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uprisings in several cities. officials say they arrested around 70 demonstrators who took over government buildings on sunday. the u.s. blames moscow for orchestrating the demonstrations. >> the chants are familiar, like those last month in crimea, when they broke away from crimea. >> this time the independence are coming from three cities.

>> we are concerned about what russia has done in crimea. we are concerned about the presence of troop numbers on the boarder. we are concerned about efforts under way in ukraine to destabilize the situation there in eastern ukraine, destabilize the government. >> ukrainian police regained control over a government building. protesters held firm, demanding a referendum allowing them to join russia. masked men held the headquarters to the south. authorities say they are holding 60 hostages, a charge the protesters denied. the activists confirmed they seized an lot of rifles. in donetsk another building remains in the hands of pro-russian protesters, maintaining that the region is

independent. >> violence spread to kiev, where an all-out brawl broke out. >> russia's illegal aggression against ukraine is the greatest change for europe security in a generation. and i urge russia to step back and not escalate the situation in eastern ukraine. >> the chaos in ukraine is not going unnoticed in the u.s. secretary of state john kerry is accusing russia of orchestrating the u.s. everything that we have seen in the last 48 hours for russian provocateurs operating in eastern ukraine tells us that they've been sent there, determined to create chaos. the foreign minister pushed back tweeting stop laying the blame

at our door. >> phil ittner is in london, live for us, good morning. so you reported there on the rhetoric, we are hearing from n.a.t.o. and u.s. officials. what are they hoping to accomplish with the strong language. >> certainly the first and foremost message sent is to warn russia not to intervene in eastern mainland ukraine with military assets. of course, the n.a.t.o. forces are military alliance. so they are saying don't do it. that if russia does do it, they are prepared to react, moving perhaps forces into their eastern n.a.t.o. allies territory, places like poland or the baltic state. >> kiev maintained control of the city from protesters, there are issues in lieu and donetsk. are we expecting similar considerations in the offing

there? >> we heard this morning that the ukrainian situation will be resolved by negotiation or by force. using that language is what troubles moscow considerably in what the russian foreign ministry said. that they risk a civil war to put down the demonstrations to the east. the secretary planning to meet with officials, russia and the e.u. - what are we expecting from the talks. >> we know the talks will happen in europe next week. it hasn't been released where that will be. it will be the four members. ahead of foreign affairs, katherine ashton, foreign minister sergei lavrov, and the foreign minister of russia. they'll meet to talk about the

situation, but past talks have not resulted in anything because russia and the west are digging in their heels and positions. we'll have to see whether or not this increased threat of a widening crisis within ukraine, out in the east will motivate the players to sit and really try. >> phil ittner reporting from london. crimea has re-energised the most. now moldova, a country situated between ukraine and romania is dealing with a southern province that raurned to russia. most people feel aligned to moscow and europe. history has driven many paths. russian tanks won't be needed to reclaim it for moscow. the welcome sign above the academy chose the language is

used here, turkish, moldovan and russians. the police in the church hold their masses in all three. they are a christian people. the president of the autonomous region made us turkish coffee before explaining why he is opposed to join the european union. >> the people in the capital have been robbing us blind. the e.u. is patting them on the shoulder. it's not a success story, a story of the corruption, human rights abusers and discrimination against ethnic minorities. >> 98.5% of the people voted to join the eurasian customs union. that's vladimir putin's plan to reintegrate the trade utes of the soviet union. >> the map of export of wine,

perhaps, explains why. the bulk goes to khazakhstan, russia, all of hum signed up to putin's plan. the wine producers were toasting the president, who just returned from moscow and got the import ban for moldovan wine lifted. >> labouring in the heat of midday, preparing for amy cot saplin saplings, these earned $10 a day. >> the bosses want to join the e.u., but we work for pennies. the prices are as high in the west. the salaries are moldovan. europe is not for us. >> the hawks find plenty to feed on. that's not the case for in 93-year-old woman begging. she didn't want money, she wanted food. she couldn't reach the shop, her daughter left her alone. despair and poverty on the

doorstep of the european union? >> now, the region technically breakaway from moldova and 1990, it's not recognised as an autonomous territory. it has 1500 troops stationed there. we focus on the next move in the crisis. for up to the minute information, al jazeera. crews searching for malaysia airlines flight mh370 have detected signals that would be consistent with the black boxes. they first detected the sounds on saturday, lost them for a few day. the next step is to use the reacquired signals to direct a small submarine to look for debris. we'll get the latest on the arch from jay raulins, our aviation analyst and break down the cost

of the unprecedented search effort. >> there has been a fatal shooting at a u.s. naval base. marines standing guard. shot and killed a fellow marine with a service rife. officials believe they were careless and fired the weapon. >> our naughts and prayers are with the families at this point. i want to stress that this is ruled an isolated incident. it's neither an act of terrorism or shooter situation. the base was not placed under a lockdown and an investigation is under way. president obama will take part in a memorial for the victims of the fort hood shooting. the president and the first lady will join 2,000 alcoholeders and victim's families, they'll pay tribute to three soldiers shot and killed last wednesday. the today tonight attended a memorial after the 2009 fort hood shooting that killed three people. president obama plans to attend

the site of the washington mud side. he'll survey the damage and meet with survivors. the body of another victim was recovered today. putting the death toll at 35. 11 are missing. >> a sniper may be terrorizing drivers around kansas city missouri, there has been 13 incidents in which shots have been fired at cars. as thomas drayton reports, federal authorities are trying to determine if this is the work of a serial shooter. >> tom shows where the bullet pierced his car. >> something hit the car. i didn't know what it was. pulled over at the first opportunity. that's when i saw the bullet hole. >> he is one of the victims of an apparent sniper targetting drivers around kansas city. all the shootings near exit ramps of two different interstates. no one has bin killed, but two drivers hit in the ligs and one in the arm. one woman found a bullet hole

inches from her doddlers car -- toddlers car seat. >> it's terrible to thing someone is do this with no regard to what happened. >> shootings have intensified. six of the shootings vep connected, but only two have been able to describe the shooter or the car they may have been driving. >> we have been receiving tips on the case that comes in. >> there's a $7,000 reward being offered to find whoever is terrorizing the city. >> you are on the edge of someone getting killed, any time you have a random shooter with no reason or mind-set, taking rounds, putting them into cars is causing a car. >> this is reminisce ept of beltway snipers terrorizing washington d.c. in 2003. lee marvo and john bahamed killed 10 over three weeks.

>> there was a shooting on the kansas city highway every day last wednesday through sunday. there has been no shootings this week. >> police in detroit are looking at race as a mote ist in -- motive in a mob attack. >> three were beating steven, who accidentally hit a boy. he has been in a medically induced coma since the beating. prosecutors have not labelled the attack a hate crime. >> toyota is recalling 6.5 million cars globally to fix steering and seat issues. models recalled are the yaris, urban cruisers, rav4s, and hi. >> >> it identified faults in the steering columns. 825,000 of the vehicles were in europe. the world's largest automaker is not aware of accidents related to the issues. >> internet engineers say they

have uncovered a major cyber security floor called heart-bleed. it has online companies scrambling to secure systems. erica pitzi joins us now. we are hearing millions of people may have had pass worth and banking compromised. >> it's possible, because the companies affected are some of the biggest online names. yahoo! tumbler, cupid. first we'll break down what happened. the lock icops you see in the -- icons you see in secure sites, like bank of america, there's a lock icon here. this serious bug, called heartbleed is able to hack past that security feature. essentially it pokes a hole in the security system, allowing hackers to access customer information like user names, passwords, credit card numbers, and they are able to crack the security code without detection.

the bug has affected half a million servers over a 2-year period. what do you do. first thing's first, you have to change your passwords, especially if you have account with the companies we mentioned. yahoo! and cupid say they have patched the brief. it is safe for users to use the sites. there are many other servers that are potentially affected here. you may be wondering about other smaller sites. there's a heart bleed bug test that you can do to check the sites, made by an incipion consultant. i checked the bank of america.com. and within a couple of seconds i was able to find it's all good seems not to be affected. keep in mind heartbleed is a serious bleach. the department of homeland security is telling companies to upgrade software. in the end it's up to you to be vigilant and make sure you

protect your own information. >> the heard bleed test. thank you. well it seems like deja vu all over again. the yukon women have won another national title. >> okay. one day after the yukon men won the n.c.a.a. basketball tournament, the women, i swear to you they are celebrating, they earnted their ninth title. fans flooded the center, finishing off a perfect 40 and o season. this is the second time the university won both titles in the same year. john henry smith is here with more. what a run. >> what a run for the school. we may as well challenge the webster's definition of basketball to yukon. now it holds a unique place as the only school to win women's and men's titles in the same season. they have done it twice now, and

the impressive numbers keep on coming. the coach notches his n.c.a.a. ninth title. not only does that move him past the summit, but movement oriama into legendary real state couped by other 9-time coaches. phil jackson, among others. yukon's team won 46 it straight games, that would be a mile spoken for the ages for moth programs. for the yukon women, it's the third-longest streak. one more number not to bore you with. at 40 and o, yukon finishes undefeated. championship highlights and reaction later in sport. >> can't wait to see more highlights from that game. >> there's a volatile situation right now in greece. this is a live look on the streets of athens.

protests ta could boil over -- that could boil over, over a budget battle. >> general motors fined for failing to provide key information op its massive recall - why some critics say the penalty is a drop in the bucket for the automaker. >> he got a speeding ticket. what happened next nearly ended this officer's [ grunting ]

i'm taking off, but, uh, don't worry. i'm gonna leave the tv on for you. and if anything happens, don't forget about the new xfinity my account app. you can troubleshoot technical issues here. if you make an appointment, you can check out the status here. you can pay the bill, too. but don't worry about that right now. okay. how do i look? ♪ thanks. [ male announcer ] troubleshoot, manage appointments, and bill pay from your phone. introducing the xfinity my account app.

