america.me to al jazeera i'm dell walters these are the stories we are following for you. russia's political will only increase if it continues down it's current path. >> vice president biden threatening more sanctions as russian's president now lucked crimea into the fold. day 11 now of that missing malaysia airliner, demanding

answers about the fate of their loved ones. and day two of the sentencing hear of a u.s. general who before a plea deal faced life. ♪ . >> another day of topments concerning ukraine. vladimir putin signing a treaty to annex the region of crimea. meanwhile, ukraine's prime minister saying ukraine will not join nato just for the sake of preserving the unity of the ukraine. plus, poland this morning vice president biden threatening russia with even more sanctions and there are conflicting reports about an incident, ukraine's prime minister saying russian soldiers fired on servicemen calling it a war crime, but there are other reports it may have

been ukrainian on ukrainian violence. jennifer glass, phil ittner is in kiev, and daniel lewis is in london, but we begin with jennifer, i understand people celebrating as that treaty was being signed making it efficiently part of russia. >> that's right. people here are very happy that this is all moving so quickly. crimea declared independence. today they were in moscow sitting next to russian president and signing that deal. they couldn't be happier, they feel it right as historical wrong that was made 60 years ago by then soviet leader, then it didn't make any difference, this is all the soviet union, and even though there are western objections despite what the west thinks crimeas here are very happy to be coming back to russia. >> we sit here so cheerily, i am very pleased. we dreamted about this

for so long, we were born in the u.s.s.r., and that's why we are happy to go back home. >> and many people here now are waiting to see when they can get their passports. a lot of administrative things moving forward, people we have spoken to, certain her here are very very pro russian city, very happy about this development that vladimir is behind them will and soon be their leader. >> now we know the treaty has been signed. so what else needs to happen to farmlize the succession into russia? >> just a couple more things. the constitutional courts in moscow has to reedify, and then it goes back to both houses of the russian parliament, where they will reedify the deal as well. and then that's it, crimea becomes part of the russian republic. it is just a matter of timing when they can make that happen. we saw them welcome president putin, and when he talked about crimea,

he talks about the historical ties to russia, and how this is something the people have wanted that russia has always been with crimea, and it has also been a part of russia, he had very very harsh words for the west. >> with the united states at their head, prefer to be guided not by international law, but by the right of the force. they believe that force and that exclusivity, and their right to resolve the fate of the world, but they are always right, they do whatever they feel is just. they use force against sovereign states. they build coalitions under principle who is not with us, he is against us. >> and i have to say, mrs. a lot of anti-western sentiments on the streets. people do stop and ask us who we are, when they learn i'm american, some of them get very adepressive saying why

are you trying to i believe pose your will on us, they are say we have voted we have chosen, leave us alone. >> jennifer glass for us, jennifer, thank you very much. phil ittner is in kiev where there are very real concerns that russia will not stop at crimea, a tail of east verses west, and also up till a short while ago, two countries filled these brothers at one time now very wided in ukraine. >> yeah, that's right. it is apt you put it that way as brothers. there is a sense here that they are still brothers but the brother that is out in moscow is being controlled by an aggressor. they refuted vladimir putin's speech today, they said that crimea does not have the right to unilaterally pull away and in addition to that, there's a real sense here that the russians led by vladimir putin have

intentions grander, plans on the east of this country, in particular, siting some of the words that were said in vladimir putin's speech. the prime minister of ukraine had this to say about possible provocateurs. >> agencies have gathers convincing evidence of the special services in organizing unrest in the east of our country. there are saboteurs who have been arrested. there is no place in ukraine for these warmongers. >> now, dell, we have seen protests out in the east of the country, in places those are prorussia -- many ethnic russians out there that do lean towards russia. the authorities here in kiev say that's not a natural occurrence. that this is become stoked unby those agitators. that is a claim moscow

