>> we have a right to know what's in our food and monsanto do not have the right to hide it from us. >> so join the conversation and make it your own. >> watch the stream. >> and join the conversation online @ajamstream.

that >> millions of afghans are expected to vote today. >> candidates and journalists have been killed in the last few months. three of the top contenders in the election promised to sign a troop extension agreement, and that will allow 10,000 troops to remain in the country after the combat mission events this year. david shuster takes a look at america's involvement in afghanistan. >> the united states had troops on the ground in afghanistan

since october 2001. 12.5 years ago in response to the 9/11 attacks. the bush administration launched "operation enduring freedom" aimed at dismantling the government. the u.s. troop levels were constant in afghanistan, at around 30,000. in 2009, in his first year in office. president obama announced a surge of 17,000 and a second surge of an additional 13,000. by september 2010 the u.s. had 98,000 u.s. troops in afghanistan. two years ago the obama administration began to scale back the levels, announcing plans for a withdrawal. and the number of u.s. forces is approximately 38,000. now, according to a count by associated press, the number of american troop casualties stands at 2,316.

there was blood and treasure usual. according to congress, the cost now is over 707 billion and counting. for the afghanistan elections this weekend u.s. officials say 12 million relyingstered -- registered voters take part, and 200,000 people are expected to work as election observers. >> afghan policemen killed a pulitzer prize-winning journalist. her colleague, special correspondent for the associated press survived. they are reporting from an area near the border of pakistan. >> it happened at a government compound in eastern afghanistan. witnesses say a convoy of election workers and adjournment its came to a halt when an afghan police officer walked up to a car, shouted god is great

and opened fire. press photographer was killed another shot three times and survive. the police commander is under arrest. no group claimed responsibility. afghan police targeted foreign soldiers, and this year they singled out round owners. this is the first time afghan police are known to have attacked western journalists. the ap says she was one of few western supporters allowed in the taliban. they covered conflicts all over the world, sharing a 2005 pulitzer prize. in a note to staffers, the director of photography says anya was one of the most talented:

>> on the last day of her life she had a front-page photo in the "new york times". showing an image of hamid karzai on display outside the defence ministry in kabul. >> anya is one of more than a doze in journalists over the world who lost their lives on assignment this year, according to the commit yes to protect journalists. last year the dangerous company as syria. out of 70 journalists, 28 were working in syria. >> looking live at a polling station, kabul will be following the outcomes. remember, for the latest you can log on to al jazeera. >> a rejected request for military leave may have sparked the spree in fort hood texas.

leopoldo lopez killed three, wounding 16 others. heidi zhou-castro is following the investigation from texas. >> fort command said it was an argument that was a precipitating action to the shooting, but his father said lopes got not have been in his right mind. lopes was shocked when his mother, a nurse died of a heart attack earlier. lopes grandfather passed away a month alert. fast-forward to january. he was travelled from el paso to fort hood. he moved into this apartment with his wife and daughter. >> she was smiling.

he was smiling. moving in. >> on march 1st lopes came to this gunshop, purchasing a smith&wesson, workers say they have been interviewed, but tell al jazeera that nothing about the sale to lopes was out of the ord. they saw lopes return home for lunch on wednesday. hours later the shooting unfolded. a local tv station was told his son whereas in the first building. his son saw lopes ask for a leave force. he was told to come back the next day. that's what lopes left and returned with a gun. >> the first gun he shot in front of my son was killed. then he turned it towards jonathan, aimed and fired. >> the military said lopes was being treated for anxiety and

depression and evaluated for ptsd. >> his underlying medical conditions was not a factor. it was more likely an estimated argument. >> investigators say lopes shot soldiers in two buildings, the crime scene stretching two blocks. >> while in his vehicle he fired to other soldiers, moving from one location to the other. >> lopes had no criminal history and a long list of medals and commendations. >> we have not discovered a motive. we'll do everything to do so. given the shooter is disposed, the possibility exists that we may never no why the shooter did what he did. >> fbi ates are on the ground, with military and state investigators, hoping to fined answers. >> that was heidi zhou-castro reporting from texas. we are learning about the three

people killed in the shooting on wednesday. sergeant first class daniel ferguson. his fiancee said he was killed holding a door shut protecting a room full of military personnel. 37-year-old wayne owens, his mother told n.b.c. news with his multiple tours of duty, she never thought she'd die on american soil. >> then staff sergeant rodriguez, set to retire this year. >> secretary of state john kerry walking away from the table with a message for the israelis and the palestinians. plus it may be one of the worst without breaks in decades. what some parents are refusing to do, that may cause the spread of measles. 800 jobs and 300 million. a shot in the arm for the midwest from a likely source.

