as al jazeera's adrian brown reports now from northern china. >> reporter: the world's greatest aviation mystery has touched so many communities, rich and poor. this village is one of them. aadverts still call for some men to apply owner for work. he was one of the passengers on mh 370. last march on the first anniversary of the plane's disappearance his younger brother says he believes the plane was hijacked. he still believes it today. >> this has had a huge impact on our family. we will remain in this abyssive pain until the truth is discovered. >> family home was adorned with happy memories. but lu ling his wife has soon left the house, after a row with his parents. the result is their child is effectively a pawn in the bit are family feud over money. >> translator: she wanted to accept the compensation but my parents did not want to. so she took the son away and did not let my parents visit unless they gave her money so we grabbed the son back. >> this means his sister-in-law could now end one nothing. time has almost run out. the deadline for families to file a claim against malasi

adrian brown, al jazeera, northern china. >> north korea has said it could launch nuclear strikes against south korea and the u.s. in reaction to those countries joint military drills. the annual exercise will include 300,000 south koreans and 17,000 u.s. troops. the drill will last until the end of april as an excuse of holding invasion rehearsals while tensions have heightened in north korea's nuclear test in january and the launch of a missile in february. the tiny marshall islands in the pacific are taking on the world's nuclear powers in an unprecedented legal case. they say their lives were ruined by dozens of nuclear tests and arguing that the state's possessing nuclear weapons have failed legal obligations on disarmament. here is laurence lee. >> people pay a lot of money to go on holidays to places like this. but in decades gone by the world's nuclear powers use these beautiful atolls to test their capacity for global destruction. >> the united states government now wants to turn this great destructive power into something for the benefit of mankind. >> for one, the u.s. went to

adrien brown, al jazeera in northern china. >>> two years of rerattic weather and declining production is taking a toll on the tea industry. the state produces 17% of all the world's tea. over the past 100 years, the minimum temperature across the tea growing region has increased by 1.5 degrees celsius. annual rainfall has dropped by 20 meters. we have this report. >> acceptable. >> meet a professional tea taster. his job is to assess quality, but, he says, tea is subjective, like whiskey or wine, one man's drink is another man's poison. he says he's seen big changes in his 25 year career. >> the growing conditions have become more challenging. earlier in areas where you didn't need irrigation, today you need irrigation, so that's an added cost. >> he has devoted his life to studying tea. he says global warming is having a serious effect on the industry. >> climate change is impacting the productivity in terms of distribution. secondly, the climate change is also affecting the quality. >> there was a time when these sprinklers weren't needed, when the rainfall and sunshine were just ri

many styles in southern and northern china use the name shaolin. like the usual system of chinese martial arts, shaolin combat methods are taught via forms w; tol . some forms, like small hongquan, have just one section, and some, like big hongquan, more smaller parts, which every part can be considered a form itself. some forms technically closely coupled together and are considered of the same style sub-style is a better choice for the word hongquan, which altogether make the shaolinhongquan big paoquan, which shaolinpaoquan, small and big tongbiquan, which make shaolintongbiquan, qi xing and chang huxinyi men quan, etc. there are some styles with one form, like and styles that have been expanded into 5, 10, 13, 18, or even more forms. for example, luohan 18 hands, which was originally one form, was expanded into 18 forms until the late ming dynasty; luohanquan, which originally just had small and big forms, has been expanded into a system of 18 forms called 18 luohanquan; shaolin big hongquan nowadays has 13 forms; etc. indeed, these styles are

adrian brown, al jazeera, northern china. >>> and still ahead, overcoming adversity on and off the courtthe inspiring story of a basketball phenom battling a rare disease. ♪ >> so in los angeles, a rare thunder and lightning storm set palm trees on fire. and also patches of ice from hail that fell in the violent storms. heavy rain caused flooding all over california. >>> march madness is about to swiech the country. there is an inspirational story of a basketball player. andy roesgen explains. >> here is landis, in the paint. >> reporter: at first glance this 6'6" starting guard from florida has it all, a mean drive, quick feet, a killer three-point shot, but when the coach of the university of st. francis in illinois was considering recruiting landis andersson, something seemed off. >> i keep moving the phone like closer and closer to my face, and after a minute i'm like -- he is only playing with his left arm, like what is the deal here? >> reporter: andersson's has a neurological disorder that allows him just limited use of his right hand, but a disability, his mother was having none

