to coastal areas it works only on a short distance on water. radar does not follow the curvature of the earth. when planes fly over the ocean, it is not effective and a pre-arranged flight plan is used, with the pilot ratoing in to keep the plane's location updated. if the worst case scenario happens and the plane crashes in an unknown location, finding the black botches could provide -- boxes could provide information. but if they are trapped deep inside wreckage or in an underwater trench, finding them could be difficult. i spoke to peter goels and we

discussed the search for the plane. >> this flight was at the outer reachers of the effectiveness of the radar tracking it. the further you are away from the radar station, the less accurate it is. they are determining that perhaps it could have changed course. they are - it's a very challenging issue. one thing that is critical is that the black boxes, the flight data recorder and the cockpit voice recorder - they issue out, you know, they transmit a ping. an identifying tone that leads searches to them. if you can't get within a few miles of where they are located, you can't hear them. it will raise an issue about do we need to rethink the issue of how we track the aircraft, and maybe we should consider things like deployable black boxes, which would eject from the plane

upon impact, and float. >> thank you to peter gole, is there. >> still ahead - former federal bureau of investigation agent and c.i.a. contractor robert levinson went missing in iran seven years ago today. we hear from his wife offer the break. the head of a war in syria is on the brink of becoming a failed nation. those stories and more ahead.

>> the head of the arab league warned that syria could become a failed state. he made the comments during a meeting in cairo ahead of the summit. he expressed concern about the syrian talks where both sides of the conflict failed to come up with a plan for transitional government. he urged syria's neighbours to help end the viges t-. >> translation: that's on increase in those suffering

decreasing food and water. there's a fear that syria is turning into a space settling disputes, turning it into a failed state at a time when the security council is incapable of fulfilling responsibilities to end the crisis. >> syria's consider killed many millions, and 4 million have been displaced and 2 million fled. >> a landmark visit to iran for the e.u. policy chief. catherine ashton is in tehran for the first time since 2008 to meet with the iran foreign minister. it comes at a deadline for a nuclear agreement between iran and the west. >> the e.u. foreign policy chief catherine ashton is in iran on a 2-day visit. on the business agenda nuclear talks - the war in syria, security in afghanistan, and human rights in iran.

the nuclear issue weighs over rain's foreign policy. the foreign minister spoke about that, hoping that an agreement can be reached within the next four months, a permanent nuclear agreement. there must be no ambiguity in an agreement that they come up with. catherine ashton has been regarded as the key to getting a temporary nuclear agreement. that was reached in november. she is here, of course, as a friend of the foreign minister at the invitation of the foreign ministry to talk about these issues, but a friendship-building exercise. catherine ashton did stress positivity about bilateral talks, about there was no guarantee that a final permanent agreement can be reached. both sides are hopeful. >> and today marks seven years since former federal bureau of investigation agent and c.i.a. contractor robert levinson went

missing in iran, he's the longest held hostage ever. his family was the u.s. to work with iran to bring him home. >> former fbi ate robert levinson disappeared march 9th, 2007, at a resort in iran. at the time he was working as a private investigator, looking into cigarette smuggling. that year robert levinson's wife went to iran in search of answers. >> it doesn't get any easier after seven years. we have two new grandchildren. one is just three weeks old. the other is four months. it's difficult. i know how much he'd love to see them. >> robert levinson was last seen alive in these photographs, sent to his family by a private investigators. the robert levinson family released this video.

>> i have been held here for 3.5 years. >> an i associate press investigation last year reported that he'd been working on a mission, spying for the iranian government. robert levinson's family confirmed his appointment. what he was doing in iran remains unclear. robert levinson's wife holds out hope. >> i think cooperation between the two countries could solve the case. i hope the two countries will cooperate. >> secretary of state john kerry released this statement on sunday: >> the iranian government denies holding robert levinson, and are

unaware of his whereabouts. >> it has been a vital week in iraq. a suicide bomber driving a mini bus packed with explosives killing 47 people. police in the southern city of hela say 50 cars were set on fire. people were trapped inside. more than 160 people are being treated for injuries. >> on saturday four died from a car bomb blast. it's unclear who is behind the blood shed >> more than a dozen greek orthodox nuns held by rebel forces have been released. developments on why they were released >> and major leaguers - how a baseball player is keeping in touch with family as his home spirals out of control.

