♪ sending a robot to the depths of the indian ocean. the latest tactic in the race to find malaysian air lights flight 370. >> i had to come and knock on peoples doors to get them to evacuate their cars before it took them under. >> a severe storm in the south. two young lives swept away. a historic day. two equal pay executive orders sitting on president obama's desk just waiting for

signatures. >> it's all of them, the process, all of them. it isn't just the women who are not complaining. >> there may be a reason they are not complaining. the new law that is a blow to women's rights. >> welcome to al jazeera america t crews searching for the malaysian airplane are in a race against time. they have not been able to pick up the pinging sound again. the battery life on those data recorders could run out at any time. as thomas drayton reports, the next step would be launching a sophisticated underwater drone sdlfrn one month after malaysian airline flight 370 disappeared, the search resumed 24 hours after a australian officials said they heard two picks consistent with picks, silence. >> the work continues. there have been no further

contacts with any transmission and we need to continue that for several days. >> it's the towed pippingfinger had picked up the signals but until a third is dead he couldn't, a blue fin drone will remained parked. >> if we do the visual search, it will take many, many, many days because it's very slow, very painstaking work to scour the ocean floor. so of course the depths are very deep. >> nearly three miles deep, representing the very same limit that the blue fin can reach. while the data on the black boxes can last for years, it's their locator beacons that could have already died out making the search that much more difficult. the hunt for the plane by air remains critically important

as well. ships from a number of countries including the u.s., china, and australia are scouring the indian ocean. but so far, not a single piece of debris has been located. >> we have a good understanding of where the debris, if there is debris, will have gone to. we are currently very actively and aggressively pursuing where we think that debris field might be. that task further complicated by strong ocean currents, which may be continuously shifting any plane debris. in one of the most remote locations in the world. thomas drayden, al jazeera. the family members of the missing passengers are still hoping for answers. con dozens of family members

gathered to support their loved ones. more than half were chinese. rob mcbride reports from bay sing on the families stuck in limbo. >> it began with the failure of the flight to arrive at beijing airport early on the morning of march the 8th. hundreds of relatives who had never met suddenly became the center of a media frenzy with the world's biggest aviation mystery. there would be torment and anger at the with holding of information by officials and a protest in front of the malaysian embassy. >> that's why we are waiting for the embassy because we just want to find the news. >> steve wong has become the spokesman for the relatives. >> we are just like sitting on a rollercoaster, you know, up, down, every day and it's mentally exhausting.

>> this hotel has become home for many relatives like this woman whose grandparents were on the airplane. >> we can only weight quietly for definite news. >>reporter: several hundred of the relatives are still here having lived through a month of false leads and dashed hopes. in the absence of any confirmation, the awful question must arise just when and how to move on with their own lives. >> with a business to run, yo has decided to go home. >> translator: we have to face the reality that we need to make a living and go back to work. we have to accept that. >> reporter: as a prominent painter, yo's grandfather was part of an artist delegation which was on board. for now, his work is all she has for comfort as her waiting continues. rob mcbride, al jazeera, beijing

search crews have conducted over 130 missions to look for flight 370. coming up in our next hour, we will be talking to our aviation expert about the new technology being used in this search. and remember, you can always get the latest up to date information, up to the minute actually, 24/7 at aljazeera.com. al new search strategy is being implemented in washington state in an effort to recover the remaining victims of the mud slide. army engineers say they are building a berm to drainage the disaster area. they say it will present rainwater to the come into the search area. three more victims were found monday bringing the death toll to 33. 12 people are still missing. the fatal shoot can in fort hoo started over an argument for a request tore leave i have a n lopez say he eventually fired 35 rounds in eight minutes. three people died and 16 were injured before lopez took his

own life. authorities are looking into whether or not post-traumatic stress played a role in the attack. proceed russian supporters are pressuring eastern ukrainian cities to become part of russia. ukrainian officials admit being caught off guard by gunmen who captured a government building. the revelation comes amid a series of government building seizures in three cities near the russian/ukraine border. >> translator: in this case, probably no one thought that they would dare to seize the building. >> that's why. >> translator: separatetism and using weapons against one's own state, this is not politics. it's a serious crime. we will act against criminals in an adequate and decisive way. >> kiev officials now say they are preparing an anti-terrorist operation to recapture the government buildings. they hope to quell the uprising that declared the eastern city of donesk independent from ukraine. it is igniting fears mosque co

could have a second scenario. >> this would be a very serious escalation. we call on president putin and his government to cease all efforts to destabilize ukraine and we caution against further military intervention. al jazeera's ken bunnel has been tracking the fast-moving developments from donesk. >> this is a celebration of independence. thousands of pro-russia demonstrators gathered outside the local government administration building taken over by activists on sunday. [ music ] >> listening to songs of the soviet era, sending a message of support to those inside who, by mid-day had declared donesk's region an independent republic. this, they say, is the region's new seat of power. >> the people's council is made up of representatives of every

town across the region. not only here today have they announced donesk is an independent republic. they have created inside a resolution which they are going to pass on to russian president 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. >> translator: they came up with a resolution and wrote the names of those who they he represent and elected them. 45 of the seats were taken by delegates and the rest were the filled by those who came with them. >> activists have also asked putin to put a force on standby of so-called peace keepers who could come to their aid if the government in kiev responds with violence. we are addressing you, vladimir putin. in russia, we see our last remaining defender of our

culture in the. >> their first demand, a referendum giving the region a chance to decide whether to join russia. >> they say moscow has send provacatures across the border giving russia an excuse to invade. >> citizens of ukraine, the second wave started. the goal is to destablize the situation in the country t and to tear our country apart >> reporter: the government in kiev has a new anti-terrorism unit and will make armed -- meet armed protesters with force. those in control, they note, will need to act quickly, avoiding blood shed which outed the last president will be skushl. u.s. secretary of state john kerry says any additional

efforts by russia to destabilize ukraine will be met with more sanctions flash flooding and a torn, 8 people -- tornado, in covington county mississippi early monday morning. the tornado flattened three homes and damaged dozens more. >> boom. and then my trailer, picked my trailer up. on top of this car. >> near jackson, mississippi, drivers were forced to aband on their cars when rain flooded the streets. surging flood water, an apartment complex evacuated because of a flooding there. seven inches in yazoo, mississippi. a flood swept a 9-year-old off her parents' back stoop sunday night. the girls sisters say she couldn't swim and the current pulled her under. her body was found monday night in a drainage canal not far from her house.

a similar search is on winn parish, and the toldzer was fishing with his mother monday when he fell into the waterddle fishing with his mother monday when he fell into the water. it goes under a nearby road way. drivers say the strong current is pampering their -- hampering their search. >> ebb 19 with the latest. >> severe weather has wan he ed we have flood water in place from florida to georgia all the way back into texas. with the heavy rain that fell yesterday, some areas very localized crosses the mississippi and in alabama, saw anywhere from five upwards to eight inches of rainfall. now, we still have the heavy raven out there this morning. notice it shifted a little further east industrial right along the coldfront. it will continue to clear the coastline. we saw the area of low pressure

moving through. finally once it clears out a little bit later in the day as that low heads up into canada we will see our skies clearing. this morning, it is a bit of a wet start, dealing with shower activity. here is a look at the storm system on the move. notice, it will continue to push off to the east and north, frontal boundary off of the coastline taking the raven with it. high pressure builds in behind it. >> will give way to sinking, a dryer air mass here across much of the deep south, but we are still expecting to seattles of rain in advance of that high pressure building in. anything to that, we have much cooler air making its way all the way down into the deep south. behind that cold front, high temperatures will turn cooler. we have the dip in the jet stream pushing all the way further south of the gulf coast. it's ushering in that much cooler air. we have showers to deal with. around the lower mississippi valley we are not done with the rains just yet. keep the umbrella haenld. you will need it t high pressure already in full controlndy.

you will need it t high pressure already in full control. temperatures are still warming. we are going to see numbers anywhere from 10 upwards to even 25 degrees warmer than average. in the northwest, it's been dry. we have enjoyed a bit of a break. now, the next storm system starting to make its way in. as it does, that will bring more rain in. here is a look at the rain falling in the eastern u.s., the heaviest right across northern florida from jacksonville to gainesville. that's where we are dealing with the heavy rain pours along 10, i 95 and the southeast, it's going to be a slow morning commute. stephanie. >> ebony dion, thank you pom is encouraging 5 months of e americanency -- emergency benefits that expired in december to almost two and a half million americans. after the senate bill passed, seven house republicans wrote to party leadership asking for a vote on that bill or a similar measure. house speaker john boehner opposed the senate bill saying it did nothing to create more

jobs. today is equal pay day, a day to highlight the persistent gap between what men and women are paid. president obama is using that backdrop to sign an executive order requiring federal contractors to disclose how much their employees are compensated, broken down by gender and race. the president is also barring federal contractors from retaliating against employees who discuss their salaries. as robert ray reports, women who work in louisiana are paying the price for that income gap. >> according to a study by the center of american progress, louisiana is the country's worst state for women from the wage gaps to the poverty gap. it leaps the pack. >> it's across the entire spectrum from the top university professors, the top women in law firms, the top women in economic firms and women at the lowest wages, too. >> this is really nice. >> valerie lasier is a single mother of three who has been in search of a job for months. >> look at me.

look at mr. so-and-so. look at my qualifications. look at my college, you know, background. who is this? who would do a better job? >> all i am asking for. >> reporter: with the help of dress for success, new orleans, a non-profit that works with disadvantaged women in their job search, lacier finally, landed employment at a resale shop. now, she is volunteer to go help other women toward a better future. >> what happened was they did for me, i wanted to move forward, you know, pay it forward. >> according to the centre for american progress, women working full-time in louisiana earn only 67% of what men earn. more than five women and girls in the state are living in poverty. >> it's a complex issue. pay inequality is a very complex issue. >> new orleans native julie harris is advocating for a change in state laws to deal with issues of inequality to

advance the lives of women and children in louisiana. >> it costs government to subsidize what business is not paying to women. government, for lower income women has to subsidize with food stamps, housing subsidies, health, you know, making health available to low income. so, it costs the economy, and it costs taxpayers. >> though harris is working on the state level, she thinks the national paycheck fairness act, a bill written to even the paycheck field should become law. according to supporters of the bill, the pay gap is more extreme for black women who earn $0.62 for every $1 a man is paid and for hispanic women, they only earn $0.54. >> valerie lacier feels stronger that more legislative progress needs to change the picture for future generations. >> we have to make a push for it. the fact that louisiana's legislature has the lowest

number of females in the country could affect the health, wealth and future of women here al jazeera, new orleans equal pay day was created in 1996 to help illustrate how many months it takes the average woman to catch up to a man's pay from the previous year. well, last year, they are ban did from the big dance, but this year, the uconn huskies are national champs. >> thousands of uconn students celebrated on the campus in connecticut. the university of connecticut clernlingdz the men's basketball title last nightnched the men's title last night. our john henry smith is here with more. this is a symbolic win for this university. >> stephanie, the story of uconn is the riches to rags back to riches story, the outpouring of e motion on the streets around uconn and on the at&t stadium hardwoodcoms last name after of -- night. after winning the title in 11,

they lost their coast to health concerns and replaced him with a coach who had no head coaching experience. the school was so unsure about kevin ollie they gave him a 7-month deal to prove himself, and he had to do it with a depleted roster and with the program being banned from tournament play last season due to low graduation rates. then this season, his huskies finished with a 33-point loss to louieville, third loss to the cardinals this season. with that lack of momentum, they came into the tournament as a mere 7 seed. no number 7 seed had ever won the national championship until now. we will have highlights and a report from north texas later in sports. stephanie? >> all right. an exciting win for the school. we will see you later in sports. the list is out of the best

airlines in the u.s. general motors, this recall may be linked to 150 fatalities, counting down to the end of windows xp. there is a lot more at stake than just your dusty ol' laptop.