>> oklahoma police officer escapes with his life after distracted driver nearly crashed into him at full speed. the officer says the driver was using a cell phone, and he managed to get out of the way before he smashed into the back of his car. >> he's on the phone, that's why he knew he wasn't going to stop. he was pinned between the cars, this would have been serious injury and death. believe it or not, the officer walked away unharmed. the driver that caused the

accident was ticketed for inattentive driving. >> what's behind the labour strikes unfolding in brief. first, meteorologist nicole mitchell has a look at the forecast. welcome back. >> that looks like it should have been more than a ticket. as we head out. weather will not be distracting you. we have a quite pattern, and warm. look at the temperatures, billing at 57, warmer than houston, and there's going to be a surge. the jet stream is to the north. we are on the south side of the jet stream. it's a little cooler. in parts of the midwest, into the afternoon, minneapolis at 70, warmer than atlanta at 66. shifting to the east coast. back to you. thank you. in business news, exist from comcast and time warner head to capitol hill. expected to defend their plan to join forces before a senate

panel. this is the first hearing focussing on the 40 billion deal. comcast says the merger will benefit consumers. there's a lot of opposition that has come out against the merger has come from the same sort of groups that continually oppose any merger on the simply terms that big is bad. and i don't think that that is the case. there's a lot of good reasons to gooef that a larger company serves its consumers in both the video and proint market. consumer groups argue that the deal would produce competition and prices. if approved the combined company will reach one in three homes. on wall street stock futures are higher after better than expected results from alcoa. stocks bouncing back of heavy selling, here is where we stand.

the do you starting at 16,256. the nasdaq is at 41.12. aeroplane market ending the day mostly higher. calling for a fourth straight session down 2%. european markets are poeting games. more job cuts. "the wall street journal" reports that the bank will slash 3,000 jobs oversees,iousing technology in the philippines and mexico. they have shed 1,000 jobs as it tries to recover. federal regulators are fining general motors because it did not provide information by a deadline. they want to find out why they waited 10 years on cars that had a defective ignition switch.

g.m. said it's cooperating with the investigation. turning over 200,000 pages in documents. greece's two biggest trade unions have gone on strike. the work has gone against an austerity plan cutting. john joins us live in athens, what is at stake for the protesters. >> hello. the unions are really asking the government to roll back about two years worth of government reforms, but also austerity measures. the key demand is that the government gives back their power to negotiate minimum wage with employers. that power was taken away two years ago, when the government forced minimum wage down, and since then markets reset it in many cases closer to 500,000, because unemployment is high, and people can't negotiate

their position with employers higher than $500 a month. even people with tertiary education. over the last year people have proven ineffective at injecting input into the political process, because the government has nothing to give out. in years past the streets protest and the strikes were effective, putting pressure on the politicians. it's been gone tore yors. the government said the state budget is on a slimming exercise. and the great success is that the government succeeded in balancing the budget and producing a surplus, 4 billion. so the government, i think at this point is in a powerful position to say the adjustment is working, we are not giving out happened outs or rolling back legislation, i don't see the strokes as standing a high chaps of success.

>> from the live pictures out of athens, the protests seem more subdued than the violent protests we have seen since the austerity measures were introduced. is that the tone you are feeling there? >> well, the violence has now been absent for about a year. it was always a separate element from the legitimate protesting that took place. what is telling is that the numbers are down. you no longer have 50 or 100,000 people on the streets. it's five or 10,000, it's signals that people understood the effectiveness of this kind of political expression, if you like, has died during the years of austerity since 2010. there is a pay back, if you like. this webbing breese is expected markets and expected to sell the multiyear bond since early 2010, and may happen earlier than today. if that happens, it signals

official entry into the money markets, and that will enable the government to present it said as having succeed the in this slog of it austerity that the greeks suffered through. this is the beginning of a new political era. >> the staggering cost of searching for the missing malaysian jetliner. how much money and mann power has been spent in a month suns the plane disappeared. reports that north korean leader kim jong un ordered the execution of a man by flame thrower. >> get out of here, she said, they'll kill you. >> trying to break the cycle of deportation, two men repeatedly being sent to mexico, despite having proof of being american citizens, and why they worry it could happen again.

>> welcome back to al jazeera america. i'm stephanie sy. these are the top stories. former acting c.i.a. director michael morrell will speak about the 2012 attack in libya. he will testify before the house intelligence committee. four men were killed in the attack, including u.s. ambassador chris stevens. >> palestine president mahmoud abbas is in egypt. they are discussing the impasse over talks between the israelis and palestinians. on tuesday secretary of state john kerry said israel had taken steps pushing the talk back. >> australian search crews say their ship has detected two new pings consistent with the black boxes from missing malaysia airlines flight mh370. the signals were found then lost. the data may be used to direct a small submarine used to look for

the plane. >> the ascertain for the missing plane cost $44 million. as one correspondent reports, it may be the most expensive. >> the air crafts deployed by the united states, china and vietnam - the pentagon setting aside $4 million. 3.2 was spent last week. the u.s. will double it. >> half has been contributed by australia. china hasn't said how much it spent. beijing sent 18 ships, 8 helicopters and three fixed-win aircraft. it does not include the defence assets used by britain, france, new zealand and south korea. whenever the search for flight mh370 ends, the total cost is expected to be in the hundreds of millions of dollars. >> joining us to discuss the

latest developments in the search for flight mh370 is mr jay raulins, al jazeera aviation analyst. he's in fort lauderdale. yesterday the australian ship "ocean shield" picked up underwater signals, four pings heard since saturday. what does this mean to you? are they back in the game? are they closer to finding the black bombs? >> very encouraging news. i feel much better today without so much bad news to bring. today, with new pings, i'm feeling much better that the searchers are very close to finding evidence that mh370 went down in this location. each time they hear pings, they are able to further refine the search area, tighter and tiger. each though the last reports are that the search area is the size

of houston, i believe that each time they get a new ping, they are able to tighten the area further and further. it's very important because this particular vehicle can search the area quicker than the submersible can, and, therefore... go ahead. >> let's talk about the submersible. "bluefin 21" is equipped with sonar, it has a maximum depth of 14,763 feet, 15,000 foot deep ocean. it can travel at a speed of up to 4.5 knots and be deployed for 24 hours, why hasn't it been deployed. >> it has to do with the speed of finding the wreckage. the t.p.l. in use is the passive device listening for the pings that are coming from the black

boxes. it is able to search a much greater area in a shorter time than the "bluefin" submersible. what the investigators want to do is tighten the zone as small as possible where the boxes are, and then they will lower the "bluefin 21", they don't want them both in the water, because the bluefin creates noise, and that's the last thing they want in the water. that's why they are keeping ships away. the device, the tpl that is already there needs as much silence as possible. >> right. >> once it's narrowed then they lower the bluefin. that is why, as i understand it, only the australian ship that has the towed pinger is in the vicinity of where the pings are, even though there's more than a dozen ships in the search area, is that because they don't want to pick up knews from other ships. >> exactly. that is why some of the pings

that have been heard in the past have been dismissed as other ships' noises in particular can make such sounds and throw off the whole investigation. they are keeping the ships away, keeping the bluefin out of the water. >> what you are looking at is an animation of how the bluefin would work once it is deployed. again, that submersible as not been deployed at this point. as mr rowins has been saying, it's effective to get closer to where the black boxes are. on that note. i want to ask you about the encouraging news that the analysis that the australians have done of the first two pings, when they look at the frequencies, it looks like they could be from the black box, the signals. the signal is expected to be at a frequency of 37.5 kilohertz. and some of the signalling is a little lower than that

frequency, but the manufacturer assures us that this is entirely possible, especially as the batteries begin to wane, as long as the frequency - as long as the repetitions of the pings are coming at the one second interview, that's not something that you would get from nature, and is it reinforces that these are pings from the black box. jay rollins, al jazeera america's aiiation analyst. thank you. >> a bomb exploded in a market area on the outskirts of pakistan's capital. 23 people are dead, and dozens injured. police say the bomb was hidden in a box of fruit and went off as vendors set up for business. no one claimed responsibility for the attacks. oscar pistorius breaking down on the witness stand as he defended himself against murder charges. you are looking live inside the

court room. and victorious south africa. this is a third day the testimony. the story detailed the moment after he shot and killed his girlfriend reeva steenkamp on valentine's day of last year. he said he thought he heard an intruder and shot her through a classroom door. he called a neighbour for help and clutched his girlfriend whilst waiting for paramedics to arrive. >> i sat there with her and waited for ambulance to arrive. i felt hopeless, i wanted to take her to hospital. i had my fingers in her mouth to help her breathe. i had my hand on her hip to try to stop the bleeding. >> under cross-examination oscar pistorius called the shooting a mistake, and said he did not intend to kill his girl. if convicted he faces life in prison. at 8 o'clock we'll look at the trial with our legal contributor jam jamie floyd. >> there was a big turn out for

the afghanistan elections. the challenge is to count the votes. as bernard smith reports, candidates are coming outs with their numbers. >> with ballot papers coming in from across the country, it will be many weeks before the independent election commission delivers a verdict on who will be the next president of afghanistan. the three front runners are expressing confidence in their victory. a relaxed abdullah abdullah told us that his team gives himself 50% of the votes, and as long as the voting is transparent those figures will be reflected. >> it's a huge responsibility of a national scope and dimension, and hopefully everybody is aware of the burden that is - that is on everybody's shoulders. >> ghani's team thinks their man

is heading for the palace, again with more than 60% of the vote. only zalmai rassoul's team is suggesting no one gets more than 50". zalmai rassoul says he has enough votes to be one of the two. when the polls closed, ballots counselled and results published. only when the election commission got in 5% of the vote, from 27 of afghanistan's 34 prove since will it announce a new estimation of who won the president cal vote. >> the provincial calculation should be released within the next few days. >> once of the election is completed. it will mark afghanistan's first drementic transition of power. >> north korea has reportedly executed a government official with a flame thrower. he's one of 11 high-ranging officials -- ranking official

