>> welcome to al jazeera america. signed, sealed and delivered, russian president vladimir putin officially making crimea a part of russia. >> the search resumes tomorrow for missing flight 370, the search efforts to find those two objects in the ocean yield nothing. >> if you are in turkey, you may not be able to tweet with that the nation's leader cracking down on the social media so it.

>> the two big stories at this hour, the crisis in ukraine and the search for flight 370. russia sign papers annexing crimea, at the same time sign ukraine signing an association agreement with the european union, the trade deal that started this crisis. >> u.n. secretary ban ki-moon is trying to broker a solution. world powers and western financial institutions throwing with the in sanction against russia, russia saying it will hit back. >> form two weeks since malaysia airlines flight 370 vanished. the search will resume tomorrow. the threat of storms could hamper the hunt for debris. we have the latest on the findings rewarding flight 370. we begin in kiev.

the ukrainian government making moves. tell us what happened today in kiev. >> a lot happened on the diplomatic front around the continent. but here, we have the u.s. secretary malaysia airlines flight 370 malaysia airlines flight 370 traveling to moscow carrying a message expressing concern held by vladimir putin about extremists in the new government here and of course also about other aspects of this brand new government that they say is basically a coup d'etat. the secretary general also said that the longer this crisis goes on, the bigger the chances of things spiraling out of control. >> the longer time the process of resolving this issue through peaceful resolution and dialogue, the greater risk there

will be for the uncontrollable ascertaination as beyond these two countries and beyond the region. >> the secretary general is getting at a number of factors that have a lot of people around the country and region deeply concerned. you've got militias here that are out of the control structure, the ukrainian government, now they say in kiev that they are trying to disarm those groups, but nevertheless, that is a great concern. out in crimea itself, you've still got two armies, now facing one another on that disputed peninsula. we've seen activity out there with russian forces going in and grabbing ukrainian naval vessels, lowering the ukrainian flag, raising the russian. the potential for just one or two incidents, one or two flash points to make this thing a real

shooting war is very high and everybody knows it, so here in kiev, they're trying to control things, internationally on the diplomatic front they're trying to cool things. ban ki-moon said one of the most important things is to open up a dialogue between moscow and kiev because moscow doesn't even royce this government. >> stay tuned for the mid-day reset coming up soon. many say the situation is similar to what happened with georgia. i talked to the president of russia and asked him if he thought nato was doing enough. >> nato has strong say, but before it even goes to military options, as i said, there are so many economic options, but economic options has one caveat to them. the west and its company should

be willing and wanting and able to pay the price for sanctions on russia. it's like cutting out cancer. if you don't get proper chemical therapy, you don't -- you cannot cure cancer. the problem is that when you get this therapy, you get over parts of your organ is damaged but that has to be done to be cured. gas price will go up, we'll lose this contract, sell less vehicle ins russia, but what about if there is large scale conflict in europe? because ukraine, all the way putin is behaving is exactly like mill lossvich. there is this thing that every time they neglect the situation in yugoslavia, that's the last time i'm doing that, and then he did it again. putin is doing the same thing.

most of the people were saying exactly the right things, but some of them still say, you know, he promised putin that this would go the last thing. he is not going further. he was promising the same after georgia, promising it now. after slow even i can't, after booze knee i can't a understand still happened. >> now where darkness has stopped the search for malaysia airlines flight 370 near australia, randall pinkston is in washington, d.c. the u.s. navy's powerful ships are not taking part in the search. why? >> the u.s. navy is saying they he want to make sure the flight crew of course including the pilots get the rest that they need, that they don't want them to have the danger of fatigue. even though the p.8 is powerful, they are also other search

planes that will still be involved in the search, p3s that are flown by new zealand, australia, japan has air assets on all the way, so does china. there will be air search tomorrow but not by america's p.8 poe siden. five planes were searching during the date hours, looking for a moving target. the satellite image was captured about five days ago. whatever debris there was in the ocean has continued to move, possibly even sink and even if they find that debris, australia's prime minister say it may not achieve a result. >> storms are predicted for that storm over the weekend. >> yeah, rough part of the world, not only because of its isolation, but because of the waves, of the fog that's always there. it's going to be difficult to find anything down there. it's right now the best clue as to the whereabouts of mh370.