>> welcome back to al jazeera america. it's been four weeks since malaysia airlines flight mh370 vanished with 270 people on board. planes and ships are looking for any sign of it in a wide area of the southern indian ocean. two special ships are toeing unmanned submarines, listening for pings from the flight data recorder. there's days left on the little black box. >> a set back for the push for peace in the middle east. secretary of state john kerry says the obama administration is reconsidering its role in the talks, and whether it's worth moving forward at all. >> they arrive defiant, demanding the release of palestine prisoners. almost immediately the israelis

were unwilling to give them space, physically and politically the palestinians seized momentum, the israelis pushing back. as speakers blared music of resistance - for four ours the two sides clashed. israeli tear gas came in close, creating a plume of smoke dispersing the crowd. >> you can feel the tension. there has been palestinians throwing rocks at the israeli soldiers. you get tear gas in response. it's a cat and mouse game. the pluns are trying to get to the gait. >> every time they move forward the israelis fire back. for this man the protest is personnel. his brother was supposed to be released. that's when we met him

delivering furniture to celebrate his pending arrival. but after mahmoud abbas signed treaties, israel blocked his release. it cost his brother's freedom. he is, however, willing to wait. >> translation: i support the step believing it pushes towards the release of all prisoners. >> for his railies signing the -- israelis signing the treaties meant breaking the premises of the talks. >> it's like being black mailed by someone. only this blackmail, and then let's net. there's no way that things will go back negotiating under the blackmail of the plns. >> the blame game extends to both sides. the chief it administration.

>> i don't want talks. we have obligations between me and them, i'm willing to honour mine, i hope the israeli side will learn to honour their onlieses. >> the u.s. is the only one that can help bridge the gap. >> now, the man is hinting it may be time to give up. >> there's limits to the amount of time and effort that the united states can spend, if the party themselves are unable to take constructive steps. neither side has walked away. every time they do, they do less talking >> and mixed news about the economy. employment sector boosting. the unemployment number stayed at 6.7%. the number of private sector

jobs spiked higher than before the recession. it's a good sign, but there's a long way to go. arse of growth were: >> towns in the midwest hit hardest by the recession are getting help from an unlikely source. chinese companies are pumping billions. a report from drayton ohio, where an investment is having a big impact. >> for years this vacant factory was a monument to ohio's economic dysfunction. dayton and neighbouring towns were dependent on u.s. automakers that when general motors pulled out it was left with cracked asphalt, rusted gates and 400 unemployed

automakers. now the climate is changing. a chinese auto glass maker is reopening it with $280 million and 800 jobs. >> you can't not welcome foreign investment. if you want to grow the cities, you have to be open to foreign investment. if you are not open to immigrants now, where was your family 200 years ago. >> chinese conglomerates are the newest investors in the u.s. from toll eedos hotels to a deal bringing a copper tubing factory to barack obama. the largest concentration in chinese was here in dayton. there was 200 chinese and locals

hope that goes well. >> my dream is to make the world together, do the business toot much people in china love america. i hope the two countries can work food. >> the tiny town lured it by offering the chinese what it had in excess supply, workers in tacty space. >> weer the advantageous space. we have thousands of folks with a skill set. a lot of us see the opportunity to capitalize and try to attract foreign invest. that sant lising prospect as many ounce opening gates like these. >> and the last 10 years day on lost about 40,000 manufacturing

jobs. >> ohio will have to recognise gay marriages performed in other states. a ban not recognising same-sex marriage has been declared unconstitutional. the ohio attorney-general will appeal that ruling. >> the measles virus is making a comeback. 25 cases have been confirmed in new york city. over in california's orange county the until of investigations tripled. >> in orange county california, people here are not used to doing without. some are lacking a busk concomponent of health worldwide. >> there are pockets of people who have not taken vaccinations. >> measles is infectious, the most infectious of all.