adrian brown, northern china. >>> coming up next, the end of an era, as peyton manning retires, we look back at his legacy and the controversy. >>> maria sharapova is facing a ban from tennis after failing a drug test. she will be provisionally suspended starting march 12th. she tested positive for a drug that health officials say athletes benefit from increased endurance, speedier recovery from workouts, and she said she has been taking it for ten years. >> i wanted to let you know that a few days ago i received a letter from the itf that i failed a drug test at the australian open. i did fail the test, and i take full responsibility for it. >> she has five grand slam titles. she is the highest paid woman in sports. the drug was banned just last year. >>> peyton manning has retired after a stunning 18-year career, but he is leaving under a cloud. >> yes, good evening, john. whichever way you slice and dice this, this is the end of an era, because he exits the stage after a career that we also thought was flawless until the end. ever since super bowl 50 last month, the world has been wo

adrian brown reports now from northern china. >> the world's greatest aviation mystery has touched so many communities, rich and poor. the velg is one of them. adverts still encourage local men to apply. that is what he did. he was 1 of the 154 chinese passengers on mh 370. last march on the first anniversary of the jet's disappearance, his younger brother told me believe the plane had been hijacked. he still believes this today. >> this has had a huge impact on our family. this is endless store chur and pain. we will remain in this abusive pain unless the truth is discovered. >> a year ago, we also met his missing brother's wife and their young son. the family home was adorned with happy memories. but she has since left the house after a row with her inlaws over the airline's compensation offer. the vult th result is that the s a pawn. >> she wanted to accept the compensation but my parents did not want to. we grabbed the son back. >> reporter: this means his sister-in-law could now end up with nothing. time has almost run out. the deadline for families to file a claim against malasi

adrian brown, al jazeera, in northern china. >> a tiny marshall islands in micro nearby have a shah are taking on the world's powers. the islanders say their lives were ruined by dozens of nuclear tests. laurence lee reports. >> people pay a lot of money to go on holiday to places like this, but in decades gone by the world's nuclear powers use these beautiful atolls to test their capacity for global destruction. >> the united states government now wants to turn this great destructive power for something of a benefit for mankind. >> for one, the u.s. went to the island to persuade the locals that the tests would be for the global good. for nine years it was 67 nuclear tests. along the chain of islands. the marshallese islanders from past and present suffer the effects. >> i can go down the list of my wife's family. you don't have to go very far. and almost every marshall islander can do this. my wife' mother died from cancer. my wife's uncle died from thyroid cancer. >> and now it seems that national criminal court in the hague has to decide whether the nuclea international powers have

morning, chinese state media reporting 19 minors have been killed in a coal mine accident in northern china the accident happened last night, on an underground platform. there were 129 people underground when that accident happened. the others reached safety. china's mines had long been the world's deadliest, but safety improvement have reduced deaths in recent years. >>> australian officials say two pieces of debris recently discovered in mostnbeak, highly likely coming from flight 370. analysis of the part by an investigation team shows both parts are consistent with panels from the malaysia airlines boeing 777. the plane disappeared nearly two years ago, and is believed to have crashed in the indian ocean. 239 people were on board that flight when it disappeared. presidential candidate, topic, front and center after tuesday's deadly terror attacks in belgium killed more than 30 people, injured hundreds more. at a stop at sanford university hill had i talked about defeating isis after the group claimed responsibility, for that attack. >> the threat we face from terrorism that's real, it i

