>> it's overwhelming to see this many people that have perished. >> lost lives are re-lived... >> all of these people shouldn't be dead. >> will there differences bring them together, or tear them apart. >> the only way to find out is to see it yourselves. >> which side of the fence are you on? borderland only on al jazeera america >> >> tensions mount in eastern ukraine. protesters occupy buildings in three cities. a western soldier killed in crimea. >> we are here with the top stories. also on the program - india decides. the first of 800 million voters make their choices about the future of their country. >> pleas to free al jazeera's journalist after 100 days in detention.

>> pick up your cell phone. hash tag westbound free aj's staff. >> and the french ambassador says he's been barred in relation to to the rwanda genocide. >> a russian soldiers killed a ukrainian officer in crimea, according to the ukrainian defence ministry. the soldier reportedly shot the officer with a machine-gun, at a hotel where the military personal have been staying. ukraine's acting president has met with security chiefs after pro-russian activists entered buildings. kiev is accusing moscow of organising separatist demonstrations. kim is live in donetsk. what can you tell us about this ukrainian officer that has been shot and killed in crimea?

>> all we know is there was some sort of altercation between the ukrainian soldier and russian soldier, and the ukrainian major was shot dead. it happened at a hotel where ukrainian troops working at a nearby air base were living. i think what this shows is that after the annexation of crimea, after the people of crimea voted in the referendum which kiev does not recognise, that there are deep divisions, a lot of interpretation, and it's raising the tensions here, mainland ukraine as well, the possibility of retaliation from either side. >> absolutely, and the tensions in eastern parts of ukraine - what is the situation at the government buildings in eastern cities that have been seized by pro-russia demonstrators. well, the crowds here outside the local government administration building in

donetsk are growing, there's a couple of thousands vehicles here. pro-russian activists are in control of building. they have built barricades, they are not leaving. we have been to the state security building. pro-russian activists have tape control of that building. but, look, these activists are organised. they are asking representatives from the region, from different towns to declare a people's council. they say they declare the council is a legal representative entity of the entire reem region, and they plan to demand that the government hold the referendum for autonomy for the frommingisation of ukraine, and if it's not down they'll look towards russia. the gore of donetsk asked that security chiefs come here to hold a meeting here in the center of where this is

happening. what this shows is the issue of sterilisation will be crucial to the stability of the country particularly in the run up to the presidential election. i think how the government in kiev respondents, it refuses to use force. how it sponds, as the protesters are making the demands clear and they will not leave until they are lisped to. >> that's our correspondent in ukraine. >> to other news. the world's biggest election has begun for the next five weeks. indians will cast their votes in a ballot to be the most important in 30 years, more tan 1500 political parties are contesting the election. the two parties are the congress and the b.j.p. party that is led. though popular neither party is

expected to achieve the 272 seats needed for an outright majority. a host of middleweight and regional parties, depending on the concessions offered to them, or stay outside government. the election marks the emergence of the party, led by anticorruption crusader. the indian electorate is diverse, fractured, and this is reflected in the political landscape. many speak on behalf of their own group, rather than for the nation as a hole. >> we go to a polling station. that sound you hear is a vote being cast on the electronic voting machine. this indian election, there are no paper ballots. the crowd has been steady, they were lining up before the polls opened at seven this morning. election officials tell us in the first hour of voting 10% of

the 1 million voters already cast their ballot. they are showing a good tonne out and the election commission is saying they are aiming for an 80% turn out. the main issue among voters is the same for the rest of the country, the economy. particularly inflation. people noticed a grocery bill going up, and they want that to change. this place usually votes for the governing congress party, but voters say they've been in power for 10 years, and when they look at the bills, they are willing to give the b.j.p. a try. voting will go on until the evening, but won't be count until may 16th, when the country votes will be counted together. >> it is 100 days since al jazeera's journalists were detained in egypt. the trial are peter greste, mohamed fadel fahmy, and mohammed badr is due

to resume tuesday, and they are falsely accused of providing a platform for the muslim brotherhood. a fourth journalist abdullah al-shami has been in prison without trial since last august. he's in his 76th day of a hunger strike. al jazeera rejects the charms and demands their belief. mohammed badr's brother said he never belonged to any group. >> my brother is not asserted with any group. seeing my brother abdullah al-shami in this situation is the worst feeling. these a kind and worm feeling, and concerned about us all. >> journalists from many media organizations around the world have been campaigning for the relief of the al jazeera's staff. among them are the friends and journalists of the peter greste in kenya. we have spoken to some of them.