denies. >> and phil, talk about your rapidly changing landscapes just last month, the people behind you in independent square were celebrating the fact that they were beginning a new government, now we have seen crimea slid off to join russia, how the interim leaders and we say interim because they have only been on the job less than a month, how are they responding to the speech? >> well, dell, they responded of course, negatively to that speech, and we do call them interim, we call them interim for a variety of reasons not least of which is because they have called for an election in may. they are just a caretaker government, after the ousting of viktor yanukovych. this is supposed to be a process here, but the acting members say that moscow's efforts to undermine them, to create instability around the country, is making it very difficult for them to get on their feet. they have also mobilized

the military. to not only keep control of the situation. they have an international frontier now. is not a recognizable government, but they have to come to the realization that with ought those boots on the ground, they do not have new borderline. >> as we have been indicating this is a global crisis. vice president biden and poland earlier today, warning russia saying the u.s. and europe will impose further sangs on moscow for annexing eye mia. dana lewis has been following all of the developments where the british foreign minister spoke out. and dana, the american vice president using harsh language describing the events unfolding in moscow.

>> i think western leaders especially vice president biden today clearly accusing president putin of torquing not only recent history but the events oen the ground in the crimea. just blowing a lot of smoke and mirrors and that it was nonsenses. the vice president was no nonsenses about annexing the crimea. he characterized what happened as a brazen military intervention by russia, unlike putin who said he was there to save the lives of ethnic russians. a land grab in his words. to reassure poland and nato countries on russia's borders that nato is there to protect them, and he starting quoting article five, that one for all, all for one, that if they are an attack on one is an

attack on all, and that nato is there to stand with them, let's listen to what he had to say. >> the president obama and i, view article 5 as a sol lemn commitment not only for our time but for all time. we take it deadly serious. that's why the united states is just deployed 12 f. 16 fighter jets to the air base in poland. in his conversations, u.s. president biden with poland's prime minister, tusk called the actions a challenge to the free world, and then they talked about long term strategy there, in terming of breaking away from this life long of gas supplies not only through ukraine, but through all of europe. so that has been a big thing, that the prime minister of poland has been pushing that they need to have a long term plan. if they are going to take

sanctions which they are now doing, they need a lifeline in terms of gas supplies. maybe some direct shipments from american to poland, and also they need to help ukraine, because very soon they will come under serious pressure. >> and also harsh language saying the u.k. is now suspending it's military cooperation with russia in light of the crisis and that includes military shipments that go to russia each year. i think they amount to a figure of 80 million pounds but $120 million annually, there's ammunition, there's parts for aircraft, parts of helicopters, there are joint naval exercises, that are scheduled they have now been canceled in fact there was just a recent visit scheduled for a royal navy vessel which has been pulled back as well. >> dana lewis for us, continuing our team coverage of the crisis, dana, thank you very much. meanwhile, russia's member shut has now been

sus spented. french foreign minister announcing today that the remaining seven nations calling off preparations for the june g. 8 summit. saying that president obama now inviting the remaining nations. focus now is on how to respond to the crisis in ukraine. and the world financial markets are reacting positively. the dow right now is up 84 points adding to yesterday's triple different rally. in europe's stocks moved immediately higher as the president russia spoke, and stays there. london and the german rising more than 1%, and the tack 40, higher by nearly one pest, and russia itself, the main stock index also up, it is up 4% today. and oil traders appear to have shifted their focus from the ukraine to the u.s. economy, and tomorrow's fed meeting the prices here are up 1.5% today. meanwhile the clock and ticking on a permanent deal. leaders from iran and

five others meeting today for another round of talks. that will cut the nuclear activities in response for ending sanctions against tehran. iran's foreign minister saying this round could be the toughest so far. still to come, an army general back in port, general jeffery isn't clair wants to be -- waiting to be sentenced in north carolina. >> and some of the relatives of those onboard flight 370, now demanding information from 345 lay sean airline.

two people are dead following a helicopter crash in seattle. the news chopper going down near the space needle there. another person in a car is injured and is now in critical condition. that helicopter belonging to affiliate abc.