. the count down for window xp, in 17 hours, mike crow soft is pulling the plug after 13 years. some are calling it a hacker's dream raising fears for people and companies still using the once popular program, and there are a lot of them. coming up in our next half hour, we will tell you how to stay safe in sicyberspace. stock futures are mixed after the stockmarket clocked the longest losing streak since jan. one strategist says it makes it a great time to buy stocks. >> if you have been on the sidelines as a retail investor saying i missed most of the 30% or all of the 30% last year but i think things have gotten ahead of themselves. i am waiting for better prices. you are getting better prices

this week. >> here is where we stand. the dow starts at 16245. the s & p in the red for the year at 1845. the nasdaq is at 4079. overseas, asian markets mostly higher. the composite hitting the highest 11 in weeks. but nikei falling 11/2 % after they refrained from extending the stimulus program markets are lower. >> falling prices of smartphones are hurting samsung's bottom line. they they get income from smartphones city group reached another mortgage settlement. this time to settle claims stemming from mortgage securities it sold during the financial crisis. the settlement has to be approved and it does not shield

citigroup from other losses. . the federal reserve is giving banks more time to abide by the so-called volker rule. financial firms will have two more years to unwind debt holdings to abide with the measure. it was named after former chair paul volker. it banks prputting money at risk in short-term trade to go prevent another financial crisis. general motor could face another raul. this time because of the airbags in the chevy impalas. a safety group says a software glitch can prevent the airbags from working properly. there have been 143 fatalities linked to the defect. they are asking investigate to look into impala models built from 2003 to 2010. good morning is recalling nearly 1 and a half million vehicles that could experience sudden loss of power steering. the recall impacts certain chevy

mali buts and cobalts and the hhr model, some pontiac g6s. they say the electric power steering assist could fail at a time. >> gm started repairs on 2 and a half million other recall cars fixing faulty ignition switches which have been linked to 13 deaths. it could take months to repair all of those vehicles because of a shortage of parts. good morning said it expects to complete all repairs by october. ford is recalling nearly 435,000 of its vehicles to repair rusting parts. escapes from 2001 on through 2004, the undercarriage on the impact suvs has a core range of motion problem. there has been one crash related to that problem. a separate ford recall will fix seat frames that were not welded properly. a rainy morning at the crossroads of the world.

>> that's times square, a live look where it's a little warmer today, still not so nice out there. meteorologist ebony dion has a look at the forecast >> reporter: we are going to see gradual improving conditions here across the northeast. here, definitely a cloudy start. temperatures milder thanks to the cowed cover in place. starting at 49, mid 50s around d.c. 47 in atlanta. we have cleared out behind that cold front that brought all of the strong severe storms across much of the deep south. as we dry out, we are cooling 30 to 45 degrees in memphis. in the southwest, an area that is really not seeing any shortage of the heat. it's been building over the last few days. now, we are going to see temperatures climb to go close to 100 degrees by the time we hit thursday around phoenix. so well above our average high which is usually into the lower to mid-80s. across the upper midwest, we will keep it cool, but in to denver, 72 for your afternoon

high. we will see the cool temperatures here across the southeast, but a gradual warming trend eastward will take shape over the next few days. >> ebony, thank you, the annual airline quality ratings are out. the best airline is virgin america. the survey looked at the country's 15 biggest area lines and considers things like on time flights and lost baggage. virgin topped the list for the second year in a row followed by jetblue and hawaiian airlines which moved up two spots from last year. on the other end of thescale, frontier, u.s. airways and american eagle saw performance decline. tears streaming down the face of the man known as bladerunner. >> we both had things that kept us back in our relationship and getting to know each other. >> the olympian oscar pistorius back on the witness stand. the emotional courtroom breakdown during his murder trial. japan's nuclear disaster happened half a world away. why do a group of u.s. navy

sailors want a billion dollars from the operators of the plant? a serious health department warning for anyone who attended a rebate kings of dion concert. >> huskies are the chance of college basketball. highlights plus a report from ross. the sand running out of the hour glass for windows xp. it has banks and other agencies cringing from coast to coast.

>> now inroducing, the new al jazeea america mobile news app. get our exclusive in depth, reporting when you want it. a global perspective wherever you are. the major headlines in context. mashable says... you'll never miss the latest

news >> they will continue looking for suvivors... >> the potential for energy production is huge... >> no noise, no clutter, just real reporting. the new al jazeera america mobile app, available for your apple and android mobile device. download it now . welcome back to al jazeera america. i am stiff instead stephanie * stefanie sy. the clock is ticking down for the flight for flight 370. the battery on the flight data recorders could die at any time. search crews are trying to pi

pickup new signals that could be from the planes black boxes. if ne do, they plan to send out this unmanned submarine to map the floor. border tensions heating up between russian and ukraine. russia's foreign minister telling ukraine to back off of military operations or face a civil war. it comes as lawmakers look to regain control. forces in donesk say the city is no longer part of ukraine and will vote next month to join russia. >> storms crosses the southeast have caused flash flooding and at least one tornado. eight people were injured when the twister touched down in covington county mississippi. in yazoo city, a 9-year-old girl drowned after being swept off of her back stoop by flood waters. >> olympic sprinter oscar pistorius is back on the stand this morning defending himself against murder charges. you are looking at a live courtroom shot. this is in pretty orous south

africa. he said he was trying to protect his model girlfriend when he shot and killed her at his home. it was on valentine's day of last year. let's bring in erika. we know pistorius broke down crying in the courtroom. did we see more of that emotion today? >> yes. we certainly have. of course, we can't actually see him speaking on the stand because the judge closed off the witness box from the cameras. but you can hear the emotion in his answers. his voice, soft spoken and cracking at times. while his testimony yesterday focused on apoljuicing to the family detailing his hard childhood and talking about how he is tormented about panic attacks. today seems about establishing the status of the couple's relationship in the days leading you up to the shooting. he read back a slew of text message exchanges between them. some depict a loving it couple. others reflect a rocky

relationship. >> she said lots of lovies with a smiley of some sort and then i sent her back a message full of kisses. ame ame . i said come cuddle me. i want kisses from my buba. >> had you sent her that message and she respond? >> she sent me -- she sent me many, many, many kisses back. the message she sent me said, i do everything to make you happy and to not rock the boat with you. you do everything to throw tantrums in front of people. i have been upset two days. i left early, so upset. i can't get that day back. i am scared of you sometimes and how you snap at me and of how you will react to me. . >> about the argument texts, he said those represent, quote, a bad day in their relationship

like any other couple may have. pistorius testified he a and steincamp were making plans. he said on the night before the shooting, he had been helping her with a new contract she was signing with a management company. the very next day, pistorius said he got scared when he thought he heard an intruder, locked himself in the bathroom and when the intruder got closer, he fired his gun at the bathroom door. the bullets hit steincamp. he is starting to recount the day of the shooting. we will have more on his testimony today coming up at .700. >> fast moving dochlts there. thanks so much. 80 american sails have filed a billion dollar lawsuit, asking a u.s. court to hold a japanese utility company responsible for lying about the football game football ga -- document shima. saying they lied about high radiation levels which has been

bettered to dozens of cancer cases. sailors were involved at humanitarian efforts there. an earlier suit was dismissed after the sailors named the japanese government. a judge ruled it was beyond the reach of the u.s. court. tens of thousands of palestinians have been living without water for more than a month. they are caught in a legal no man's land. they are technically part of the jerusalem municipality but they live outside the separation barrier which israel built. >> leaves them in an area where israel services are limited and where palestinian authorities are banned from operating. >> we live here like animals, not like people, especially with the water issue. >> of course, the number of people continues to rise. people have babies. people have families. now, the whole water system collapses and no one takes responsibility. >> last week,is's supreme court gave officials two months to find a solution to the water

crisis. kings of leon fans are being warned of a possible me he wime outbreak. a woman attended the show, officials say days after she got infected with the disease while traveling to british columbia. the measles, highly infectious and can stay in the air for hours after a contagious person has left. that's bad news for thousands of people who attended the concert or were at the other places she went that week. washington state health officials posted her schedule online. you know aware she was infected, she went to work at a bakery, stayed at a best western hotel and visited the market which seize thousands of visitors a day microsoft is pulling the plug on window's xp. today is the last day the company will support it. there are fears people and companies still using xp will become prone to cyber attacks. it could be expensive to protect

against them. >> microsoft says it is up to each bank to ensure atms are cyber safe. >> that's going to be harder if they use, as most do, the windows xp operating system sdmrfrp the majority of major financial institutions, we have worked with them and they have moved to up grade their devices. >> christina libby says microsoft has no way of know if anything people withdraw money at atms might be at greater risk. >> keep yourself safe, asking your banking institutions. are their atms vulnerable. >> gary share's business helps companies manage and upgrade. he says banking or buying on line is safe but could get riskier as microsoft stops providing service and security upgrades. the company announced five years ago, the long-running xp would expire companies should have

upgraded from windows xp to windows 7 a long time ago. a few did, but most didn't because of the cost and because of the complexity. >> up to 30% of computers worldwide still operate with xp. users can provide their own security or pay to upgrade and protect their current systems. pay microsoft in many cases t could cost businesses a thousand dollars per computer. for consumers who have used xp for 12 years, there is no requirement to upgrade. but microsoft is moving on. and if consumers don't want to move with them, it could mean added aggravation and added cost. while companies and government agencies may need to keep their xp-run computers going while they my great to new systems. they say you need to upgrade now or have security issues later. >> it's safer to buy a new computer and move your data over through an exterm hard drive or some other process. my main advice would be if you

are going to try to upgrade to a new windows version, look for windows 7. it is still out there. you can still get it. windows 8 is a giant leap. >> the editor of "geek wire.com" says besides pay to go upgrade their personal computers, the biggest leap in coming months may be the leap of faith consumers have to make trusting companies they do business with will take extra care with any data that is run that you windows xp. >> it is something that security experts in particular are going to be watching very closely in the weeks and months ahead. >> unfortunately, hackers and online crooks are also going to be watching closely to see how xp's weaknesses develop. alan schofler, seattle. >> for more on what the end of windows xp means, we are joined by uk editor of mother board devices. she joins us for a digital drilldown. thank you for being with us this morning. do we have any idea how many

major companies -- >> thanks for having me. >> have not made the switch from windows xp by today's deadline? >> we don't know exactly how many haven't made the swiv. what we do know is that xp is a very, very popular operating system with companies and general consumers. it's really been a favorite for many. 95% of the world's companies run windows xp. about aed a third of the world's computers and microsoft said they will offer $100 off for those customers operating from older pcs to the new hardware. would you expect to see vulnerability for computers still running this operating system. >> probably not immediate for most people.