we have this report from nairobi. >> this couple would meet peter greste at a cafes in nairobi. but on december 29th he and mohammed badr were imprisoned. abdullah al-shami has been in gaol since last august. >> i tell him to stay strong. i tell them we are all thinking of them, we think of them every single day. they have become the 'em blem of our struggle and it's every journalists struggle. it should be everybody's struggle. whoever takes vavening of journalism, anyone that reads a newspaper, watches television. those people rely on people like peter and his colleagues. they are suffering for the liberty way all of us take for advantage. >> in the 100 days since he's

been in gaol, he would have covered the fighting in south sudan. >> the recent kenyan government ruling to move refugees to designated attacks in mombassa. there's a deteriorating security situation in other areas. and in mogadishu. >> peter would have reported on the 20th anniversary of the rwandan genocide, where nearly a million are guilt. tom rhodes is from a group that advocates for journalists and says things could get worse. >> it's worrying for in region, once they crackdown on high profile names such as al jazeera, what does that mean for the local journalists, even here in kenya, who don't have the institutional backing and support? yes, it's a dangerous precedent. >> this woman has been a

journalist for a year. colleagues like peter greste inspire her. >> he is fighting. because he's fighting. i'm inspired. al jazeera rejects the charges against his staff and continues to call for the release of staff. >> alison bethel-mckenzie is the director of the the journal if institute in vienna and calls for the rest of the community to rally for the staff. >> there is no case against them. they should be released, not jald for doing their jobs. i am happy to sit here, knowing that there is consensus among colleagues from around the world, from pretoria, new york, london, that we will not stop acting and pressuring the egyptian government from releasing the journalists from

gaol, certainly the three journalists who, today, have been in gaol for 100 days, and abdullah, who has been in gaol for longer than that. i wanted to remind my colleagues pick up your phone, pick up your cell phone. hash tag fre aj staff hashtag. make your voices known that we will not accept journalists. use it as an opportunity to call for the release. in turkey, vietnam, syria, all the other big countries that are gaolists of journalists. >> and on the website interactive on the record, journalism is not a crime page. there's messages from family members and our own staff. >> still to come on the program. riot police in china keep a close eye on opponents in a chemical plant.

and how sri lanka's team made history at the world

final. >> good to have you with us, these are the top stories on al jazeera. a russian soldier killed a ukrainian officer in crimea. the soldier reportedly shot the officer with a machine-gun. the incident occurred at a hotel where military personal have been staying. voting is under way at the biggest elections. people are the first to take

part in the ma'am oath process. more than 800 are eligible to vote in several phases. it's 100 days since al jazeera's journalists were detained in egypt. the trial is due to resume on thursday of peter greste, mohamed fadel fahmy, and mohammed badr. they are falsely accused of providing a platform of the muslim brotherhood. >> a special meeting is under way over twighting between the kes add. u.s. brokered talks are on the verge of collapse. what do we expect out of the special session? a. . >> well 25 members have been in recess. this is taking place now. there's yelling going on back and forth. the main message coming out is

that the opposition doesn't think the government is being genuine in the peace talks. one member of the knesset says they were going full gas, there wasn't a will to tacking the hard issue, and an israeli member said why was the israeli prisoners being an issue. they have released palestinians before, when it came to the swap under which gilad was released. there's a message to the government saying that they'll not be genuine. the israeli prime minister is technically supposed to be at this. we haven't seen him yet, but we think he could arrive to give a statement. >> thank you for the update. stefanie dekker live from jerusalem. the rebels in eastern libya agreed to reopen oil ports. they've been blockading for the

past eight months. they've been demanding great autonomy. the blockade cost the country billions in lost revenue. >> our correspondent andrew simmons is joining us live from the libyan capital. how big a deal is this? >> well, right now, as it stands, it's a trust-building measure. two oil ports will be open. it is a breakthrough, but the big prize is all four ports won't be working at the same time. the two will eminently produce half the amount of production required to boost the level of the economy whereby it's functioning anywhere near reasonable fashion, where 7 billion of us dollars of lost revenue in this blockade.

the actual deal itself is interesting in that it gives the - these armed groups, principally the main one - a position whereby they sought some level of autonomy and the management of the oil fields moved to the east. not only that, there'll be examination, a large amount of money going to the articled group. would you believe frt the security guard salaries and other areas of compensation. it was a cash deal. not only that, there'll be a guarantee, but there won't be a prosecution of any of these armed groups. beyond that, the main prizes is a commission of inquiry into alleged corruption, deals done between oil companies and the government. moving on from there, of course, the two other oil fields. well, whether that will happen,

still has to be confirmed, but there has to be a measure of trust. >> thank you for that. that's our correspondent andrew simmons joining us from the libyan capital tripoli. >> now the chem rations senior moan yea has be -- ceremony has beg begun to remember the many killed. one person who won't attend is the french ambassador. he has been barred. the latest political incident follows the french government's decision to pull out of the ceremonies. we have the latest from the memorial center. >> president paul kagame had accused the french cost of involvement in the genocide in 1994. it's nothing new. the president and rwanda accused friends of involvement. of giving advice to the then regime and the match that proceeded, the genocide of

giving a weapon to the prejudice, to the pro - to the regime at the time. weapons used to kill roou jansd. this is nothing knew. >> if you have an ipad you can get more by downloading our latest special edition magazine. >> aid workers in the solomon islands are searching through rubble for the bodies of missing people. 21 have been confirmed killed in what's been described as the worst flash flooding in the island's history. 40,000 people have been left homeless, communities were swept away when a river burst its banks in honiara. japan laid out the red carpet for australia prime minister, tony abbott, leading a delegation of 600 business leaders, with hopes of reaching a free trade agreement. japan is the second biggest

