khordorkovsky >> welcome to al jazeera america. live from new york. i'm jonathan betz with the top stories. >> rescue aborted. the crisis in south sudan grows. americans shot while trying to evacuate. >> 25 years after the lockerbie crash. memorials honour 250 people killed. >> there's a sharp edge on the port aft portion >> back in space for the first time in months. astronauts begin critical repairs on the international space station. >> robots testing the limit of new technology that go save lives.

>> a u.s. rescue mission in south sudan has been called off after four soldiers were shot trying to evacuate americans. the pentagon says three osprey aircraft came under fire while attempting to land near the town of bor. rescues had to be aborted and planes averted to uganda. the injured were flown to kenya. the four are in stable condition, but did not release their names or identify their armed service. >> now we go to haru mutasa in juba. >> a memorial service for the united nations peacekeepers killed in south sudan. they decide trying to carry out their mandate to protect civilians in akobo. in the end they were unable to protect themselves. for their colleagues it's an emotional farewell. they were with around 90 other people in a small u.n. base when they were outnumbered by 2,000 armed nuer youth.

several civilians were killed in the attack. >> we need to review where our basises are vulnerable and we can face overwhelming numbers in terms of attackers. we are in need of considering how to spect bet or our staff and civilians. >> regional foreign ministers met with salva kiir. the whereabouts of riek machar are not known. he's accused of beginning the coup. >> we need to reach out. we need to proceed with the dialogue, and the way out is political solution. >> some say the latest waive the violence is a fight for power. >> unless it is contained now, as a political struggle, the danger of it moving is high. all political leaders in the

sudan have supreme responsibility to make sure it does not degenerate into tribal or sectarian conflict. if it does, nobody yet master on how to resolve such conflict. >> an army commander joined the rebellion to overthrow the government. there is fighting in other areas. >> this part of town is normally busy, but shops are closed. people are nervous because they are not sure what will happen next. >> until both sides agree to peace talks many fear the situation could spiral out of control. >> joining us from washington d.c. is akshaya kumar, an expert on sudan and south sudan from the center for american progress. thank you for being with us. you have seen the reports and studied the area, how close is

south sudan to a civil war. >> we are getting reports of increasing violence. now only three states out of the 10 states in the country have not been touched by violence. as mentioned in your peace you here rebel commanders have taken control over unity state and announced themselves as a governor, and there's fighting in jonglei state. peace negotiations need to proceed immediately. >> how hopeful are you that the talks will bring about something substantial and bring the country closer to peace? >> if president salva kiir and riek machar, his former vice president, can come together to discuss their difference, and if the 11 political detainees, including the secretary-general of the ruling party are

included, i think there's a passengers for some of the destabilization and the center falling out of the country to be averted. that alone is not enough. humanitarian crisis is underfolding. we hear reports every day of people targeted for their ethnicity, and in order to avert that save havens need to be established. places that are sacrosanct from attack. the u.s. mission has to take the lead on that. >> sudan came out of a massive bloody long civil war two years ago. they split the country in half. now there's talk about another civil war within the southern half of the country. why the fighting, why are we seeing that violence again? >> as you mentioned the sudanese people were embroiled in a civil war for two decades and south sudan gained independence from

the north. this is a young state. institutions have not been set up. there weren't roads. very difficult to communicate across the states and to build a cohesive identity. so when this high level political crisis broke out. many were concerned, but what is really deeply worrying is it's translated into violence across the country, and that is increasingly moving along tribal and ethnic lines. the president needs to come out clearly and make it clear to his troops that he will not accept that. he is their commander in chief and it needs to be made clear that targetting someone for their blood or tribal affiliation is not what it means to be south sudanese. they fought to be independent, for a pluristic and democratic country and the leaders need to come together to ensure that. >> after coming out of an awful war and on the brink of another.