>> welcome back to al jazeera america. here are the top stories. no sign of a missing malaysian

jetliner that disappeared sat day. the vietnamese navy may have spotted debris. two passengers boarded the flight on stolen passports. interpol calls it a grave concern and they are searching for the identity of those passengers. >> layers of different faith groups came together at the kuala lumpur airport to offer prayers and solace. 239 were on board the missing plane. tensions are escalating on the plane in crimea. pro-russian troops attacked activists. they control the area. >> russia says a referendum on ukraine's future is legal. the ukrainian government disagrees. russi russian forces continue to surround the crimea peninsula. some of crimea's minorities are

nervous, among them the tatars, who are not ready to embrace. the leaders asked for u.n. protection. we have that story. >> they are not taking chances, especially at night, because these days tat tars and others feel under threat. >> we need a plan, a trusty plan. if the new regional government stay, i don't know what will happen to us. >> about 300 unarmed men deploy in shifts in a tatar neighbourhood. they can't fight off a pro-russian militia if it came, but will try to fend off provocation. >> people are receiving threats. crimean tatars woke up to find the crosses on their gates. it revives some of the darkest memories when 70 years ago

similar signs meant you were about to be deported to russia or asia. several houses have similar markings. the threat is so serious that this man doesn't want to be identified. he is afraid history may be repeating itself. trnchts. >> translation: please stop the war before it starts. it's hard. we grew up hearing stories of our grandparents being deporteded. >> little space for other ethnic groups have had a chance to voice opposition. >> there are people that want a confrontation in crimea. we call on the peacekeepers. >> the crimean government is going ahead with a refferent um, where the -- referendum where the choice is to join russia now, or later. >> earlier i spoke with project fellow jobe henning about the

options for the west as russia tightens its grip on crimea. >> at this point we need to consider the possibility that putin's objectives are to puncture the solidarity of the western alliance. we should thing in new terms about how we act and react to his moves to deter further action against western nation, in the baltic region. looking at the actions with respect to sanction, they may be good and necessary. the reality is they have not deterred actions in crimea. the obvious thing to do is shore up support for the n.a.t.o. allies. we are bound to protect the n.a.t.o. allies. in ukraine, we need to be laser focused on the immediate problem which continues to be a threat of disintegration of a country of 46 million people. >> the prime minister will travel to the united states to discuss the crisis.

>> former ukrainian prime minister yulia tymoschenko is urging the west to punish russia with sanctions, saying it's a critical moment for ukraine and the region. john hendren has been told crimea referendum should not be allowed. t-. >> translation: i think that today it's not just ukraine that will leave crimea, the whole world will lose stability. top leaders in the world should be aware of this. the kremlin has declared war. not on crimea or ukraine, but the kremlin declared war on the world. >> stay tuned to talk to al jazeera to see the full interview with yulia tymoshenko, at 7:00pm eastern. >> syrian opposition forces released a group of greek orthodox nuns.

rebels claimed they were holding the women for their own application. the syrian government released 150 prisoners in exchange for the 13 nuns. rebel sources told reuters many of the prisoners are women. >> this our correspondent is on the border of lebanon and syria. >> we understand issues have been overcome and according to the chief in lebanon, the nuns are with him and entered lebanese territory. they entered lebanon from an area where they were received by the lebanese allegations outside in no man's land in syria and lebanon. now they will make a trip to damascus, where we understand at the border crossing, not far away from here, religious figures and the families of the

nuns, as well as representatives from the syrian government are grating the nuns and welcoming them back to damascus, where then were kidnapped in december, not far away from the capital. now, these efforts have been very intense. the negotiations have gone on for a long time, to try to secure of the release of the nuns. what we do not know yet about is the release of the 153 syrian female prisoners. when that happens is unclear, and how it's going to happen is unclear. it washe cditis set by the rebels, that these female prisoners are released in exchange for the release of the nuns. we don't know when it will happen or whether it will happen or if the prisoners will go their home towns in syria. >> moving to south america,

voters in col up bia are choosing a new congress, and the race comes down to a choice between violence or peace with a rebel group. a deal is being negotiated with f.a.r.c. rebels. they are pushing for a peace deal to go before voters in a referendum. the main rival. former president alvaro areba is against talks with f.a.r.c. >> voters in el salvador are turning out for guerilla leader sanchez ceren, who promises to expand social program. his p pond quij -- opponent norman quijano promises to fight the hard fight. >> national guard soldiers are in the capital of caracas. paul beban has more. >> when the sun goes down the

streets of caracas go up in flames. this is an upper class neighbourhood rocked by violence every night. but in the morning the barricades come down, life goes on, and the mayor, a member of the main opposition party hears from his concerned constituents. >> we need to keep the streets on fire. >> we can't use the young people as human shields. we need to break the cycle as soon as possible, before the cycle breaks us. just up the road is another world, the early quiet neighbourhood. in this mecca for the megarich security fences keep the outside world out, off of the fair way. head west and you are in a poor

pro-government burrow. a didn't protesters is drowned out by rocket celebrations, honouring the leader who died, buried on top of the hill. caracas is a sprawling landscape of dividing loyalties and overlapping reliances. the urban planning minister gave me a birds eye view of the city and a history lesson. he points to an area. in pettary not enough was done. >> it tilts opposition, and that rift runs through families. >> this man is a chavista, loyal to the government. his nephew's wife votes opposition. these days tempers flare easily. >> you can't talk to the people.