>> we want to go back to our top stair. we are getting our first i understand cases today that the western sanctions concerning russia and ukraine are having an impact. moscow's main stopple index sinking 3% before rallying to end the day down 1%. two rating firms are both cutting their outlook for russia's credit, citing possible damage from those penalties and visa and master card will stop services credit card issued by two russian banks that are the target of sanctions. we want to bring in phil ittner and also mica in washing don d.c., from a third way partisan think tank. one of the questions is those people behind you, they were ready to take on the government of viktor yanukovych but now is

talk about a possible conflict with russia. are they dug in in regard to what may come next? >> they are dug in for a variety of reasons. they want to make their voice heard when it comes to the government. they want to remind the interim government that they ousted one regime and can do it again. we have an election coming up in ukraine in may, so many of these people say they will stay on the streets until that election, but clearly, del, everybody in this city, everybody in this part of the country is very much aware of what they think is a threat coming from russia, that it's not just crimea, that there are designs that moscow has on the east of the country. they're gravely concerned about that and so are out on the streets in many ways to show

solidarity and strength at this time of cries. there's also of course an awful lot of militia members down there. the government says they've got to start disarming them and if they want to continue with the struggle, they can join the national guard, that's where they're needed, not on the streets of the capitol but in the east of the country trying to secure the situation from what they say are russian provocateurs out there trying to stir up trouble. >> joining us right now is mica. i want to ask you, i talked to the former president of georgia this morning. he thinks the sanctions are a good move, that they will work, but take time. do you think ukraine has time for these sanctions to take hold? >> i think it's a real challenge. the question is whether or not the russian government is serious about stopping in crimea

or will push further into ukraine. sanctions take a long time to implement and long to him too have an effect. >> asking about military action, when it is over, the landscape is scarred. we only need to look at afghanistan, iraq, syria, is there really an appetite either in europe or the united states for any type of military action and if not, is the economic sanction the new weapon of war in the 21st century? >> absolutely, no one wants to go to war if they don't have to. economic sanctions are increasingly becoming a chase for policy makers. you have to wait for the targeted country to change their mind about the behavior they are engaging in and that can take a very long time. >> phil, do you agree? >> i do. i think in the 21st century, there's a phrase kick around in this crisis. in the 21st century, tanks

can't find banks. you hit them in the pocketbook. that's all the way to go. wars are costly. we know that from personal experience in the united states. we spent a lot of money on the war following the events of 9/11. afghanistan and iraq and our other military engagements. if we can persuade nations we perceive as acting i will legitimately to change course through financial pressure, a lot of people not only here but in the international community are saying that's a better way to go. i do agree with what's being said on that side of the atlantic. i think certainly that that's what we are looking at in terms of how to deal with the kremlin. they clearly do not listen to any kind of actual military types because the concept of direct confrontation between the west and russia is just so dire, nobody really wants to see that happen.

again, to try to hit them in the pocketbook and try and maneuver things that way. certainly that's what brussels and washington seem to be doing in this crisis. >> mica, you are in washington, d.c. and i will counter with words are not really popular with the hawks on capitol hill. is there really room for a cerebral battle in the 21s 21st century in washington, d.c. where the partisan lines are sharply drawn. >> i think you are seeing a partisan fight within the republican party, hawks arguing for action, but the actions are no different than what the administration's taking. even they recognize that there's no on that tight for military action. no one wants to fight russia in their own backyard against the second largest military in the world. >> thanks for being with us.

still ahead on aljazeera america. venice not a part of italy? what the residents are voting for today. >> turkey will block taxes twitter, but did this move backfire?

>> two chirp are dead, dozens sickened at a kindergarten in china. a toxic substance is a powerful rat poison. they have not determined whether it was intentional or an accident as many sick children still in the hospital. >> in venice, the city is holding a referendum to break away from italy. organizers hope this is the first step toward independence. >> his an as he is stores have lived here for more than 500 years. he flies the flag of the former

maritime republic of venice rather than than the italian colors. >> our city used to be the capitol of an empire, now underdeveloped because the taxes are in the hands of the state and distributed unequally. >> he is one of many who voted in an unofficial referendum to break away from italy and go back to being an independent state. >> venice was are the heart of a powerful republic that last the thousands of years. since it became part of italy, resentment toward rome that grown. >> tourism and a strong industrial base have made it one of the wealthiest regions in italy. the network of independent unions that organized the vote are tired of seeing taxpayer money be washed away. >> we are victims of an open air

robbery. every year, we pay 70 billion in taxes that don't come back in any way, shape or form. >> not everyone wants to break free from italy. >> it's senseless, we live in the european union, why would we want independence? >> my family wants me to vote for independence. i'm not sure it's the right thing to do. >> the vote is not politically binding or recognized by the italian government. organizers want a feel for the right of determination and a share of the wealth. >> the persian new year, iran telling eye raines they should not pin their hopes on the easing of sanctions to boost the economy. expressing distrust of western powers, saying iran must become

more self reliant. the new president continues to support diplomatic engames with the rest. >> celebrations areunder way for the persian new year across iran. it is important especially during the spring equinox. it is celebrated also in the middle east and ball kins. >> many twitter users in turkey logging on to the social media website got this message. it reads the protection measure has been taken for this website. the state said communications regulator said its decision was based on four court orders against twitter. the government said twitter ignored prefers court orders to remove some web links. the decision came just hours

after the prime minister warned to wipe out the social media website. >> can you imagine there are international conspiracies? we have a court order now. we will wipe out all of these. the international community can say this, can say that, i don't care at all. everyone will see how powerful the republic of turkey is. the deputy prime minister said the move was necessary. >> we took this decision as a last resort. if laws are violated by breaching private life, at that point, we have to do something an act. >> some people are still able to log on to twitter, including the president. in some tweet it is, he wrote only individual internet pages should be blocked. if the court ruled that an individual's privacy had been violated. i hope the current block would not last long. that is not going well with many here.

