stories and go behind the scenes at aljazeera.com/"techknow." following us on twitter facebook, google plus and more. >> a malaysian airline mystery - the passenger plane and 239 people on board are still missing. an international mission is underway to find the jet and figure out what happened >> violence between p pro-ukrainian and pro-russian supporters. and the prime minister is coming to america to meet president obama. >> the e.u.'s foreign policy

chief has a sit-down with iran. >> and major league soccer starting to see its investment in the u.s. paying off. with an increasing number of fans in the stand, the league will consider adding new teams. >> hi everyone. welcome to al jazeera america. i'm thomas drayton. we begin this hour with breaking news coming out of california. a magnitude 6.9 quake struck up the coast of northern california, it was about four miles underground, and 40 miles north-west of ferndale california. experts say there's no danger over tsunami, and so far no reports of serious damages are injuries. another developing store gri we are following, the fate of the missing malaysia airlines flight

360 remains a mystery. there has been no black box signals since the aircraft disappeared. the passenger planeway heading from kuala lumpur to beijing. authorities are investigating all angles, including terrorism. >> there's no comfirmation of what the mist earsious object in the south china sea is. it may be part of the missing aircraft the the plab that spotted it -- plane that spotted it had to turn back, because it was too dark. the search mission is expected to resume in the morning. hope fle we'll have the information in a couple of hours. >> a day after two large oil slicks were spotted in the south china sea, comes another development. the vietnamese navy plane

spotted what may be parts of the aeroplane. the navy planes have returned to base and will resume the search on monday. the mystery surrounding flight mh370 is a mystery. it may have turned back. >> questions are being asked as to how two passengers on stolen passports could have avoided the flight. >> behind me is where passengers leaving kuala lumpur goes through immigration. according to interpol no officials in any country checked the database for the stolen austrian passport since they went missing. >> interpol says it's checking all other passports used to abort the missing plane, against its record of stolen or loft

travel documents. malaysian investigators said they are looking at footage taken by security cameras, in particular of the two men travelling with stolen passports. >> we are not ruling any possibility. however, it's important to state that our main concern is to focus our effort in finding the missing aircraft. >> relatives of passengers on board the plane has been waiting for news. until the aircraft has been found, there'll be no answers, only questions and an agonising wait. interpol says the investigation reveals that there are other suspicious documents used to board flight mh370, and they are investigating that at the moment. in a sharply worded statement, it's secretary-general said he hoped that a situation like this

hadn't happened and that countries would take more prudent security members. there's no conclusive proof that the two people who travelled on the stolen documents could be behind the superstition of m-370. security experts pointed out it's not just people that want to carry out terror attacks, but smugglers, traffickers and illegal immigrants do it. until the plane is found or the real identities are discovered, we will not be closer to finding the answer. >> that report from kuala lumpur in malaysia. there are three u.s. citizens on the missing plane. new developments will be brought throughout the morning. >> fighting broke out across ukraine. in the eastern city of luhance, demonstrators stormed a building, removing a ukrainian flag and replaced it with a

russian flag. in the crime earian city, protesters supporting ukraine were attacked. >> in kiev tens of thousands gathered to mourn those killed in the uprising. the prime minister will travel to the white house on wednesday. he'll discuss the standoff with president obama in crimea. it comms days before voting, to determine whether the territory joins russia. there are questions whether the vote to join russia is legal. >> pro-russian marchers support the referendum on rejoining russia, saying it's their legal right to self determination. >> the pro-western movement in kiev says it acted legally in overthrowing the ukrainian government and taking power. all sides in the crisis are trying to justify their actions by citing law books and the

ukrainian constitution. russia says it was illegitimate because it operated outside the law. >> translation: it's an unconstitution all use of power. viktor yanukovych is the only legal president. there's only a few reasons they'll be changed, death, impeachment. >> one of the problems is the constitution has been changed repeatedly since the fall of the soviet union. recently under viktor yanukovych. when the court reinstated an earlier version, making his office more powerful. that was a source of anger. in the latest constitutional argument over kiev, the new argument in crimea and the rest say that the decision to hold a referendum on russia is unconstitutional. this is a constitutional lawyer,

who said the parliament overstepped its authority, unacceptable anywhere in the world. >> can you imagine while reaching this point the spanish population will demand cessation from the united states. russia's intervention sparked an international crisis has drawn in more than regional players. as all sides talk about what is legal and not. russian troops consolidate their hole. >> there'll have to be a legal framework for government, but the country is in real upheaval, with pressing threats. the words written in the constitution may be little more than a tool to justify either side's claim on constitutional

ability. >> vladimir putin defended the separatist drive to crimea. despite calls by western leaders that the vote would violate international law. russia continues to deny its armed forces are active in crimea. its presence is raising tensions with the ukrainian military. >> it's a ukrainian command ship with nothing to command. the crew is doing daily chores, but the armed guards on board are a sign that all is not well. the ukrainian navy can't go anywhere. this is where the blockade is up close and personal. that's a russian mined sweeper bought in a few days ago because the previous crew got too friendly with the ukrainians. >> the commander came on board, demanding the sailors sever their relationship with the ukraine and become part of the pro-crimean forces. they refused.