>> akshaya kumar, from center for american progress, thank you for your time. >> the central african republic is another area in crisis. many have been killed in bangui. fighting between muslim and christians have killed thousands of people. >> president obama has begun his annual winter vacation. he and his family touched down in honolulu to begin a 17 day stage. president obama said he's looking forward to 2014 and spirit of bipartisanship. before leaving washington the president faced a string of questions. many about the n.s.a. surveillance program, and there were revelations about the targets of u.s. eavesdropping. it spied on more than 1,000 people in 2008 and 2011.

among them an israeli prime minister, directors and foreign leaders. information came from documents leaked by edward snowden. >> 25 years ago today pan am flight 103 was bombed, killing 270 people. families and dignitaries marked the sombre anniversary of the lockerbie tragedy. a wreath was laid near the site. at arlington national cemetery american officials paid their respects. >> phil ittner reports for some the heartache is tlarn. >> the image of lockerbie bombing stands out in the history of modern terror attacks 25 years later. for families what lingers is the pain. >> dr jim swire lost his daughter area at lockerbie, a day before her 21st birthday. >> from then on the world became a different place and remained so for 25 years since then. because i'm doing what ha

already happened, nothing that we can do can undo the terrible evil. >> for some questions over who committed the terrible evil remains. the only man convicted, abdel baset al-megrahi, served eight years in a scottish prison before his controversial 2009 release on compassionate grounds after being diagnosed with terminal cancer. he died in 2012. the american government blamed libyan leader muammar gaddafi. but many believe the libyans were scaip quoted and point to evidence, intelligence gathered that could have evented the attack or as geopolitical expert dr james boys, the lack of punitive action by british or american governments. >> you think about the reaction geopolitically and one is almost left scratching one head saying, "did this plane really get taken out and generate so little

response by the british or american government. ?" >> is would not be untille events of the 9/11 that america mobilized. there were talks with muammar gaddafi last year, resulting in lucrative oil deals, despite lockerbie's history. it was hoped more information would come out. scottish officials say they intend to open the case. the split between those who believe the libyan narrative and those that think justice was served is cop ten somehows. >> today is not the day for debate, but healing for dr swires. >> my search for the truth over my daughter's murder may have made life less easy for those that believe they know the truth. we have to be kindly to the community of those that suffer still as a result of that

atrocity. >> with many in america and britain looking at the years following the attack and reflecting, the victims mourned. many look at the events following and considering where the attack should lie in history and where it has brought the world today. >> after a decade in gaol a former russian tycoon has been reunited with his family in berlin. >> mikhail khordorkovsky, once one of the world's richest men was imprisoned for fraud. many believe he was put in prison because of his policies and defiance of vladimir putin. he was pardoned on wednesday for unspecified reasons. >> good afternoon, it's the first official day of winter. it feels like the first day of

spring across the east coast. why? there's a rim of high pressure in control off the coastline drawing up warm air off the atlantic ocean. look at temperatures in the south-east. 70 degrees in atlantic, the warmth pushing into the capital. it's 69, and they reached a high of 71. normal for this time of year is 45. cooler air, winter across oklahoma city. a ridge of low pressure making its way across texas, fuelling weather threats here and into the evening. look at temperatures into oklahoma city. 63 degrees in houston. storms between houston, and damning winds greater than 70 miles per hour. right between the two states. tornados could break out across the area. we'll keep you updated later in the show. >> u.n. secretary-general ban

ki-moon visited tabbing low ban an area hit in the philippines. for two hours he visited visions that were ravaged. the storm killed 6,000 people. nearly 2,000 remain missing. >> stay with us - ahead - repairing the space station. astronauts step out in space for the first time in months. robots put to the challenge in miami. live reports on amazing technology ahead.

autistic self advocacy network >> welcome back. we are used to seeing robots doing all sorts of amazing things in movies. these robots are not merely digital models from a "transformers" movie, they are real robots and some day they may saviour life. today they are competing in a

robot change for the defense department. or correspondent joins us. jacob ward is there. what can you tell us about this competition. >> it's an amazing conglomeration of all the greatest minds in robotics, it's the greatest challenge in the history of the field. it involves eight different tasks from climbing ladders to something as difficult as driving a truck, and a clear winner basically has been announce said. it's unofficial but we know who won. >> tell us about the robot. what are they doing? what kind of feats are they accomplishing? >> sure. so the test here is versatility. you are trying to design a robot that can work alongside human being in human environments. in fukushima, the disaster there, you needed to send in humans immediately. it would have been suicide to put people into that situation. instead they are trying to create robots that can be

