Russia controls Ukraine's Crimea, Chicago architects impact China and the illegal wildlife trade

News reports say that Russian troops have taken de facto control of the Crimean peninsula in southern Ukraine. We'll examine the latest developments with Marta Farion and Karyn Gershon. Farion is a Ukrainian American community leader, an expert on education in Ukraine and president of Kyiv Mohyla Foundation of America. Gershon is executive director of Project Kesher. The group facilitates the work of “women's groups and interfaith coalitions in Ukraine and Russia.” Gershon connected today with numerous women in the region. She'll tell us what they've seen and what the mood is like on the ground in Ukraine.

In the last 30 years China has seen a rapid urbanization. The growth of China’s cities is similar to what Chicago experienced a century ago, says Chicago Tribune architecture critic Blair Kamin. He’s written about the parallels in a three-part series called Designed in Chicago, Made in China. He joins us to talk about China’s urbanization and the role Chicago architects are playing in the design of China’s fastest growing cities.

To celebrate the animal kingdom and raise awareness of the illegal wildlife trade, the United Nations designated March 3rd as World Wildlife Day. We’ll talk with Shruti Suresh, wildlife campaigner at the Environmental Investigations Agency. She’s an expert on illegal trade in wildlife and its connections to conflict and environmental crime.

PHOTO: A Ukrainian national flag flies on the board of Ukrainian navy ship Slavutich at harbor of Sevastopol, Ukraine, Monday, March 3, 2014. The Ukrainian Defense Ministry said that Russian forces that have overtaken Ukraine's strategic region of Crimea are demanding that the ship's crew surrender. (AP Photo/Andrew Lubimov)