it's not going to explode today but what it does mean is that any new vulnerabilities won't get a security update from microsoft. >> leaves you vulnerable if you don't have anything else protecting you. >> hackers and cyber criminals know about this date. there is a chance they could take advantage of the vulnerabilities. will it be that disruptive or is this hype from microsoft trying to get people to buy newer products? >> i don't think it's just hype. it's a necessary step. when you think of xp, it was first released in 2001, 10 years, 12 years might not sound like a very long time, but in the tech world, the rate at which things are developing, a

lot has changed. people didn't e-mail anything like they do now. they didn't use the internet as much. so xp just wasn't built for the world that we live in today. there is only so much that you can keep patching security issues thas they arise. at some point, you are going to have to upgrade something that's been made for what we use computers for today. >> which is why, i guess, i am confused. businesses have known for some five years that this date was coming when microsoft would stop offering support for this operating system. was this procrastination on the parts of some businesses? why didn't they make the change sooner? i think perhaps they were holding out and hoping that microsoft would say they would support it. people have known this since at

least 2007 they are going to have to figure out any applications built for xp and move them across. in some cases, it will require an investment in new hardware because the computers they used when they first started using xp may not support the newer systems they want to use. it's obviously, especially for bigger companies, the my graduation will take a lot longer thanigration will take a lot longer than. it's going to be expensive, i suppose, as well. are there businesses and governments fighting this deadline? is microsoft trying to work with them? >> yes, there are. some governments and businesses who have paid quite a lot of money to get an extra year of support from microsoft. so the u.k. government has paid, i

think it's 5 million pounds. the dutch government has paid several million euros to make sure their systems are supported from one year after this date. it's important to remember that there is just one year. so they are going to have to make the move, and they are going to have to have a plan to do that pretty soon. >> certainly buys them some time that people with personal xp operating systems will not have. victoria, the u.k. editor of motherboard in london. thank you. today not only marks the end of the line for windows xp. it is the end president well known photo. many people who use the xp operating system are familiar with this scene. the photo is called blitz. it was created by wine photographer chuck orear. the 7-year-old who was on his way to meet his girlfriend when he saw the green grass. the rest they say is history. once he snapped the iconic photo. >> i had no idea it would become like the most recognizable photograph on the planet.

>> o 'rear said he sold it to corbits who sold it to microsoft for an undisclosed fee. college basketball crowned men's champion in texas. john henry smith is here to tell us about a once troubled program that's clearly, clearly back on top. good morning. >> stephanie, it's safe to say uconn is not troubled though morning. >> theyt two programs took the court in texas with a chance to win it all. 8th ceded kentucky and 7 ceded kentucky with a national title on the line. 79,238 fans looked on to see if kentucky's youth or connect's experience would win the day. daniels throws it down. huskies led by 4 at the half. second half, huskies prove they are a true team and get poster rides by james young.

he got fouled and the freethrow, too, over a minute left. wildcats down 6. in for two team high 20 points. kentucky down 4. napier, gets fouled. cromwell would make both free throws to put uconn up 6. aaron harris misses. picked up by and drew harrison who misses the 3. ryan boatwright comes away with the rebound. huskies and the coach celebrate good times. napier led the way with a game high, 22 points. he won the big dance as a freshman and as a 7 ario and mvp honors, too. uconn 60 to 54. hoshi is there. >> when in the

road back. >> connect is the only school to win four national titles without a title game loss. connecticut is the second team to win the national championship by beating five teams ceded higher than it was in the tournament. the other was villa nova back in 1985. earlier in the show, we showed you footage of connecticut fans and let's just say a celebratory mood. they will be pa they will be partying like 2004 if the 39 and 0 women can beat 37 and 0 notre dame for the

women's national title. it's the first ever match-up between unbeatens. 204 was the last time uconn men and women both won national basketball titles. >> that's a look at sports this morning. >> i can't wait to see what will happen in the women's game. possibly historic. kenya's parliament has passed a bill legalizing polygamy. as tonya paige reports, it's further tramp ling on women's rights. >> the chief says one of the benefits of his marriages is that the burden of chores is shared. most of the time, their union is harmonious because each of his wives had a say in the newcomer. >> it's important to be part of the negotiation because the land has to be divided again, and i have to make sure that the next one is willing to help with all of the chores.

>> polygamy is about bringing whole families together. he consulted his wife's parents first? >> you don't just go and pick them because you want more than one one. you pick one. no. >> kenya's parliament has just pass add bill that legalizes polygamy. it means all so-called unions should have a marriage certificate as legal proof. it allows a man to marry again without his existing wife's consent. >> the new bill has huge implications for women's in customary marriages. if their husband can mary without consent, the wife has no control over thousand thinly her family's income and resources are spread. >> supporters of the bill argues it covers all kenyans and raises the status of women whether they are married in a church or mosque, in a customary or civil union. >> it's all of them. i am saying it is because the women who are complaining.

men are not complaining. this is one-sided. >> one of the mps walked out of parliament during the debate. >> after all, we are all elected by all of the adults. as a woman member, i should not do something. those who do not make law, the advantage. >> the marriage bill has led to fierce debate over the balance between equal rights, customary practices and their modern interpretations it still needs to be signed by the president before it becomes law. tania page, al jazeera, kenya. >> all right. well, running a marathon is tough enough. running a marathon in the sand in one of the hottest places in the world? >> it makes you appreciate what you have at home, gives you time to think. it takes you to some damage places the most gruelling foot

race on earth, the epic journey across the sahara desert.

>> this takes guts... all right. well, cow tipping may be the drink of choice but in the city of it san francisco, vandals are car tipping. these cars turned on their sides and police are searching for whoever is responsible. they weigh about 1800 pounds. welcome back to al-jezeera america. just ahead, an extreme marathon, one of the world's most unforgiving places. but first, ebony has a check on the weather >> tracking rain moving across the southeast. notice we are not seeing the widespread wet weather we had yesterday but this front boundary on jacksonville into north central areas of florida. that's where we are getting the

rain. it's west in the northeast as well. rainfall a little bit more scattered. we will see clearing as we head into the late part of the afternoon. rain will not be sticking around all day long ear across the mid atlantic or the northeastet. isolated showers across the upper midwest. as we take you in to morocco, it's hot and dry, high pressure in full control for the race. >> that's not surprising that it's hot and dry. ebony, in more okayo, hundreds of runners are take okay a tough race. the multiple he day trek is a test of endurance and planning. >> adrenaline, nerves and no little fear, runners getting ready to take the first of 0, so many steps on this year's marathon desaab. >> i am feeling he can static. i can't wait to go run and to have fun. this is why we are here i have been following this for 20 years. you know, 20 years it's taken wanting to do it.

so now i am here. >> six stages covering more than 250 kilometers of brutal desert terrain lie ahead. the sahara desert dune downs may look beautiful. less so when all of the food and kit you need for the week is on your back. >> it's never ending. it's so draining on your legs, constantly going up and down and up and down. there is no end in sight. >> one marathon veteran has described the runners as being like row at thiss rotisseire ch it won't surprise you to know that medics expect to hand out more than 6,000 painkillers over the coming days. >> with water strictly rationed and feet reddened, the medical tent is set to be a busy place. >> it's very difficult on skin. so we are sure to see nearly all of the runners at the clinic because they have a lot of blisters placing yourself in harm's way, though, as it seems,

one of the perverse atracks of this race. >> i find it quite a life changing experience when i did it before. it does make you appreciate what you have for the back at home. gives you time to think, takes you to some dark places but it gives you time to get your head straight. >> the challenge here, not just getting through the days ahead but to think of what to do when the all over. andy richardson, al jazeera, morocco. >> del walters, who i am sure will not be at the marathon is here with a look at the top stories. del? >> one question. why? at the end of our first hour, here is what we are following for you this morning. crew did are sendingly an unmanned sub to the indian ocean after they picked up new signals that could be from the mraep's black boxes. russia's foreign minister telling kiev to back off military operations or face a possible civil war. ukrainian lawmakers looking to regain three cities overrun by pro-russian activists. >> the lasting legacy of

rawanda's genocide. how that has changed. the latest battleground on american soil with the search for oil. >> news continues and del and i are back with you.

>> time is running out to find the flight data recorders from the missing malaysia airlines flight 370 before the signal is lost for good. >> ukraine tries to retake government buildings seized by protestors. >> people cannot be bribed or forced into changing their history. >> the lasting legacy of

rwanda's genocide 20 years ago, how that affects all the way the international community responds to human rights issues today. >> january, february, march, a little bit of april, a woman is working for free. >> a presidential push to close the income gap between men and women. good morning, welcome to al jazeera america. i'm stephanie sy. >> the search for that missing malaysia airlines flight 370 is now the most expensive in history. >> 20 countries have spent $44 million, launching more than 130 missions, but still have not found a single piece of the plane. >> those crews are in a race against time, the battery life on data recorders could run out soon. they have not been able to relocate that pinging sound that was discovered over the weekend. >> one month after malaysia airlines flight 370 disappeared, the search resumed this morning, just 24 hours after australian

officials announced they heard two pings that were consistent with the sounds of black boxes, silence. >> the towed locator pinger work continues. there have been no further contacts with any transmission and we need to continue that for several days. >> it's the towed pinger locator dropped into the ocean from the australian naval ship that have picked up the signals, but until a third is detected, a blue fin drone capable of scanning the ocean's floor for wreckage will remain parked. >> if we can down there now and do the visual search, it will take many, many, many days, because it's very slow, very painstaking work to scour the ocean floor, and of course the depths are very deep. >> nearly three miles deep, representing the very same limit that the blue fin can reach.