emergency responders, go into space. those tasks. the winner was a japanese team, made by a company called schaft, thee scored 27 points out of 32. many other agencies, including n.a.s.a. scored zero - that's how hard the tasks are. >> we are seeing robots carry fire hoses and claiming ladders. do we expect to see these robots in disaster zones in the near future? >> the phrase that a lot of robot scientists are using is the skills of a toddler. they are basically in their infancy. it takes some of these robots as long as half an hour to do the tasks you see behind me. this was a simulated hose hook-up in which the robot had to stand there and connect to

hoses in the wall. a year from now, however, the top eight finishes, by include schaft, the japanese company i mentioned and carnegie melon will compete in a faster competition with $2 million on the line, funded by the defense departments advance research project called darpa. >> thank you for your time from the robotic competition in florida. it was a successful day in space. n.a.s.a. astronauts completed the first phase of repairs on the international space station. we have more. >> mission complete, but not after. n.a.s.a. says two astronaut success fly completed the first of three space walks to repair the international space station's cooling system. one of two ammonia pumps failed,

forcing the crew to shut down nonessential equipment and dozens of science experiments. the first task. move the pump. it's a 780 pound piece of equipment, the size of a refrigerator. astronauts nick and mark got the job down with an hour to spare. n.a.s.a. is trying to identify the cause of failure, and whether it's a software or hardware issue. n.a.s.a. took to twitter. the space walk ended at: >> this was the first space walk since july when an italian astronaut nearly drowned when a leak in his space suit filled his suit with water. this time snorkels were rigged in the suits so they could breathe if it happened again. it didn't. everything is on track for the

next phase of the repair. >> and joining us for more on the space walk is sarah seager, professor of plantry science at massachusetts institute of technology. your thoughts on the spacewalk. significant since it hasn't been done for months after a problem with the helmet in the summer. >> it's interesting. i want people to know it's not a real emergency as it has been reported in the news. it's more like an urgent situation. you know at your house if your furn ace is about to break. you know something is going go wrong, you don't know what it is. you have a preparation in the background going on. that is what is happening. >> tell me about the snorkels. this is the first space walk since an italian astronaut had water filling up his helmet. what did n.a.s.a. do to get

around it and ensure it didn't happen again. >> it's like plan b. the snorkel part was an ad hoc fixture so if it did fill up with water, the astronauts would breathe air. >> what does this mean for humans in space, having space walks conducted like this, especially since it seems they are not as frequent as they used to be. >> space walks are becoming routine. no one is panicking. when you think about how long the space station has been up, the first components in the late 1990s, and how much it cost to run the spags. it gives us pause to think about how complicated it is to go to mars. where you can't bring every last spare part with you. >> update us on the status of a space station. it was occupied in 2000. it's going on more than 10 years old. are we seeing a lot maintenance

issues with it. is it maybe middle age? >> i think it's fair to say it's in a middle age stage. there's no reason for it not to perform years or decades to come. >> and so is there time to replace it, what is the long term plan for the space station. >> the reason i'm hesitating is it's hard to speak. the reason i'm hesitating is there is a contentious debate in the community of space scientists or engineers of what should happen to the space station. we like astronauts in space or troubleshooting in space. we believe we have a great future. about the future of the space station, we wonder how much it will continue to be useful for learning and going science. >> since you brought it up. let me ask you about the mars mission. there's so much focus, we saw

how shina is on the mon for the first time. as we move along in space travels and explore the planets. what is the space station's role doing to be? >> that's a good question. we are not sure, i would have to say, what the role is. the space station is a good place to test things out. it would be nice to set resources into going below the orbit. >> it's a fascinating subject. the repairs were done earlier, finishing ahead of what they were expectingful thank you for your time sarah seager. >> since the recession the u.s. struggled with high unemployment. it's not only happening here. south korea is trying a new approach to battle unemployment. wayne hay has more from seoul. >> what type of water would you like with your meal? in south korean restaurants it may be common to see a member of staff with a new skill.

