and sends a clear message which is the ukraine should decide their own destiny. >> reporter: on balance there are people in crimea who welcome annexation but some their world has been turned up side down and crimea's beginning is the end of life as they know it. >> investigative journalist lives for her family and for her work, thanks to her video the world saw the mile long line of russian troops and tanks that arrived in crimea and thanks to her they saw when russian troops first drove through the city of

kurch and set up checkpoints. >> translator: we were seeing more armored personnel vehicles, military vehicles and equipment pouring in the peninsula by the road. >> reporter: exposing the russian invasion she received an scorn of pro-russian activists and i met her two weeks ago in her hometown, is it safe to object to the presence? >> people are aggressive against everything ukraine but not just for the year. >> reporter: she was documenting the strangle hold only crimea and kept getting threats and i spoke to her again today, this time when she was on the run. >> translator: the soldier who was guarding the military base was stroking his ak and told me i would not recommend you filming here because my gun can see as far as the lens of your camera and my next filming might end with my death. >> reporter: on that day arena decided it was too dangerous to stay. >> translator: we will have to

find new jobs and start our lives again in a new city and we will leave everything behind and everything we created, this is very sad. >> reporter: do hopes come back? >> translator: it's very difficult, very painful to leave because my child, my husband remain behind. my child needs to finish her school year to not be traumatized and my husband needs to try and save our property so we are not left with nothing. >> reporter: i'm sorry i couldn't hold it in. >> to save her family she felt she had to leave them because her work had made them a target. >> translator: when i leave my

child will be in relative safety since there is no war the main danger for my family is me and what i do. >> reporter: she continues bearing witness to a crimea that is becoming russian but for now the invasion, the annexation has left her silenced and al jazeera, in crimea. >> reporter: coming up, on al jazeera america, boom times in one state creating a housing crisis with families caught in the middle. ♪

>> start with one issue ad guests on all sides of the debate. and a host willing to ask the tough questions and you'll get... the inside story ray suarez hosts inside story weekdays at 5pm et / 2pm pt only on al jazeera america venezuela put in prison a person and accused of stoking violent protests there and demonstrations started last month and 31 people killed and dozens of people injured including some caught in the cross fire and we report. >> reporter: antonio recently moved back to his native

venezuela from spain not dreaming he would be attacked being near an antidemonstration and insists he was not part and said hooded thugs forced him to run and shot him in the back with metal pellets landing him in the hospital. >> translator: they were armed and faces covered and we saved the shell and said they are the same used by the security forces. >> reporter: the incident is one of many alleged cases of abuse not only by progovernment groups but also the security forces and opposition-led venezuela presented to the nation's chief prosecutor. >> several groups are being armed and with the support of the government, there are 40 cases of torture already verified by us and our organization and a lot of claims that we have received different people regarding abuse, police abuse, torture or cruel treatment.

>> reporter: the president seen here at the funeral of a national guardsman shot this week during a demonstration puts all the blame on violent protesters whom he calls right wing fascests and al jazeera asked the president about charges of abuses by his supporters and security forces. >> translator: if there is even one case of torture let them denounce it to me. as head of state i will immediately investigate and punish those guilty with all the weight of the law. this is not a government of torture as all represses. >> reporter: such assurances have not convinced opposition to take part in a recently formed truce by the parties. it is ground zero for the opposition and the protests are peaceful and at least for now the national guard is letting them take place. [chanting] while it may be relatively calm here clashes, arrests and killings continue in several parts of the country.

certain to intensify the battle over who is most to blame for the ongoing violence and i'm with al jazeera caracas. yellen's comments weigh on wall street and the dow is up 67 point and suggesting an interest rate hike could come sooner rather than later and the existing home market could not shake off the winter chill with homes for sale and reality groups say previously owned homes fell to 19 month low in february and north dakota is booming thanks to the oil industry but the jobs have a down side and it's tough to find places to live in williston and we have a part one of the series, the new frontier. >> reporter: eric makes the

best of a very crass situation in a mobile home and the living room is an office and no room for household items and they are stationed in a shed. >> the gun safe and freezer and it's pretty packed. >> reporter: small and the mobile home was the most affordable option for the civil engineer and wife and son who moved to north dakota oil country from oregon. >> 1800 a month is a good deal for this right here in this town. for sure there is two bedroom apartments going for 3,000. >> reporter: and williston, north dakota is not only a boom town but the most expensive rental market in the nation as thousands flock to the area for work in the oil fields. since 2010 the population doubled from 15,000 residents to roughly 30,000 but work is plentiful and housing isn't so donor developers are rushing

