thank you. the decision continues, you can find us on twitter@aj consider this. see you next time. >> the polls are closed, the votes are in. crimea decides to breakaway from ukraine, and join russia. >> the search for answers in the disappearance of malaysia airlines flight 370 focussing on the pilots. what investigators found in one of their homes that's raising eyebrows. >> the mayor of boston skipping his city's st patrick's day parade. a brewery is doing the same for monday's festivities in new york. >> the manufacturers would like

to sell new phones every 18 months. >> out with the old, in with the new - why electronic trash is creating an environmental nightmare. >> hi, there. welcome to al jazeera america. i'm thomas drayton, good to have you was. a developing situation out of ukraine. an overwhelming majority of people in crimea voted to ses eed from ukraine and join russia. >> victory parties broke out before the polls closed. russian supporters danced in the street. it was one of the largest election turn-outs ever in a european nation. here are the results:

>> ukraine's leaders, the united nations, europe and the white house condemn sunday's election. nick schifrin is in simferepol with more on the historic referendum. >> it is pouring around me, and that is the only thing that could get all of these celebrators off the streets tonight. if you talk to international and domestic monitors, they list a long list of irregularities. they say the voter poll was not accurate, the population was intimidated by pro-russian troops and militia that were armed on the streets, and the ballot was down to two questions - join russia now or later. but talk to the people and they don't care, they got to decide their own destiny. >> for the majority of crimeans,

march 16th will be known as independence day. the day they voted to separate from a ukraine they never wanted to be part of. the day they voted to join a russia that they call a mother land. >> i'm happy to be russia. it's my choice, my voice today. i'm lucky to be in russia. >> they celebrated one of the most lopsided votes europe has posted. for 12 straight hours, one after another after another tipped the same box. as this mother put it, it's never too early to vote for russia. this man feels loyal to his soviet army comrades. he delivers orders to young soldiers, to different kinds of battles. the former general voted in his

old dress uniform. during an interview he showed off his long inspired soviet passport. >> absolutely, i'm going home. >> as the population turns towards moscow, they are turning their backs on the west. it's led to calling the vote anything but fair. at this polling station in a southern town, instead of police or election officials pro-russian militia were running the security. they blocked access to a room we were authorised to film. he tried to talk us out of filming. he tried to make us stop filming. >> excuse me, do have you a problem. he runs away despite my efforts.

he wants nobody to see him, but his militia is still in plane view. here, and at this station 20 miles away. they create a gauntlet for prospective voters. inside we found voting booths empty. in this area half the population is russian tatar, they fear russian persecution and boycotted the vote. nothing could stop the celebration tonight. >> what i can say, we are very happy. it's our region. they don't care that the west calls the vote a fraud. all they care about is for moscow to welcome them home. >> the local government is expected to waste no time tomorrow, they'll pass a resolution asking the russian reslation to invite crimea into

its orbit. they are expected to send a delegation to moscow. and the deputy cm is talking about replacing the local currency with the russian ruble. >> in southern crimea russian flags are flying high. not everyone is celebrating the vote. gasz jennifer glasse has more from sevastopol. >> going to church has become political. this couple decided not to vote. >> translation: how can we have free choice under the barrel of the gun. >> translation: there's no option for crimea to remain in ukraine >> the church sits next to a ukrainian base, surrounded by troops that arrived two weeks ago. inside they are praying for a peaceful resolution, these are ethnic ukrainians, making up 15%

of the population. other parishioners say they'll stay here despite the referendum. crimea is caught in a geopolitical mess. >> we retrieved the giants, russia, usa, n.a.t.o. and warsaw packed countries. just a little pawn in world politics. >> the scene is different in sevastopol. before the polls closed, the atmosphere is jooub lent. the people here say this is a day they've waited for for 30 years. they say live will be better under russia. >> crimea is and was linked to russia. it's a crowd pleaser, this song. the russian flag is the accessory of choice. today is the first time this man has voted for anything or anyone. it was never a leader or issue

that mattered to him, until now. >> translation: i voted for russia, because it's our only choice, russia. >> translation: my daughter, my son, my husband. we all voted for russia. we are ukrainian, my husband is in the russian military for 36 years. we love the city and can't live without it. >> there's a deep mistrust of the west. i'm lectured how barack obama in the state department orchestrated the fall in the government of kiev. most people here don't care what the rest of the world things about the referendum or their future. they welcome the opportunity to chart their own course and say now they are going home to russia. >> the government in kiev is