trading partner. tariffs on australian beef and japanese car exports are the sticking points. >> an australian search ship detected more signals from what is expected to be black boxes from missing flight mh370. it's in a similar area where a chinese vessel picked up pulses. the chief search coordinator said it helped to narrow down the amp ampt they want -- -- the search area. they can't narrow anything down. >> clearly this is a most promising lead. probably in the search so far, it's the - it's probably the best information that we have had. the area in which the signals have been received has a depth of approximately 4,500 metres. this is also the limited

capability of the autonomous underwater vehicle. i need to be honest with you - it could take some days before the information is available to establish whether these detections can be confirmed as being from mh370 >> protesters are trying to stop a chemical plant being built in southern chooepa. its owners -- china. openers say it will be good for the economy. >> as rob mcbride reports, it's the latest example of controversial government decisions. >> a dense standoff continues between riot police and opponents of a new chemical plant. during the day the numbers are smaller, but they are no less

passionate. >> if they want to g ahead with the project, there's nothing we can do about it, except protest and try. >> this was the violence that begone on the same streets a week earlier, with images spread on the internet, and just as quickly being deleted by the authorities. >> the local government has been using social media to promote the px plant making chemicals for plastics and synthetic fibre. it's not that toxic, this video explains, and will bring economic benefits. it's construction on this site will create 10,000 jobs. >> here as in other cities in china there's a growing awareness about the environmental impact of economic progress, and an increasing willingness among the people to take their opposition to it on to the streets. >> in recent years there has been a number of large-scale

protests against industrial marts. in a society where social stability is important, the ageses resulted in the authorities -- actions resulted in authorities backing down. >> all the protests prove that more citizens are aware of their legal rights and environmental issues. it's a measure of how society is developing. >> officials have promised not to go ahead with the plant if most object. >> the protests haven't been big nauf to make a difference. >> translation: the protests have not worked because not enough people have come. authorities block off the roads into town and have tight control of the media. as the protest poster opposite the site declares, we are told it's good for us. >> nine patients and a care taker have been killed at a pir in a nursing home in chile.

the city's mayor said they decide because they were looked in their rooms and couldn't escape. neighbours were able to rescue three others. >> costa rica has a new president. the opposition president won with 18% of votes. the result was expected as the historians one and only rival dropped out last month. >> biotechnology company in bangladesh created the first genetically modified crop. the plant is resist and to certain pests but environmental activists are worried about the safety. we have more. this could change the lives of farmers in bangladesh. it's the first genetically modified crop. scientists are distroilenting the plants made from genes developed by a biotech company

to a select group of farmers. this is a farmer he hopes the grope will make his life easier. he's resistant to the fruit and shoot. there are a number of pests that harm egg plants, but the fruit is the most problematic for south asian farmers. >> translation: we have to spray pesticides. it's time-consuming and extensive. scientists tell us we won't need to. not everyone will be as optimistic. >> protesters say that introducing the foreign elements into the soil will alter the ecological system and harm the lobing the crops. >> reporters of the crop see the protesters are misguided acting out of a genetic opposition.

>> translation: why are they putting the effort into this when they should be protesting the use of pesticides. almost everything we grow and eat is sprayed with poison every week. >> critics point out that the seed was developed in india, yet new delhi has not approved the coop. >> they are solving the problem of one. they still need pesticides. this is a notion created to solve all the problems. >> an affiliate hopes that it will be proven many things, as to whether it is good for business. >> the american actor mickey rooney died aged 93. the diminutive hollywood star's movie began at the age of 10.

his first big roll was alongside clark gable in a manhattan melodrama. later costars included audrey hepburn and bob hope. he won an oscar in 1939 and was nominated four times over the next 40 years. the the academy give him an honor airy award in 1983. he was married eight times and fathered 11 children. >> sri lanka won the world's twenty20 cricket title, beating india by six. not surprisingly there has been wild celebrations in sri lanka. >> joy on the streets of colombo. sri lanka's long wait ending on a high note. >> i'm proud to be a sri lankan. >> going into the final with a lot to prove, the team began a campaign from the first ball.

restricting india to 130 runs. the team ventures in style. >> thousands of fans poured on to the streets of colombo wanting to be a part of the team's win. >> sri lanka won the t20 championship. >> cricket has been important. at the peak of the 26 year war, both sides stopped fighting when t20 matches were played. >> today was no different. giant screens dotting the capital. >> the mood is ecstatic. the sri lankan team gave their fans plenty of rhetoric. winning a world cup is definitely a reason to party. >> the british royal family's newest member has taken his first official trip overseas.

prince george is touring new zealand with the duke and dame bridge -- duchess of cambridge. given his young age prince george will only attend a few engagements. >> more on that and the rest of the news on our website aljazeera.com. i'll reveal a silver lining, something we haven't seen in several years. and gm's known fame your to recall dashes failure to recall may be criminal. a shift in health care coverage. that will affect you some day even if you are covered by your employer. i'm ali velshi and this is "real money" ."