there. >> they are building homes for oil service workers but rent here won't be cheap. >> corporate contracts coming in and depending on the people and the agreement it has come to and we aim for 1399 a night. >> reporter: north dakota has a major housing problem on its hands and spent $50 million over the past few years building affordable housing in the state but mostly here in the oil patch. so far the state subsidized about 1200 apartment units with lower rents for so called essential workers like teachers, police officers and nurses but they say that hardly put a dent in the problem. mercy medical center got a state grant to build a $11 million complex for staff who couldn't find housing. ceo-matt rented out 66 units and

worried how he will accommodate new hires. >> we have 25-30 full-time opportunities and as of today we no longer have guaranteed apartments we can put somebody into. >> reporter: as more housing gets built they think it will get less expensive and eric is not waiting for that to happen. >> a garage and a laundry room down here. >> reporter: he is building a $275,000 home his family will move into this summer. that is still to you a lot of money? >> that is a heck of a lot of money, my house in oregon was half that. >> reporter: that is the price you pay for the american dream. diane in williston, north dakota. >> reporter: it's the first day of spring and weather when we come back. ♪

welcome back to al jazeera america, i'm dale walters and here are your headlines at this hour, a possible citing of

debris from the missing plane and putting it 1500 miles off the australian coast in the indian ocean and searches have ended for the day but gives them some hope. the standoff in crimea continues to drag on a day after seizing ukraine headquarters and surrounded another military base and despite the threat of sanctions they are moving to make the take over of crimea permanent. we are following breaking news out of ft. bragg, california and the general and mistress is over and sentencing happening moments ago and we are joined by phone from ft. bragg, natasha. >> reporter: there is a lot of laughing, smiling and hugging on the part of st. claire and defense team. this is exactly what they wanted. the judge gave him a reprimand and not being dismissed at the moment. he is going to be able to retire as a general.

and all along it was about 27 years worth of pension and benefits and throughout the sentencing hearing the defense really made clear that they wanted those benefits to remain in place and they were certain his wife and two boys would also be penalized if those benefits were taken away. but here is what i'm learning from the military, sinclair has to go before what is called a grade board to determine what his last satisfactory grade was. everyone goes through it when they are in process of retiring and the board could still demote him in rank. and so we could say like all along the last rank he was before these allegations came forward was a lieutenant corneal so there is a possibility he could be demoted to a lieutenant colonel and if that happens he stands to lose about $800,000 in pension and benefits, the

military confirmed that figure. but, again, here is another piece or question that people have been asking. the judge gave him a reprimand and means he is not being asked to leave the service at this time but sinclair is requesting he retire and when he retires at this point it looks like it will be an honorable discharge, dell. >> reporter: have we heard anything from the prosecution because this case has made waves all the way up to washington especially by members of the senate who say one problem in the military is that the issue of sexual harassment is not treated harshly enough. >> you know, that has been the dominate them in the case and the case lived in the shadow of concerns by congress and the military simply is not addressing the huge problem of sexual assault in the military. unfortunately, we are hoping to hear from the prosecution today, but up until this point we had not been able to hear from them, they didn't want to speak while the trial was going on but to

interesting points and things to remember about this case, this began as a sexual assault case. the case imployed and the chief prosecutor a month before the trial began stepped down and said he was concerned about the veracity of the accuser, the former mistress of sinclair and had an affair for three years and concerned about the varsity of some statements she had made during a pretrial hearing and he told the commanders he thought the most serious charge of sexual assault should be dropped. as we all know that didn't happen. once the case started, the charges ultimately did go away and what we were left with, what the prosecution was left with is sinclair pleading guilty of 14 counts from adulltry and mistreating his mistress and being in an inappropriate relationship with subordinates. >> reporter: and we are live from ft. bragg, north carolina

and thank you very much. ♪ well, it is just a couple hours away to the official start of spring. the equinox and that means at least for the northern hemisphere daylight will get longer and in terms of temperatures the southwest will say warmer than average but for the midwest the temperatures are warm but so little cooler than typical is what is expected. and also looking at the gulf coast and southwest, drier than normal possibly, depending only how the patterns workout, that is not good news because that means drought from texas to the southwest could spread. in terms of what we have going on today, already in the central plains because of wind going up and humidity is going down, watch for a fire risk through the course of the day and these winds will continue to crank up more as we get in the afternoon hours and that is exacerbated by warm temperatures. the rest of the region enjoying

the milder temperatures that will move in today. dell. >> reporter: thank you very much and we thank you for watching al jazeera america. i'm dell walters in new york and techno is next.