. >>> 19 miners have died in a coal mine accident in china's northern province. appened on an underground platform. local reports say 110 others survived. the cause of the accident is not known. >>> now, in a move lucky to raise tensions in the south china sea foreign journalists have been fining an islands administered by taiwan. taiwan island lies in the spratly archipelago close where china is constructing other islands. >> reporter: above the south china sea, heading for one of the specs of land that make up the vast spratly archipelago. taiwan's government had waited more than 50 years for this moment. to finally allow foreign journalists to see for themselves, how taiwan is protecting and enforcing its sovereignty. tie ping is very small. it's just a half kilometer long, and is dominated by the runway. to buttress its case, taiwan is spending more than $100 million upgrading the runway and also the port. >> this is the actually natural formed island, sustainable and good for the living of the pima cording to the international practice, international law. so

so the winds are really strong and pushing through the northern portions of china. beijing already having issues because of the air quality issues. so the haze is already in place. you add the yellow sand on top of that, and it makes it even worse. i think as we go throughout friday into saturday, this is going to still be a problem as the flow continues to push towards the east. meanwhile, as we look at the rest of the forecast for asia and japan, it's warm for japan. we're going to see more temperatures favorable for early to mid april as we go into saturday. you may notice moisture trying to develop over the korean peninsula. that is eventually going to spread to the east and bring more rain for japan as we go into sunday. but for saturday, partly cloudy skies. rain off in shanghai as we go throughout the day. now, as we look at the forecast for north america, you notice this aa of clouds rolling through the southeastern portion of the united states. that's associated with a cold front not only bringing rain for the deep south but snow further to the north. this

if you want to be more specific, we're talking about the vietnamese border and northern vietnam that up into china. that's where these companies have established connections and infrastructure over the last few decades >>> thank you. still ahead here on the news hour. >> reporter: i'm in alabama where a controversial law to prosecute mothers who take abortion drugs is coming under scrutiny >>> we are talking about languages at risk. the american cup's champion have a moment to forget as they try to defend their title. defend their title. >>> hey how's it going, hotcakes? hotcakes. this place has hotcakes. so why aren't they selling like hotcakes? with comcast business internet and wifi pro, they could be. just add a customized message to your wifi pro splash page and you'll reach your customers where their eyes are already - on their devices. order up. it's more than just wifi, it can help grow your business. you don't see that every day. introducing wifi pro, wifi that helps grow your business. comcast business. built for business. >>> welcome back. you're watching the news hour from al jazeera i

more than a few places in texas, northern texas, standed inhomes ripping a chance to watch an eclipse. >> a total solar eclipse. other countries from australia to chinaaw a partial eclipse. the next total solar eclipse visible from the u.s. mainland will be in august 2017. there will be a lunar eclipse for us coming up on march 23rd. >> spectacular video. really sharp. >> don't look directly at that because you can burn your eyes. you don't have any nerves in the back up. maybe if you 6rgo later 68 tha today we are be close. see thav54. right now 37 in frederick and manassas and culpeper. 55 win chester. the air once the atmosphere mixes of us as we get into thursday night and 25 degrees above average. 68 with an early shower friday. temps in the 60s saturday. 70s sunday. a couple of showers earlier next week. clocks forward this weekend. hello, larry. happy wednesday, not thursday. >> a little howard. >> i can't hi it. >>> if you yo shortly. around the beltway, we are doing ard rking the g startsoffice in fairfax. >>> before he won an oscar for the kings speech, look at this, the famous white shirt for his jump in the lake is coming to d.c. the shir

china and taiwan. the islands controlled by south korea and the russian held northern territories. the government maintains that all of these territories are inherent parts of japan. new security laws are mentioned in all text books on social and political affairs. they exercise a rate to collective self defense. they will be released later this year. faculty and high schools will decide which to use by the end of august. the books will be in classrooms for the academic year that starts in april of next year. south korea issued a statement condemning what it called japan's unjustifiable claims. the foreign ministry officials summon suzuki, a minster at the embassy in seoul to file a protest. they responded to the review process is fair and neutral and the position is unacceptable. >>> people in japan recently marked the anniversary of one of the worst natural disasters in their history. it has been five years since an earthquake and tsunami ravaged the coast. a group of students in egypt showed support through music. nhk world has a report. >> the idea of music is playing out here.