killed or gaoled. he ordered the execution of his uncle. one killed was the uncle's older sister. the man burned alive was a senior official accused of protecting the sister. >> more than 2 million people have been deported from the u.s. some say they are american citizens, and this is the only home they have known. adam raney has the story of several men fighting to stay on u.s. soil. >> this man is caught in an endless cycle. he is deported, crosses back and lands in gaol. he insists he's a u.s. citizen. >> when i put... >> once smugglers broke his hand. another time he was kidnapped, escaping with the help of a stranger. >> "get out of here, if they get you they'll kill you. they'll be looking for you.". >> the u.s. government couldn't prove he's not a citizen, he

can't convince them he is. >> this is his father's arizona birth certificate, usually enough proof. in a statement the government avoided saying whether he was a citizen, only saying a judge ordered him to be deported to mexico, because of criminal history, including drug possession and burg larry. >> we go to steph jp's mother's house. this is the place stefan lived all but three of his 40 years, the only place he considers home. >> at 83, this woman has little time left with her son. >> translation: i'm worried about him. that he's out there alone, whether he's eating, what he's eating, where he's cleaning. something might happen to him. >> deported under president obama, many mothers share her

troubles. that man was deployed from louisiana to mexico in 2008. immigration officers doesn't believe he was a citizen despite records showing his father was. it took him three years to prove them wrong. he's suing the u.s. government to wipe his record clean of any mention of his deportation. >> i get nervous when i pass a police officer. because i'm hispanic and they look at me. they see that. and i might end up going through the same thing again because my security number is not active. it shows that i'm deported. >> the government told us "connected criminal alien faced with a deportation priority", in 2012 it gave him this document which stated that they became a citizen in 2002, six years before he was deported. asked if they mistakenly deported a u.s. citizen, the

government didn't respond. >> back in ari zona, stefan will be released. despite dangers, he'll cross back as soon as he can. he says he only has one home. >> about 1,000 people are deported from this country every day. on sunday the new al jazeera america series "borderland" premieres, focussing on the issue of immigration, and why people risk their lives to come to the country, and you can catch it right here. >> highways in mississippi remain closed because of flooding. highway 49, and highway 13, both closed. the national weather service issued a flood warning. it's been extended until late thursday night. most of the storms moved out of the region. we look at the forecast. >> that's actually where i have been, doing military duty, it

poured over parts of the weekend and last week, it's a story of the have and have not. we get to the midsection of the country, and we go from places flooded out to places under a fire danger. all the areas in red. it's a combination of winds, dri winds out of the south. temperatures heating up. as the winds, not too gusty now, a lot may be 10 mills per hour, gusts into the 20 miles per hour range into the afternoon, driving anything that dries up. didn't we get a lot of rain, someone asked me today. it was out of this area. in drought conditions. a lot of the rain was ms , and towards the east and for the golf coast and the east. it didn't quite get in the areas that needed it. it was the rain from the last week, and it shows the haves, and have not. the purples were the places

above average. all the reds and yellows in the central plains are places that got less than normal for the week past, keeping us in those dry conditions. not a lot in the weak ahead. a couple of spots. a quiet forecast. back to you. >> connecticut has pulled off the sweep in college basketball. john henry smith is here, with more on what was a history-making night. for all the yukon fans, we go ahead and let them crow. they deserve it. >> they do. >> the women's national championship was supposed to be a colossal collision. it was a colossal beat down of a dominant team. 39 in yukon, and seven of the last nine meetings, that's it on the fly. yukon's jefferson, second half. more of the same, look at the movement. for the lain, two of her 21,

yukon dominated. 52.22. rebounding. 54-31. from the outside. yukon played hard, lament, double digits. yukon again making the extra path. and gets the bucket. yukon wins to win a title. and titles in both mes and women's for 2014 for the university of connecticut. >> well, there really is not much that you can say when we have a performance like that. we are - you players are really locked in to what we wanted to do, how we wanted to do it. it's an incredible effort by - by the entire team. when you took hands, what did you say to each other.

i said something like i thought we were playing the miami heat. you gays were that good. what a great season, things like that. i thought they were just missing leb ron. >> well before the yukon women worked their magic. stores whooped it up and give it up. and his men. work in winning. a day earlier, before the celebration, a big hon your for labro sfrks inducted. the school, the 113 jersey, remember how you heard the notre dame coach. the only thing missing was lebron, busy helping his heat host the nets. lebron looks calm. he can't be so calm. fourth quarter tide. a good movement hitting the three, putting the nets up

three. they were up. they missed. lisa ray allen. lebron issued it. held up. botched the shot. he did it, or did he. did he foul lebron. i know what lebron things about this. it doesn't matter. the nets win 88 to 87. philadelphia fans have a reputation for not being so nice. they live up to it. the man who has served a 55-game performance, he was har anninged with booze and steroids as the fillees hosted the brewers. having a grand old time at the extent of the phillies. teen deep to left. a first dinger of the year. top of the fourth. brewers up 5-1. to the opposite feel. this time a solo shot.

on the brewers list. brewers lead 6-1. you know what is coming. he crushes one to left. 3-1 home run. second career three home run games, second rbi. great game in the field. >> that's a look at sport this hour. i love the comment that the coach made about lebron. the women didn't seem to need lebron. >> they have team work on their side. no one does it better. he has broking rights today. members of the controversial church, they have been literally run out of an oklahoma town. >> hundreds of angry residents confronted members of the church, protesting outside a junior high school. church members say a tornado that killed 24 people was a result of god's wrath and hate red to the town.

the town residents organised a boycott of the church. >> we lost our house in the tornado. i had seven kids in a tent, and not here. it's not going to happen here. >> it's a good feeling, it let's people know that we are united and you are not going to break or hurt us. >> police held back the town residents while the picketers returned to the cars and left the scene. >> awarning for men who use a viagra. doctors finding a potentially deadly side effect from the little blue pill. >> i have been crying probably since wednesday when i got this. >> messages from the past. a woman gets a 45-year-old birthday card from her late mother. and it's not the only piece of mail that turns up after decades lost in the mail. >> it's a dream, but now it's reality. >> a medical treatment allowing

paralyzed men to move their legs again - a miracle of modern science.

>> did you see it? a rare and beautiful site in the april skye last night. this is the earth mars and sun all arranged in the nearly straight line, the cosmic event occurs every two years, when march reaches a point in its orbit called opposition. it alliance directly opposite the sun in the sky making it 10 times brighter than the brightest stars. now, n.a.s.a. photos are fuelling speculation about whether there is life on mars, several photographs from n.a.s.a. shows a beam of light on the red planet. n.a.s.a. is downplaying the sighting saying bright spots show up in thousands of photos they take on mars. there it is. >> well, a preliminary study

links viagra with melanoma. men that took it were 80% more likely to develop melanoma than men who didn't. the study involved 26,000 men, whose average age was 65. men who used viagra are not at risk of other less dangerous skin cancers. >> a major advance, researchers at the university of louisville say four patients using therapy regained control over muscles in their legs. experts say it's a promising development. >> this man is paralyzed from the chest down, unable to move his legs until he turns on an electrical stimulator implanted on his spinal court. he, along with three other paralyzed men are able to flex their toes, ankles and knees on their own. the simulator is retraining the

nerves in the leg to work with the brain again. it's a low-level stimulus that is reawakening the circuits, to cause them to remember what they used to do. one of the paralyzed men is rob summers, seen here doing sit ups. he was the first to receive a stimulator, and was able to stand on his own for short periods of time. he spoke about prosts in 2011. >> being able to move toes, angles knees on command. it was incredible. there's not a force to describe how i felt. it's a dream, now it's reality. the success goes further. >> the men are regaining muscle match and recovering function like sexual function and bladder control. >> this is amazing for experience with spina cord injury. in their diagnosis the doctors probably said they'll never ever

be able to move again. >> here they are, doing just that. for these men, paralysis is no longer necessarily a life-time sentence. >> meteorologist nicole mitchell is here with a look at what's in store across the country. >> other than the warm air, we have to look to find spots. it's a reversal after the last week, the eastern half of the country, all the storms and places we are seeing. as we get to the east, north carolina, we have had banding going through, some rain, but light stuff. to the north-west, northern parts of idaho, rain right now, the region is dry, as is the rest of the country. thank you. >> well, snail mail is really earning its name in new york. a woman claims he received a birthday card 45 years late. it was poewes marked june 26th.

it was from her mother who passed away years ago. >> i have been crying since wednesday, when i got this. >> because that was my mother's thing to put sealed with a kiss. the tradition continued with myself and my niece. >> and that wasn't the only overdue mail. on the next couple of days, two letters showed up from an old boyfriend and a third from her brother. all addressed the same year. del walters is here with a look at what it ahead. >> that's how i pay my bills at the end of the first hour. ukraine's interim government trying to gape control. pro-russian protesters breaking out. crews detecting two more pings from the black box. they were heard in the same area where similar pings were heard over the weekend. and the blade runner undergoing cross-examination at this hour. a day after breaking down described shooting his

girlfriend and killing her. celebrating 50 years since the civil rights act was signed into law. >> al jazeera news continues, del walters and i are back with you in 2.5 minutes with more news.