a water sommelier is an exfert in different types of drinking water, and how to serve them. >> what matters is how to provide fun for the customers. the only way to provide that is to select the appropriate water that will enhance the taste of the dishes. >> under a government plan to increase employment figures some jobs that were considered part-time, like a water expert and server will be legitimised as official jobs. >> on the face of it this plan looks like a way to increase the number in legitimate employment overnight, simply to make the numbers look healthier. the government hopes that by widening the scope of jobs available, it will encourage smaller industries to grow. by adding 100 jobs to the official list, the government hopes to increase the employment rate from 64% to 70 by 2017. the newcomers will be allowed their own training facilities,

such as one to treat manicures and pedicures. >> at the moment there's not a national licence for nail artists in korea. now the government will recognise it as a proper job. there'll be a national licence for nail artists. >> the unemployment figure is 3%. it's hoped the job plan could reduce it by diversifying the potential markets. >> we have to experiment. that kind of new market creating and potential creating jobs and industry in other areas. >> if they do, those that specialise in pouring water in a restaurant may be given the respect they feel they have deserved. if >> still ahead on al jazeera america, a victory for elderly care givers. we tell you why it could mean better care for ageing

relatives. >> and i'm in southern england with a puzzle. what have this place, the "the daily telegraph," the humble crossword and world war ii got in comment? fancy a clue - it's coming up later in the program.

>> welcome back to al jazeera america. i'm jonathan betz. diplomats are scrambling to head off a civil war in south sudan. 500 have been killed, including two members of the u.n. peacekeeping force. today four americans where wounded whilst on a mission to air lift other americans out of the country. >> memorials are happening in arlington national cemetery, families honouring the 25th anniversary of pan am flight 103. 273 died, including 11 oun the ground. >> mission accomplished for today's space walk. n.a.s.a. astronauts spend 5.5 hours working on the cooling

pump. repairs are expected to take three days. >> in ukraine the orthodox church joined the process, in favour of aligning with russia, not the european union, going against thousands of protesters. jennifer glass has more from kiev. >> from the east and south of ukraine, supporters. orthodox church came to the capital to pray for solidarity with russia. >> western culture is not orthodox, euro standards are not acceptable for us much >> translation: nobody will win against us. god is with us. we are communicated people, blessed by god. >> they say the orthodox church is a nation and should stay that way. these marchers repeat the divide in ukraine, saying their country should be aligned with russia,

not europe. that turning to the west is not part of the culture. government supporters gathered for days. many were bussed into the city. al jazeera has seen some paying to be here. police remained in full force. a promise to tear down barricades at the end of independence square came to nothing. in the square the demands were the same, that the government replaced european values. >> you see how they live in russia and europe. the difference is obvious. >> the protest camp continues to grow. the latest edition, a photo exhibit on newly built barriers. organizers are calling for a mass gathering, showing how much support they have a month after the demonstrations began. >> india is transferring the

diplomat whose run in with police caused on international dispute. devyani khobragade will serve the united nations pending approval. she had been the consule general at the indian consulate. tensions have been high between india and u.s. after the diplomat was arrested for visa fraud and underpaying her maid, who said she was paid $3 an hour. devyani khobragade insists she was mistreated. >> care givers have decided to take a stand. >> 88-year-old ginny anderson gets through her day with the help of a caregiver. >> i look forward to somebody coming, say good morning and how are you. >> chanda makes sure ginny anderson takes her medicine, gets a cup of coffee and has someone to spend time with.

she earns above minimum wage. >> this week a rally was held to pub lis sis that some care givers were underpaid by their employers, and 25 of them are part of a substantial settlement recovering lost wages totalle $800,000. >> the san francisco city attorney went after seven residential care facilities for wage left. mimi luis explains she was expected to work long hours without extra power. 16, 17 days. days and nights that i don't have sleep. >> linshao chin is a labour standards compliance officer and vetted abuse when the filipino care gives alerted her office to the injews. the care homeworkers - it takes

a lot of bravery to file a claim. this is not only place of employment, but it's where they are living. >> with baby boomers aging there'll be a greater demand than ever before for care givers. a state and national laws aim to ensure they'll be paid fairly. >> this fall rule changes were announced for domestic workers. california passed a bill offering similar application, and the labor department sent representatives to san francisco to discuss ways of revoking a licence if a facility is not complying with fair labour standards. >> shaun charles who owns beacon home care which places barania and other care givers with clients follows the rule. overworked and under paid care giers are dangerous. >> that's what the families entrust us with, the safe

protection of their loved one. we want to make sure the care givers are at their a game. >> ginny anderson feels she's in good hands with a well-rested care giver who is fairly paid. >> as mentioned earlier there's severe weather breaking out across the south. let's go to jalelah ahmed. >> severe weather is imminent. the national weather service saw a tornado near ruston, moving north-east. folks around the area are highly advise the to seek shelter. the tornado will be near farmerville by 4.40pm central time. a tornado morning means strong rotation has been detected. it may be on the ground. folks advised to use precaution. seek shelter immediately.