drop in oil prices and concerns about china's economy helped drive stocks down. >>> northern californiae recent rain, precautions being taken as parking lots start flood. >>> live tonight madison bumgarner talking to mark ibanez at spring training. that's not fair, he should give you your rollerblades back. anddddd, she's back. storm coming? a very dangerous cheese storm. so you have 20 more bags. mhm. my yoga instructor calls it the death spiral. i call it living the dream. american express presents the blue cash everyday card with no annual fee. cash back on purchases. see you tomorrow. backed by the service and security of american express. >>> in petaluma, ipads gibbons to students coming under fire from parents who say kids are getting a real eiffel of explicit content. some say if the filter can't be improved, the schools need to dump those ipads. debora villalon in petaluma where the school board heard about all of this tonight. deborah? broke they heard from both sides because every student got an ipad. what is racy for a first grader may be routine for a freshman. >> go back. >

also breaking tonight, a northern kentucky businessman is headed to prison for illegally selling parts to china. this is louis brothers back in 2010. just hours ago, he was sentenced to 93- months in prison for illegally exporting sophisticated technology equipment to the people's republic of china and concealing unlawful proceeds. he'll also have to pay more than a million dollars. the f-b-i says he exported microcircuits, and labeled the shipments as computer parts to conceal them. you decide 2016 it's the tweet everyone's talking about tonight. jeff ruby says he's gotten death threats after taking aim at donald trump...saying the g-o-p frontrunner is not welcome in his restaurants, until he apologizes to p-o-w's. o'rourke has been the bottom of the clermont county with what she's learned. trica, donald trump and jeff ruby are both outspoken and often unfiltered. but, tonight the restraunteur sent us a very thoughtout statement...explaini ng his reasoning that tweet had so we came here to the yellow ribbon support center and talked to matt's dad keith about the online war of words. 365 days a

and then california right there with berkley, in northern california, california has the second most billionaires in the world. more billionaires than china or india. >> amazing, right? >> nice place to live. >> to bring families together for meals free of distraction. >> the operator of restaurant in georgia developed the cell phone coup. families challenge today put their cell phones on silent, drop them in the box, and then enjoy their meal together. >> if they get through this without touching a phone, free ice cream from chill filet. >> now locally owned chick-fil-a are offering guest the opportunity to take the cell phone coup challenge. >> real good idea a lot of people already put them in a bowl at the table. just have bowl, in the middle of the table, put all of your cell phones there, no one can touch it, no one use them. >> i don't have that problem since i have the dinner alone. >> oh, you need your cell phone. >> big step for ivy league football. eight coaches have decided to do away with tackling during practices. just by switching to progressive. so you'll be bringing home the bacon in no time. sorry. get a free quote at pr

china. in the middle east the so-called northern tier of countries lined to the south of the soviet union entered into the baghdad pact, which established the central treaty organization. the united states did not become a formal member of the alliance, which is comprised of turkey and great britain, iran and pakistan, but we are closely associated with them and have bilateral and military assistance agreements with regional members, concluded by the eisenhower administration. in order to give support to the nations of southeast asia, the united states took the lead in the creation of an alliance embodied in a treaty and reinforced by collective security systems, the southeast asia treaty organization. in this alliance, the united states joined with great britain, france, australia, new zealand, thailand, pakistan and the philippines to give security to the nations, but also to come to the aid of certain protocol states and territories if they so requested. south vietnam was included in this protocol. the united states had not been a party to the agreement made in geneva in 1954, which france had