at fort brag north carolina now day two of a sentencing case in a high profile case. the most serious charges against him were dropped after he entered a plea deal. in the what kind of penalties does he face now to the charges he has pleaded guilty to. >> well, as you just said, he has already pled guilty to numerous charges and with those charges he could face up to 25 1/2 years in prison. of course, as the defense has its way, he will "go home to his family and simply face a reduction in rank." now over the last several days the general has pled guilty to numerous charges ranging from adultery, mistreating his former misstress, and causing her emotional distress, as well as engaging in inappropriate relationships with subordinates. we heard already from the accuser and his former

misstress, who cried on the stand talking about the torment that she continues to endure. the accuser says she sleeps with a loaded gun every night, and this morning we heard from one of the women who sinclair did plead guilty to attempting to have an inappropriate relationship with, she also cried she says that she feels victimized by this case, and this is already take an toll on her professionally. now we also spoke to a defense attorney before the proceeding they told reporters that yesterday after the court proceedings, and after the latest plea deal, that one of the prosecutors admitted that the military overcharged in this case. and that the sexual assault charges against sinclair should never have been brought. they say that privately but they don't publicly. it isn't a surprise that the forcible sodomy charged were dismissed. >> what is this it looks like snow. now, the military says it

is working on a response to that. sinclair is expected to read a statement in court, his wife is not expected to testify. though we have been told, dell that she has written a letter of support. >> and natasha, as part of that plea deal, it limit fire department maximum sentence he can serve, what do we know about that? >> it's called a quantum. the judge won't know what that maximum sentence is until after he offered his sen fence, is what will happen is sinclair will serve the lesser of with two. >> at fort brag north carolina, the army base down there, thank you very much. veterans of three wars are being honored today at the white house, the president will honor 24 in all. they will be awarded the metal of honor, they served in world war ii, korea, and the vietnam war. all of the men being honor redirect examination minority

whose were once overlooked. friends and relatives confronting airline officials demanding more information today. also angry about how the malaysian government is handling the investigation. >> you only mentioned questions regarding food, drinks and compensation, i don't need this. i need to know the whereabouts of my relatives. i want to know where the plane is and you can't give me an answer. >> relatives say they will go on a hunger strike if they don't give more accurate information. meanwhile the search itself is in day 11, it's radar detect add plan that may have been flight 370. describe what they call a twisting flight path, they said they didn't share the information, because they weren't specifically asked for it. as the the search area, it now covers 2 million nautical square miles. lisa stark has the latest on the investigation.

>> tell us what you were doing. >> as investigation gators search the home of the plane's captain, and the residents of the co-pilot, authorities now say an analysis of the air traffic control recording reveals who spoke the last words from the cockpit. it was the man in the right seat. >> show the investigation indicates it was the co-pilot, who basically spoke the last time it was recorded on tape. >> that was 27-year-old fa reek abdul who calmly said all right, good night, when he was told to contact comers in vietnam. that contact never happened. investigators revised their time line saying the two communication systems that were switched off on the jet, may have both been disabled in the minutes after that final radio transmission. >> it does not change our belief, that up until the point in which it left radar coverage, the

movements were consistent with deliberate action. >> investigators have refused u.s. intelligence assistance into the renewed focus on the pilots. >> they do need to get fbi profilers as well as human performance psychologists in there, and i keep hearing that they are holding people off. >> 26 countries are now involved in the hunt for the plane, which could be anywhere between central asia, to the west of australia. deep in the indian ocean. >> . >> the australian air force has conducted two sweeps over the southern search corer door. another sweep is scheduled to take place later today. we owe it to the people on this ill fated flight, and their families to do what what we can to solve this tragic mystery. >> malaysian officials try to narrow the search area asking for any satellite and radar information that may help tie officials now just