while the data can last for years, the beak consist could have already died out, making the search that much more difficult. >> the hunt for the plane by airy mains critically important, as well. ships room to country including the u.s., chain in a and australia are scouring the indian ocean. so far, not a single piece of debris has been located. >> we have a good understanding of where the debris, if there is debris, will have gone to. we are currently very actively and aggressively pursuing where we think that debris field might be. >> that task further complicated by strong ocean currents, which may be continuously shifting any plane debris in one of the most remote locations in the world. >> coming up at 730 eastern

time, the family of the passengers, the pain of not knowing what happened and why some say they have learned a lesson in patience. >> that fatal shooting in fort hood, texas followed a leave request. ivan lopez eventually fired 35 rounds in just eight minutes. three people died, 16 injured before lopez took his own life. authorities are still looking into whether post traumatic stress played a role that in attack. >> border tensions are heating up between russia and ukraine, russia's foreign minister telling kiev to back off military operations or face a possible civil war. lawmakers looked to gain control of three eastern cities overrun by pro russian activists. russian forces in denejsk say the city is to no longer part of ukraine. the development is igniting fears of another standoff similar to crimea. >> if russia moves in, this would be a very serious

escalation. we call on president putin and his government to seize all effort to destabilize ukraine and we caution against further military intervention. >> aljazeera has been tracking the fast-moving developments from denejsk. >> ukrainian official forces moved in on the administration building. seventy people have been arrested. there were dramatic since there overnight as pro russia protestors setting fire to the building, extinguished later. ukrainian authorities say that this anti terrorism operation is still on going, the city center has been shut down but will reopen when this operation is finished. >> the question now in denejsk is what happens here. the regional government administration building here still in the control, in the

hands of pro russia protestors, people talking about whether security forces are going to try to mooch in on that building. they have negotiations on that side, as well, though. out of the oligarchs in ukraine, the richest man in ukraine have spoken to police and protestors. we understand some deal may be reached about if protestors hand over weapons, there will be no use of force, but it will be a very tense few hours here in denejsk. >> reporting from eastern ukraine. secretary of state john kerry is scheduled to meet with diplomats from on you crane, russia and the u.e., saying the meetings aimed at easing tensions in ukraine will take place in the next 10 days. the white house has threatened additional sanctions if moscow takes further actions in ukraine. stay with aljazeera for in-depth coverage. at 8:30 eastern, we'll discuss whether vladimir putin is behind

the uprising in denejsk and how account profit from it. >> protestors in venezuela blame the government for lack of basic goods. a new food reactions system was rolled out. not owl in venezuela like the idea. >> these citizens are cueing up for their weekly supply of food. inside, government volunteers are asking buyers to register for the new system of reaction cards, called the electronic card for supply security. the system is necessary because of food shortages in venezuela. >> it's a way to try to organize consumers to get their basic food and control subsidized

products. >> the government wants to control how much they buy in markets. 20% of basic food items were unavailable. the supply have some products like chicken will be restricted. rosa doesn't mind. >> i don't care, because you don't eat chicken or meat every day like beans or pasta. >> officials say it will control the son assumption of everyone registered and prevent illicit resales. >> ration cards are usually associated with food shortages during war time. producing that are bought here at cheap prices like sugar are smug would into columbia and sold at 75 times the original price. it's a business that is more profitable than selling cocaine. >> not everyone agrees. >> contraband is cans ported in

huge quantity at this time and not common people involved. it's large mafias which control the huge trucks taking subsidized goods into column bei can't. >> in venezuela, one of every four staples is scarce at any given time. the government accuses businessman of speculation and hoarding to they can blame the government for the shortages. >> thanks to the revolution designed by our commander hugo chavez, we, the poor have access to food even if we don't have money. the enemies of the revolution are using food to make money. >> over 100,000 venezuelans have already registered. for now, the ration card is not mandatory, but the government plans to offer incentives by ralphing off amounts and cars to get millions of venezuelans to sign up. aljazeera, caracas, venezuela. >> as much as 40% of venezuela's

food is believed to be brought into that country illegally. >> live in england, the president of ireland is meeting with the queen, a historic first state visit by an irish head of state. president michael higgins will address parliament. three years ago, elizabeth became the first monarach to visit ireland. >> a new search strategy is implemented in washington state to recover the remaining victims of the deadly mud slide. army engineers are building an 1800-foot bedroom to drain the disaster area, prevent morning rain water from flowing into the search area, it could take a week to finish. three more victims found monday, bringing the death toll to 33, 12 are still missing. >> a storm system producing severe weather across much of the east including flash flooding and a tornado. the twister touched down in mississippi early monday

morning, flattening three homes and damages dozens more. >> all i heard was a boom and then my trailer, it picked my trailer up around this car here. >> drivers were forced to abandon their cars when seven inches of rain flooded the streets. in birmingham, floodwaters stalled cars and a plant was evacuated because of all that flooding. >> serious situation, a couple of fatties reported there, expecting less severe weather today. >> they are expecting more rain on top of the floodwaters we saw. >> flooding will continue across the southeast because we're already very saturated and rain is returning to this area. through the day, we expect a few more showers to pop up where we do have flash flood warnings in effect, all these areas shaded in green, this is where we're watching out for flooding. east and south of jackson, the strong river is reporting record

flooding with so we will continue to see these problems. you'll need to remember if you're traveling anywhere in these areas, be sure to turn around and down drown. you want to find another route. through the day today, we have heavy storms ongoing across northern florida. the front will shift across central florida later today and eventually south florida. it's going to take all that wet weather along with it. behind it, a bit of a break into alabama, georgia, clearing skies. around mississippi, that's where we expect more rain. following that front along the east coastline, rain is still falling and in the northeast, the area of north pressure lifts northward. moving into canada, high pressure builds in behind with a surge of cooler air, but we will dry out going through the day. by afternoon around new york city, you can put those umbrellas back up. we're noticing a big dip in the

jetstream, that goes all all the way down into the areas of the deep south, so we're dealing with a spring cooldown across much of the eastern u.s. in the west, it's going to stay warm and dry. we are watching our next storm system moving into the pacific northwest, rain moving into washington. >> olympic sprinter oscar pistorius on the stand this morning defending hips against murder charges. >> you are looking at live picture from inside the court in south africa. the trial just adjourned for lunch. he told the court he was actually trying to protect his girlfriend

reeva steenkamp. >> the judge closed offer the witness box from the cameras, but you can hear his voice soft spoken. we heard him recount the moments leading up to the shootle. he says he and stein camp had a nice dinner at home. he said after going to bed, he heard the bathroom window open and that's what started it all. >> that's the moment everything changed. i thought there was a burglar that was getting into my home. the first thing that came to my mind is that i need to defendant myself and reeva. i shouted for reeva to get on

the floor. >> we now know there was no intruder and he fired those shots in the bathroom door, hitting his girlfriend and killing her. >> coming up, we'll hear more about those moments when he pulled the trigger, but they really did just adjourn for lunch, really they stopped right at that moment that he actually used the gun. >> we'll keep following it. >> switching garcia to sports last year, they were banned from the big dance, but this year, the u conn huskies have a win. the university of connecticut clinching the men's basketball fight last night, defeating kentucky. u conn was led by the senior point guard with 22 points, becoming the first seven seed in ncaa history to take home the title. in our next hour, a preview of the women's championship game,

as well. >> u conn's in that matchup, as well. women making less than men for the same jobs. >> nationwide, women earn 77 cents for every dollar a man makes. the president is trying to close that gap. >> we could have done much more. we should have done much more. >> world leaders look back at the failure to stop rwanda's genocide, how that ethnic genocide two decades ago change the way conflicts are handled today. >> today's big number, how it could help 3 million struggling americans. >> we leave you now with pomp and circumstance from england where ireland's president is making that first historic district.

>> today's big number is

$9.6 billion, the amount the senate approved to extend long term unemployment benefits for americans out of work. >> the extension is for five months. the bill is headed to the house facing an uphill battle. it would pay $256 a week and assist the million people who have roughed without it since the law expired last year. >> senators are calling on the house to pass the bill, saying it is a necessity, not a luxury. >> for all but a handful of recipients, unemployment benefits are not a free pass from working, but the economic lifeline that keeps them going, while searching for the job they so desperately want and need. >> president obama is pushing house leaders to approve that measure. many feel the bill will have trouble getting out of the house. >> john boehner's spokesperson warrants the bill won't be passed for the sake of passing it, saying we are looking

provisions to provide more private sector jobs. >> the pressure president obama is putting on the house to pass this unemployment legislation and how the failure to do so might affect republicans in this year's mid term election. >> more students will soon earn college credits through job apprenticeship programs. have the joe biden announced the partnership between employers unions and colleges, saying it will allow students to earn while they learn, adding it will help low and middle class kids often forced to decide between joining the workforce or getting an education. >> today is equal payday, to highlight the gap between what men and women make. president obama signed executive orders designed to help the situation. >> he's trying to make sure

specifically for federal contractors that you can't work for the federal government and pay women significantly less than you're paying men, hoping to influence lawmakers on capitol hill to do the same. >> today, president obama's bringing equal pay activists lily led better back to the white house to watch him sign two new orders for federal contractors. one prevents retribution for employees who speak out about what they're paid. the others require contractors to report by race and gender their compensation. >> the president is doing with their executive power to do what the do nothing congress will not do. >> female workers earn 77 cents for every dollar a man makes. workers at the white house earn 88 cents. >> is it fair? republicans argue closing the pay gap could hurt men and women. >> we don't want a law that will

make employers afraid to give raises, because they're afraid it might have it a lawsuit. that doesn't help men or women. >> january, february, march, a little bit of april, a woman is working for free. it's not about flexibility. it's about total unfairness. >> the senate's due to vote on pay equity this week. >> that senate vote may not go very far. we're hearing that it's unlikely to pass the senate. del. >> tracy, thank you very much. >> stay with aljazeera america for continuing coverage of equal payday. coming up, we focus on the state where the gender income gap is the largest, and why previous attempts to close that gap has failed. >> on monday, wall street marked its longest losing streak in two months, right now do you futures

down 31 points. asian markets ending higher. nikkei falling 1.5% after the central bank retrained from expanding the stimulus program. european markets are lower. >> quarterly report cards, aluminum producer alcoa leads. there may be signs of better things to come. >> i'm not going to sugar coat it. first reports are going to be lackluster, but i think the two good things are revenue growths up. >> samsung's profits will decline, it gets 2/3 of its income from smart phones. limes being squeezed out of

flights, some taking the fruit off the menu because of rising prices. some airlines are substituting lemons for limes on some flights. they aren't expected to return until normal levels until may. >> it's ban pretty active weather day. let's get a look at temperatures we can expect across the nation today. >> the rain will gradually wind down as our cold front heads off to the east. we're getting a bit of a cool down behind it. that area of low pressure will continue to shift winds to more of a north and northwesterly direction. our forecast shows we are going to keep the heat around today in los angeles with a high of 90. average high the time of year

mid 60's. above average all all the way into the weekend, even low 70's warmer than we typically would see. across the west, the warming trend will build eastward. by wednesday, the middle of the country will feel that nice warm up and eventually by thursday, the eastern u.s. will feel the warmth, as well. by mid week on wednesday, denver will stay in the upper 70's. we'll get to as i could degrees around chicago. >> the united nations recognizing the world's failure to protect rwandans during the genocide 20 years ago. >> we'll talk the ethnic cleansing there and how it could help today in places like syria. >> the u conn men have done their part, the u conn women try to do theirs in a title game matchup. we'll have a preview. >> the florida ever glades become the front lines for the

fight against oil drilling, some fighting for their health and way of life. >> they let oil drilling here, would they let it at the grand canyon? where are we going to stop? is there anything sacred?

>> good morning, welcome to al jazeera america. i'm stephanie sy. >> i'm del walters. >> we're going to talk about the battle over energy in the ever glades. some say drilling could be a health hazard. when you see the photography, you're going to wonder why anyone would want to disturb that. >> how would you feel about owning a real space view? i think nasa's getting desperate, selling off a space suit. we'll talk about that coming up. >> the united kingdom's version of stop and frisk under fire.

a secret tape that shows racial profiling. >> tensions between russia and ukraine, russia's foreign minister telling kiev to back off military operations or face a possible civil war. it comes as ukrainian lawmakers look to regain control over eastern cities. officials in denejsk say it is no longer part of ukraine. >> nasty storms causing flash flooding. a twister touched down in mississippi. a 9-year-old girl drowned after being swept off her back stoop by floodwaters there. >> the clock is ticking down in the search for malaysia airlines flight 370. it's been more than a month since the jet disappeared. the battery on the black boxes could die anytime. signals trying to pick up pings

from the boxes. >> the family members of the missing passengers still hope for answers. at an emotional vigil, dozens of family members gathered to support each other and remember loved ones. more than half of the passengers onboard the plane were chinese. we have the story from the families stuck in limbo, from beijing. >> it began with the failure of the flight to arrive early on the morning of march 8. hundreds of relatives who had never met suddenly became the center of a media frenzy, caught up in the world's biggest aviation mystery. >> in the coming days, there would be torment, also anger at the alleged withholding of information by officials, and even a protest in front of the malaysian embarz. >> that's why we went into the embassy.

we just wanted to find news. >> steve has become the spokesman for the relatives. >> it's like sitting on a roller coaster, go up and go down every day. it's exhausting mentally. >> as the days turned into weeks, this motel has become home for many relatives. her grandparents were on the flight. >> we reached the consensus that we can only wait quietly for definite news. >> several hundred of the relatives are still here, having lived through a month of false leads and dashed hopes. in the absence of any confirmation for what happened, the awful question must arise just when and how to move on with their own lives. >> with a business to run, has she decided to go home. >> we have to face the reality that we need to make a living and go back to work. we have to accept that.