they are gathering in this southern part of china, hong kong and to the west down over the border into northern vietnam. you've got the coming together of the moist winds from the south and that northeast monsoon, the two come together and the clouds gather and build and thunder when it rains really quite heavily. this will carry on, but the northeast monsoon, the colder one, the winter one will prevail. hong kong will get cooler, but the rains are still there on the south coast. in total, i think over the next two days, we'll get something like between 50 and 75 millimeters, virtually wherever you are. this is just a start, though. it's about 11 days early. >> yes, indeed, thanks for that, rob. in a surprise announcement, the former florida governor jeb bush backed ted cruz for president. he tweeted on wednesday that cruz can unite the party and posted on his facebook page that they must "overcome the divisiveness and vulgarity donald trump has brought into the political arena." bush's father and brother served as president, just out of the presidential race one month ago. i'm joined live from

china, you do have the bprecipitation, foggy in the morning hours. taipei, back towards the north, minus 12, definitely still chillily out there. iran, pakistan, towards northern india, we have low pressure, the whole entire trough which had been lingering here. developing, picking up moisture, thursday and friday, this is going to bring a threat of flash flooding. thunderstorms across northern india, new delhi, thunderstorms in the forecast, high of 30, while back into pakistan, looking at those partly cloudy skies before the low works its way in by friday as well. farther towards west once again, we'll see what's going on here, to the british isles, southwest towards london, winds of 80 to 90 kilometers, gusts over 100 per kilometer, continuing to push through before it dives towards the southeast on thursday, rolls off there. bringing that wet precipitation across parts of france. north, we could see some snow across the foothills of scotland. temperatures, definitely cooling off. london with a high of 8. similar conditions into paris, thunderstorms expected, while moscow, you are above the freezing point. high of 5. we have some rain fall expected out ther

that china won't do anything that will risk the regime crumbling and creating what the chinese leadership fears most, a refugee crisis right on its border >>> thank you for that. air strikes in northern iraq have killed at least 25 people and injured around 70 others. the u.s. and its allies hit an area, mosul's university and shops nearby. the city has been held by i.s.i.l. for over a year. on sunday the u.s. military confirmed it had carried out 16 air strikes on i.s.i.l. over the weekend. talks are said to begin between the syrian government and the opposition in geneva. u.n. special envoy is hosting separate talks with the high negotiations committee and the syrian government delegation to find a solution to end the war in syria. a football match between two of turkey's biggest teams has been cancelled over security concerns. the istanbul derby had been scheduled for sunday evening. it was called off because of intemgs about a potential threat. our correspondent is live for us in istanbul. what do you know about this potential threat? >> reporter: we do know that the governor had talks with the two clubs and discussed the security threat and then they decided to call off the matc

china up a little bit. they have economic leverage in the black market on their northern border that never gets talked about. if you want to hurt north korea, you have the chinese cooperate with us on closing down the black market for goods and services crossing the border. china's in an economic downturn, so i would argue, good luck with that. i'm a lawyer here in washington, d.c. spiesid that we have more from foreign nations in this country than ever before. how do you know that? mr. rogers: that is what the intelligence business is designed to do, determined that we have individuals here who are engaged in espionage. everybody does it a little different. the russians tend to have professional intelligence officers. the chinese recruit people that aren't necessarily intelligence officers to perform intelligence thevities when they get to united states. if you look at the rash of indictments and prosecutions thently, especially on chinese program, it starts to highlight how they go about doing their business and how these folks are not necessarily trained agents and officers. they might be engineers. they

issues our economy is as well as steel exporting countries like china to push on their overscapacity. >> the chief of staff came to northern minnesota, it was helpful to have him there. and asking more in writing from questions about this pension issue but talking generally about the importance in a volatile economy, millennials dealing with the gay economy and having trouble saving because they don't have a structure in place and you have seniors who have retired but things changed with their pensions and it is difficult for them. >> retirement security is very important. a lot of people are not prepared for retirement and retirement security is enhanced when you're depending on multiple sources of social security being one. and pensions which include defined contribution and defined benefit. defined benefit have a number of challenges in our economy especially in the multi employers segment, that is an important issue in the pension benefit guaranty plays an important role helping to make sure those pensions function as well as they could. >> this issue with the central states pension plan which we can talk about more in

