in the last few months, trying to put pressure on kiav, he has threatened to increase gas prices and play with the whole question of gas, to ukraine, and they are heavily dependent upon imports from russia, to heat and to fuel its economy. so in many respects he turned the screws on ukraine. he grew up as a russian speaker, very strong ties to russia, and in many respects what he is doing is catering to his electoral base in the eastern part of the country that favor as tilt toward europe. excuse me, to russia, kiav is in the western part, they tilt to the west towards the e.u., and right now, he is trying to govern over a deeply divided country. >> thank you for being with us this afternoon, he is a senior fellow with the council of foreign relations in washington. >> there shall a number of developments coming out of syria today. investigating allegations of chemical use in syria. we are expecting that to happen sometime this afternoon. looking at several cases of alleged chemical weapons use. including an attack that left more than 400 people dead, including dozens of children. ea

that would be a sit that would further enrage his political opponents in kiav where tens of thousands are still in the streets. al jazeera, in moscow. >> now ukraine's opposition has demanded more detail on the deal that was signed on tuesday. 24 update from kiav. >> it is very interesting. when i was standing here, listening live, through my ear piece to the press conference being given by victor and vladimir putin, while i was digesting that information, i was turning around to see whether the crowd here were watching what i was listening to, whether they were al having that broadcast relayed to them, what they made of it, and there was no there, it was still the same songs and speeches, and music coming over the screens from the stage that they have been hearing and seeing for weeks. and maybe a technical reason why they weren't watching what was going on, in moscow, but i think it also suggests that the people here have moved way beyond victor. they are just not listening to him as a leader, any more. now, we have heard from the opposition leaders on this stage, in the after math

it is a lifeline for kiav that is teetering on the line of default. we urge the government to listen to people, to the peaceful, democratic, future to which the ukrainian citizens aspire. leaders say they want to know what the president offered moscow in exchange for today's deal. a u.s. army helicopter crashed today. the black hawk went down in a little province near the pakistan boarder. the deadliest incident this year, the taliban reportedly claimed responsibility for the attack saying it shot down a chopper flying at a low also tuesday in the area. but nato said there was no insurgent activity at the time of the crash. initial reports suggest mechanical problems could be to blame. people in several parts of the country won't be getting a break from the snow any time soon. snow and freezing fog blanketed parts of chicago. also snowy weather from toledo ohio to philadelphia, and new jersey. slick roads are being blamed for accidents in west chester county new york, and several hours of delays at major airports in new york and new england. >> that's

anger in ukraine, protestors hoping to cut ties with russia, react to a $15 billion deal, between kiav and moscow. >> and it possible odds. people line-up to

al jazeera, kiav. >> so, the 308sy chief seems confident, that hay there sign the trade agreement, the protestors possible not that convinced, but even if it does happen, would that be enough? >> what is it they want? >> he is playing, that is the president, both sides against each other at the moment, to some extent, he had moscow who wants him to become part of the customs union, a kind of western barrier from their side, at least, and he also has the european union who are cutting him. from the e.u. before it can think seriously about signing up through a trade agreement. because the economy here is in a dreadful state. i mean it is seeking alone from the international monetary fund, just to stay alive. and that's why although the european park has its attractions, so does moscow. particularly for president kovich they suspect that they would be the ones that would allow him to hold on to his wealth, and also, of course, it is cheap gas that he needs just to keep this economy afloat. >> thank you for that. well, antigovernment sentiments has spread to the west with hundreds demonstr

al jazeera, kiav. >> cotton was once king, we will tell you why egyptian cotton could become a thing of the past, and the billest drill in the world is stuck. engineers are battled. we will dig deep to find out why. this is the 900-page document we call obamacare. it could change costs, coverage, and pretty much all of healthcare in america. my show sorts this all out. in fact, my staff has read the entire thing. which is probably more than what most members of congress can claim. we'll separate politics from policy, and just prescribe the facts. he wanted to cut the growth in cost of living adjustments and others that felt that was the wrong way to go to start to cut entitlements or at least slow the growth of entitlements. both of them came to a neutral, compromised ground. this is a compromise of the sort that people have been asking for for quite some time. the bottom line here, those conservative objections are getting some traction, but the betting is now this evening that this is going to pass the house of representatives on thursday and go to the senate the next week and end

. >> thank you nicole, thousands of protesters are still camped out in independent square in kiav, ukrainete a promise to sign a trade deal with the european union which is what protesters said they wanted. the deputy prime minister said thursday the country would sign the agreement after eu promised more aid, that marks a reversal by the ukraine president who shelved the deal in favor of one with russia and we are learning that the opposition leader said he will attend roundtable talks with the president. one last chance to say good-bye to a global icon, these are live pictures from pretoria, south africa for a third and final day thousands of mourners are filing through the union buildings to say farewell to nelson mandela. the former south african president's body has been lying in state everyday since wednesday, his body will be returned to his childhood home on saturday and funeral services will take place on sunday. these aerial pictures show this sheer size and magnitude of the line of people waiting to semen -- see, mandela and 50,000 have lined up today as park and ride facilities