>> as a prominent painter, her grandfather was part of a delegation onboard. for now, his work is all she has for comfort as her waiting continues. aljazeera, beijing. >> jay rollins is our aviation analyst and joins us this morning. jay, yesterday, they were using words like optimistic but we knew the batteries could run out at any minute. should we interpret the fact they are not hearing pings again today as a sign that those batteries died? >> it's we are worrisome. you really have to feel for these families and what they've been put through. what we have now is very little information coming from the ships as to their progress. is there a lack of pinging going on, or are they having trouble tryintrianglating to determine e

the black boxes are. as we don't hear anything, it takes more and more time to get positive news. we have to start to worry that perhaps this is the wrong location, and that would be terrible news for the family, indeed. >> if that's the case, if the pinging has stopped or if we're in the wrong location, what's next? >> i don't think they're going to leave the location just yet. if the pinging has stopped, it wouldn't be surprising, since we are beyond the 30 days that the batteries were expected to last, but i do think that they will continue to pull the towed pinger locator through the water hope to go reestablish the connection. there are reasons that with weak batteries that they may come back, fade and come back again, and also they have to be in the close enough area to pick it up.

the range of the pingers is only like two miles. >> based on yesterday's optimism, everybody seemed to think that they had found the place where the plane was located. as an aviation expert, were you convinced, as well? >> no, i wasn't totally convinced. this is all based on a mathematical projection, and that projection requires certain assumptions in order for it to work out. this is a never-before-used technique to try and figure out where that plane went down. coupling that with theories about how the -- whoever the perpetrator of this was, attempted to evade radar and then head south, where did they head south? that would be very critical to this whole hypothesis. we don't have enough information. we're almost where we were in the beginning, theories, but no

plane. we need the black boxes. >> they were listening to these pinion for two hours and these people are trained to listen for exactly this type of thing. if it wasn't the plane's black boxes, what else could it have been? >> well, there are other things that can make similar sounds. you have dolphins known for making sounds of all frequencies and especially those above human hearing, which this would be. there are other devices that may have been put down there for some other purpose. you do have a number of resources that are listening and to hear nothing is worrisome. the chinese also claim to have heard pings, but most of that has been discounted because of the i call it hydrophone on a stick they were using and it felt more like they were trying to give some sort of hope to the

people back in china. >> where do we go from here? >> well, i think they'll continue to search this location, but there will definitely be calls to try and refine that mathematical formula or else to consider other possibilities as to what could have happened with this aircraft. >> jay rollins is our aviation analyst here, joining us from fort lauderdale. >> the man who was at the helm of a train that derailed may have a sleeping disorder. he had severe sleep apnea. he told investigators he felt hypnotized and dazed just before the metro north train jumped the track, killing four and injuring dozens more. he said he had bath coffee before work, but also had small amounts of aspirin in his blood which could have made him tired. >> a congressman was caught kissing a staffer.

mccalendarster is shown making out with a woman from his office. the republican from louisiana has been married for 16 years and has five children. mcallister apologized in a statement, saying there's no doubt i've fallen short and asking for forgiveness. he added that trust i know is something that has to be earned, whether you're a husband, father or congressman. i promise to earn back the trust of everyone i disappointed. >> experts believe there's oil trapped under the ever glades in florida. some believe there is no way to get it out without poisoning the very thing that makes life there possible, clean water. >> no drilling! >> air's dying, water's dying, the people's getting sick. wake up before you kill all creation of the god's gift.

thank you. >> one by one, they stepped up to the microphone to voice fears and tell their stories. >> i'm 49 years old and i just got out of the hospital a with lung removed. get them out! >> so it went for more than four hours at a recent hearing of state and federal officials in southwest florida. the reason for their anger, a plan to drill for oil next to the ever glades wilderness. >> new techniques are making it possible to drill in areas where it was once difficult. many say the resulting waste water will be toxic. >> i just hope people realize this is about clean water. >> among those in the crowd, pamela and jami live close to

the proposed drilling area. >> this is water you cook with, you drink, you bathe in. >> uh-huh. >> you feel pretty confident right now the water is good. >> the water is good. >> if the well goes through. >> there's a possibility that this water may be tainted. >> the oil well would be less than a mile from the wildlife refuge, the last sanctuary for these endangered animals. in a statement, we were told that the wells meet requirements designed to protect fresh water action we percent. as for the panthers, the fish and wildlife service didn't have any objections to the proposed drilling. they aren't buying it. they don't believe the thirst

for oil justifies risking their slice of paradise. the wells slated for the field next to their house still has at least one significant hurdle to clear, getting a permit from the federal a.p.a. if that happens, they aren't sure what they'll do. they've talked about moving. >> people get upset when the rain forest goes, but we're letting the everglades go. this is a special place. would they let oil drilling at the grand canyon? where are we going to stop? is there anything sacred? >> currently florida isn't much of a player when it comes to oil production, less than 2 million barrels last year, that's how much texas pumps each day. >> the men have crowned their champion in the big dance, now the ladies turn. tonight's matchup is historic. >> we have more.

>> stayed up for the game last night? >> i did. >> 36 hours straight watching basketball, right? >> that's what we do. >> get some sleep. you think they are partying hard in connecticut now? just you wait, they'll be partying like it's 2004 at the 39-0 u conn women win the title tonight. a formidable opponent stand in their way, the notre dame fighting irish. >> for the first time in history, two undefeated teams face each other in the ncaa women's championship. both u conn and notre dame reached the final four for four straight years and according to u conn coach, that may have everything to do with senior leadership. >> all of our players stay four years. you know? i guarantee in notre dame and connecticut probably wouldn't be here tomorrow night if our players were able to leave early. mcbride wouldn't be there, stewy

wouldn't be here, stephanie and brieian probably wouldn't be here. >> natalie was lost to a torn a.c.l., motivating the fighting irish. >> we're playing for her, we want to win it for her and for the seniors, this group has tremendous chemistry and it's been a great ride. >> it's a challenge. she's been our leader all year and obviously one of our best players in general, and obviously a great presence for us inside. >> we won't know until tuesday who walks away champion, but what is guaranteed is another chapter in the intense rivalry that exists between these two storied programs. >> now we're supposed to play each other, try to beat each other's brains in, try to win a national championship and compete like hell and then we're supposed to get together

afterwards and have a bottle of wine. that's not going to happen. >> i love the rivalry. i think it's the one that gets your competitive juices flowing. i think it's something that you look forward to. i mean, you want to be coaching for this kind of game and moment. >> with the understanding that rivalries are great for any sport, the value of this historic matchup can't be underplayed. >> i think whenever there's a game on national television between two great teams and it's going to be played at a high level, there's nothing that could be better for the sport. >> geno being geno. u conn fans, 2004 is the last time the men and women both won national titles. >> this could be a big deal tonight. taking it seriously, but i can understand why. >> fighting irish and fighting huskies. >> the game is sold out, tickets being scalped for a lot of money. >> the annual airline quality

ratings are out. the best airline is virgin america. the survey looks at the company's biggest airlines considering on time flights and lost baggage. virgin topped the list for a second year in a row, followed by jet blue and hawaiian airlines, moving up two spots. frontier, u.s. airways and american eagle saw performance declines. >> have you ever really wanted to own a tiny piece of the moon? >> yeah, i have, actually. >> an auction house is selling off space memorabilia, including rare items covered in lunar dust. we look at the items hitting the auction block. >> 3-2-1-0. >> it's the countdown, with the sales price of north worthy items ready to take off. these space suits, russian and american are among the

highlights. while the shoulder strap may not look like much, it's expected to fetch more than $25,000, because it's covered in lunar dust particles. >> you cannot own lunar rock or dust. the closest thing you can have to own a little piece of the moon is to get something that an astronaut brushed lunar dust on. >> the first moon landing items are popular. there's an american flag worth $20,000 to $30,000 that went on the mission and this surface check list, containing handwritten notes by astronaut buzz and would continue and neil armstrong valid at $35,000 to $45,000. motor striking about all this gear is just how primitive it looks. >> the technology that they used when they did the first moon landing on apollo 11 is no more

advanced than a pocket calculator. we are 1,000 times ahead of where they were then, reinforcing what heroes these guys were. >> they hold a space auction every year. you don't have to be here to get in on the action. they'll accept bids by phone or the internet. >> that's one small step for man. >> and one giant leap for collectors. aljazeera, new york. >> if you're interested in spending a few tens of thousands of dollars, the bidding begins at 1:00 eastern. >> nothing in the 1995 range that i was kind of looking for, just something you might want to go out there and bid on. >> if you want to get a rare look at mars, you should they can out tonight's night sky. >> the earth and sun appear in a

straight line. mars will remain in view all night long, visible as a burnt orange color, 10 times brighter than the sun. any of the stars coming into the sky, it's only something that happens every two years. >> 20 years later, the genocide in rwanda, what has changed in the world. >> how that lesson could help people in other hot spots around the globe today. >> looking at the crossroads of the world, times square on this wet tuesday morning, april 8. it is raining in new york city. >> we'll have that picture coming up.