trfferents. >> translation: what did they do to the vehicle? she threw molotovs at it. >> like young people he's afraid to come down and go to the protests. trvernts. >> translation: it's not worth marching or protesting if i'm going get killed. >> residents of the tower show the mayor of this district damage done by pro-government thugs storming the building. tfferents we condemn the use of force and reject the idea that this is a struggle of brother versus brother. >> it's a stalemate. the opposition vowing to stay in the streets until the government resigns, the government vowing to crush the protests. neither outcome seems likely. >> a lot of the americans concerned, including

professional athletes. >> there's a lot of them, over 100 venezuela baseball players. al jazeera's correspondent sat with a star player from the miami marlins who spoke about his concern for his family at home. >> with a pregame hug and kiss to wife and daughter, miami marlin venezuelan alvarez prepares to take to the mound. he is venezuelan born. he's one of over 100 major league baseball baseball players from venezuela, a county mired in social and political violence. anti-government political demonstrations resulted in 20 reported deaths in clashes between protesters and police. al jazeera brought his wife, his newborn daughter and father over earlier than planned, and said it's comforting to know his family is with him and safe, as

he prepares for the upcoming season. his wife describes event in venezuela as out of control. >> the situation is too harsh. that's the reason i had to come to the states with my daughter. >> like most athletes, alvarez's priority is a winning season for his attempt. with so much tension, the solidarity is growing. >> the few venezuela that we have, we support each other 100% and are focused on working hard. we are training to be 100% ready. >> baseball has been considered america's pastime. many of the players hail from venezuela. this season some of the players are using the profession as an opportunity to share thoughts on more than just thoughts. many players turned to social media do express support for country men and calm.

players from the miami marlins, the detroit tigers, minnesota twins, seattle mariners, philadelphia phillies and washington nationals posted images to twitter and instagram to alert the world to events in venezuela. the players are using hash tags like venezuela, baseball and mlv. the political crisis is more visible to the world because of the intersection between sport and politics. major league leaders support and empathize with the players, but it is ultimately the game that they expect the men to keep top of mind. >> sport guys have a job to do. that's what he's doing, what he's focussed on, going out there pitching. you can only control the things you can control. >> heading into the 2014 soften, alvarez says he's up to date on event and excited to have his

family close at hand, but says his primary fol is to have a -- goal is to have a winning season. >> here is something you don't see every day, that often. never in the state of ohio. two high school hockey teams crowned costate champions after plaining to a 1 bloc playing to a 1-is draw. nothing had been -- 1-1 draw. nothing was decided after seven rounds of overtime. both teams agreed and the coastal caroliner ends a 21 year drought, winning the big south, they could be the first upbeaten team. they are going to be the first heading into the big dance. i remember watching that crazy one on sunday. >> that's hung up on seven overtimes on a hockey team.

the players wanted to keep going. nothing has been decided and people had to go to bed. it's high school. >> a lot of rain in the pacific we.. >> there was, you got my attention when you said drought and dance. if they could raib dance, that's -- rain dance, that's what the folks in the west are doing. you can see the rainfall totalling over an number of for seattle, almost three-quarters for portland. we had records set, all in western washington. from seattle closer inland, 1.27 inches of rainfall. the timing of the records is centring. the last record set 1957. a lot of rain 2-3 inches was falling, and temperatures worming up. that's -- warming up. that's why we had rivers running. and flood watches staying in effect for north-east oregon. we have another round of rain on

the way in the morning hours. we have a bit of a break. due to ice jams causing water to accumulate. a little snow melt. that's adding to the flood concern for riccardo montolivo. as we go -- for montana. i want to show you how the shower activity has dropped down. we are note getting a big impact from the rain in north carolina. a little bit of snow. overnight and in the morning hours it will skip to the north-east. it will be mainly north of manhattan, parts of northern new york, over to connecticut may get a bit of light snow. low temperatures cool for a lot of us. as we get into the day, we can still get up to 50. we are getting the cold air outbreaks, we are warming with the longer days and changing season. >> the next wave of architecture - homes with