we are looking at tornado watches and warnings across portions of mississippi, all the way to central louisiana with this line of storms is what is producing damaging winds. we have 27,000 people without power in texas, right there on the border between texas and louisiana. we'll continue to monitor this throughout the course of day. seek shelter immediately if you live in these areas. >> we'll keep an eye on that... all right. let's get to sport. mark is here with a player in the spotlight. >> that's true the first of 35 ball games, and we'll focus on one individual. >> there are four ball games on tack. in the los angeles bowl. fresno squares off against u.l.c. derek carr could be the first quarterback in the n.f.l. trast.

derek carr may be more defined by his past than future. as 6 foot 3, 220 pounds with a shrink shot for an arm, derek carr was labelled a can't-miss prospect when he followed brother david to frost know state. derek set 25 different all of time marks, accomplishments overshadowed by leading the bulldogs to the mountain west conference championship. >> i'm a team guy. so see the joy on the team's face, celebrating a conference title - there's nothing like that. >> as fulfilling as it was for carr, it pales in comparison when his wife heather gave birth to their first child, dallas. but it turned to fear when dal was was born with a condition

that tristed whiches intestines into knots. dallas was rushed to another hospital and underwent a number of surgeries. >> i'm a faithful person, it was the hardest time. i knew i had to be grateful for the good times and the hard times. i continued to give god praise. with my son in n cu for 23 days, it was the hardest time of my life. and at the same time i had to prepare for football. >> how did you separate that when you had to prepare for what you were dining on the field and in the classroom. >> in the classroom, the meeting room, that was the hardest par. sitting in class in meetings - that was the hardest part because i wanted to be there at the hospital with my son and

wife. it was hard to balance it. >> derek carr led the nation in eight different offensive categories, including offence, passing yards and touchdowns. a by-product his son's fight for his life. >> when it came to football it wasn't that big. i went out on the football field and i innocentenjoyed it. it wasn't stress: it turned out the way that it did. >> it's been said it's not the adversity we face, but how we respond to that adversity. carr believes his son's ordeal was revealing for himself and dallas. >> you'll be knocked down in life. that's the name of the game. you try to be perfect, knowing you'll never get there. same in life. it will never be perfect. i learnt about myself, how tough i can be mentally and spiritually.

it took a toll on me physically. my son is stuffer than i was, taking needles and surgeries and all that. it's not about what happens to you, it's about when it happens, how you respond, how you be when you have to fight back. i learnt i can fight through everything. we didn't know if he was going to be alive. >> thank you so much. not only is carr a standout on the field, he's stellar in the classroom, achieving 3.47 gpa earning him national recognition when he was a finalist for the william v. campbell trophy, the academic heisman. that's it for sport. >> when we come back k disabled workers at a well-known organization paid less than the minnium wage.

>> it is one of america's biggest charities, but goodwill is facing criticism for paying disabled workers sometimes just pennies an hour. tens of thousands signed a petition demanding it pay workers the minimum wage. kaelyn forde has more. >> for six months last year mary worked at the lobing add goodwill store. partially blind with convenient , mary worked on her own. she looked forward to the job, by the reality was different. >> they had me is downstairs in the store hanging clothes on hangars. and to make $1 i had to hang 100

pieces. if lucky i made a penny. i felt worthless. >> she showed us the pay check. >> biggest check wag $18.18 and the smallest $3.27. mary asked us to conceal her identity, feeling she may lose her subsidised apartment. i go nod live on a goodwill check. they made me feel bad because i couldn't work fast enough. >> the subminimum wages are illegal. the department of labor's special disability certificate allows companies to pay less than the minimum beige. 7,500 employees, say goodwill, are paid this way. >> a petition was delivered with 170,000 sits, asking goodwill to pay employees the federal