>> this takes guts... >> you are now looking live at the crossroads of the world on a wet tuesday morning, april 8. welcome to al jazeera america. up next, the promises made after

rwanda's genocide two decades ago, is the international community doing enough in similar tragedies. first, we turn to our meteorologist. >> stormy, florida seeing heavy rain flipping just a little further south. it will be making its way into orlando. the northeast, along the coastline, you can see the clouds and rain hanging on to coastal areas of the carolinas. in the northeast, rainfall in new york city. we'll get drying skies, but right now, still using umbrellas. >> tens of thousands of palestinians have been living without water for more than a month. their caught in a legal no man's land, the residents of the camp technically part of jerusalem, but live outside the west bank

separation barrier israel built, leaving them in an area where it is limited. >> we live here like animals, not like people especially with the water issue. >> of course, the number of people continues to rise, people have babies, people have families and when the water system collapses, no one takes responsibility. >> last week, israel supreme court gave officials two months a find a solution to the on going water crisis. >> rwanda is observing a week of mourning to mark 20 years since the worst genocide in modern history. ♪ >> the country held a momentum mother yell a honor the 800,000 people killed in just 100 days. rwanda's president says the country has risen above the tragedy. he pointed out other countries

facing similar tragedies today. >> i believe national unity in your own countries where it exists. where it doesn't, you are walking just as we are. >> in the summer of 1994, rwanda ethnic majority killed hundreds of thousands of people. the united nations was criticized for its failure to intervene in the crisis. now after the rwanda genocide, a u.n. country's unanimously adopted the responsibility to protect doctrine. here to discuss what has changed since then, director of policy and advocacy at the global center for the responsibility to protect. thanks for being with us this morning. u.n. secretary general ban ki-moon addressed the crowd.

let's listen. >> many showed remarkable bravery, but we could have done much more. we should have done much more. >> after the genocide, the international community said never again, has the responsibility to fulfill pact achieved that promise? >> it's important to underscore that 20 years ago, 10,000 people were killed every day for 100 days. it's fair to say that we have made progress, moved from a position of inaction and indifference to one where the cost of inaction is higher. what we struggle with today is ensuring to mobilize in a consistent way the political will to act, so that people incur i can't and the central african republic, libya and sued dan all receive the same type of

response. >> how does the international community decide what conflicts mer rate response and which don't? as you've described in those conflicts you list in syria, you can talk about sri lanka, it has not been applied consistently where there has been evidence of genocide. >> that's a very good question. i think unfortunately for those of us who work with security council members, we see a lot of national interests blurring response. in syria, we see especially russia and china asserting their own national interests and blocking international response. >> in the security council, they're permanent members. >> we've seen the veto exercised in a number of cases in a way we could argue each time used, we've seen a rise in the body counts on the ground. >> you just returned from central african republic.

secretary ban warned that could be another rwanda. is enough being done there? international peace troops are heading there, but might not arrive until september. >> 80% ever muslim community has been driven out of their homes or killed. the situation we're waiting for september is simply not enough. we need troops on the ground in a much faster manner, a real investment in reconciliation, mediation, a message around the people being one people, one nation committed to peace. >> are troops on the ground always going to solve the issue or in some cases, does that make things worse? >> i think we need to be very clear when we talk about the responsibility to protect. boots on the ground is one response. there are many other measures that can and should be used. we've got referral to the international criminal court, targeted economic sanctions weaver seen work in kenya and beginee. we've got mediation, a number of measures that can and should be

used before resorting to the use of force and boots on the ground. >> consistent implementation is what we're talking about, that's the important thing. director of policy and advocacy at the global center to protect. thank you. >> the killing of a well known priest in syria is condemned, known as father francis, the dutch priest that stayed behind to help syrian christians during the civil war, still not clear why he was a target. he lift in syria for 50 years. we covered him much here on aljazeera america. >> microsoft is pulling the plug on x.p., the last day the company will support the 13-year-old operating system. some say it is a hacker's dream, raising fears for companies still using the popular program. 30% of computers word wide still operate with xp. anyone using the system now has to pay to maintain security.

>> crews are waiting to send and unmanned sub to the floor of the indian ocean in search for missing malaysia airlines flight 370. they hope to hear new signals that could be from the plane's black boxes. russia telling kiev to back off military operations or face a civil war. ukraine is trying to regain control of eastern cities overrun we russian activists. >> storms have caused flash flooding and tornadoes, floods killing at least two children. >> ahead, it is consider to be britains version of new york's stop and terrific policy, the security program aimed as stopping terrorists is under attack itself. today marking equal payday. when women's earnings finally catch up to men's earnings from the previous year. the fight in washington keeping money out of the the pocketbooks of women across the country. >> tracking conditions, where rain will return and add to the flooding concerns.

>> del is back with you in just two minutes. have a great morning.

>> it's race against final for crews looking for missing malaysia airlines flight 370. searching for the jet and its black boxes. >> ukraine, pro russian supporters want to annex another city and align with moscow. >> it's across the entire spectrum from the top university professors, top women in law

firms, economic firms and women at the lowest wages. >> bridging the pay gap, the president poised to take action. >> seeing people with european passports walk straight through and i'm there and get stopped. >> profiling and intimidation overseas. one man believes he is the subject of an anti terrorism program. >> that glimmer of hope of finding missing malaysia airlines flight 370 may be fading. time is running out to find flight data recorders, their batteries could die any day now. over the weekend, investigators heard what they thought were pings, signals coming from the many's black boxes, but haven't been able to pick up that pinging sound again. the next step would be launching a sophisticated underwater drone. >> one month later, the search resumed this morning, just 24 hours after australian officials

announced they heard two pings that were consistent with the sounds of black boxes. silence. >> they towed reactor pinger work continues. there have been no further contacts with any transmission, and we need to continue that for several days. >> it's the towed pinger locator dropped into the ocean from the australian naval ship that had picked up the signals, but until a third is detected, a drone capable of scanning the ocean's floor for wreckage will remain parked. >> if we go down there now and do the visual search, it will take many, many, many days, because it's very slow, very painstaking work to scour the ocean floor, and of course the depths are very deep. >> nearly three miles deep, representing the very same limit that the blue fin can reach. while the data on the black

boxes can last for years, it's their locator beak consist that could have already died out, make the search that much more difficult. >> the hunt by a irremains critically important, as well. ships from a number of countries include the u.s., china and australia are scouring the indian ocean. so far, not a single piece of debris has been located. >> we have a good understanding of where the debris, if there is debris, will have gone to. we are currently very actively and aggressively pursuing where we think that debris field might be. >> that task further complicated by strong ocean currents, which may be continuously shifting any plane debris in one of the most remote locations in the world. thomas drayton, aljazeera. >> the search is the most expensive in history, 26

countries have spent $44 million to find the plane. >> border tensions heating up between russia and ukraine again, russia's foreign minister telling kiev to back off military operations or face a possible civil war. ukrainian lawmakers are looking to regain control of three eastern cities overrun by pro russian activists. russian forces in denejsk saying that city is no longer part of ukraine and will vote next month to join russia. that development ignites fears of another crimea. we have tracked the developments from denejsk. >> adding fuel to the fire, pro russia protestors clashed with ukrainian government forces if the eastern city, activists calling for economy from kiev had been in control of the administration building since sunday. by tuesday morning, special forces had taken control, arresting 70 people. ukraine's acting president said those will face the full force

of the law. >> last night, the denejsk building where the security service of ukraine is located was cleared of criminals. this morning, the regional administration building was completely cleared of separate activities. during the liberation of the building, guns and hand grenades were used against police. several policeman were badly injured. during the liberation of the regional administration, 70 criminals were detained. >> tensions are raised, where pro russian groups remain in control. protestors have reinforced their barricades, but ukraine's deputy prime minister said they hope a deal can be reached. confusion reigns, the number of armed activists is falling and different leaders speak for different sections. >> there are private talks and there are private negotiations

between influential people, but no one is negotiating with the people of the republic. >> signs of the activists continued cause to join russia still plaster the walls and they are prepared for any eventuality. >> molotov cocktails are at the raid. people tell us if authorities do move in with special police forces, they are prepared to use them. >> secretary of state john kerry prepared to meet with diplomats from the ukraine and e.u., talks taking place over the next 10 days. the white house threatens additional sanctions if moscow takes further action. >> venezuela's president will

sit down in talks today. they will only meet with the talks are sell advised and have a set agenda. 39 people have died since arrests began. protestors blame the government for high graham and shortages of basic goods. the president is rolling out a new food reactioning system. >> the senate passed legislation to ban's iran's proposed u.n. ambassador from entering the u.s. he was reportedly a member of a student group which took 52 american hostages back in 1979. senator ted cruz introduced the legislation which would prevent known terrorists from entering the u.s. to serve as foreign ambassadors and will consider actions if the u.s. decides to go ahead with that ban. >> today is equal payday to highlight the gap between what men make and what women are made, president obama signing executive orders designed to reduce the pay gap for women who work for federal contractors. we have the story from

washington. >> today, president obama's bringing equal pay activist lily led better back to the white house to watch him sign two orders for federal contractors, one prevents retribution for employees who speak out about their pay. the other requires contractors to report compensation by race and gender. >> the president is using his executive power to do what the do-nothing congress will not do. >> the american association of university women say female workers certain 77 cents for every dollar a man makes, the women at the white house 88 cents. >> that is better than the national average. >> is it fair? republicans argue closing the pay gap could hurt men and women. >> we don't want a law that will make employers afraid to give raises. that doesn't help men or women. >> january, february, march, a little bit of april, a woman is working for free. it's not about flexibility.

it's about total unfairness. >> the senate's due to vote on pi equity this week. >> coming up, we'll take to you louisiana where women are paying the price. we're going to see how one group is now trying to put a dent in the efforts there. >> the fatal shoulding at fort hood began with an argument over a leave request. ivan lopez opened fire in the building where that argument began. military investigators say he fired 35 rounds in eight minutes. authorities are still trying to figure out whether post traumatic stress played a role that in attack. >> the man at the helm of the train that derailed last september may suffer from a sleeping disorder. the driver had severe sleep apnea. he told investigators he felt hip know tides and dazed just before the train jumped the tracks, killing four and

injuring dozens more. he bought coffee before coming to work, but small amounts of aspirin were in his blood and that might have made him feel tired. >> army engineers in washington are building a bedroom to drain the mud slide das area, preventing more water from flowing into the search area. the structure could take a week to finish. three more victims found monday bring the death toll to 33. 12 are still missing. >> a storm system producing severe weather across the southeast, including flash flooding and one tornado. eight were injured when the twister touched down in mississippi early monday. the tornado flattened three homes and damaged dozens more. >> i heard boom and then it picked my trailer up and it fell right on top of this car. >> in jackson, drivers abandoned

cars when rain flooded the streets. in alabama, floodwaters overturned cars and an apartment complex was evacuated because of flooding. >> calmer weather is making its way towards most of the country. for more, we turn oh our meteorologist. >> across mississippi, they weren't alone with getting those damage reports. we saw quite a bit of wind and hail across mississippi and alabama at that there were reports of rear ends aren't torh carolina. five reports there in northeastern carolina. today, we're dealing with the threat of stronger storms moving across northern and central florida and widespread flooding will continue to be an issue here where we're expecting more

rain to come in. it's a bit of a quiet start across the lower mississippi valley right now, just a few scattered showers. we could be in line for strong gusty winds and hail. this morning, all of the action is right along the tail end of that frontal boundary. it will slip southward today and south florida will be dealing with wet and stormy conditions. rain up and down the coastline this morning. we will continue to see this area of low pressure lifting northward, making its way into canada. as it does, we'll get trier and cooler air to move in behind it, high pressure will build in and finally we will see a break and get drier air into the lower mississippi valley. today we have the rain to deal with and a bit of a cool down. across the west, we're staying hot and mainly dry. >> ebony deon, thank you very much. >> oscar pistorius is defending himself against the murder charges he faces this morning. these are live images. he tells the court he was trying

to protect reeva steenkamp when he shot and killed her. the court adjourned for lunch. pistorius recounting a fateful and fitful night and pretty dramatic stuff he talked about. >> emotional, just like yesterday. of course, we can't see him, because the judge closed off the witness box from the cameras, but right before the trial adjourned, he was walking the court through the night of february 13, saying steenkamp made a nice dinner, she did yoga, he took a phone call. during the middle of the night, he said he heard the distinct sound of the bathroom window opening all all the way to the point he heard the window hit the top of the frame and that's what started it all. >> that's the moment that everything changed. i thought that there was a burglar that was getting into my home. the first thing that ran through my mind was i needed to arm myself, that i needed to protect