>> they've been sent there determined to create chaos. >> the u.s. accusing russia creating chaos. another uprising threatening to disrupt the country. >> your personal information could be at risk and the websites most vulnerable to hackers. >> i urge every american to join

in this effort. >> celebrating 50 years since the civil rights act, american presidents talk about how things have changed and that still needs to be done. >> using hypothermia to try to bring patients back from the dead. >> pro russian protestors trying to put a strangle hold on several eastern ukrainian cities comes as the u.s. and nato warn russia against meddling in the crisis. good morning and welcome to aljazeera america. i'm stephanie sy. >> i'm del walters. >> ukraine's government trying to regain control of the cities located near the border. >> military took back kharkiv on tuesday, now the focus on two cities with pro russian accept writ activity have declared independence.

nato and the u.s. of becoming increasingly concerned about these uprisings and ever said as much. >> they are concerned, they have been concerned for quite some time, stephanie. we have heard for weeks now from nato authorities, from american and person in tiling authorities that they do believe firmly that russia has plans on territory beyond crimea. >> the chants are familiar like those last month in crimea when it broke away from ukraine and voted to join russia. this time the calls for independence are coming from three cities across eastern ukraine. >> obviously we're concerned about what russia has done in crimea. we're concerned about the presence of substantial troop numbers on the ukrainian border. we're concerned about efforts underway in ukraine to

destabilize the situation there in eastern ukraine, destabilize the government. >> ukrainian police regained control of a government building, but protestors outside held firm, demanding a referendum that would allow the region to join russia. >> masked men have held this security headquarters for three days, holding 60 hostages, a charge the protestors deny. the activists confirmed they have seized an armory full of automatic rifles. their supporters outside, also loyal to russia. >> another government building remains in the hands of pro russian protestors in denejsk, maintaining that the region is now independent. eye lens that spread to kiev where a brawl broke out in parliament between moscow supporters and the members of the new ukrainian government. >> russia's illegal aggression against ukraine is the greatest

challenge to europe's security in a generation. i urge russia to step back and not escalate the situation in eastern ukraine. >> the chaos in ukraine is not going unnoticed in the u.s., secretary of state john kerry is accusing russia are orchestrating the unrest by financing outside agitators. >> everything that we've seen in the last 48 hours from russian provocators and agents operating in eastern ukraine tells us that they've been sent there determined to create chaos. >> russia's foreign minister pushed back, tweeting in english, stop laying the blame at hour door. >> we've also heard from the russian foreign minister today

that h u.s. secretary of state john kerry, the foreign minister for the eu, will be meeting. in regard to those three cities in unrest, there has been word from the ukrainian interior ministry saying they will resolve the situation. >> stay with aljazeera for in-depth continuing coverage of the crisis in ukraine. at 7:30 eastern, we'll have a report from the ground in kharkiv plus focus on russia's troop build up along the ukrainian border. >> the two largest trade unions in greece are few on strike.

worser are upset about the cutting of 12,000 jobs this year alone in a government austerity plan. >> labor has been one of the areas hardest hit by austerity or reforms, unions demanding they get back powers to negotiate minimum wage. the government forced minimum wage down and since then, the market that set a new unofficial rate of about $500 a month because unemployment remains to high. unions demand the government turn back the clock on pensions, which have been cut twice during the cries and want lighter taxes. civil servants want the government to repeal tough new employee evaluation criteria which spell possible dismissals. in short, unions want the government to turn back the clock on about two years of legislation, but are losing the battle to influence politics. after balancing its budget last

year, grease is on the cusp of being able to borrow on open markets again and declare its program a success. shops offices and banks are open, because the private sector is under so much pressure to produce. >> that's reporting from athens. >> crews searches for malaysia airlines flight 370 have found new signals consistent with the plane's black boxes, the ocean shield hearing two pings tuesday. the underwater transmissions came from an air similar to where similar pings were heard over the weekend. >> the search for the missing airliner is weeks old and covered a vast area of the ocean. now officials believe they're much closer to finding out what happened to it. >> this device can send out the pings from an airliner's black box flight recorders.

later on tuesday, they eacquired the signals twice. >> ocean shield has now detected four transmisses in the same brad area. yesterday's signals will assist in better defining a reduced and much more manageable search area on the ocean floor. >> that is vitally important, because officials say they can only deploy their robotic submarine once they've found visual evidence of wreckage. the operation to find malaysia airlines flight 370 is a multi-national effort with planes and ships from many countries. the australian government has taken the lead and is coordinating the effort, but the sheer size of their task is daunting. a search area of more than 75,000 square kilometers of ocean in depths up to 4,000 meters and the flight

recorders are not much big are than a large shoe box. the australians are convinced they are looking at the right place and the signals they're hearing are from flight recorders. aljazeera. >> the search for the source of those transmissions has an added sense of urgency because of limited battery life on the black boxes, already passing their 30 day life expectancy. >> there's been another fatele shooting, a marine standing guard at camp lejune shot and killed. a fellow marine with his service rifle, officials believe he may have accidentally fired the weapon. >> our thoughts and prayers are with all the families involved at this point. i just want to stress that this is ruled an isolated incident, it is neither an act or terrorism for an active shooter situation. >> the base was not placed under a lockdown and an investigation is underway. >> president obama is going to take part in a memorial today

for the victims of the fort hood shootings, the president and first lady joining 2,000 soldiers and families at the military post. they'll pay tribute to the soldiers shot and killed by ivan lopez last wednesday, the president attending a memorial in 2009 after a shooting that left 13 people dead. we will bring you live coverage of that memorial service this afternoon, beginning at 3:00 eastern time. >> the president plans to visit the safety of the washington state mud slide later this month, surveying the damage and meeting with survivors, victim's families and the recovery workers there. the body of another victim puts the death toll now at 35. 11 people are still missing. >> a shakeup involving secret service agents who guard the president, the agency is reassigning a number of them after a series of embarrassing incidents. three soldiers were sent home from the netherlands after one was found drunk in the hotel

lobby before the president arrived. the agency is barring agents from drinking within 12 hours of starting a shift. >> there is more emotional testimony from oscar pistorius, the former olympian defending himself today. he is on trial for the shooting death of his girlfriend reeva steenkamp. he compares the fruit to brains when shooting a watermelon. a graphic picture is shown of her head and bears down on pistorius. >> you know that the same thing happened to reeva's head. it exploded. i know you don't want to take responded, but it's time that you take a look at it. take responsibility for what you've done. >> i've taken responsibility, i've been waiting for my time on this stand to tell my story for

the respect of reeva and myself. i will take responsibility but i will not look at a picture where i am fomented. i touched her head. i remember. i don't have to look at a picture. i was there. >> he said he thought he heard an intruder and accidentally shot his girlfriend through the bathroom door. if convicted, he faces life in prison. >> internet engineers have created a major cyber security flaw, hard bleed has on line companies to secure their systems and protect customers approximately we're hearing millions of people may have had their pass words, even their banking information compromised. >> it's possible, because the companies affected are some of the biggest on line names. we're talking about yahoo, tumbler, o.k. calmed. those little eye cobs you see in the web browser of so-called secure websites, for instance,

bank of america, here, you see the lock icon. that's supposed to indicate a safe and secure site. this bug is able to hack past that security feature, poking a hole in the company's security system allowing hackers to access customer information. they are able to crock the security code without much detection. in fact, we know the bug has affected a half million servers over a two year period. what do you do to protect yourself? well, first things first would be to actually change your password. that is if you know that the company that is potentially affected by this hard bleed bug has actually fixed their security breach. yahoo and o.k. cupid say they have fixed the security breach and it is ok to change your password, but there are so many other servers that may have been

affected, so here's the thing. you can actually do a heart bleed bug test created by an encryption consultant who helped find this bug here. here it is. i went in and i keyed in bank of america to make sure my on line banking is safe. all good, bank of america.com seems not to be affected, but heart bleed is a very serious situation, companies urged to update software. analysts suggest you do whatever you can and be vigilant to protect your own information. >> take the heart bleed test. thank you. >> general motors is fined $7,000 a day for not providing information about its recall by the april 3 deadline. federal officials are trying to figure out why g.m. delayed the

recall. g.m. said it is cooperating with the investigation and has now turned over 200,000 pages in documents. >> expressing frustration with stalled peace talks. >> who is being blamed for failures in the middle east. >> $68 billion is our big number. >> how this could do more to reign in wall street than any other overhaul since the financial crisis. >> 50 years after the civil rights act was signed, a 95-year-old activist talks the continued struggle for equality. >> we have a responsibility to proof that we hold these truths to be self evidence, that all people of created equal.

>> already, this morning, temperatures in billings, warmer than houston because we have warm air surging well northward. that's whenever you get on the south side of the jetstream and the jetstream going so far to the north, especially this time of the year, you can see more of that. on the great lakes, and get on the cool side, sticking on the north side of that wind flow. what that means today, very

mild, minneapolis up to 70 degrees, cooler around the great lakes. atlanta, minneapolis is actually warmer, atlanta at 66. back to you. >> israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu has ordered his negotiators not to meet with their palestinian counter parts coming in responsibility to what he calls the palestinian's provocative bid to join the united nations. kerry told a senate foreign relations committee in a israel's failure to release prisoners and plans for settlement of endangering talks. >> the prisoners weren't released that were supposed to be released on saturday, so day two went by, day three and then in the afternoon when they were about to maybe get there, 700 settlement units were announced in jerusalem and poof, that was

sort of the moment. >> the state department spokeswoman released a statement saying: >> joining us now to discuss the status of these middle east peace negotiations is co director of the middle east center for peace, culture and development at northeastern university. mr. waxman, thank you so much for joining us. you heard the sort of latest backtracking by the state department. are they in damage control because of comments kerry made to the committee? >> the state democratic and white house have tried to dial

back from what kerry said laying the blame at the door of the netanyahu government. >> to you that was clear what he was doing. >> i think to myself, palestinian officials and israeli officials and those around the world. months of foot drag the by the israelis, he clearly adopted the palestinian version of events and said it was up to in large part at least israel to move forward. >> why does the u.s. feel the need to now dial back comments if this was the case and this is how much of the world sees it, israel announcing more settlements, deciding not to release the palestinian prisoners as was agreed upon. >> it's a very good question and indicates the fact that secretary kerry believes that all the way to go about this is to win the cooperation of the netanyahu government and just the actions that the netanyahu

government have announced today in terms of stopping cooperation with the palestinian authority. i think they're concerned that israel's going to retaliate and want to get the israel government to be more conciliatory to renew negotiations. >> he is drawing comparison to asks bakers remarks when he talked about israeli conditions setting back the talks as well as israeli visits to settlements. he later wrote in his memoir: ait's so reminiscent of what we're seeing play out. how are things different today? >> unfortunately, not very different. >> secretary of state kerry

things the stakes are higher. >> there aren't many more chances to reach a two state solution. so in that sense the stakes are certainly higher. the similarity is once again, the united states finds itself confronted with a largely right wing israeli government that takes steps with regard to slowing settlements affecting the peace process. it requires a fundamental evaluation how the international community is going to go about solving this problem. >> what do you think it will take now in this day and age to get these two sides back on track with real negotiations over real issues? >> i think negotiations are likely in fact to resume in some form of another. whether they're going to be real negotiations leading to the prospect of a breakthrough in the talks is unlikely.