minimum wage. >> so far the organizers have not met with them, but they did peak with us. >> work is an important part of the human experience and spirit. the certificate allows us the opportunity to incorporate individuals into the workforce in a way that we wouldn't necessarily be able to without the certificate. >> goodwill of greater new york, where mary worked reported assets it of 38 million. the ceo earnt $407,000. >> as a national organization, we attempted to meet with goodwill on multiple occasions and they have always been met with extreme resistance. >> when you hear minimum wage you think that that only happens in china. >> the national fair labor

standards act has made little progress. >> joining us now is ari ne'eman president of the autistic self advocacy network. it's part of a movement to eliminate subminimum wages for disabled. this has been part of the conversation within this group, within the charities for a long time. how far are you getting in raising the pay of disabled workers. >> we are seeing as entities like goodwill and others resist equal rights for people with disabilities, many states are taking action to crackdown on these practices. massachusetts announced that they would phase out subminimal wage. >> can they do that considering this is a federal law? >> most entities paying sup minimum wages are medicade

suppliers. and massachusetts and others are saying they'll no longer entities receiving medicade funds to receive subminimum wage, private employers can but we haven't seen them make use of a section 14 loophole. >> how receptive have the charities ban to raise the pay. >> goodwill has refused to engage on why people with tablies don't need to be paid less than minimum wage. many of goodwill's affiliates have done the right thing. it makes it puzzling that they hold on to the practice in affiliates like new york, ohio and others that are stuck in the past. >> goodwill said they are offering opportunities and jobs to people with disabilities that otherwise would not get work.

how are they wrong? >> i point to states like ver moftenlt eliminating the use of subminimum wage. today very a doubleded the national average of employment for workers with intellectual disabilities. we do have the tools, the resources and the expertise to ensure that people with significant levels of disability can work in integrated settings at or above minimum wage. >> the fear is if they raise the pay of the workers, they may not hire as many people with disabilities. >> well, i point to the fact that we do a states and providers doing the right thing, and we are seeing more, not less people with disabilities bean hired. let me at one more thing. this is about being paid less than minimum wage, and seg re grayings and isolation.

in sheltered workshops that goodwill industries and others run, people with disability r disabilities do not have the opportunity to be integrated with communities and gain social inclusion. models supported employment in integrated setting at or above minimum wage. don't just address the subminimum wage issue. they speak to the broader need to integrate people with intellectual disabilities into society. >> it's a subject without question. we'll have to bring it up later. thank you for your time today. >> and we can learn a tremendous amount from children and ourselves. we are bringing you a series called "being 8", struggles and insight through innocent eyes. "nut cracker" ballet has been

performed for centuries, but few know what it's like to perform. we go behind the scenes with a young ballerina >> kendall is eight years old and 4 foot five, so there's not a lot of ballet roles for her out there, unless, of course, it's christmas time. this "nutcracker" performed by the pasadena dance theatre is kendall's first shot at dancing in a production. >> i'm in the scene br mother ginger comes out and lifts up the jets and we dance around here. >> it's about four hours before curtain time and kendall is home, getting ready for her debut. >> i feel excited and nervous at the same time. >> she started lessons at age 3. whenever i see or do something, i want to do it too. >> even so, kendall had to audition, and this company

rarely accepts eight-year-olds, but she was accepted and found a new set the role models. >> what did you think of the people with the leads? >> it was amazing. he kept lifting here and she was on point. >> on point and the leaps. >> it feels like you are flying. i always wanted to do that. and then the awedians can see me do that, floating up in the air. >> it's two hours until curtain time. hair in braids, ballet bag in hand, and she's off to the theatre. she and the other girls are herded backstage, where they must wait for their appearance in the second act. >> how will you get 3 minutes out of this. on stage "the nutcracker" is in full swing. wak stage the girls are transformed into little french clowns or poly when else.