>> hello and welcome i'm phil torres here to talk about invocations that can change lives. the intersection of hardware and humanity and we're doing it in a unique way. marita davidson is a biologist specializing inning innings innd evolution. kosta grammatis is an engineer

who designed a buy ontic eye. i'm phil torres, i'm an entomologist. today, technology performance miracles. the suit that's helping paralyzed people walk again. that's our team, now let's do some science. ♪ >> hi guys, welcome to techknow. i'm phil torres and i'm here with kosta and marita. now, scientists are detecting millions of earthquakes around the world. what technology do you study to help mitigate them?

>> here is san francisco's bay bridge. they absorb the areas of the earthquake while leaving the rest of the infrastructure intact. really, really cool. let's check it out. rising from the san francisco bay is the newest architectural jewel of northern california. the new bay bridge, which connects san francisco and oakland, is now open for business. and what a sight it is to see! roughly 280,000 vehicles travel the east and westbound lanes each day. it's now the widest bridge in direction. this is six years worth of round the clock time lapse video of the new 2.2 mile east span. the project cost $6.4 billion.

this is earthquake country. the great san francisco quake of 1906 wiped out 80% of the city. the old bay bridge opened in 1936. and it sits in the worst possible spot: right between two major fault lines. the san andreas and the hayward faults. and the worst-case scenario happened october 17th, 1989. you may remember this scene from the loma prieta quake. a 220 ton section of the old bridge collapsed. traffic came to a halt for over a month. how big of a danger zone is this? >> it's a major one. >> how close are we to one of these faults right now? >> we are very close. the hayward fault runs right

along the hills. >> the bay bridge is a stunning engineering feat for another reason, something that's not visible at first glance. crumble zone technology. until now, crumple zones have been used by cars. they control deformations. the old bridge won't collapse even in a powerful quake, engineers say. marwan was a engineer during the last quake. being. >> if you want to be if a big quake hits? >> the safest place will be on the top of this bridge. it would be one heck of a joy ride but it would be a safe one. >> this is how nadir are describes this, the engineering

community considers this be game changers. the first one is the sheer link beams, inside the 525 foot tower. >> the sheer link beam is the heart and soul of how we made the single tower work. those link beams reduces the there fourses on the bridge. everything is elastic. >> the four legs of the tower move independently. the beams take the energy by bending and deforming. >> the stiffer the structure, the more bridged it is the more forces are applied on it. the more flexible, the less stresses go into it. >> watch your step, watch your pad. things are sticking out. >> we are deep in the bridge's bowels. to get there we have to walk and climb through a mini city of steel. >> you weren't kidding, hmm? >> we are hundreds of feet under

the bay but still under the traffic. >> it's basically a big steel dowel. we have one of those sacrificial elements. >> we are look at one of 20 hinge pipe beams strategically placed inside the bridge. >> in there were an earthquake this would move back and forth like an accordion. by designing sections of the bridge to fail that will protect the more structural elements. after an earthquake workers can go up, inspect them, determine if there is any damage. if there is, it can be cut out and replaced. >> i'm tanning on another innovation, below me are piles, 800 feed in diameter and 300 feet long. there are 360 of them did buried underneath if bay.

>> these are new to bridges but battered piles have long been used on oil rigs in the ocean . think lay horizontally rather than up and down. earthquake crumple technological. >> shake table, it was invented right here at u.c. berkeley and used in 1972. essentially it plows us to recreate any -- allows us to recreate any earthquake that ever happened around the world. it's important because it plows researchers to test structures, bridges and equipment and see how they can withstand earthquake stress. at stanford university, greg credit dearpipeline went to japan to test structures. >> how does the rocking framework? >> it rocks.

by rocking slightly, it can absorb some of the have force he without damage. >> rocking are like the sear link beams in the bridge. can you see the high strength post tension steel cables. the frames get rid of the energy by rock and deforming. civil engineer david marr owns a company, that build the orinda, california if city hall. you can see how the rocking frames are built into the are foundation. >> these cables are the spring and at the base are the steel angle is that shosh the energy. they work together creating the dynamic system of the building. >> how safe is this building? >> meant to be 25, this 30%

stronger than an ordinary building. >> safer than your own house? >> yes, absolutely. >> so the future looks bright and safe in earthquake country. if they can build a safe bridge in the middle of two faults, the safe. >> do you see a day when all new buildings and structures would implement some of this new technology? >> we hope. you would think in cities when a big earthquake comes it would be an inconvenience, rather than a disaster and this rock frame is part of the technology. >> very interesting. what about a place like bolivia where you come from and there's a lot of earthquake risk? >> this is a technology that is costly, fundamentally costly so we can easily apply the to a country like the united states but in a country where i group, in bolivia, it's still pretty out of preach.

if pl la paz was hit with a big earthquake, this is pretty incredible. >> much of our infrastructure is tested and i know they are always iterating and testing technological because they have a lot of earthquakes. >> san francisco has had such serious damage that's cost real lives. >> it's the perfect spot for it phil. the bay bridge is sandwiched through two fault lines. >> as an entomologist, i do like to are work with insects but there's one insect, that i will swat, the mosquito. kosta about. >> the mosquito repellent of the future. i hate them as much as you do. >> we'll look at that coming up.