condemning the vote in crimea. as ben rr reports, ukraine's prime minister says those responsible for the referendum will be prosecuted. >> while crimea was voting, ukrainian government ministers in kiev huddled and conferred. what should the practical response be to the event? >> the answer came from the prime minister - find the money, and fast. >> sunday's session at the cabinet office was an emergency meeting and prime minister arseniy yatsenyuk emphasised why. there needs to be a 10-fold increase in defense spending. those calling for russian intervention, the verdict was scathing. >> let there be no doubt the ukrainian state will find ring leaders, who now, shielded by the russian troops are attempting to destroy ukrainian

independence. we'll find them all. if it takes a year, two years, we'll bring them to just. the earth will burn beneath their feet. a convoy of ukrainian armoured vehicles has been moving into position south of the town. russian forces across the border, 50 miles from here, ukraine will respond. that's happening here on the crimean peninsula. russian forces which landed on a strip of land outside the crimean border dug in around the gas supply nation, and showed no sign of pulling back. local residents can only watch and worry. >> they say they are protecting us from terrorists act, but don't say what. >> for a second day in donetsk, pro-russian demonstrators staged

voint demonstrations. they replaced a ukrainian flag with a russian one. the crimean referendum has added that the crisis in ukraine is very much ongoing. >> the thangs in ukraine have come quickly. less than a month ago. viktor yanukovych fled. a week later susha seized bases. ukraine's parliament told them to pull back. vladimir putin released. crimea's merment announced that it wanted to join russia and set the date for a referendum. it let the day with 95% of crimeans voting to become part of the referendum. >> united states and europe are responding to the vote in crimea. both say russia will pay is a

price. >> president obama told the russian president vladimir putin that the u.s. will never recognise crimea assist part of russia. obama spoke with vladimir putin after the results of the referendum were announced. the white house released a statement saying sunday's referendum violates ukrainian's constitution. putin, fired back saying: >> president obama was not the only world leader condemning the referendum. european union described the photo as illegal and illegitimate. the e.u. refuses to recognise the outcome, issuing a statement calling for diplomacy. working together through diplomatic processes can we find a solution to the crisis.

the e.u. called on russia to pull back soldiers, and will meet to discuss sanctions. sanctions are also on the table in washington, as well as a diplomatic push. secretary of state john kerry, and the white house, are prepared to work with russian foreign minister sergei lavrov. talks on friday between john kerry and sergei lavrov end d in failure. the speaker of crimea's regional assembly says moscow's response to the referendum will be fast. >> so far there is has been no threat of military force from the u.s. or the e.u. moves on eastern or southern ukraine would escalate the situation. still ahead - focussing on the pilot for answers on the mystery of malaysian flight 370. what investigators found in the home of one of the pilots raising suspicions. >> the end to a case hats become

a black eye for america's military. a plea deal for a top general. >> snow falling on the front lawn at the white house. washington hunkers down for what may be winter's last dance.

o >> 25 countries are involved in the search for the missing malaysia airlines flight. the search area spans from central asia to the southern indian ocean. flight 370 was flying from kuala lumpur to beijing with 239 on board. a team of investigators will travel to malaysia to help the search. they'll join several americans with the national transportation safety board, who are there. >> they are investigating all option, including the possibility that the plane was intentionally diverted.

they are trying to find out more about the pilots. >> inside this gated community is the home of malaysia airlines captain zaharie ahmed shah. police confirmed they have searched it, interviewed his family and examining the flight simulator the pilot kept at his house. zaharie ahmed shah's friend were quick to defend him. this was posted on youtube. most believe he could not be involved. >> i know him as a person that cares tore people. if anything would happen to the plane, he'd make sure crew and passengers, their welfare is taken care of instead of thinking about himself. >> in a nearby suburb is the copilot's home, which police searched a day earlier. the captain and copilot did not ask to fly together. >> fariq abdul hamid was also aledged to have invited people

amounts into the cockpit in 2011 and was said to be smoking on board. a neighbour describes him as courteous. >> i didn't know much about the family. i just can say i hope all the news doesn't want to expose how bad, because i think this is - because of the pilot, no one want it to happen. >> mohammed was a passenger on board the flight. he's an aircraft engineer on his way to beijing for work. his father says he has not been questioned by investigators, and pleaded for an end to speculation about who might be behind the disappearance. >> translation: give time to the government to investigate all angles of the case. >> investigators are waiting for other countries to furnish them

with background checks. malaysian police are looking not just at the crew and passengers on flight 370, but engineers that may have had contact with the aircraft before it took off. this means a list of potential suspects has grown. there's no indication of what might have commandeered the plane, and why. >> the devastated loved ones of those aboard flight 370 have unanswered questions. texas ibm give philip wood was among those on the flight. his family believe he's still alive and are not giving up hope. >> we believe he's alive. in our hearts we believe he's alive. god's in control, you know. with all the twists and turns through the week, it's given us hope. woods' partner has created a