build-in water views no matter where you

>> the roll out of a new merge asi letter system in washington state -- emergency alert system? washington state has had problems. it has helped to recover missing students. it sent out messages about weather warnings, including blizzards in the state and flash floods in puerto rico. >> more than 50 dog sled teems are closing in on the finish line of the iditerod. the 1,000 mile course from anchorage to nome. the alaskan winter is a huge physical and logistical challenge. we have been following the race from the ground and air. >> it's the iditerod air force - dozens of volunteer pilots with

their own aircraft carrying food, medical supplies and people to the 23 checkpoints. the dog teams could not race without air support. >> you name it, it's in there. >> is there room for you? >> i squeeze in. i'm small. you like small pilots, light ones too. >> the race passes through remote rugged country. the land dwarfs the dog team and handlers, called mushers, who often run all night through all weather. scattered hamlets host the checkpoints. havens of food and rest. here, dallas, whose father won last year is reviving a tired team, while keeping up family traditions of top flight mushing and bravado. >> i'm having the time of my life, running the best dog team i have run. that's what i love doing. we happen to end up and be

competitive in the race, that's a bonus. >> taking a break at cow tag on the you con, along with a dog is a norwegian competitor. several mushers. six or seven countries are represented, including jamaica, making it an international race. >> but it's a home-state favourite at the front as the finish line looms in a few day's time. ali has been runner-up twice. this year she's setting records along the trails with little snow. as one of the last important checkpoints nears, half the up to is out to welcome her. >> first, her dogs need attention, and then circumstantialingle talks about her amazing run so far. >> i don't think i have a secret. i have a good dog team. i made strategy moves that worked so far. they have to work another 300 miles. >> not far behind are veteran

mushers, one four times. they are determined to use the terrain and remaining days to press in what they call the last great race. >> quite a race speaked. finally rising oceans are threatening cities around the world. architects are looking for solutions helping man live with the sea. lori jane gliha visits a noting village in amsterdam building their own water world. >> this is the heaviest object. >> from the basement bathroom it is explained that this house was built around the bath tub. there's the water there. >> you can see the water, and sometimes i see people swimming or with a canoe. >> all it takes is a peak out the bathroom window to understand why the weighty fixture makes her house tilt a little to one side.

her house floats on water. >> sometimes it really shakes, and because it's attached it shakes not like this, but sometimes it will do this, because it can't move further. sometimes it can be funny. this is the kitchen. we spend a hot of time here, obviously. >> do you get dizzy, i see the water going like this. does that make you feel sea sick. >> not really. not at all. i like the water. this is the dining room, and here we got the family in the evening most of the time. in the summer we open the windows and bark cue and the ducks are around and we feed them. >> the home is one of 75 similar structures built along a series of artificial islands outside the center of the netherlands city. it's a floating village that might be a model for low-lying

communities threatened by weather, storl surges or raising -- storm surges or rising see levels. 60% of the population here lives below sea level. space has been scarce. more than 10 years ago a group much architects and engineers began to brainstorm a way to utilize the water around them. that's when they came up with this. this is the architect who designed a community of floating houses. it took about seven years of reference, engineering and designing. they are loosely anchored in shallow water to a pair of polls. >> these rings go up and down. it moves 50 centimetres in this case. the design has been an inspiration to other countries, including the united states. making a neighbourhood like this work requires creative thinking.

you have to think about where you park the car if you don't have a street, for example. where do you make storage. it's an urban question. you have to make a good urban plan. >> they are excited about growing their family in this innovative neighbourhood and anxious to see what other water site communities may hop on board. >> floating houses in the netherlands, and a lot of american cities interested in the idea. that's the show for tonight. thanks for joining us. i'll be back in an hour with more news. headlines are after this short break. have a good sunday.

>> this is al jazeera america, i'm jonathan betz, with the top stories. >> tensions escalate on the

ground in crimea, pro-russians attacked activists at a rally, secretary of state john kerry told sergei lavrov that the u.s. would close the door to diplomacy. >> the vietnamas navy may have spotted debris belonging to a missing passenger jet. there's no confirmation on the whereabouts of the plane. interpol said it's of no concern that no one checked the database of stolen travel documents before the plane departed. >> the venezuelan government is accused of the using brutal force against protestors. at least 20 died since last month. >> today marks seven years since an american working for the c.i.a. went missing whilst in iran. an investigation by associated press suggested robert levinson vanished whilst spying on the government. secretary of state john kerry

said in a statement that united states is committed to the safe return of robert levinson to his family. >> "talk to al jazeera" with yulia tymoschenko is up next. you can find us online, go to aljazeera.com. why. >> the kremlin today has declared war. not on crimea, not oukraine. bull the crèm kremlin declared n the whole world. ask the world not to let the blood of these peaceful people to be shed.