dead. ukraine potential by facing a situation like crimea. p pro-russian city wanting to annex like crimea. >> a bill to pass reinstating unemployment benefits after it clears a hurdle in the senate. >> a pillar of strength in syria has his life cut short. a dutch priest who stayed in the country to help those affected

by the war is shot dead by gunman. >> yukon is the college basketball top dog. the huskies defeating the wildcats to win the n.c.a.a. basketball championships. >> good to have you with us. welcome to al jazeera america. i'm thomas drayton. we begin with a ukrainian city on the brink of annexation, reigniting a standoff between kiev and moscow. pro-russian supporters on monday want the eastern city to be called independent. the development is iing nighting fears -- development is igniting fears that moscow could be engineering another crimea. >> if moscow moves into eastern ukraine, covertly or not - we caution against military

intervention. >> we have been tracking the fast-moving development from donetsk. >> this is a celebration of independence. thousands of pro-russia demonstrators gathered outside the local government building taken over by activists on sunday. listening to songs of the soviet era, sending a message of support to those inside, who, by midday, declared donetsk region an independent republic. this is the new seat of power. >> we are told the people's council is made up of representatives from every town across the region. not only have they announced that donetsk is an independent republic, they have created and signed a resolution, which they'll pass to vladimir putin, asking for his help. one of the group's leaders told me some of the seats on the council were difficult to fill.

>> translation: delegations resisted and came up with a resolution, and wrote the names of those they represent and elected them. 75 to 40% of the seats were taken by the delegates, and the rest by those that game with them. >> activists asked vladimir putin to put a force on standby of peacekeepers, who would come to their aid if the government in kiev responds with violence. >> we are addressing you, vladimir putin, as our last hope for the future, and the future of our children. only in russia we see the last remaining defender of our culture in the russian world. >> the first demand a referendum, giving the region a chance to decide whether to join russia. the acting president says that's been russia's end game, accusing moscow of sending provocateurs

across the border. >> dear citizens of ukraine, the second wave of the special operation against ukraine started. the goal is to destabilize the situation in the country, topple ukrainian authorities, disrupt the elections and tear the country apart. >> the government in kiev warned it has set up an anti-terrorism movement and will meet armed protesters with force. losing control of the east, authorities know they need to act quickly, but avoiding bloodshed which ousted the last president will be crucial. >> efforts by russia to destabilize ukraine will result in sanctions. >> search crews for the malaysia airlines jet are in a race against time. an australian ship picked up audio signals that could be from the voice and data recorders. the battery life on the boxes could run out at any time. lisa stark reports on the next

steps in the search operation. >> it is being called the most promising lead. the australian shipp shield has picked -- "ocean shield", has picked up what could be the black boxes, using an underwater pinger and have heard sounds for more than two hours. officials in australia are urging caution, saying "we have not found the aircraft yet". >> what i'd like to see now is us find some wreckage, because that will basically help solve the mystery. i would ask you to respect that, because fundamentally, without wreckage, we can't say it's definitely here. we have to go down and have a look. hopefully we'll find is somewhere in the area that we've narrowed to. >> there's an active search on

the water using means and ships to find any debris, and the ocean shield will continue underwater, listening for the pinging sound again. if it hears the noise, they'll send down an underwater sub, a remote drone that can go down with cameras and sownar, see if it can locate wreckage for the black boxes. it is a deep part of the indian ocean, and they are running out of time. the pingers, the batteries that run those pingers only good for about 30 days. they could go silent any day now. >> lisa stark in washington will be following new developments throughout the morning. >> more bodies have been discovered. the medical office said it received three victims on monday. the official death toll stands at about 33, with 10 missing. >> rain showers on tuesday could hamper the search efforts. president obama is calling on the house to approve a plan to

provide five months of emergency benefits to the long-term unemployed. a similar bill made it through the srnate on -- senate monday, months after the benefits expired. >> if you lose your job, most jobs will help you out with unemployment benefits for 26 weeks, some states it's more, like montana, some less, like north carolina. during the session of george w. bush, congress and the white house extended the benefits for up to 99 weeks at one point, wanting to help americans get benefits, stay afloat while they looked for work. the program has been extended 11 times until december 28th. congress went on a holiday without extending the program. democrats are trying to get it reinstated. it's already april, so wear

talking about a five month period through next month. senator carl levin, democrat of michigan, gave his perspective. >> for all but a handful of recipients, unemployment benefits are not a free pass, but the economic live line that keeps them going, searching for the job they desperately want and need. >> senator levin points out that you have to look for work even whilst getting the long-term benefits. a handful to pass the bills, coming from nevada, and ohio. they are wrestling with the unemployment numbers. passage in the house far from certain. house speaker john boehner put out a statement through his spokesman. he says: are the house republicans would like to tack

on items like building the keystone pipeline. even if the house passes something, it's not likely to have the same form as the senate bill. the long termed unemployed are not likely to see the benefits kick in soon. >> libby casey on capitol hill. >> the fatal shooting at ford hood reportedly started with an argument and a request to leave. ivan lopez opened fire in a building where the argument began. he fired 35 round in eight month. three died, 16 injured before ivan lopez took his own life. >> we are starting out with plenty of rain fall across the east coast and the north-east. a lot of this rain tracking through the first part of your day and moving out. we'll get drier weather, but it will be cooler. the snow continues for canada, but that's a good thing.