>> definitely not a solution, because that makes the people more angry, more politically active, so i think it's not a very -- it's not a very smart reaction. >> banning twitter is entering the personal space for people and limiting it. >> others supported the ban. >> the government shut it down because of the leaking of voice recordings. i welcome it and i think they should also ban facebook. >> at the heart of all of this is the corruption allegations the government has faced since december. a series of videos, documents and wiretappings allegedly for the prime minister and his family were leaked on different social media websites. prime minister said it was a moral montage and denied all the allegations. >> the government says social media websites including twitter facebook and you tube have turned into platforms used to

spread lice and smear campaigns. critics say the government is trying to block further corruption allegations and silence dissent. aljazeera, istanbul. >> on wall street, the dow after yet's triple digit games are flirting with that today. the s&p also on track to close at another all time high. that would be its fourth this month. the crisis in ukraine accounted be hurting tiffany, the high end jeweler giving a profit drop probablion. lower income buyers are spending less. >> the owner of red lobster reiterating influence sell the seafood chain, darden

restaurants saying bad weather hurt sales, dropping almost 9% andal live garden had five and a half%. >> millions of fans ever lost their chance to become billionaires, contenders for the brocket prize are out. 9 million people taking the challenge, but upsets yesterday cleared the court. >> coming up on aljazeera america, last year's harlem building collapse raising questions about america's infrastructure. any solutions could be costly.

>> welcome to al jazeera america. i'm del walters. russia signing the papers a officially annex crimea as kiev signs a eu trade deal. >> two weeks since malaysia

airlines flight 370 disappeared. the continued search or objects spotted on satellite will resume tomorrow. storms could hammer the hunt. >> venice is holding an unofficial referendum to break away from italy. organizers want to hold the city's wealth instead of watching it go to the country. they hope this is the first step toward independence. >> the nation's crumbling infrastructure back on the table after eight people were killed in an explosion in harlem last week. any solution could be costly. >> it was an explosion felt blacks away. rescue teams wrenched for the injured and dead. investigators immediately suspected a blast leak. it leveled two five story buildings and raised questions about new york's aging infrastructure. >> the main gas line serving this area is more than 125 years

old. it's too soon to say if that or something inside the believe caused the explosion. investigators are trying to find that out, now that the scene has been cleared of debris. >> initial task by the ntsb have revealed a main leak. more than half of new york's gas lines, about 1,000 miles are more than 50 years old and made of cast iron or unprotected steel. materials more prone to leaks. new york's utility company is doing as much as it can to replace the pipes with the financial resources available. >> we currently for the next several years are planning to replace 65 miles of gas mine per year. that's up from 30-40 miles over the last several years and is frankly a fairly aggressive program. >> the center for aburban futures new york is far from the only city with this problem. >> federal government has really

shirked its responsibility to invest in infrastructure. it's not just new york. so many american cities are facing an aging and in some cases decaying infrastructure. >> the investigation is on going, as is the debate over how to pay for fixing the nation's crumbling infrastructure. one thing is clear, the devastation that can come from one old leaky pipe. aljazeera, new york. >> you may be thinking spring, but radar behind you says something different. >> it depends where you look. part of the country feeling spring temperatures, part still dealing with the cold winter weather. while the winter weather will win out, there's snow going through minnesota, through the great lakes, winter storm warnings, winter storm warnings in effect there. that's bringing in colder air. you see the rain snow line push

farther north over the next few weeks. this is a warm front, you can see this warm air trying to work its way north. at the same time, the storm moves east, brings in the cold air behind it. it's still dry out west. the drought continues there, unfortunately, not looking at storms in the forecast any time soon. by saturday, very heavy along the border here of the u.s. and canada. northern new york, northern vermont, new hampshire and maine will see significant snow over the next 24 hours. eastern united states dealing with cold air coming in, that pushes south. this temperature map looks different than the current temperatures, cold air is coming back. 42 in chicago, but here's the cold air, briefly up above 50 before the cold air wins out. not up to the freezing mark, warm across the southwest, but

that cold air pushes east. >> thank you for watching aljazeera america. i'm del walters in new york. the stream is next. you can check us out at aljazeera.com. >> hi, you are in "the stream." home schooling is on the rise and expected to be a continued trend, is that better educated kids or keeping them unprepared for the world? waj is bringing in the live feedback and waj, this is a very