you need to kind of rethink the whole format here, one in which the united states is willing to apply equal pressure on both sides, both the palestinian side and on the israeli side. >> doug waxman, thanks so much for joining us with you're insights this morning, appreciate it. >> toyota announcing it's second biggest recall ever, recalling 6.5 million cars to fix problems with power steering and seats worldwide. it includes 27 models. the problems with air bag cables and seat rails affects 2 million vehicles in north america. toyota is not aware of any accidents related to that recall. >> exception at comcast and time warner expected to defend their plans to join forces before a senate panel. this is the first hearing focusing on the proposed

$45 billion deal announced in february, comcast saying the merger will benefit consumers and one analyst saying even if approved, the companies still have to macon sessions. >> this has been done a number of times in the past. you see a number of conditions on the merger before they would have it go through, and i think we're likely to see something similar happen here. >> consumers groups argue competition would be reduced and prices raised if combined. the company will reach one in three homes throughout broad band and cable subscriptions. >> dow up ahead of the federal reserve minutes from its last policy minutes, stocks squeezing out gains, starting the day at 16256, the s&p at 1851, the nasdaq at 4112. asian markets ending mostly higher, but nikkei falling for

its fourth straight session. european markets posting gains at this hour. >> we continue to follow the situation in ukraine, fighting off secession attempts in three major cities. >> why the u.s. is blaming russia for instigating the latest jump risings and questions about russian troops gathered along the border. >> celebrating 50 years since the signing of the civil rights act. however america has come and however it still has to go. >> we're standing on the edge of a precipice peering into a black hole of diminishing services. >> cutbacks threaten the futures of people living with disabilities. >> he's a tough guy, a scholar, and a canadian. michael eaves profiles the player who might be the most interesting prospect in may's nfl draft.

>> good morning, welcome to al jazeera america. i'm del walters. >> i'm stephanie sy. america's president's both past and present are holding a summit to mark the 50th year of the civil rights act, which we've covered a lot here, but the summit really looks at where we are today in america. >> and however we have to go, as well. plus doctors are using a groundbreaking new technique they say may bring patients back to life after they die. >> they're using freezing of some sort. >> we used to think it's science fiction, but it works. >> chuck hagel paid a visit to his counterpart in china. that got testy at some point. we'll talk about that. >> ukraine is trying to regain

control over jump ricings. >> the second largest city, kharkiv, officials have arrested 70 demonstrators who took over government buildings over the weekend. it comes as the u.s. is warning russia not to meddle in the crisis. >> protestors are given 48 hours to leave the buildings. police arrived unarmed and protestors tell us those police had come to defect. negotiations are on going, the regional governor speaking to both sides. we are seeing an oligarch, a very powerful man in ukraine, the richest man in the country

is around town, as well. the negotiations are also on going where pro russian protestors have taken control of a state security building. they had taken hostage 60 people, most of those people have now been released, but protestors tell us that they are still armed and are still in control of that building, barricades put up outside. so i think now with this ultimatum it will be a question of what kind of a deal both sides can come to, both protestors and police obviously very keen to avoid any blood shed. >> o am any night is an author. >> unmistakable involvement in engaging in separatist

activities is more than deeply disturbing. >> do you believe that he is right, is russia to blame for what we're seeing unfolding in ukraine? >> well, i do. i do believe that secretary kerry is right. of course, we have to remember that there are people in eastern ukraine who are not happy with the new government in kiev, so some of the protestors and people who have taken over government buildings are residents of eastern ukraine, and they do have some strong grievances, particularly economic ones, but clearly, the instigator has been the russians. they supposedly are actually carting people into eastern ukraine from russia. >> i want to show you images that were tweeted by the u.s. ambassador to ukraine, tweeting these images hes says are evidence of a russian military

build up. are these positive proof that russia may have further plans for ukraine military plans as a posed to what we're seeing right now? >> i've red several reports from observers on the scene and military experts suggesting that the russians are poised right now to move into eastern ukraine. i think what they're doing is waiting for an excuse that could come if protests lead a bloodshed. >> think that is one of their definite alternative plans. >> you heard senator john mccain saying walk hard and carry a big stick, but accused the white house and administration of talking hard but carrying a small stick, in fact calling it

a twig. is he right when it comes to vladimir putin? >> yes and no. i think it is regrettable that the obama administration can't take more aggressive steps right now. what they seem to be doing was to say if russia moves into eastern ukraine, then we will do this. the problem with that is that it's a reaction, and i wish that the u.s. could get its european allies to bond together and maybe start issuing sanctions right now, the third level of economic sanctions, for example and perhaps moving some nato troops into poland and the baltic countries. i feel they need to do something before russia. >> is this a case where the u.s. needs to take the lead with the european union or is it a case where the europeanin is forgetting its lessons of

history and waiting on the united states to take the lead? >> that's a good question. i think it's a little of both. obviously, the u.s. has different interests than the european countries in ukraine. we don't have the trade. it's not going to affect us as much if there is a conflict. europeans, the germans are right on the doorstep of ukraine and so i think -- >> do you think they're afraid? >> i don't think they're afraid, not the germans aren't, the people in the baltics, moldava and poland are getting nervous, some saying russian aggression could be a sign that they're going to go further, but i think the real issue is balancing the needs of the economy and trade needs and diplomat concerns with

other countries, so i think they have to balance that with not allowing russian aggression to go too far, and stirring up this problem in ukraine. >> am any knight, as always, thanks for being with us. >> thank you. >> president obama and three former presidents are honoring the 50th anniversary of the landmark civil rights act. a former civil rights leader talks about however america has come and what it still needs to do to achieve the dream. >> it's been 50 years since president lyndon johnson signed the civil rights act. >> i urge every american to join in this effort. >> an effort that continues this week at the l.b.j. presidential library in austin. >> it was out of that environment that i saw when i went into the state senate however we still had to go.

>> they will all speak at the three day forum, an important look back at the sacrifice and struggle a half century ago and the work still left to be done. >> that struggle is going to go on. >> he walked in alabama and washington, often alongside his friend, dr. martin luther thing. the 95-year-old activist marches slower now, but the purpose in his step, the passion in his message are just as participate today. >> for me, the political answer and social answer is to bring the opportunities to those that feel left out now, so that they can feel that they are part of the suction of the struggle. >> that's why so many are gathering, honoring the progress of the last half century while

working setting the agenda. >> this old man of 95 doesn't stop, the whole world is watching and we have a responsibility to prove that we hold these truths to be self evident, that all people are created equal. >> former president carter said there are still inequalities between black and white americans. >> we still have gross disparity between black and white people on employment. >> president's obama and george w. bush will address the summit thursday. >> rhode island is trying to improve working conditions for residents with disabilities that comes after a deal with the justice department. the state was accused of violating the americans with disabilities act, the settlement will cover 3,000 residents who work with minimal social contact, paid an average of $2.21, about 450,000 people with

disabilities work in sheltered workshops nationwide. >> in the u.s., children with intellectual disabilities often have many of their needs met by the school system but no longer covered as adults. their care often falls to family members who say they don't have enough support. >> grace is 19 years old, takes the bus to school every day. she's a successful artist with exhibits all over the country and she has autism. >> what's next? >> she is very challenged. you would categorize it as moderately severe, intellectual disabilities and moderately severe speech language disorder. she does need 24 hour care. >> her mom is her full time caregiver, right now, they rely on school funded services in tennessee where children with disabilities get help from the

state school system. the state supported buses and school promise for grace will end, then she'll join 7,000 intellectually disabled duties in tennessee on the waiting list for state medicate services, including therapy, wheelchairs and job coaching, things not covered by most holt insurance policies. >> i describe it like this, we're standing on a precipice, on the edge of a precipice and peering into a black hole of diminishing services. >> we have pockets of greatness throughout tennessee but as a total state, not all the systems work really well together. >> she says the problem is the state's medicaid prom is severely underfunded. while thousands are in need, only 200 people are taken off the waiting list each year. >> if that person's not completely independent, there is

no support for most people right now. >> the state says it's plan to go redesign the system to serve more people with less money and offering some limited increases in services. >> currently, the state of tennessee is in a budget crisis, and however, despite the fact that the budget is very tight right now, we do have funding currently allotted to us next year to grow the people receiving our services by 100. >> while grace has an art outlet, she worries she may never get the resources that would allow her to thrive. >> there are more than a million people in tennessee who have some form of disability. >> there is a high fire risk in the west today. let's bring in meteorologist nicole mitchell with more on that. good morning, nicole. >> good morning, we are talking about warm temperatures in the midsection of the country, so the central plains easily in the

70's and 80's as we get into states like nebraska, kansas, oklahoma, that's the area we're talking about, well up as far north even into south and north carolina, southern portions of those states and this matches some of the areas that we actually have drought conditions, exceptional drought in parts of western oklahoma and north texas. what we're going to see today is we have winds that are going to come out of the southwest, and then you add in the warmer temperatures and those two things are going to add to lower humid, plus as the winds go, right now, at the 10-mile per hour range, but in this afternoon, gusting in the 25-mile per hour range, that's going to fuel anything that gets going. you need to be careful. it sounds like we just had a lot of rain last week, a lot of people remembering that, so why a fire danger, the yellows and reds is where we have the heavy rain. it's just and you said of that area, the area that we're talking about actually missed out on a lot of that rain.