turning over some military radar 11 days after the accident. is delays like that again, raising questions about how this investigation has been conducted. lisa stark, al jazeera, washington. >> checking business news, what's in your wallet a little less right now, coming supers getting hit with higher grocery bills. a labor department reporting the cost of food rose to it's highest levels in two years. they say the drought in the west and greater demanding causing a lot of price hikes. the congress department reporting new home construction fell for a third straight month. but there was one encouraging sign, applications for building permits rising to their highest level in four importants. and low income workers are struggling to save for retiement. there's a new survey that find a third of those working now have less

than $1,000 put away, and a majority of them make $35,000 or less. wal-mart want as piece of the $2 billion used video game market. next week the retailer will allow consumers to trade in used video games for store credit. which game stop shares by the way are falling on that news. straight ahead on the road again. motorists get back on the street after a partial ban telling them they just couldn't drive. >> warmer temperatures in the forecast, will it be here in time for the first day of spring? coming up.

welcome back to al jazeera. vladimir putin signing that treaty today. crimea's prime minister also on hand for that signing ceremony. western nations including the u.s. have condemned

the referendum. a sentencing harsh languaging is underway for a brigadier general convicting of mistreating a subordinate who happened to be his former misstress. that dismissed the most serious charge of sexual assault. is first now in day 11, the search area expanding to more than 2 million nautical square miles relatives of some passengers sky they will go on a hunger strike if malaysia authorities don't give them more information about the fate of their loved ones. three al jazeera journalists have been held now in an egyptian prison for 80 days. all accused of having links with a terrorist organization. returning recently from egypt, he says he was upsetting and had to travel back home. >> last time i visited

him i was astound big strength he is showing. obviously it is extremely tough conditions there. but i guess he's had to prepare himself mentally to get through these. >> al jazeera continues to reject all of the charges and we demand their immediate release. scheduled to appear in court again next week march 24th. paris is lifting that partial driving ban after just a day. officials say the pollution is now safe. under the temporary ban only drivers with odd license numbers were allowed to drive on monday, but not everybody obeyed. police issues 5,000 fines they say they will now measure the pollution daily if needed and they will stop the people from driving. good to see some good news coming out of france today. >> need to measure the inches of snow coming down. >> yeah. >> i just had to talk about, dealing with more, and quite a bit more. little light snow, the

snow pushes off the coast. spinning back more moisture, low clouds and rain, even some ice still coming down across the southeast. but anyone where it drops below freeze canning see additional accumulations of ice, watch that closely. watching this band here really develop and intensify from nebraska to south dakota, in through minnesota, and this can be one to maybe a little more inches per hour. with this snow coming down, and it is not moving much. ten winter storm warnings in effect right along here, and this ban continues all the way through the great lakes. so a good number of inches comings down as it slowly begins to clear out. bringing also bringing the warm air up from the south, and this will slowly work it's way east. that will push the temperatures up a bit. there was that heaviest snow, with that storm there, over the northern plains. in the middle we have high pressure, be uh that cold air is still sticking around, and lit be doing so here over the

next day. but for the start of spring on thursday, here is what happens. way will watch that storm closely there over nebraska and kansas, oklahoma, we are getting the cool air here, across new england, down through the mid atlantic, but high pressure will move out. and we have the warm air moving up. east of this storm, behind it it gets coder. maybe even some ice here over central pennsylvania. but by thursday as the storm moves out, here is that warm air. followed by cold air with with that light snow sticking up over the great lakes again, more snow. >> again. thank you very much. here is something you don't hear that often, the u.s. and cuba celebrating seems they work together to preserve the legacy of earnest hemingway on monday. visiting his former home outside of havana, giving the massachusets dome and the u.s. delegation a tour inside the place where hemingway pen misdemeanor of his famous

works, in the recent years the house was in danger of collapse, prompting both u.s. and cuban scholars. that's where he penned the "the old man in the sea." 101 east is next. >> no other sport can kick off mass emotion in indonesia like football, even if the national team languishes near the bottom of world rankings. >> indonesians, they're really crazy. we can see their ranking in fifa is going down, going down, going down. but every game in the stadium, 80,000 people, 90,000 people. >> even local competitions turn smaller stadiums i