riva and i. i was overcome. >> those were his last words before the court adjourned. they just got back. we expect he will be talking that very next moment in the story where he pulled the trigger. when he fired the gun at the bathroom door, the bullets hilt and killed steenkamp. >> the other side of this is the prosecution argument that he was angry, jealous and that that night he actually meant to shoot and kill her. >> right, which is why the defense is trying to also use today to establish the relationship here. they took some text message, exchanges where they showed this was actually a loving relationship, where they used pet names like lovie and angel and really showed supported for

each other. however, there were text messages where steenkamp told pistorius that he scared her at times, that there were times when he would just snap and throw tantrums in public and that those times really bothered her. we're seeing both sides. >> other girlfriends said the same thing. >> switching gears, last year they were banned from the big dance, this year, the u conn huskies are the national champs. thousands of u conn students celebrating the big win on the campus in connecticut. the university clinching the men said basketball title by defeating the kentucky wildcats. john henry smith is here with more. >> a few bags under my eyes, but worth it to see an outstanding effort. the outpouring of emotion on the streets last night comes after what has been the most turbulent period in the storied history of

huskies basketball. after winning the title in 2011, u conn lost legendary head coach jim calhoun to health concerns and replaced him with a coach who had no head coaching experience. the school was so unsure that they effectively gave him a seven month deal to prove himself and he had to do it with a depleted roster and with the program banned from tournament play last season due to low graduation rates. this season, the huskies finished the regular season with a loss to louisville, their third loss to the cardinals this season. with that lack of momentum, connecticut came into this year's tournament as a mere seven seed. no number seven seed had ever won the national championship until now. we'll have highlights and we'll have a report from north texas later in sports. >> president obama putting pressure on the house to reinstate unemployment benefits. the heavy price some lawmakers

may pay come election time for not getting money back into the wallets of voters. >> dozens of u.s. sailors suing for the fukushima power plant disaster. >> a program that allows police officers to detain drafters for hours. the secret recordings made by one man tired now of being stopped.

>> welcome back to aljazeera america. 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 has already cleared the senate. >> if you lose your job, most states will help out with unemployment benefits for 26 weeks, so about half a year. some states a little more, like montana, some less like north carolina. during the recession under the presidency of george w. bush, congress and the white house put forth an emergency measure to extend unemployment benefits for up to 99 weeks at one point.

they wanted to help americans get benefits, stay afloat while continuing to look for work. that's been extended 11 times until december 28 of last year. congress went on its winter holiday without extending this program, and now democrats are trying to get it reinstated. what they passed in the senate on monday evening is relate active, so the benefits would kick back in all the way through may. it's all right april, so we're talking about a five month period through next month. senator carl levin, department of michigan gave his perspective on the senate floor monday. >> for all but a handful of recipients, unemployment benefits are not a free pass from working, but the economic lifeline that keeps them going while searching for the job they so desperately want and need. >> he pointed out, you still to have keep looking for work even getting these benefits. a handful of senate republicans joined with republicans to pass

the bill, coming from nevada and ohio, that were especially hard-hit and are still wrestling with unemployment numbers. passage in the house far from certain. house speaker john boehner put out a statement through his spokesman, saying we are willing to look at extending emergency unemployment insurance as long as it includes provisions to help create more private sector jobs. those house republicans would like to tack on items like building the key stone pipeline. even if the house passes something, it's not likely to have the same form as the senate bill, so the long-term unemployed are not likely to see those benefits kick in anytime soon. >> tom dougherty is a former advicer to new york governor george petacchi. what are the chances that bill will pass the house? >> there's probably a better chance for the jets to win the superbowl next year. >> that's not good.

>> no. obviously there are two sides to this thing. you can make the valid point that with the economy sort of tinkering up, down, that putting this money back into the system is good for the economy, but i think that this is a president who needs to reach out to individual members and lobby individual members. government needs to be a deal. what are the republicans getting out of this? not harry reid blasting the koch brothers. i don't know what they have to do with this. >> if you're a democratic, if they put the money back into the economy, it looks good for the white house and democrats coming up for the mid terms. if they don't and pay the long term unemployment benefits, the republicans look like the bad guys. >> we're sort of in a process right now where the election are in november that this is an american people that are very fickle with what they're worried about today, come november, there will be a totally different issue on the table. i think the obamacare and the

remnants still are in the minds and that's a big issue. again, you know, the president can't run on the fact that he's creating all these jobs if he keeps needing to extend unemployment. >> what is the safer way to phrase this argument, that the people in washington care about the long term unemployed or care more about the votes this coming mid term than the long term unemployed? >> what they should care about is both issues. >> not what they should care about, what they do. >> the american people care about their own individual needs. right now, if you ask the american people, you would say they care about spending, taxes, about a government too big and too intrusive. we've seen that with the n.s.a. stuff resonating with younger voters. the president needs to reach out to individual members. l.b.j., when he talked to individual members -- >> when you say the president needs to reach out to individual members, this is a congress, a house that has tried to take

away his signature legislation 50 times. it would be safe to say he would have better luck elsewhere. >> maybe if he spent more time working with individual members over the last five years, that wouldn't have happened. i think he is not a guy who works with the legislature very well. that's his style and it's got him elected twice, but when you need to pass legislation, calling the other side names, the president needs to take a higher road. i don't say that because he's my president, as well, the president needs to reach out to all members. >> i want to show you what he had to say after the senate vote. i urge house republicans to stop blocking a bipartisan compromise. let's focus on expanding opportunity for all americans. does he not have a point? >> the point is again, that would sound a lot better if for the last two months, he'd been working on a daily basis and getting the -- >> let me put this in the words

the. sees, they have loft that you are houses, jobs, everything. forget whether you're a democratic or republican, they see both sides trying to sugar coat reality. why shouldn't they throw out the baby in the bath water come mid terms a. >> how long is long enough? should we extend it for another six months at the end of the extension? at some point, you need to say we need to create jobs. the republicans have said rightly so, the key stone pipeline, you care about jobs, that's a compromise. it's not one way or the highway. >> thank you for being with us this morning. >> let's find out what temperatures we'll see across the country today. >> temperatures will continue to climb for another day in the southwest, well above average, 10-20 degrees in some instances. around san francisco, mid-80's, las vegas 88. ninety degrees today in los

angeles. in phoenix, even hotter than that, up to 95. in fact, around phoenix, we are going to see our temperatures getting pretty close to the century mark by thursday. finally settling back up just a bit by the weekend. we'll see some mid 80's returning. across the country, we are certainly going to see temperatures staying near average around the great lakes. minneapolis into chicago, a bit of a cool down. the heat builds through the week, all heading eastward. >> another russian-ukrainian city could go to russia, those pushing for annexation look to president pool tin. >> it's the worst state in the u.s. to be a working woman. where you want to keep your eyes locked to to catch a rare glimpse in the night sky. >> the huskies are the champs in

college basketball. heights plus a report from ross shimabuku in texas later in sports.

>> times square in new york city on a dreary tuesday morning. welcome to al jazeera. the british verse of new york city's stop and frisk policy faces a lot of criticism. >> today is equal payday, when women's earnings catch up to what men make from the previous year. we're going to crunch the numbers and find how big the gap really is. >> another ukrainian city on the brink of being o annexed. a referendum announced on may 11 in an effort to make the split appear official. the development ignites fears that moscow could be

orchestrating a second crimea. >> if russia moves into eastern ukraine either overtly or covertly, this would be serious. we caution against further military intervention. >> for the latest dellments, we go to denejsk. >> ukrainian's official forces moved in on the regional government administration building in the past few hours. seventy people have been arrested. there were dramatic scenes overnight as pro russian protestors set fire to the building, extinguished later. this so-called anti terrorism operation is still on going, the city center and metro service is shut down, but will reopen when this operation is finished.

the question now in denejsk is what happens here. the regional government administration building here is still in the control of pro russian protestors, people talking about whether security forces going to try to move in on that building. there are negotiations on that side, as well, though. one of the oligarchs in ukraine has spoken to police and protestors. we understand some deal may be reached about if protestors hand over their weapons, then there be no use of force. it will be a very tense few hours here. >> the executive board member of the ukrainian congress committee of america joins us here in studio. how concerned are you about what is happening on the ground in denejsk and do you believe it will fall. >> no, i don't. it is a ukrainian city. a gallup poll came out recording people all over ukraine

especially in denejsk and the people behind this are not native to ukraine. it's very serious, violence happening on the ground. we know people are being humiliated, being forced to walk out of the government building on their knees, head down called dogs. this is not something a respectable society does. >> who do you believe is behind the violence we are seeing on the ground in denejsk. >> these are people trucked in from outside ukraine. many people don't understand when they're looking at this and speaking russian speaking, ukrainian speaking, russian speaking doesn't necessarily mean one thing. i speak english, but i speak from america. if you're from russia, you speak a little different than if you were born in ukraine, sort of like having a british or australian accent. we know these people aren't readily from ukraine and are trucked in. the other thing to know is these protests aren't happening in denejsk. it's in four major cities in the

east. they tried to storm a government building but they are from out of town, actually stormed the away are a house. these are how non-native these people are. >> secretary of state john kerry greed to meet with top diplomats, the white house warning of more sanctions against russia saying if russia moves into eastern ukraine over they or covertly, this could be a very serious escalation. the u.s. is prepared to impose further sanctions should the situation escalate. will those words fall on deaf ears in moscow as they have in the past? >> what moscow wants to see is the west hurting. the only time they are going to respect what's happening out of the west if there's a sanction that hurts our financial sector. >> what about if they're hurting

moscow? the markets there have problems. we've seen the ruble. >> yes, it's at the lowest point it's ever been in independent times after the fall of the soviet union, not affecting those in charge. mr. putin is wealthy beyond your comprehension of wealth. he has told the other oligarchs bring your main back in, don't have it affected by the west. what's need said is an escalation. >> are you saying that russian president vladimir putin doesn't care if the populace suffers as long as the oligarchs and himself do not suffer. >> we know that's the case of russia. the people of russia on the ground don't get anything from the state. there is a whole stretch of people between moscow and st. petersburg, i was just talking to a friend who visits there, they do not get electricity, sometimes do not get basic water, internet functions, all they get is a slightly higher pension that

europe gives, so they're on the government dole and get cheap grain alcohol and a lot of them waste their lives away. it's a sad situation in russia. >> in an editorial, sergey lavrov wrote: >> your reaction. >> that's a far as. everything that mr. lavrov has said has been beyond the pale of truth. sometimes he doesn't communicate with mr. putin, because he is running this closely in his inner circle. >> people in denejsk that want to be part of russia, what do you say to them? >> it's very small percentage, less than 10% of people would do that. people in the east regions are very happy with going in a more modern direction. if you see the crowds there actually doing this, it's an older generation, mostly men, one person on the ground yesterday saying that we don't trust kiev because that

government is run by gays and jews, a disgusting mindset going on there. ukraine is a multi-cultural pleurallistic country. >> thank you for being with us this morning. >> the polio outbreak in syria has gotten worse, spreading to require a massive inoculation effort. they are pushing ahead with a vaccine campaign to vaccinate 20 million children.