>> al jazeera america presents extraordinary documentaries. >> i've seen nothing like this before in my entire life. >> the amazon rainforest is going up in smoke. >> hundreds of kilometers square are disappearing in a day here. >> indigenous communities at risk. >> if their forest continues to disappear, then eventually these people will disappear. >> this british firefighter joins a group of brave men. >> the most surprising thing for me is the size of the fires that come through. absolutely brutal. >> toughest place to be a firefighter. sunday at 9 eastern, on al jazeera america.

>> ♪ ♪ ♪ >> hey guys welcome back to techknow. kosta, tell us the story that involves some of your favorite tiny friends. >> not my favorite. mosquitoes, they bother me, they bother a lot of people. this mosquito repellent is going to change all of that. it makes you invisible to the mosquitoes. let's take a closer look. >> these blood-eating possesses

have been called the most dangerous on earth. >> about 3 billion people are affected one way or the other by mosquito-borne diseases. every 30 seconds a child is are dying from malaria. >> dr. michel brown has created an entirely new technology to battle this program. >> how can mosquitoes find us? >> they can use carbon dioxide as their belong sensing mechanism and skin odors to pinpoint your exact location. the running joke is if you want mosquitoes to bite you anymore, all you have to do is stop breathings. not a popular option. >> so tell me a little bit about where we are right now. >> we are in fact really in a mosquito torture chamber. this entire laboratory was built

by i.e. crowd and serves as the epicenter of all our research are activities where amazing things are happening. our technology makes humans invisible to mosquitoes. creates an outer spatial screen around us. >> this is it. a patch, all i have to do is stick it on, i'm invisible to mosquitoes for 48 hours. >> with this machine we're able to directly monitor the mosquito's response to different chemical formations. >> so this shows you how the mosquito feels about a certain compound. >> exactly. >> let me see if i got this. you got a mosquito slapped down to that slide.

you have a needle in its brain. >> through its eye, yes. >> it's sitting there screaming. >> trying to confirm yes. >> but you have got him strapped down. >> double-sided sticky taper. >> you introduce compounds through air. >> uh-huh. >> we know how it works. but does it work? we want to show how good this technology really is. >> right now my hand is untreated with any compound. so right now the mosquitoes are attracted to all the odors coming off my skin as well as some c 02 that is being emitted. they are probing on the unprotectmesh to try to get on my skin to draw blood. right now my protected hand is in the cage and as you can see they're virtually not able to locate my hand due to the compound.

>> dr. mark fry is a professional at ucla's department of integrated are biology, the patch technology is just one approach being developed as we gain a greater understanding of insects attraction to humans. this notion of a chemical cloak of some sort a more effective repellent, how feasible is it? only as feasible we try it. there's going to be glitches along the way. does the cloak wear off? how effective is it? at what concentration? do the animals adapt to it? there are solid answers. we are preparing for alarge field testing in uganda. we are really exciteabout this. 6.7 million hours of the patch, with real people, one of three districts we'll be testing them, all of which have exceptionally

high mal malaria rates, as well as mosquito born diseases. >> ceo amra albana is responsible for this technology in order to get to people who need it most. >> it's very difficult to take new technologies and furnish them into tangible products that were ready for the marketplace. we are excited about it and the promise for the technology but we also knew we had a long way to actually get it ready. in the last 60 years, we haven't really had any break through in technologies that could help in mosquito-borne diseeses diseases. three and a half years ago we had the potential of saving many, many, many lives around the world. >> this one is definitely getting a lot of attention and so for that reason a lot of entomologists we've been kind of talking about

it and we are a bit skeptical but also hopeful. testing it in the lab is quite different than in the field. i'm excited to hear what they get in uganda. >> they have rooms that simulate weather cons in every country. you upload a weather profile, all the different parameters for mosquito life and you can do a rea comprehensive test to see how this mosquito repellent works. the next story i did is a robot called the exo which is helping paralyzed people walk.

>> start with one issue education... gun control... the gap between rich and poor... job creation... climate change... tax policy... the economy... iran... healthcare... ad guests on all sides of the debate.