rain fall totals anywhere from four to 7 inches of rain. just within a day. that's caused a lot of flooding concerns. in fact, it is flooding in parts of the mississippi river, smaller streams and creeks. there's damage to tell you about in homes and roadways where all the rain came down so fast and hard that the storm systems couldn't handle the amount of rainfall this last. as we look at the forecast. it will be in areas of the east coast. slowly severe norms are diminishing. the risk of a tornado moves out. however, we have some cool air impacting a lot of warn, unstable air. we'll have a return of showers and thunder storms. louisiana, mississippi, alabama, keep an eye to the sky. we'll see a return. cool wet

whether. south florida, continuing with areas of showers and thunder storms. trying out. much of the u.s. will have a drier tuesday. it will be warmer with the dry weather, for parts of west texas, but will stay nice and cool. 75 for albuquerque, and 80 for houston. this is after a cooler start around chicago and the great lakes. warmer air will make its way towards you. you may not feel it today. you'll feel it into wednesday. temperatures getting to 70 in minneapolis. >> it could be a messy commute for some. thank you shil ahead - a -- still ahead, a man of the faith helping those in the syrian civil war has his life cut short, and the plea he made. >> former olympic runner oscar

pistorius testifies during his murder child. what he says well happened the night he shot and killed his girlfriend. the new york department of corrections facing questions over a series of prisoner death on rykers island. how mental illness is factoring in problems at the mental facility.

>> welcome back to al jazeera america. a masked gunman assassinated a well-known priest. he stayed behind to help syrian christians during the civil war. he was determined to be a pillar of strength for his suffering community. >> for centuries this church has a sanctuary. for 50 years father francis was its conscience. he came from the netherlands to lead a christian community built on tolerance and compassion.

we sent soup to the elderly stuck at home alone, or injured people that can't leave their homes. >> in this area there's a church site as old as christ. a mosque 1,000 years old, but today, when the bell tolls faintly for the christians here, there's no one to hear t. >> this is the old city of homs. there used to be 70,000 christians here. today fewer than 70 are left. more than 60 churches were destroyed. in fact, nearly all of homs' old city was destroyed. an anti-government activist filmed the documentary, posting it on youtube. government war planes targeted the streets because they were patrolled by rebels. the two sides were brutal. >> and the opposition says the government cordoned the city off and choked its residents.

this woman says she had no medicine, no flour, no electricity since 2012. francis had the chance to leave. he refused. in january he released a plea via youtube. it's impossible for us to continue like this, he says, we need a lot of help. after it posted we spoke to francis by skype. >> what are the conditions for the people who are still living in the old city? on a cell phone camera his assistant filled his horrific answer. >> translation: people are running down the streets screaming "i am hungry." francis was the only westerner left in homs. he showed us what is left of his dwindling food supply, olives which he ate for breakfast and dinner.

an empty jar once filled with wheat. he was a proud man clinging to what little dignity he had left. >> i wish the people whose lives were at risk don't die. i wish they create a bridge for everything we need. francis died trying to build the bridge, he and most of the city of homs lost their sanctuary. >> on a side note father francis had been living in afghanistan since 1964. olympic sprinter oscar pistorius is expected back on the stand a short time from now. yesterday in his first day of testimony, he broke down in tears. oscar pistorius told the court he was trying to protect his girlfriend when he shot and killed her at his home. he has been tormented by panic attacks and memory of the shooting.

he apologised to reeva steenkamp's family. >> there hasn't been a moment since this tragedy happened that i haven't thought about the family. i wake up every morning, and you are the first people i think of, the first people i pray for. i can't imagine the sorrow and emptiness that i caused you and your family. prosecutors are trying to prove that oscar pistorius killed stephen after an argument. they say he mistook her for an intruder. >> the new york city department of corrections is under the microscope. as david shuster explains, a string of gaol house deaths is under investigation. >> the focus is on rykers island, the second largest gaol in america, and it is plagued by abuse, arrest and corruption. >> a homeless veteran died in a stel on tuesday, where -- cell

on tuesday, where temperatures exceeded 100 degrees. he was there for hours before his body was found. he was on a mental suicide watch and was supposed to lead to 15 minutes. it led to the demotion of the warden, officials acknowledging systematic administration matters. an inmate ignored pleas for help. 40% of people in rykers is mentally ill. 2008, an 18-year-old inmate was beaten to death in the gladiator school, in which teenage inmates were directed to extort money from prisoners. three inmates died of nonnatural causes last year. >> david shuster. new york city mayor bill de

blasio said there'll be changes at rikers island. he has instructed his new corrections commissioner to focus on the needs of inmates with mental illness. >> the f.d.a. approved a drug nearly two years ago, proving 90% effective in presenting hiv. it's chauld truvada. many that could benefit refuse to take it. >> at play and sometimes at risk. gay menus condoms less and less. 20% less in recent years, according to the center for disease control. new york psychotherapist is gay, doing what others aren't, taking a pill called truvada. >> i explained to my doctor i'll have a hard time staying consistent. here is this medication. >> he's such a fan, he started this facebook page.