this is rainfall from the last week. here the yell lows and reds mean you were below average. that's exactly what we're going to see, those areas under the fire arriving. the week ahead, not a lot of great chances for rain in any of those areas, it's going to be pretty dry the next few days. back to you. >> five time olympic swimming champion ian thorpe is now hospitalized in sydney, australia, fighting an infection that could cost him the use of his left arm. the 31-year-old swimmer contracted the infection after undergoing shoulder surgery. his agent says the infection is not life threatening, but he probably won't be able to swim competitively again. >> the u conn women now have another national title. >> one day after the men won the basketball tournament, the women

did the same, earning their ninth title, fans flooding the campus after the win, completing a perfect season. this is the second time the university has won both national titles at the same time. >> they were indominatable. some players reevaluate the risk of playing that sport. >> we have the story of an nfl hopeful looking to use his degree, trying to make the game safer. >> this is a very unique prospect, 29 days away from the event that gives every nfl fan hope, the 2014 nfl draft. excellent prospects will come from all over the united states and this year from north of the border. michael eaves has the story of a canadian whose career path could have been both delivering blows and helping players withstand them. >> football is a violent sport,

a sport of collisions and nowhere that is more evident than along the line of scrimmage where blow after powerful blow is delivered. an offensive lineman and medical student in montreal, it's a fusion of both worlds. >> you have to be passionate and watch a lot of film and analyze the opponent, because every opponent is different. it's the same thing with medicine, every patient is different and you have to understand them, and there's a lot of numbers, too, a lot of science behind it. i find sometime the strategy of football and medicine can have some similarity. >> the player has a future in professional football as evidented by the nine nfl teams and three canadian teams that showed up to his pro day in montreal. that won't stop this lineman from making his contribution to modern medicine while putting his academics on hold.

he will wear a sensor in his helmet that will attack the severity and frequency of hits he delivers and receives. >> when we diagnose a concussion, it's hard to get the follow up right. to have a device, helps you to be able to track all the hits that the kid received with an ipad or ipod and then be able to know who is more at risk to get a concussion. just to be able not to prevent, but diagnose them quicker and refrain the player from going back on the field. >> the risk is real. he's willing to take that chance but believes he can mitigate the risk by changes in technique. >> if you fell on somebody, you have less risk to injury yourself than if somebody fell own, that's the main principle. just in terms of the way you block, you don't want to throw your head into the opponent's chest. i want to put my head there but

work with my arm to push the player. that's maybe a little different in technique that makes me less susseptemberrable to get a concussion. >> it couldn't hurt if his smarts give him an edge. >> to be labeled as a smart kid i think helped my case for sure. >> when his career in football is over, he can use his experience and knowledge to help teams with the treatment of concussions. >> 10 years down the road for sure, i would love to be a sport doctor and go back to study and be like a qualified doctor in my field and also be able to help teams. >> he is a legitimate prospect, speed, strength and workout numbers the best among those at

the combine if invited. some have him drafted as high as the third round. >> that is rare for canadians. >> absolutely. this guy's got a future. >> this is a story that has a lot of comic book fans talking and asking why, the death of archie, the impending death. >> they are going to kill the comic book icon after more than 70 years. we're going to talk about that and other headlines around the world. >> you may have heard of people being cryogenically frozen. doctors are testing procedures to bring patients back to life. >> they're dead and you brought them back. >> dead for hours.

>> a live look here at the sun

rising over gorgeous lake michigan in port washington, wisconsin. it's not to have a shot from the midwest. >> looks nice. >> welcome back to aljazeera america. i'm stephanie sy. >> up next, we're going to be talks about the death of a beloved comic book character, archy. >> actually talking about that. the technology giving doctors a second chance to save a life. >> nicole mitchell is smiling, surveying what you saw in wisconsin you may see across the country today. >> lots of sighting of sunshine today. the midwest had extremely cold, snow why winter, it's a little nice to get both the mild temperatures and sunshine. you can see the midsection of the country pretty dry. that could help fuel potential fires in the central plain, watch for that risk we've been talking about. the couple areas with just spots of moisture moving through north carolina, but it's warm mist hit with that and the same thing hit

in the midwest, just a couple sprinkles. >> it happens every two years, mars reaching a point in orbit directly opposite the sun. the red planet can be seen with the naked eye all night long. it won't appear this big and bright again until 2016. >> other stories making headlines, a light spotted on the surface of the red planet, you can see it faintly in the background, nasa saying we get these type of sitings all the time, but i'm not sure. >> u.f.o. sitings.com say it's proof there is life under the surface. >> a c.e.o. salary is zero,

zilch, no com. hizeation, tying his prime ministerrance to the prime ministerrance of the country. this is a trend we're seeing among c.e.o.'s that are seen. usually they take the stock options, this guy is taking nothing. this company has seen exponential growth. >> fans of archy, the los angeles times is reporting that the red head is going to die. i can't believe this. you have to wonder what it means now and will they bring him back like they do other comic book characters. >> it is sort of a parallel comic to the mainstream archy comic. he will live on in the mainstream comic, life with archie is archie in the future. >> they did the same thing with superman a while back, 10 comic book span of superman dying. >> surgeons in arizona and pittsburgh have developed a way to stop the clock and save lives

of critically injured patients putting them in suspended animation. it could mean the difference between life and death. >> if you were to die in an emergency room from a gunshot wound, you would stand less than a 7% chance of being revived. >> i don't have a pulse anymore. >> doctors at the university of pittsburgh, university of arizona have cooled patients to 10 degrees celsius, just 50 degrees pattern height they replace their blood with cold saline. neither alive or dead, their hearts still as stones, patients can in theory come back to life after two hours in this state of suspended animation. in a new f.d.a. trial this month, 10 gunshot victims dead from cardiac arrest will receive the treatment. if all goes well, five more hospitals will test the technique later this year.

dr. peter reeve, who saved gabby gifford has tested the procedure on pigs. >> so they're dead and you brought them back. >> no blood in their body, dead, dead, dead. >> bringing a patient down to 10-degree celsius can buy them two hours to bring the patient back. the life foundation is the most mocked for having preserved ted williams head along with other people in this way. the technology here and what the doctors have developed are similar up to a point. >> it's very closely related. our initial procedures were for removing the blood and body fluids, replacing them with a solution. >> the difference is that here, the dead are eventually intoo

maned in liquid nitrogen and whole enterprise based on faith and future medical advances. his work has caused him to share that he can bring back more people. >> i think about using this for space travel, i think about cry yo jenic freezing. >> he's crazy. i went through every thought that you had, everything that you mentioned. my brain has wanders about going to mars, taking people with cancer, and suspending them until we get their cancer cures going on. i think that if you bring in somebody that died that was shot and died yesterday, that scenario is not going to change but for people who come in and died within five or 10 minutes of them hitting my bed right here, you can get to going from 2% to fist% in a few years. >> hypothermia could be the

standard for saving people in a few years. if that happens, we'll have rewritten yet again the clinical definition of death. >> doctors plan to test the procedure on 10 patients and compare the results with 10 control subjects. >> these are the stories we're following at this hour, ukraine now regaining control over one of thee eastern cities, pro russian activists taking over government buildings. >> two pings picked up under the indian ocean, another hopeful sign that the search crews will find the missing airliner. >> oscar pistorius is facing tough questions on cross examination about the night that he shot and killed his girlfriend. >> sea world's killer while could become a thing of the past. why these animals need to be returned to the wild. >> it's a dry and warm forecast

for most of the country. i'll have that forecast.

>> a country divided, ukrainian lawmakers fighting as some try to stop another part of ukraine from breaking away. >> i'm optimistic that we will find the aircraft or what is left of the aircraft in the not too distant future. >> there are more hopeful signs in the hunt for malaysia

airlines flight 370 as new pings are detected that could be the plane's black boxes. >> >> every nation has a right to establish air defense zones, but not a right to do it unilaterally. >> a territorial dispute between china and japan waying a war of words between the u.s. and beijing. >> it's a long accepted practice for keeping orka's practice must end. >> putting captive animals back in the wild. >> that standoff between pro russian supporters and ukraine security forces continues, pro russian protestors holding government buildings in two cities. ukraine's government alleges they hold dozens of hostages. ukraine security forces cracking

down in kharkiv, arrested 70 demonstrators who then took over government buildings on sunday. this standoff comes as the u.s. and nato warn russia about meddling in the crisis. we have details. >> the chants are familiar, like those last month in crimea when it broke away and voted to join russia. this time, the calls for independence come from three cities across eastern ukraine. >> obviously we're concerned about what russia has done in crimea, very concerned about the presence of substantial troop numbers on the ukrainian border. we're concerned about efforts underway in ukraine to destabilize the situation there in eastern ukraine, destabilize the government. >> ukrainian police regained control of the government building, but protestors outside held firm, demanding a

referendum that would allow the region to join russia. just so the south, masked men have held the security headquarters for three days. authorities say they are holding 60 hostages, a charge the protestors deny. the activists confirmed they had seized an armory full of automatic rifles, their supporter outside also loyal to russia. >> in denejsk, another government building remains in the hands of government protestors who maintain the region is now independent. >> violence that spread to kiev where a brawl broke out in parliament between moscow supporters and members of the new ukrainian government. >> russia's illegal aggression against ukraine is the greatest challenge to europe security in a generation. i urge russia to step back and not escalate the situation in

eastern ukraine. >> the chaos in ukraine is not going unnoticed in the u.s. secretary of state john kerry is accusing russia of orchestrating the unrest by financing outside agitators. >> everything that we've seen in the last 48 hours from russian provocateurs and agents operating in eastern ukraine tells us that they've been sent there determined to create chaos. >> russia's foreign minister pushed back, tweeting in english, stop laying the blame at hour door. >> for the latest we go live to phil ittner, who is in london. phil, what is the u.s. and nato trying to do in this latest war of words. >> they're trying to send a very clear message to moscow on the military front. it is a military alliance, nato that if there is more land grabbing in the eastern part of the country that nato and the country are prepared to respond

to it, some show of military might. we have heard there is going to be a u.s. missile destroyer sent to the black seas in the coming days. the interior ministry coming out with a statement saying within the next 48 hours, the situation, unrest in the east of the country will be resolved, either in their words by negotiation or by the use of force. that kind of language, the use of force is something that moscow has responded to, saying that if kiev decides to use force in the east, it would tantamount to the beginning of a civil war. >> phil ittner live in london, phil, thank you very much. >> aljazeera has more on the challenges the ukraine government is facing trying to end the standoff in the east. >> the government here in kiev held a cabinet meeting to discuss the crisis in the east. the interior minister says that

there were two options on the table, either peaceful negotiations or to use a military force, but in both cases, said the situation in the east would be solved within 48 hours. that's a huge challenge for the government in kiev. peaceful negotiations so far have not been very fruitful, except in the city of kharkiv where the minister of interior went. he is from that city and managed to convince protestors to evacuate the government building they seized. in the rest of the east, the stand your remains exactly the same. the second option is the use of military force. ukraine has been showing that it is getting ready, soldiers have been drafted, reservists called in, videos have been shown by the defense ministry, showing the capability of the ukrainian military. all that is happening, but it is a step that would certainly

provoke a reaction from moscow and according to the ukrainian government itself, is about 40,000 russian soldiers just on the other side of the border, so certainly the use of military action is something that kiev will mull over carefully and is probably something that it could not do alone without the help of its western allies. >> the u.n. ambassador to ukraine says there is proof russia is preparing to invade ukraine, tweeting these photos today, saying they show russia's military build-up near the ukrainian border, moscow denying the allegations saying the military activities are not unusual or unplanned. coming up, ukraine and the the only former satisfactory jet country looking to make a return to russia. why some in moldova say they want to be aligned with moscow.