the deputy captain said there has been other pressure from moscow. representatives from putin offered them food and supplies. they refused. "we thanked them for the offer of cooperation. we don't need their help." wives and girlfriend come to the ship to talk to the sailors. she's worried her boyfriend could end up in oddesa, 200 miles by sea, where some of the ships have gone. >> translation: the government of ukraine can't do anything. it's in the hands of crimean authorities. ukraine can't do anything about it. >> in the crimean capital simferepol, a pro-russian demonstration attracted thousands. a week before deciding whether crimea should join russia or city ukraine. some have already been to

moscow. >> if you know what it is like and feels in moscow, and how happy the russian government was. i thought it was not us joining russia, but russia joining crimea. last week russia captured a base in balaclava bay. on sunday morning russian forces took another base like it in western ukraine. life in this resort town is largely uninterrupted. this man lives here and says he will stay, no matter how the vote goes next week. >> translation: i like it here. i love the sea, the nature, i want to live here. if the majority want to be with russia, we'll be with russia. the blockade makes chores like taking out the trash arduous. no one knows what will happen to

the black sea fleet and its sailors. >> the polls have closed in columbia's election. sunday's vote is viewed as an election on peace talks. the president contained control and will run for re-election. he's an advocate for a peace deal with f.a.r.c. rev else. his rival won is seat in the senate. >> el salvador's election is too close to call - both sides claimed fict -- victory. polls show sanchez ceren has a slight edge never norman quijano, by less than 7,000 votes. >> north koreans went to the poll to elect a new parliament. this is the first vote since kim jong un took power.

the elections, held every five years, is little more than a rubber-stamp. voters are given a choice - yes or no. voting is mandatory. still ahead - a major visit to iran by a top european official. robert levinson vanished seven years ago in iran. the family of the former c.i.a. contractor - what they are doing to bring him home. >> a top mexican drug lord captured and killed. why authorities are sure they got him this time around.

falleelipespdsc >> 47 people were killed on sunday when a security checkpoint was attacked in iraq. the bomber detonated a mini van, and 50 cars virus at least were set off. the attack comes weeks

before the iraq general election. e.u.'s foreign affairs chief catherine ashton is meeting with top officials in iran. her visit comes four months ahead of a deadline for a nuclear agreement between iran and the west. >> the e.u.'s foreign policy chief catherine ashton is in iran on a 2-day visit - a little bit of business and a little bit of pleasure. nuclear talks, the war in syria, human rights here in iran. the nuclear issue weighs over iran's foreign policy. the for-minister spoke about that and talk -- foreign minster spoke about that. and talked about an great that could be reached. he tr stressed there must be no ambiguity. catherine ashton has been regarded as the key to getting a temporary nuclear agreement. that was reached in november.

she, of course, is here as a friend of the foreign minister at the invitation of the foreign ministry to talk about the issues, but also a friendship building exercise. catherine ashton stressed positivity about the talks and that there was no guarantee that any final permanent agreement can be reached. both sides seemed hopeful. >> it has been seven years since former c.i.a. contractor robert levinson went missing in iran. he was seen in photographs, alive, sent to the family three years ago. his family is calling on the u.s. to work with iran to bring him home. >> former federal bureau of investigation agent robert levinson disappeared on kerch island, an island resort off the coast of iran. at the time he was said to be

working as a private investigator, investigating a cigarette matter. >> it doesn't get easier after seven years. we have two new grandchildren, one is just three weeks old, the other four months. it's very difficult. i know how much he would love to be able to see them and put them on his lap. >> robert levinson was last seen alive in these photographs released last year, sent to his family by a private investigator. the robert levinson family released this video. >> last year an associated press investigation reported he'd been working on a mission for the c.i.a. robert levinson's family confirmed the employment. what he was doing in iran was unclear. robert levinson's wife holds out hope. >> i think cooperation between the two countries could resolve

bob's case. i hope the iranians will cooperate and get bob home. secretary of state john kerry released this statement: >> the iranian government denies holing reupena levasa, and says they are unaware of his whereabouts. >> secretary of state john kerry went on to say that robert levinson is one of the longest detained u.s. citizens in history. >> mexico's government says a leader of one of the nation's powerful drug cartels has been killed. but as adam raney reports from mexico city, it's not the first time the king pin, known as "the craziest one" was killed. >> the killing of nazario moreno gonzalez in western mexico comes