>> this is a right we should all have... >> it's just the way it is... >> there's something seriously wrong... >> there's been acrimony... >> the conservative ideal... >> it's an urgent need... and a host willing to ask the tough questions >> how do you explain it to yourself? and you'll get... the inside story ray suarez hosts inside story weekdays at 5 eastern only on al jazeera america

>> hey guys welcome back totech. i'm phil torres and here with kosta and marita. now guys this story i got to do is one of my favorites. helping technology change people's lives. this is a robot that paraplegic people can use to walk again. let's take a look. >> hi! >> this dream happening today. >> these kids from a summer camp near aspen, colorado is if to give amanda a lifesaving gift. a gift she hasn't been able to do here since she was paralyzed in a horrific accident 21 years ago. >> now i want to invite the kids to have at it and rip into it. >> it is a buy ontic robot

called exo. a battery powered external skeleton that gives her body the power to do this: >> are you ready? >> three two one blast off! >> whoa! >> and this. >> i'm walk, you guys! >> and even this! [ crying ] >> the technology is so cutting-edge that amanda is the first person in the united states to own one. >> the moment she stood up, i was just amazed because she's been sitting down for 21 years! and that first feeling to stand up again, it's just -- i would have been thrilled obe in that position. >> it was an emotional moment for these kids who spent the past year selling countless cups of legal owade and raising are

money from generous people to make it happen. >> the first moment, when i stood up and i tried see the children's faces, and some of them, the really little ones, they were just in awe! and then to have that heart to heart hug. and i hugged in a wheelchair, there's a disconnect. i get heart to heart cugz when i stand up. >> -- hugs when i stand up. >> do you promise me a hug? >> yes. >> amanda took her.first steps to making that a reality in 2010. that's when she got a call from the robot's creators asking her to help them in their technology. she went to the san francisco bay area and took it for a test run. >> how did it feel to be able to stand and look at people? >> first time i stood up, i went home, and i cried hard.

in all honesty. these were emotions that i had been dreaming about for so long! and i felt so good in my body. i slept hard. and i wasn't in pain. >> total ending steps. >> 4850. >> 4850! so. >> this is exo's headquarters where the magic is made and perfected. giving people who are paralyzed a chance to do what they have been told was impossible. >> i feel like the luckiest man alive. >> nathan is one of the robot's inventers. not build for the are meat feed

but for the credit military field. >> there's a huge problem in the field for soldiers carrying the large loads, in fact they want to carry more. we were helping to develop exoskeletons. to carry the person's weight and more as well. >> it can be powered by a small battery pack and then there's that whole walking thing. >> it takes over the function of the muscles in your legs. it can do that either completely, for a person who's completely paralyzed, or partially for someone who is rethroarng walk, like someone who -- credit relearning to walk, like someone who has just had a stroke. >> i put the device in walk-mode and

take the first right step and as i move my body the exo will move with me. if i don't move to the any next position the exo stops. >> test pilots like amanda boxtel and jason geezer, how have they helped you advance this technology. >> they have helped tremendously. everything is unpredictable once you introduce a human into the situation. 38 ph.d.es had a different idea how to control something. without people like amanda and jason we would be at a standstill because we couldn't test anything. >> the robot still has its limitations. right now it can only be used in a rehabilitative setting with a trained physical

therapist. then there's the being cost. between $110,000 and $130,000. they hope the food and drug administration can help. >> i don't get enough of these, heart to heart hugs. >> if you need another heart to heart, i'm your man. >> thank you. >> the emotional impact of this is obvious. but are the there other associated health benefits with being able to walk? >> absolutely. all the doctors and all the patients using this agree, standing up that much, helps how they digest, lowers their pain, and the amount of infections they get. >> can it be used for stroke victims and other applications? >> absolutely. that's one of the approvals they put in for this technology. it's got variable use.

one side may be stronger than the other which is perfect for stroke victims because they may have a weaker side and allows them to gradually increase the amount of control they have over it versus the robot. get people on a solid track towards recovery. from earthquakes to mosquitoes to changing people's lives, it's been interesting. join us next week on techknow when we give you more innovations in the field. go deep behind the scenes at aljazeera.com/techknow. >> these protestors have decided that today they will be arrested >> these people have chased a president from power, they've torn down a state... >> what's clear is that people don't just need protection, they need assistance.

>> welcome to aljazeera america. i'm del walters. these are the stories we're following for you. there are new leads this area in the search for the missing malaysian airliner. diplomats trying to find solutions to the situation in crimea as we're awaiting word from the president. and an army general in an extramarital affair with a captain.