>> the pockets tend to be high income neighbourhoods. we have zero or one case a year of measles, compared to the 21 we have had so far this year. it's a larger outbreak we have seen in the country. sit wide 49 cases of measles have been reported in california. last year at this time there were four. many people are wondering why the long-dormant disease is making a comeback. one reason is the international travellers in and out of the oc. another to a small percentage of parents who do not vaccinate their children. >> if you look who has been sick, five are children. if children goept have a regularly scheduled emr...

>> the anti-vaccination doctor says it may be an outbreak, but it's not a threat. >> it's not a joke. it's to be taken seriously, but not something that people need to be scared about. >> one patient is mum and delayed vaccine due to her son's seizures. >> it's a decision a parent has to make. >> she has never given her kids the measles kak vene. >> i don't think -- vaccine. >> i don't think we'll get it but we are talking to the doctor's office. >> dr gordon is not against them, but believes the guidelines shouldn't apply to everyone. if you would like to get the measles, mump, rublea vac each, you should, no one should scare you, that you may get autism. there's no proof. you can hesitate if you worry,

and no one should scare you into getting the vaccine. >> while the debate over childhood vaccines rages on, child officials hope the outbreak of measles won't. >> doctors are offering up some advice for those infected in measles, saying stay at home, cover your mouth when coughing and sneezing and wash your hands. >> the community in new york is rallying to send aid to relatives at home. 70 have been killed by ebola in guinea. it can be spread by coming into contact with an infected person. >> he could have gone pro, instead he put fame and fortune on hold to finish what he started. it may come together at the right time for an inspirational

college athlete. >> what retirement looks like for the former leader of the free world. artwork from george w. bush goes on display.

>> a quieter day across the south as we get into the afternoon. areas of showers and thunder storms popping up from texas across the golf coast, but we don't expect severe weather and nowhere near the size of hail that we got at the end of the week. places in missouri got ping-pong to softball size hails on thursday and friday. the storms are tracking offshore and are lesser in strength. we'll get cooler and drier in tennessee, and kentucky, where we have wet soil in place, and are getting problems with areas of streams and creeks rising and

gluing local areas. soil and moisture content is greatest across north missouri. the next round of severe weather for the south is coming in on sunday. we'll get a breather. as we get to sunday afternoon, we'll see the ingredients get into place for powerful storms, creeping across florida, and into the carolinas. otherwise on saturday we are looking at storms for the rockies, increasing rain for the west coast. temperatures starting out cool near the freezing mark for denver and billings cold for minneapolis. temperatures climbing back, getting the spring thaw growing. and we'll watch the rivers. as we get to new york, temperatures will feel good.

but that comes with a little bit of rain fall coming in through the day today. >> many college basketball stars head for the big leagues before finishing college. that was an option for a senior with the connecticut huskies. instead he decided to say and led his team to the final four one game away from the n.c.a.a. championship. >> the last title the yukon huskies made the championships, this player was a champion. the program lost long-time coach jim calhoun to requirement in september 2012. the team was ineligible to post-season play due to port academic -- poor academic performance. >> the university stayed loyal to me. i wanted to do the same.

i don't regret my decisions. >> thought his tenure he made important decisions. he toiled with the idea of transferring. the point guard decided to fulfil a promise he made to his mother. >> it emphasis why he stayed. he told his mum he'd get a degree, and he will, and has a chance to win a championship at the same time. >> while honouring his promise, the native hopes his circles on the court and grew into the leader that drooufs the team. >> -- drives the team. >> my maturity skills, being the best person i can be. you'll go through mishaps. when adversity hits, it shows you who you are. you can fold or stand up and fight. i think i learnt that through my years in connecticut.

>> his swagger, his positive arrogance, he's doing well. >> he's a great leader. he makes sure he helps us. he - he's a great leader. we need him. you see it on the court. he's a superstar. >> that was al jazeera's ross shimabuku. >> and we are getting a sneak peek at portraits painted by george w. bush, going on display in dallas at the george w. bush presidential center. mr bush painted pictures of world leaders he met during his time in the oval office. there's one of his dad former president h.w. bush. >> there's a raping of variety in terms of style and the amount of time worked on them. it's not a broad brush strokes

all the lips are a little overworked. some of them, there's a few that have an element of personality that are interesting. >> the former president says he had not picked up a paint brush until he left office. >> i'm morgan radford, thanks for watching, stay tuned to al jazeera. immigration, just the word gets people worked up, but for people who make their life and