northwest all the to atlantic side of the northern americas and for the first course this is the first time ever that we will be unveiling this wonderful part of the obama chinao. as per first lady michelle obama suggestion the state dinner will be in the east room of the white house. >>> a mom fighting back at one her student's classmates. she grabs him by the neck. what she says he did that started the whole thing. >> there it goes. here it comes, here it come. >> germantown row house crumbles to the ground hours earlier a partial collapse had trap the older couple living inside. >> it went kaboom! and the house started falling down on us. >> reporter: i'm bruce gordon ahead at 5:30 their amazing escape plus the mystery of why they were living here in the first place. >>> record high temperatures today across the area but cooler air is moving in for friday. temperature details plus a chance for some rain next. ♪ >>> here's look at bush kill falls right now from our pocono mountains camera. the more time you spent outside today the better. we felt temperatures that felt more like late spring maybe even summer out there but chief meteorologist scott williams

northern thailand. once known as kingdom of a million rice fields, it's a fertile, green and gorgeous area, home of the ancient lanna people. welcome to chiang mai province. tucked up near the borders of burma, chinaay. all of them have left their mark on the food. >> andy: here's the local hooch. lao khao. >> anthony: and if you're eating here, chances are you're also drinking. >> andy: ugh. compared to the, uh, the stuff we had this morning, this is substantially more harsh, i would say, and less fragrant. >> anthony: the village of mae on, and this place is called him tang. how did you find this place, man? we're in the middle of nowhere. >> andy: it's a very popular place. >> anthony: a restaurant showcasing one of the distinguishing elements of northern thai cuisine -- the heavy use of animal protein. >> andy: you see the local people, they're lining up. here in northern thailand, pig reigns supreme. so most of the stuff we're eating here is made out of pig. >> anthony: okay, so what did you order? >> andy: grilled pig tail. >> anthony: that sounds superb. yep. >> andy: and then we ordered some sai oua -- northern thai herbal pork sausage. >> anthony: oh yeah, i'm on that. >> andy: brain. som

northern was later returned by his younger brother to the .hite house, mr. rk willis shows thatful table mr. davis and president davis just enjoyed having guests. they had lavish donors, china thatppointed we have some of. the brightest and best minds of the south. mrs. davis was beautifully educated. in her own right, a wonderful hostess. i can just imagine how they sat around this table, in tops, discussing politics. they would have people of all different types of social and support backgrounds president davis, because he was the figurehead of the movement of the confederacy. in order for the confederacy to work, president davis had to work with all kinds of people. people from all walks of life. they all came into the top speed -- into this house. they would go into this hallway to visit davis in his study. this is the most important room. you can imagine the decisions made in this room by president davis and his cabinet. the desk in the corner was his personal desk. this table, right here, is very important. it is the table on which he wrote his memoirs. you can imagine president jefferson davis sitting here on this desk -- at this desk. it is here where he penned his

china up a little bit. they have economic leverage in the black market on their northern border that's never talked about. if you want to hurt north korea, you have the chinese cooperate with us on closing down the black market for goods and services crossing that border in the north. problem is china's in an economic downturn and i would argue good luck with that. yeah. yes, ma'am? >> hi, my name is dee. i'm a lawyer here in wards. you said that we have more spies from foreign nations in this country than ever before. how do you know that? >> that's what the intelligence business is designed to do is determine that we have jinlgs here who are engaged in espionage activities and so if you look at the -- so everybody does it a little different. you know, the russians tend to have professional intelligence officers. the chinese do it a little different. they recruit people that aren't necessarily intelligence officers to perform intelligence activities when they get to the united states. and if you look at the rash of indictments and prosecutions recently, especially on the chinese program, it really starts