two weeks after the government announced the arrest of joaquin guzman, shorty, and he was the head of the sinaloa cartel, the biggest in the world. know they announced the killing of nazario moreno gonzalez, who headed the most powerful organization, the government is trying to show they have control of this ongoing drug war that has been carrying on for seven years. it's a way to show the previous government that being inefficient and effective - they said they killed nazario moreno gonzalez, never produced a body, but people and witnesses could assure it. that was not the case. nazario moreno gonzalez was a mystical figure. he indoctrinated many members of the knights templar, and the government made no doubt about it, saying, "this is the man who led that cartel", which is saying that it was not latutus

who many believed was running the organization. they say the man atop it is believed dead a, but they have killed him. >> adam raney from mexico city. nazario moreno gonzalez led a cartel that morphed into knights templar. >> ahead - why the most popular sport in the world is gaping a foothold. after two weeks a winner is declared in a spelling bee competition. the word that sealed the deal and gave one student a ticket to the national championship.

>> we've had such a mild weekend across the east coast, but it's been soggy and wet with soggy, wet mountain snow in the high elevations to the west. so much rain that society was

record rainfall on the coast. and further south toward olympia, washington. the forecast is one more lot of rainfall. we are not seeing much of an impact in north california, there'll be a lot more rain fall for western oregon. as it moves east, it will come down as snow or idaho. the amount of rain coming council on the frozen rivers will cause ice jams, clogging up the system, causing rivers and creeks to rise. when we talk about the morning hours, we expect some light snow into parts of maine, and it will stay north of the areas. otherwise the storm system will be watching down into the gulf of mexico. with texas will show some

subtropical moisture. we'll see the end by monday morning. we'll get a break for the west. it is interesting. it caused problems in hawaii as well. we had several storm reports. one, a pilot reported a water spout and we had heavy rain, three to four inches. heavy rainfall. for alaska, we are tracking huge low pressure, that is bringing you winter storm warning from sewer to prince william sound. heavy snow, powerful winds for much of the day monday. looking at the disturbance bringing rain fall. you can see it tracking across northern mexico. it will be in the gulf of mexico as we get all the way through tuesday. >> finally a winner in the spelling bee show down in kansas city. >> d-e-fi-in-i-t-i-o-n - chris

sharmer in first place. the slug-fest lasting two weeks. it was postponed because officials ran out of approved words to challenge them. both kids breezed through harder words in the second round. sophia misspelt survitifling. >> i was sat when she messed up that. it would come to that either way. >> i'm excited that i got this far. every kid has done an amazing job. >> he'll be proud. 13-year-old moves on to the national spelling bee in washington. >> when the u.s. first petitioned f.i.f.a. to host a world cup in 1994, it agreed under the condition that a

professional soccer leave be granted in the states. fast-forward to 2014, and as al jazeera's ross shimabuku reports, major league soccer is alive and well and americans are bracing the sport the rest of the world loves. >> 20 years since its inception, a league built on the promise of the world cup. major league soccer is on the up and up. by attracting international stars, growing talent at home and cultivating new rivalries, the future is very bright for the beautiful game. >> that's part of the whole equation. it continues to grow the league and also developing enough players so the quality is good, bringing in players so the quality is good. we are on the right path and it is a fun to be a part of. >> home-grown talent are likely to be accredited with giving the

league credibility, which is paramount for the participation of the product on the feel. >> we have jermain defoe trying to make the english world cup, coming to major league soccer in toronto. and julian cesare trying to get somewhere where he can play games and be sharp to go into a world cup with his home country, where they are expected to win. he's chosen major league soccer in toronto. >> this 19-year-old has garnered attention. he has chosen to stay in the u.s. come on, you can't complain. underage. cahill, mike mcgee, great players to be around with. i was not expecting this, especially at a young age, to play against some of these players. it's exciting.

>> when you have someone like david beckham, one of the most popular people in the world that wants to continue being a part of our league, that speaks well. when you have a team like manchester city investing a lot of money to be in new york city with the yankees, that says a lot about our league. we are proud of what is going on. the more the merrier. >> with david beckham's franchise, new york yankees set to kick off in 2015, there'll be two large power players. five cities will vie for two franchises in 2016. attendance this season is to increase 250% from initial offerings in 2006. for those that thought soccer could not work in america - time to think again. >> for a couple of those cities mls expansion teams are atlanta and minneapolis.

that's a look at sport. >> that'll do it for this edition of al jazeera. i'm thomas drayton in new york. you can log on to aljazeera.com for the latest headlines. thanks for watching. this is a special edition of "the listen post." we devote this program to the government. to say he takes a hands-on approach with the media is to understate the case. he's been known to call news editors personally and demand changes on what's on the air. the editors grant the wishes and complain about government intimidation. there's