>> new signals are detected that are consistent with the missing malaysia airlines flight 370 black boxes, more pings coming from the same area earlier heard. >> it has covered a vast area of the ocean, now officials believe they're much closer to finding out what happened. this sonar device can detect the pings sent out by the black box. it heard transmissions saturday and sunday briefly, but late on tuesday, reacquired the signals twice. >> it has now detected four transmissions in the aim broad area. yesterday's signals will assist in better defining a reduced and much more manageable search area on the ocean floor.

>> that is vitally important, because officials say they can only deploy their robotic submarine once they found visual evidence of wreckage. >> the operation to find m.h.370 is a multi-national effort involving planes and ships from many countries. the australian government has taken the lead and is coordinating the effort, but the sheer size of their task is daunting. a search area of more than 75,000 square kilometers of ocean in depths of up to 4,000 meters and the flight recorders are not much big are than a large shoe box. the australians are convinced they are looking in the right place, and the signals they're hearing are from flight recorders. aljazeera. >> a search for the source of those transmissions has an added sense of urgency. the batteries and the beak

consist have passed their 30 day life expectance. >> a marine standing guard at camp lejune shot and killed a fellow marine. officials believe the weapon was fired accidentally. >> our thoughts and prayers are with all the families involved at this point. this is ruled an isolated incident, neither an act of terrorism nor an active shooter situation. >> an investigation is currently underway. >> president obama will take part in a memorial today for the victims of the fort hood shooting. the president and first lady will join 2,000 soldiers and families at the texas military post, paying tribute to the three soldiers shot and killed by iraqi war veteran ivan lopez last wednesday. the president attended a memorial in the 2009 shooting. we will bring you live coverage of the service that begins this afternoon at 3:00 eastern standard time.

>> the president will get a firsthand account of the tragic washington state mud slide, expected to travel to that area april 22. he will survey the damage and meet with family members of the victims and talk with first responders and recovery workers. meanwhile on tuesday, officials put the death toll there at 35, 11 people are still missing. >> israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu ordering his negotiators not to meet with the palestinian counter parts. the state department is walking back comments from secretary of state john kerry who said tuesday that israeli was to blame for the breakdown in talks. kerry telling the senate foreign relations committee that israeli's failure to release palestinian prisoners and plans for new settlements in east jerusalem are endangering the talks. >> unfortunately, the prisoners weren't released saturday that were supposed to be released, and so day went by, day two, day

three went by and then in the afternoon when they were about to maybe get there, 770 settlement units were announced in jerusalem and poof, that was sort of the moment. >> a short time later, the state department released this statement saying: >> 23 people are dead, dozens more injured after a market bombing in pakistan this morning. the bomb was hidden in a box of fruit and went off as vendors were setting up for the day's business. no one is claiming responsibility for the attack so far. >> fraud did play a role in the historic elections in afghanistan over the weekend. speaking to reporters today, the

head of the independent election complaints commission said the president's race may have suffered from fraud. >> with ballots coming in, it will be many weeks before the independent election commission delivers its definitive verdict on who will be the next penalty of afghanistan. the three front runners are already expressing confidence in their victory chances. a abdullah abdullah believes he will receive 58% of the vote. >> it's a huge responsibility of a national scope and dimensions, and hopefully, everybody is aware of the burden that is on everybody's shoulders.

>> this team thinks their man is heading to the national plays with 60% of the vote. a run off may be necessary. >> the polls closed, ballots counted and posted on every polling station in the country. the initial announcement should be released within the next few days. >> the final results aren't expected for weeks, because ballot boxes have to come in from all across the country. >> dry weather in the u.s. are creating a high risk of fire. >> most people really enjoy the fact that the temperatures have

gotten warmer for the next couple of days and some sunshine, but there's always a second side to that. temperatures today somewhere like oklahoma city at 81 degrees, the warmer the temperatures get, the more it dries out the vegetation, just kind of like turning on a hot hair dryer, especially when you add wind into all of that that's coming out of the southwest, a dry region, those two things willower humids through the day and you can see this large area in red as far north at minnesota, places like oklahoma, texas, nebraska, those are all places we have that fire arriving. the winds were fairly light, but will start to crank up into the afternoon hours, gusting into the 20-mile per hour range. it will help fuel any flames they are moving along and really move those along. you might be thinking that we just got a lot of rain over the last week. a lot of that was the eastern half of the country, just past the region we were talking about, so these bright reds and

yell lows are the heavy rains, but the blues are places that barely got a trace. places like in oklahoma where we have the high fire danger, we really didn't get a lot of that and this shows how much below average, the reds are blow average the last week versus the purposeles. those are the cases like the gulf coast that really got the heavy stuff. ahead, we are dry in the southwest, keeping fire dangers high for us day in and day out for the next week. back to you. >> we're following a breaking story this morning. these are aerial pictures out of pittsburgh, pennsylvania. multiple students stabbed at a high school in the suburbs of pittsburgh. police are on the scene right now at franklin reinennal high east of downtown pittsburgh. as many as five students have been injured, the suspect is said to be in custody, and a reminder to stay with aljazeera america for developments on this story. we will continue to watch this story and update you as needed.

>> a new cyber security threat could have a significant impact on millions of internet users. google researchers and security experts uncovered a software bug used for encryption around the world, making it possible for hackers to hack user information, passion words, banking details and trade secrets all vulnerable. on tuesday, yahoo was working to fix the problem and tumbler has sent warnings to users, as well. >> there has been a shake up involving secret service agents who guard the president, agents reassigned after embarrassing incidents, three agents sent home last month after one was found drunk in a hotel lobby before the president arrived in the netherlands. agents are barred from drinking within 12 hours of a shift and 24 hours of the president's arrival on a trip. >> toyota is recalling more than 60.5 million cars worldwide trying to fix steering and seat

issues. the models recalled have faults in the steering columns and seatbelt harness he is. the automakers saying they are not aware of accidents related to these issues. >> things grinding to a halt in greece, a picket line shutting down services there. the austerity measures that are driving the demonstrations. >> an apparent sniper opening fire in a major sufficient city. >> former olympian oscar pistorius facing questions from the prosecution in his murder trial as he fights to prove that he is innocent.

>> the prime minister of greece ahead of austerity measures

there. million dollars temperatures in portions of the northern plains, billings 54. thinking 39, it's been a are you ever winter, so starting off at 39 is part of the pattern. the warmer temperatures are going to be over the central portion of the united states because the jetstream goes well to the north. in the south sector of that, you have warmer than average temperatures and usually if you have on the north sector of that line, the temperatures are not cooler. today, minneapolis definitely in the warm sector, 70 degrees through the course of the day. tomorrow warmer air shifts.

>> we are live in athens. my is angela merkel targeted and what's as stake for the protestors there? >> >> it is largely germany that has inspired and enforced that choice of policy for the euro zone particularly the periphery countries that have not done well in terms of competing with world markets and exporting goods and services. it is brave of her to come here. she came here last year as well to show political support for the government. the greeks during this cries have lost about a third of their income, still suffering from a 27% unemployment rate. it is clear there is a lot of financial exhaustion to manage to produce the same level of income tax and indirect tax they

produced before the cries just in order to pay for state services, also pay off greeces debts to creditors. there's a lot of political exhaustion, the government very, very keen to show that its approval ratings still negative as a recent poll found on monday are about to change and that its fate in upcoming european elections in may will be better than it appears to be today. >> what impact did the strike have on the countries infrastructure interns of business and transportation especially? >> in the public sector, these general strikes tend to be observed in the civil service and local government, transport effectively ordered back to work by government and court orders earlier this year, so there hasn't been much of an impact on buses, trains, shipping and so on. the private sector has largely

ignored it, banks and shops open this morning, so were offices. it isn't basically possible for people to go on strike here in greece. >> as those unions in greece talk about austerity measures, the country prepares to reenter the bond market thursday. $3 billion in long term debt will be sold. this is the first time the company has access to international markets. the economy has its work cut out for it, unemployment now a record 28%. >> executives from comcast and time warner facing lawmakers, expected to join a plan to join forces before the senate. this is the first hearing focusing on the bailout deal announced in february. comcast saying the merger would benefit consumers and one

analyst agrees. >> there is a lot of the opposition that has come out against this merger has come from the same sort of groups that continually oppose any merger just on the simple terms that big is always bad, and i don't think that that's the case. there are a lot of good reasons to believe that a larger company man more efficiently serve its consumers in both video and broad band markets. >> consumer groups argue the deal would reduce competition and raise prices. the combined company will reach one in three homes through broad band and cable subscriptions. >> the dow up ahead, snapping their three day losing streak yesterday.

european markets are posting gains at this hour. >> a war are words between the u.s. and beijing, why the fighting over land between neighbors in asia could lead to war. >> sea world's most iconic attraction could soon be illegal. the legislation that could force the parks killer whales back into the wild. >> while the u conn men won it all by beating the competition, the u conn women obliterated the competition. highlights ahead.