facebook page encouraging them to keep hope alive. >> north korea fires dozens of rockets into waters. they flew nearly 44 miles. up to 25 short-range missiles were fired. north korea says it's part of the regular training and exercises. south korea called them reckless and provive. >> a u.s. army general agreed to a plea deem. brigadier general jeffrey sinclair no hanger faces sexual assault charges. the case against sinclair crumbled. >> he could have faced life, now he'll escape prison time. army veteran jeffrey sinclair saw the most serious charges of sexual assault against him dropped. instead he'll plead to lesser charges, including improper relations with three subordinate army officers, as well as

adultery. the serious charges were sexual assault lodged against him stemming from on incident, when both were on tour of duty in afghanistan. recently it was found that the captain had provided conflicting testimony over the course of her pre-trial testimony. there was political taint among the upper etcha lons. sexual impropriety in the military, top brass called it a crisis, it's up 60%. there was a debate in the isn't sit. senator gillibrand had a proposals to remove the complaints is adjudication away from the chain of command. it didn't happen, a different piece of legislation from a democrat of missouri won the day in the senate. there was documentation where

these matters were discussed, and how the case may impact the debate in the senate. it was found to be politically tainting in the trial, and the case against general sinclair. >> still ahead - the mayor of boston sitting out the st patrick's day as a show of solidarity with the gay community. another mayor is about to do the same. one of the world's largest breweries is following suit. >> you broke the screen, the battery died or maybe you want a slick new device. what happens to the old cell phone if you don't recikle it. turns out mother nature has a good

>> a new round of thunder storms for parts of the south-east today, and a good round of snow that's coming down in the mid-atlantic. we are getting a lot of snow in parts of the north-west.

montana, mountain snow and idaho. we are getting hit with snow across kentucky. washington another winter commute. another part of the story is whipped. some of the places getting the snow are getting the winds, especially in eastern washington. this is where the gusts are 50 to 60 miles per hour. through the night we had powerful gusts around hawaii. the wind warning will expire for you. we'll have gusts across iowa, 30 miles per hour expected here. otherwise we are seeing just edge of the winds along the east coast. storms moving through, dumping 4 to 8 inches of know in the low lands of kentucky over to virginia, and west virginia. if you look closely, the hot pink area, for the highest snow accumulations. add a little elevation, and you

get more snow. on the higher hills, expect closer to a foot of snow. it's a stormy day to start out, and cold as well. some of the cold air is mixing with the moisture to the gulf coast and thunder storms we had to alabama and mississippi. let's talk st patrick's day. and parades are going on across the board. one in particular from new york, we could wake up and have a really cold one here. temperatures in the mid 20s when the parade is going on, and wind gusts going as well. for savannah, one of the largest st patrick's day, that starts at 10:15. we expect rain showers. they'll increase and become more intense. temperatures cold in the east,

and will stay cool for the highs too, but warm for the west. >> gay rights are front and center at the st patrick's day. new york city mayor bill de blasio will buoy got the parade because marchers are not allowed to carry gay pride signs. hinicen and guinness dropped their sponsorship of the new york parade. in boston, the mayor sat out the city's parade because organizers would not allow a gay group to march openly. >> with little incentive to recycle. 20 million tonnes of mobile devices were thrown in the trash. >> this is probably several months worth of phones. >> broken or outdated phones brought in by people that can't use them. at a repair center in new york,

they'll recycle them for you. if part because it's the law in yate, and it's the right thing to -- united states, and it's the right thing to do. >> we get a few a week. most people want to repair it. >> that's not the case around the globe. consumers throw their broken cellphones out or upgrade to new technology. worldwide 22 to 25 tonnes of mobile devices are disposed of every year. 12% are recycled. the u.s. is responsible for 3.4 million tonnes. >> discarded devices end up in india and china. the monetary value outweighing local environmental consequences, and possible medical side effects. upstream on environmental recycling adcrow cassie group said manufacturers are to blame. >> i think the cell phones are not made to be repairable.

in part of the technology is getting better, but also in part because the cell phone manufacturers would like to sell us new phones. replacing a battery in an apple product is virtually impossible. they want you to send it back at considerable expense so it looks attractive to buy a new device. some say the latest and greatest phones are not offering much. >> all are different generations of phones. >> as a result. tech recycle advertisements are urging folks to recycle. >> for better or for worse. marriage is certainly a constant state of compromise. a tradition in the u.k. takes the idea to a new level with the annual wife-carrying race. husbands run more than 1200 feet with their wives holding on for

deer life any way they can. this was the seventh annual ace. the origins go back to the vikings. that'll do it for this edition of al jazeera. i'm thomas drayton. we leave you with live pictures of a very snowy nation's capital. thanks for watching. >> the far north of europe - a place of extraordinary beauty - home to an astonishing array of