china, to push on their overcapacity. >> very good. well, as i said, it's -- the president's chief of staff came up to northern minnesota. we've had thousands of layoffs, and it was really helpful to have him there. and i'm going to ask you more on the -- in writing some questions about this pension issue. but could you just talk in general about the importance in a volatile economy, you've got on one hand the millennials dealing with the economy and having trouble saving because they don't have that kind of structure in place. >> right. >> that we once had. and then you have some seniors who have retired but things change with their pensions and it makes it very difficult for them. >> yeah. >> could you talk about just the importance in general of retirement. >> retirement security is very important. a lot of people are not prepared for retirement. and retirement security is enhanced when you're depending on multiple sources, social security, of course, being one, private savings being another, and pensions. pensions include both defined contribution and defined benefit. defined benefit have faced a number of challenges

northern soldier. much later, it was returned to the white house by his younger brother. this is the dining room. , president davis had just joined having guests. they had lavish dinners, beautiful, pointed rose to china that was mrs. davis is that we had some of. the south, political and social. they had a wonderful time while they were here. mrs. davis was beautifully educated and was a wonderful hostess. i can just imagine, discussing politics, of course. it is so important that they had dinners and receptions because and hade trying to win all different kinds of social and economic grounds to come together to support president .avis he was the figurehead of the movement of the confederate the and in order for the confederacy to work, president davis had to work with all kinds of people, people from all walks of life came to this house and they would wait to see president davis in his study. follow me into the president's study. the decisionse that were made in this very room by president davis and his cabinet. over there in the corner, the desk was his personal desk. it here in richmond and his retirement home on the mississippi gulf coast. this table right here is very important because it was th

china, to push on their overcapacity. >> very good. well, as i said, it's -- the president's chief of staff came up to northern minnesota. we've had thousands of layoffs, and it was really helpful to have him there. and i'm going to ask you more on the -- in writing some questions about this pension issue. but could you just talk in general about the importance in a volatile economy, you've got on one hand the millennials dealing with the economy and having trouble saving because they don't have that kind of structure in place. >> right. >> that we once had. and then you have some seniors who have retired but things change with their pensions and it makes it very difficult for them. >> yeah. >> could you talk about just the importance in general of retirement. >> retirement security is very important. a lot of people are not prepared for retirement. and retirement security is enhanced when you're depending on multiple sources, social security, of course, being one, private savings being another, and pensions. pensions include both defined contribution and defined benefit. defined benefit have faced a number of challenges

northern triangle grow to more than 13 times what it was in 2008. some come from outside this hemisphere. many of those from refugee hosting states as well as china. u.s. leadership in protecting refugees advances national security a foreign-policy interest. year, i visited jordan, lebanon and turkey to address the refugee crisis. severet states are under pressure and as the former ambassador to syria, iraq, and lebanon has explained, advancing security interests by helping protect the stability of a region home to key u.s. allies. policies and practices make it hard to distinguish between victims of oppression and the perpetrators of horrific acts. a number of leading his security experts have describes, efforts to bar syrian refugees are counterproductive as it actually helps the isolate narrative. cautions, you do not want to play into the narrative of the bad guy. that is giving propaganda to the enemy. program that edge indicate in a timely and fair manner is essential both for the integrity of the u.s. immigration process as well as refugees from a place of persecution. yet, over 480,000 court removal cases have been pending for an average o

the nixon opening to china was an achievement. the northern ireland accords. that was an achievement. i think the work that you've done on these three very tough, historically problematic and challenging relationships, working with others, senator í mccain and with the strong encouragement of a president obama, who cares about diplomacy, thank goodness, i think it will rank in the very top ranks of american diplomatic achievements. again, no guarantees of success, but the absence of diplomatic effort is almost a guarantee of failure. i just want to thank you for that. i'll save my budget questions for next week. >> thank you very much. >> senator shaheen? >> thank you, mr. chairman, and mr. secretary, thank you. i don't have as broad a perspective to provide thanks to you as senator kaine did, but certainly appreciate your tireless efforts to promote american values around the world. i actually want to bring it back to a minute matter, as opposed to a broad strategy, and as i think you have been very supportive of the special immigrant visa program, which has