phil ittner, al jazeera, london. >> city is full ever underground mines. residents there are literally living on the edge. >> teetering on the brink, this home in mexico city is meters away from being swallowed up by a gaping sinkhole. neighbors crowd around as emergency workers hurry to fill it. it's not an uncommon site, in this -- sight in this working class neighborhood. it's one of the city's most crowded neighborhoods and one of the most precarious. where abandoned mines apply meters below hundreds of makeshift homes. engineer gustavo, and his workers. >> it's a difficult problem and an urgent one. we can't just fill in the hole. we know that it's there and it's dangerous. >> reporter: the abandoned mine is 18 meters below the surface and more than 200 meters wide. and it could take months to secure it. people most likely started mining here in the 1930s and what they were looking for was material to build houses throughout the city. so far, 900 mines have been discovered but city officials tell us they have no idea how many actually exist. that's be

phil ittner is live in london, when you were on the ground in kiev you were among the first to reporthat russia is behind the protests we're seeing now. russia blames the us. what can we make of this new war of words. >> you are right. we had heard this from the ukrainian intelligence sources weeks and weeks ago that they believed that there were russian prova pro va-- provocateurs on the ground. but russians are saying there are u.s. pro vauk tours on the ground. and of course the west saying russia is sending people in. so it's a lot of finger pointing. and are these uprising a natural occur, or is somebody manipulating the situation? >> and is there some movement on the diplomatic front? the rushing -- russian foreign minister saying they will consider talks. >> i have gotten in touch with my sources in the russian foreign minist foreign ministerry, and they are saying that sergei lavrov will at end talks. and they will be sitting across the table from the ukrainian foreign minister and that has been a pretty rare occurrence it. it has happened once before, but it does not happen o

phil ittner live for us, phil, you've been telling us for weeks now that the russian are indeliberately sparking tensions, and russia is responding tit for tat saying american mercenaries are involved. what can you make, what can we make of this escalation? >> tony, a little bit of finger pointing today. the west and the united states, it's n.a.t.o. allies, the european union and kiev itself saying that they have no doubt that it is actually russian agent provocateurs in the east of the country in an orchestra orchestrated calculated move to destabilize that region, to make the ethnic returns in that part of the country to rise up and voice the opinion of wanting to join the steps of crimea. they say this is a falsehood. this is not a natural occurrence. russia counters that and says actually it is western interests, and security contractors from a group that actually has some ties with the infamous blackwater group that are doing this. the question, tony, is this a natural occurrence? are these residents of cities east of the country who really do have a grievance and they're rising up

. >> we want to go now to phil ittner who is in london, and phil when you were on the ground in kievou were among the first to report that russia has been behind all of the protests we are seeing, but russia is now blaming the us. so what should we make of this latest war of words? >> that's right. there has been a lot of finger pointing going on as to who might be behind the protests. russia saying there are america contract security force out there some with reslains to the famous black water group. in that has been denied by u.s. officials as the american contracting companies. kiev has been saying they are aware of provocateurs in the east of the country, and they said we are expecting them to be putting people out there, paying people, agitating to create a me text much as they did in crimea and georgia as well in 2008. so the question is, are these really natural occur -- or cure answers? >> and the russian foreign minister saying they will talk with officials from ukraine. so what should we expect from that? >> well, we do know there are talks being set up somewhere in europe

>> phil ittner.thank you very much. >>> israel prime minister benjamin netanyahu is saying he has ordered his negotiations not to immediate with palestinian count parts backing away from statements made by secretary of state john kerry. kerry stating that israel was to blame for the breakdowns of the negotiations. what exactly did kerry say that the state department is walking back. >> kerry was testifying. he did say that both sides have done unhelpful actions that have put the talks in jeopardy, but he same to indicate that the stalemate is israel's decision not to release a group of palestinian prisoners. israel decided not to go ahead with it. this is what the secretary had to say. >> unfortunately, the prisoners were not released on saturday, the day they were supposed to be released. day two went by and day three went by, and in the afternoon when they were about to get there, several hundred settlements were announced in israel, and, poof, that was the moment. >> israel's government not happy

back, tweeting in english, stop laying the blame at hour door. >> for the latest we go live to phil ittnerwho is in london. phil, what is the u.s. and nato trying to do in this latest war of words. >> they're trying to send a very clear message to moscow on the military front. it is a military alliance, nato that if there is more land grabbing in the eastern part of the country that nato and the country are prepared to respond to it, some show of military might. we have heard there is going to be a u.s. missile destroyer sent to the black seas in the coming days. the interior ministry coming out with a statement saying within the next 48 hours, the situation, unrest in the east of the country will be resolved, either in their words by negotiation or by the use of force. that kind of language, the use of force is something that moscow has responded to, saying that if kiev decides to use force in the east, it would tantamount to the beginning of a civil war. >> phil ittner live in london, phil, thank you very much. >> aljazeera has more on the challenges the ukraine government is facing tryi

phil ittner, al jazeera, london. >> a replies tri from the sea.ar fish are -- a mystery from the sea. star fish are dying. more when we come back. can >> for centuries starfish have fascinated people. some consider them good luck but they are dying at an alarming rate. as rob reynolds reports, scientists have no idea why. >> in this rocky wave washed corner of the california coast, researchers are gathering a marine mystery. they are searching rock by rock, crevice by crevice. normally, many specious of star -- species of starfish thrive here. today however the researchers can find hardly any of them. >> today we only saw two sea stars here today. last year, we saw 145. to go from 145 down to 2 is pretty drastic. >> starfish have lived in the oceans for 450 million years but now they seem to be in trouble. all up and down the pacific coast, starfish also known as sea stars have been dying off in huge numbers. and scientists have no idea what's killing them. divers started noticing large numbers of dead and diseased sea stars from alaska and britis

more from phil ittner in london. >> the u.s. embassy in london houses within of the only irs offices outside the state. the embassy is reporting a rise in u.s. citizens renouncing their citizenship. a new tax law, the foreign account tax compliance act means all financial institutions abroad must report to the u.s. treasury accountshold by u.s. citizens. it is intended to stop americans hiding their money from the irs. it is thought that is a big reason more americans are giving up their passports. the singer tina turner decided to renounce her citizenship in 2013. the actor jet lee made that choice, and so too the cofounder of facebook. but it's not just the rich and famous. since it became law in 2010, more minister renounced their citizenship than all the years in the previous decade combined. diane is a london-based lawyer. she says many want to simplify their status. but there's a sense a frustration. >> it's making people thing "do i really want to reveal this information?" is it fair. most people outside the united states