>> the wait way seems interminable has given kendall a good case of stage fright. >> i feel like i'm going mess up or trip or fall. >> then intermission is over, and she is rushed into wardrobe. kendall feels transformed. >> do you feel different. that you are no longer kendall. yes, i feel like a professional ballet. >> mother genninger's skirt is lowered over the girls for their entrance. for kendall, this is the moment she's been waiting for. but wait, we'll let her tell you. >> when mother ginger lifts up the skirt, there's lights and a big audience. it's like, "wow". >> wow indeed. kendall has fallen under the spell of the music, the dance and the aplaus.

as she takes he bow with the class, she is dreaming of the future. >> when i grow up in "the knuttiacer" i want to be the role of clara. >> the lead role? >> yes. >> 4 fight 5, 8 years old and eager though fly. >> dramatic k story of the survival. after spending 15 hours clinging to an ice cooler. police in australia say two fishermen have been rescued off the coast of new south wales. they issued a may day call friday afternoon. when the search resumes this morning a helicopter found them at their boat. it was the first time the meant went fishing. the word is nine letters long, starts with a c and has been around for a century. coming up next, the answer and history of a pastime in the u.s., and it has swept the world.tñ

>> well, before smartphones and social media there was another way to pass the time - the

crossword puzzle. today is its 100th birthday. phil lavelle has many clues to its history and tells us why it is not about to fade away. >> languages may differ, but the black and white boxes, you know what they mean? >> what is that? >> it's a crossword. >> keeping us from work, confusing us over coffee. this was the first ever, published is the u.s. the author didn't copyright it which for him was a 15 acrossar major fail in today's language. >> you need to just about be able to solve it. >> phil does his with a cup of tea. that's problem solving and creating. he's a crossword editor, when it comes to tough clues, he wrote the book - this one, in fact. >> the aim is the penny drop moment, the goal of a cryptic

crossword clue, the moment when you get it and say, "yes." here is a clue that had many a fan flum oxed. 58 letters, see how you fare. . have a think the answer in a moment. here is a hint. it's as place. speaking of places this place has its unique relationship with the crossword. this is bletchley park. during world war ii, behind the windows and doors. some of britain's biggest games were working on the ultimate puz, cracking codes. candidates were given a copy of the the "the daily telegraph" and its difficult crossword. the goal was to complete it in under 12 minutes. >> crossword people were good at

filling in the gap. five of the letters formed part of the word and the rest in the group. >> he would have been snapped up. "the times" champion six times on the run. he could get through not one, not two, but three cross words. it's all about technique. >> you can look at a clue if you are familiar with the devices used with key wards. you can play with the word in the clue and figure it out. >> speaking of figuring it out. here is the answer to the earlier one. guessing is one thing, pronouncing it is another. not that it matters, it's just for mun. phil lavelle with a massive headache. >> speaking of words, for the fifth straight year whatever is the word americans hate to hear the most. it is getting even more

annoying. a poll found 38% of people find it the most annoying word or phrase, up 32% last year. in second the word like with 22%, you know, is third at 18% and fourth was just saying. and the least annoying poll with 6%, obviously. just saying it makes me cringe a liltment. whatever, whatever, like, i hate the words. before we go we'll check on jalelah ahmed. >> very serious across the south, in texas. tornado warges across central portions of louisiana. an area of low pressure making its way to the north-east. drawing up a tonne of moisture. a potent cold front. a tornado warning across portions of north central louisiana, jackson perric,

lincoln perish, including ruston, louisiana union paris, louisiana as well. that goes until 4:15. this tornado watch goes into effect until 6 o'clock tonight central time as well. >> further to the north, around the memphis area, a tornado warning issued. it has since expirt, but a thunderstorm pushes across areas to the east of memphis. we'll monitor through the course of the night, western portions of mississippi. tornado warnings and severe thunderstorm watches stretching all the way from portion of louisiana and arkansas and eastern portions of texas. it will be a tough night because warm air continues to surge in the gulf, creating instability

in the atmosphere. >> into this is al jazeera america live from new york. i'm jonathan betz with the headlines today. with south sudan on the brink of a full-blown civil war, president obama is a warning against attempts to seize power through force, saying doing so would cost the country the support of the united states and other occasions. they continue to evacuate americans. >> there's renewed violence in the central african republic, 30 were gild, including a peace-keeping soldier. memorials were held at lockerbie scotland, and