between 500,000 and 700,000 children have missed their vaccinations because of the on going war. >> the u.s. secretary general is condemning the killing of a well known priest. a masked gunman as nateed him monday. the dutch priest stayed behind to help syrian christians during the civil war. still unclear why he was a target. he lived in syria for 50 years. >> nearly 80 american sailors have filed a billion dollars lawsuit asking a u.s. court to hold a japanese utility company responsible for lying about the fukushima nuclear plant. tokyo power that operates the facility is accused of lying about high radiation levels, linked to dozens of cancer cases. the sailors were involved in humanitarian efforts after the disaster three years ago. an earlier suit was dismissed after the sailors named the japanese government, a judge ruling it was beyond the reap of

the u.s. courts. >> in the united kingdom, authorities can stop and search anyone at an airport or train station, without requiring them to have reasonable suspicion that the person they search is involved in terrorism. we have a report of what happens when someone is questioned by counter terrorism officers. >> ever since the attack on the world trade center, airports have been a front line in anti terrorist police activity in the u.k. a piece of legislation called schedule seven unables police to stop anyone coming or going through immigration and question them under the terrorism act. this recording offers and insight what goes on behind the scenes. >> the man who recorded this did so, he says because he was sick

of being stopped, even though there's nothing in his life of any interest to anti terrorism police. >> i've got men in front of me talking about associating black people with rape, with violence, and putting knives in the backs of people. >> with islam. >> it does worry me that someone who has this power and responsibility is looking after national security. >> the anti terrorism officer also asked him questions about british foreign policy: >> it really does upset me a lot. i was born here and have a british passport, and seeing people of european passports walk straight through and i'm there and i get stopped, sometimes three or four hours, and not allowed home basically. i'm not allowed to see my family. >> the government's had guidance but many muslims find this sort

of thing offensive, but their independent legal advisor insist schedule seven is useful. >> if you look at the numbers of people charged with terrorist offenses, the number of terrorist prisoners that are in the u.k., i'm afraid there, as well, there is a predominance of asian people. what the police will tell you is that what they are doing is proportionate not perhaps to the population as a whole, but to the risk. >> in 2012, there were 12 significant convictions on terrorism offenses stopped under schedule seven out of an overall total of 230,000 people who were stopped. that's why campaigners against schedule seven say far too many in cent people are caught in the net. >> the campaign group cage said it's had endless muslims complaining about a similar experience, phones taken and contents inspected. it is demanding the legislation

is revoked. >> people have tried over this time to correct this. they've asked in the beginning, i think they simply asked for safeguards, things like can we have -- can the reasonable suspicion clause be added, can we connect details about the faith of people stopped? can we record stops. this has been, you know, they've asked for this for years, but it's been ignored. i think at this stage, we have to say now that schedule seven needs to be repealed. >> there is a debate about whether settled seven might be made less confrontational. nothing said changed. stopping in cent people in a way they may find intimidating seems unlikely to win many hearts and minds. >> about 60,000 people are searched every year under scheduled seven. >> on wall street following that three day sell off, do you futures are down nine points.

one market strategist says this. >> we're in a bull market that has legs. i think it's for the next three to five years. >> the dow starting at 16245. european markets are lower. >> citigroup reached another mortgage settlement, the bank paying over $1 billion to institutional investors to settle claims stemming from its mortgage securities it sold during the financial crisis. the settlement doesn't shield citigroup from our lawsuits. citi warns it will miss a key profit target. >> in sports, college basketball has a new champion in men's

basketball. they crowned it last night. >> a heck of a run by a couple of unheralded teams. in texas last night, a chance to win it all, kentucky and u conn formed the lowest seed competition. fans looked on to see if kentucky's youth or connecticut's experience would carry the day. daniel throws it down, up by four at the half. they get posterrized by wildcat freshman james young, he got the foul and the free-throw, too. just over a minute left, wildcats down six, young laying it in for a team high 20 points. napier finds him down low,

fouled. makes both free-throws to put u conn up six. harrison misses, rebound loose, picked up by harrison. coming away with the rebound, dribbles out the clock, huskies and coach celebrate good times. leading with 20 points, he wins the big dance as a freshman. ross shimabuku was there and has more. >> when u conn hit a bump in the road in january with back-to-back losses in texas, the head coach had the foresight to bring the team to at&t stadium knowing that the final four would be held here. let's just say that team bonding and motivation paid off big time, as u conn captured their fourth national championship. >> you're not going to take anything away from them, we worked hard for this.

you need hard work and dedication. >> we deserved it. nobody believed in us and that makes it so much sweeter. we shocked the world. >> it feels great, four national championships and to do the championship with these student athletes is amazing. they've been amazing and resilient the whole year. i keep telling you, it started 18 months ago, when they kept believing and stayed loyal to the program. it's just a wonderful feeling to hold that trophy up and do it the right way. >> we did whatever we could to stay in the game. this is what we've done the whole tournament, that we made shots, other team missed some shots and we won those games. this is a similar game. >> maturity and experience prevails over youth. napier wracked up 22 points and named the tournament's most outstanding player. u conn's last three national championships have all been

captured in the great state of texas. ross shimabuku, aljazeera. >> connecticut is the sixth school with four national championships, the only to win four national titles without a title game loss. connecticut is the second team to win the national championship by beating five teams seeded higher than it was at the tournament. the other was villanova in 1985. >> earlier in the show, we showed you footage of connecticut fans in a celebratory move. tonight, the women's national title is the first matchup between unbeatens in the women's title game. 2004 was the last time the u conn men and women both won national titles. free-throws with a difference last night. kentucky missed 10, u conn didn't miss any.

>> u conn was quick. >> they had senior leadership. >> the wage gap in america costing some women $10,000 a year, but in one state, it's even worse.

>> this takes guts... >> welcome to al jazeera america. we'll talk about the political divide keeping women from the same pay at men. first, we find out about the weather. >> the storm system across the deep south is making it's way up the east coastline with pretty heavy rainfall into parts of the south, including florida. orlando is a mitt messy. we expect more rain across the lower mississippi valley, adding to flooding concerns around

jackson. rain continues along the mid atlantic and northeast coast before clearing later today. >> today is equal payday, highlighting the gap between what men and women are paid. president obama will sign two executive orders, one requiring federal contractors to disclose pay by gender and race. the second bars federal contractors from retaliating against employees who talk about how much money they make. we have more from louisiana. >> according to a study, louisiana is the country's worst state for women from wage gaps to the poverty rate, leading the pack. >> this across the entire spectrum from the top university previousors, the top women in law firms, the top women in economic firms, and women at the lowest wages, too. >> this is really nice. >> valerie is a single mother of three, who has been in search of

a job for months. >> look at me, look at mr. so and so, look at my qualifications, look at my college background, who is best, who would do a better job? that's all i'm asking for. >> with the help of dress for success new orleans, a non-poverty working with disadvantaged women and their job search, she finally landed employment in a retail shop. now she is volunteering to help other women i want to pay it forward. >> according to the center for american progress, women working full time in louisiana earn only 67% of what men earn, and more than one in five women and girls in the state are living in poverty. >> it's a complex issue, pay and equality is a very complex issue. >> new orleans native julie is advocating for a change in state

laws dealing with issues of inequality and to advance the lives of women and children in louisiana. >> it costs government to subs died what business is not paying to women, government for lower income women has to subsidize with food stamps, housing subsidies, making health available. it costs taxpayers. >> she thinks the national paycheck fairness act, a bill written to even the paycheck playing field, should become law. according to supporters of the bill, the pay gap is even more extreme for black women, earning 62 cents for every one dollar a man is paid and hispanic women, 54 cents. valerie feels strongly that more legislative progress is needed to change the picture for future generations. >> you're going to have to make a push for it, we really will. >> the fact that louisiana's

legislature has the lowest percentage of females in the country could add to the challenges of passing new laws to improve the health, wealth and future of women here. robert ray, aljazeera, new orleans. >> a new study finds the wage gap costs women and families thousands of dollars in lost wages each year. women working full time are paid 77 cents on the dollar compared to men, creating a wage gap of $11,607 each year. a political analyst at george mason university joins us. these numbers not anything new to you, 62% of the public supports the policies that help the families get ahead, more than half of all voters women. why this gap? >> why the gap? because employers can often get away with paying women less, claiming women have less experience, some have less education, but even among women with similar levels of experience and education, you find the wage gap persists.

people just don't know what the differences and the executive order being signed by the president today allows people, employees to discuss those wage differences. >> there's a study in 2014 finding 83% of democrats, 58% of the independents and 44% of republicans support paycheck fairness, so why don't republicans line up behind it, as well, because the numbers are there. >> well, republicans first of all, don't believe that this is the government's business to tell employers what they have to pay employees. they think the government should simply stay of out of there and argue also that a lot of the differences are because women make different life choices and they do have different -- often have different levels of experience and this should entirely be left to employers, not the government, republicans have a problem with just about everything government does. >> the pay issue and women's issues are the campaign plank of the democrats going into the mid terms, so is this a good strategy for the democrats to

point out the differences between the pay that women make and the pay men make? >> working women were one of the key constituencies a elected and reelected president obama in 2008 and 2012. they are a very large constituency. women working, whether single or married have a lot of grievances, the democratic party is trying to address those grieve oopses and this is a way are trying to rally those women to come out and vote in a mid term election which they don't do in very large numbers historically. >> the battle cry of hundreds is obamacare doing away with it, that measured now, though, getting the proper amount of people signing up, so is that a dying strategy on the part of republicans? >> well, obamacare is beginning to work. there's still stumbles, there's still problems that could happen with premiums announced this fall. americans are just beginning to believe that obamacare is working. americans be pragmatic,

believing whatever works is right. if obamacare is beginning to work, it's going to be for republicans to say we want to do away with it, in part, because what would they replace it with? americans at least 7 million and many more in all likelihood are already enrolled and they don't want to lose the coverage that they just won. >> a week is a lifetime in politics. two weeks ago, they were talking about the democrats holding on to the senate and never having a strategy to take back the house, but now saying the democrats can hold on to the senate and the battle cry is to run as democrats, so what's changed? >> what's changed is number one obamacare looks better than it did two weeks as more signed up. the administration met its initial goal of 7 million. number two, paul ryan, the chairman of the house budget committee announced a very strong budget plan cutting a lot of popular programs. it would eventually change

medicare into a different program, medicaid, food stamps, education, environmental protection, spending would be cut. those are the most popular programs in the federal government. democrats believe finally, finally, they have a target that they can run against. >> a programming note for you, secretary of state john kerry is going to be speaking before a senate subcommittee in about an hour, expected to answer questions on several issues, including the crisis in ukraine and peace talks in the middle east. aljazeera america will bring you his remarks live at 10:00 a.m. eastern time. that's going to do it for this edition of aljazeera america. thanks for joining us. we leave you with another look at the university of connecticut's big victory in last night's ncaa basketball championship game. more news straight ahead in just two minutes.

>> announcer: this is al jazeera. >> hello, from doha, everyone, this is the news hour on al jazeera. ukraine decided, rising tensions in parliament and the east. nato warns that the security is under threat. after flood the threat of disease, new fears for the people in the salomon islands.