>> it's shown to be safe. >> other gay men are less enthusiastic about truvada. this doctor offered the pill to many of her patients. only one is using it. young men are getting infected. when a person is young, you know, they have the spirit of being invincible. it's not going to happen to me. most of the patients at the drop-in center are low income. some don't have insurance. without it the drug cost more than 1,000 a month. most people have never heard of truvada. >> i have something to do. it's not only low income gay men, but middle and upper class men who are not taking truvada. we go to the gay bar to see what people know about it. >> if you are told that you are supposed to take one of these a day, would you take it? >> yes. i would use the condom, but that would help. i don't know if i would spend

the money to take a drug like that knowing that with preventive behaviour i could handle that myself. >> for now, getting people to know more about truvada is an uphill battle and a personal one. two friends died from hiv and he doesn't want to lose anyone else. >> once again it has been around for a decade, but only 1700 people have used it since 2011. half of them are women. >> still ahead - cash is proving to be king when it comes to the housing market recovery. why foreign investors are foregoing credit to snatch up real state in the u.s. an auto recall - a problem that is forcing ford to make repairs. >> and the yukon team finishing an unexpected run.

>> college basketball crowned its men's champion in texas as the connecticut huskies earned their fourth championship. they beat the wildcats. they became the first seventh seed in n.c.a.a. history to take home the title. ross shimabuku was there to see it all. >> yukon hit a bump in the road in january with back to back losses in texas. et team was brought to the stadium by the coach. he knew the final four would be held here. team bonding and motivation paid off big time as yukon took their fourth championship. >> they worked as a group. we worked so hard.

you don't need talent all the time, you need all work and dedication. >> we deserved this. no one believed in us, that made it sweert. we -- sweder. we -- sweder. we shocked the world. >> it feels great. the student athlete are amazing, they've been amazing and resilient. i tell you it started 18 months ago. when they kept believing and stayed loyal to the program. it's a wonderful feeling to hold the trophy up and do it the right way. >> we did what we could to stay in the game. i hate to tell you, this is what we have done the whole tournament. we made shots, and we ended up missing the games. this is a similar game. >> maturity and experience prevails, yukon was led by a senior all american. the tournament's most outstanding player was named. yukon's national championships

have been captured in the great state of texas. >> yukon's women will try to match the men. playing notre dame for the women's championship. general motors starred repairs on nearly 2.5 million recalled cars. they are fixing faulty ignition switches linked to 13 deaths. it could take months to repair the vehicles because of a shortage of parts. g.m. expects to complete all repairs by october. ford is recalling 35,000 cars to reject rusting parts. the under carriage on the s.u.v.s have a corruption problem, especially in snow belt states. there has been one crash related to the problem. a separate ford recall will fit seat frames not welded properly. >> the u.s. housing market rebounded from a slump.

many americans can't afford to buy due to rises home prices. as marie snow reports, it's opened a window for foreign investors armed with all-cash offers. >> for multi-million dollar apartment in new york to homes in los angeles, cash is king. reality track, which tracks real estate trends across the u.s. finds 43% of properties in february were purchased with cash. that's up from 20% a year earlier. it's an astounding number and many buyers are from overseas. canada and china have topped the list of international buyers. there has been a spike in interest from the united arab emirates, switzerland, germany and italy. it's part of the a story of what potential home owners are facing in the housing market. there are many multiple offer situations on a property. a lot of times the cash buyer is

really becoming a prominent part of what is driving the u.s. real estate recovery. buyers from canada, china, mexico, india and u.k. top the list. the top five states are florida, california, arizona, texas, and new york. most of these buyers are dolling out cash to buy properties because they see u.s. real estate as a good investment. here in new york realtors now report seeing a trend of international buyers eyeing wealthy suburbs because of moving their families here. single family homes make up a little more than half the purchases followed by apartments and condos. reality tracks don't see interest waning from overseas soon. >> miami is popular among foreign investors. it's an event happening every two years. you can see it if you check out

the tuesday night sky. mars, earth and the sun pars in a straight line. mars will be visible all night long. n.a.s.a. says mars will be visible as a burnt orange colour, ten times brighter than any of the stars in the sky. >> that'll do it for this edition. europe with some 80 million at risk, we discuss the sharp rise in one of the leading causes of death, and the solution many simple. ♪ my co-host and digital producer, wajahat ali is here bringing in all of your live feedback throughout the show. today is world health day, so we're dedicating this show to