>> a live look over lake michigan in wisconsin. nicole mitchell said the sun could be shining across most of the u.s. today. welcome to al jazeera america. ahead in our next half hour, defense secretary chuck hagel and his chinese counterpart at a policy standoff. >> oscar pistorius is back on the stand after becoming

emotionally overwhelmed during his account of the night that he killed his girlfriend. we begin with the crisis in ukraine, kiev lawmakers are moving to regain control of cities in the east. riot police on tuesday cracking down on pro russian protestors in the countries second largest city of kharkiv. demonstrators overtook a building over the weekend. the standoff comes amid the u.s. and nato warning russia about meddling in the crisis. it is not just ukraine worried, moldova is dealing with a small southern province that says it wants to return to russia, as well. most people there feel more aligned to russia than europe. >> history has driven many paths, but russian tanks will be needed to reclaim it for moscow. the welcome sign above this

musical academy shows the languages used here, turkish, moldovan and russian. the president of the region made us turkish coffer fee and told us why he is opposed to joining the european union. >> the leaders have been robbing the people blind while they are screaming they are moving towards europe. the e.u. is patting them on the shoulder and telling them they are doing a good job. this is not a success story, it is corruption, thievery, how many rights abuses and discrimination against the ethnic minorities. >> in february, 98.5% of the people voted to join thure reaction customs union. as president putin's special plan to reintegrate the trade routes of the old satisfactory

jet union. the map of exports of wine shows why the bulk of them go to kassing stan, and russia, all of whom have signed up to putin's plan. these wine producers were toasted their president. he's just returned from moscow and got the import ban imposed on moldovan wine. >> laboring in the heat of mid-day, preparing the ground, these women earn just $10 a day. >> our bosses want us to join the e.u., but they make us work for pennies, the prices here are as high as the west, but the salaries are moldovan witness europe is not for us. >> the stocks find plenty to feed on, not the case for this woman begging by the side of the road. she didn't want our money, she wanted food. she couldn't reach the village

shop. her daughter had left her alone. despair and poverty on the doorstep of the european union. aljazeera, moldova. >> the region technically broke away from moldova in 1990 but is not officially recognized. >> the u.s. and china are butting heads over beijing escalating territorial disputes with its neighbors, chuck hagel criticizing china for setting up an air defense zone while meeting with his chinese counterpart. >> every nation has a right to establish air defense zones, but not a right to do it unilaterally with no collaboration, no consultation. that adds to tensions, misunderstandings, and could eventually add to and eventually

get to dangerous conflict. >> now china claims 90% of the south china sea where the pill teens also stake claims, it also has a separate dispute with japan over uninhabited land curveball controlled by japan. gordon change is auditor of the coming collapse of china. good morning. >> good morning. >> now one big reason the secretary of defense in china is over fear about tensions rising in the region. you maintain that they are at the boiling point and actually will lead to war. why? >> right now, you have for instance, the japanese prime minister in davos in january talking this period looking like 1914, and then in february, philippine president saying no, it's 1938. countries in the region are very concerned about china's territorial claims. it is using force to try to take

territory away from an arc of nations from india in the south to south korea in the north. this is a dangerous situation, because one incident that china causes could spiral out of control and involve the region. >> who does this war involve and could it involve the u.s.? >> it could very well, we have treaty obligations to defend japan, south korea and the philippines. we have many other friends threatened by chain in a in the region. right now, you have the chinese sending ships and planes into territory controlled by other nations. that is extremely provocative and dangerous. the united states we don't take a position on which territory belongs to which country, but we do take the position of course because of our treaties that we will defend territory that is in fact administered by japan, south korea and the philippines. >> now on tuesday with secretary

hagel standing by his side, china's general change telling reporters china can never be contained. what should we make of that? what should the u.s. make of those words? >> well, secretary hagel should have turned around around said yes, china can be contained and the united states with its allies and friends will contain china, because of china's very expansive claims, which really have very little justification, they are upsetting the region, driving the region to conflict. the united needs to contain china, because why wouldn't you contain a territorially aggressive state that is using force? it just seems to me with he need to be much clearer with the chinese in public and we need to be clearer with them in private, as well. i think that essentially president obama needs to take -- go to the podium and tell the chinese they cannot use force to grab territory from other

nations, especially our treaty friends and allies. >> now the chinese did allow the defense secretary to tour the aircraft carrier. was this simply a symbolic gesture? >> it was symbolic and important because it was. of course, we didn't learn anything, because this is a, you know, a burial vessel that the chinese have just reconditioned as a training ship. what really would have been important is if there would have been for instance a dialogue on china's cyber policies and its techniques and what it's doing and what it hopes to accomplish. this is what the united states did a month or so ago when it had an unprecedented briefing for the chinese about america's cyber capabilities and policies. they haven't reciprocated that. that would have been important. what we need is for the chinese to reciprocate these initiatives and over a period of decades, they really have not done so. >> i'm fascinated by your call

for the president to go to the podium and warn china. the same was said about syria, libya and now we're dealing with russia and ukraine. if the president goes to that podium and this time absent any military backup, will china see it as hollow words? >> china very well may see it as nothing more than hollow words, but the united states does need to back this up. if we don't, we've been teaching the chinese that aggression works, allowed them to take scar bar row from the philippines, now the chinese bragging about their efforts to take, so we have been teaching the chinese that it's ok to use force and grab territory from other nations. because of that, this is the reason we're in such a dangerous position in asia right now, because the chinese don't see any bounds. president obama needs to say things in public, he needs to

back them up with military assets. unfortunately, we've gotten ourselves into that position. we have paved all the way for history's next great conflict, teaching the chinese that all the wrong lessons. >> gordon, thank you very much. >> north korea has reportedly executed a government official with a flame thrower. the man is one of the high ranking 11 officials jailed over the weekend. the execution was ordered last december. one of those killed over the weekend was reportedly his uncle's older sister. the man reportedly burned alive was a senior official accused of protecting his sister. >> a sniper may be terrorizing drivers in and around kansas city. 13 incidents of shots fired at cars have occurred.

there is an investigation to determine if this is the work of a serial shooter. >> a bullet pierced his car. >> something hit the car, didn't know what it was, pulled over at my first opportunity and that's when i saw the bullet hole. >> he is one of the victims of an apparent sniper targets drivers around kansas city. all of the shootings have happened near exit ramps of two different interstates, no one killed but two drivers hit in their legs and another in the arm. one woman reported finding a bullet hole just inches from her toddler daughter's car seat. >> it's scary to think somebody is out here doing this with no record for what can happen. >> police have connected six of the shootings but only two victims have been able to describe either the shooter or the car they may have been driving. >> we have received tips on the case that continue to come in. >> there is a $7,000 reward

offered to find whoever is terrorizing this city. >> we're right on the edge of someone getting killed. anytime you have a random shooter with no reason, our mindset behind them, just taking rounds and putting them in the cars is causing problems for everyone. >> this case is reminiscent of the beltway sniper from 2003 when 10 people were killed over three weeks. one shooter was put to death, the other serving life in prison. >> there has about that a shooting on kansas city highways every day last wednesday through sunday. so far, there have been none this week. >> a hearing set to get underway today concerning the boston marathon bombings. the former police commissioner is set to testify on capitol hill, looking back on the bombing to see how it happened and what can be done to prevent a similar attack. a recent homeland security committee report said authorities missed opportunities

which may have altered the course of those events. >> chicago's mayor has won support to tackle the city's pension program. illinois house and senate approve the reform plans, including hiking up property taxes by $750 million over the next five years. chicago that the words funded pension system of any major u.s. city. officials warning the underfunded program would be out of money in little more than a decade. that measure now heading to the governor's office for approval. >> sea world in california can continue to show the killer whales for another year, lawmakers table a measure to ban those performances. we look at how the controversy are behind the show. >> some say they are too large and intelligent to be kept in

captivity and forced to perform. >> life in cramps tanks is no prize for ores and dolphins. >> some california lawmakers agree. in march, legislation was introduced banning captive orka performances and make it illegal to hold them in captivity for entertainment purposes. >> senator bloom introduced the bill. it faced its first legislative test at a wildlife committee hearing. >> that would be a game-changer for sea world. orca's perform as sold-out shows, sell millions of dollars in merchandise and are the stars of the park's marketing campaign. at sea world, san diego, there are 10 orcas that perform. losing them would be like disneyland losing mickey house. >> sea world defended its orca

program. >> i take deep pride in our animal health program, especially as applied to our killer whales. they receive the highest level of care available. >> the loss of continuing access to this diverse and thriving group of animals would have a devastating effect. >> san diego's mayor agrees. >> it is extremely important to the economy, providing thousands of jobs, good paying jobs. they've been an incredibly strong fabric of the san diego community for generations. >> it appears sea world could lose some of its strongest supporters, young children pushing parents to visit the parks to see the orcas perform. these groups delivered symbolic cardboard boxes, representing 1.2 million signatures supporting the proposed ban. this 10-year-old in the middle succeeded in getting her school to cancel its annual spring trip to is a he world. she explained the reason she is taking action this way.

>> wouldn't you rather see whales not treated right or see real whales in the ocean and go what i will watching? >> watching and now waiting. >> california lawmakers look more closely whether they will go free or if the show will go on. >> the decision last night calling for a detailed study of the program, saying that will take about a year. >> they are running out of brooms in connecticut right now, because they have just done a major sweeping exercise in the ncaa. >> a sweeping exercise that they very much enjoyed. >> they lined it. >> indeed. the women's national championship game was supposed to be a class sol collision of undefeated titans. instead it was a class sol beat down by one of the most dominant teams in all of sports today. the huskies were ready for

battle on this night, the lay-in part of a trend, tic-tac-toe to stewart, two of her 21. u conn was dominant, outscoring notre dame in the paint. from the outside, she had 18. u conn kept playing hard late, up double digits off the steal, making the extra pass. getting the bucket, she has 17 points. u conn wins to secure a ninth national title for the coach and titles in both men's and women's hoops in 2014 for the university of connecticut. >> there really isn't much that you can say when we have a performance like that, where your players are just really locked in to what we wanted to do and how we wanted to do it.

it was just an incredible effort by the entire team. >> when you shook hands there after the game, what did you all say to each other? >> i said something like i thought we were playing the miami heat for a while, you guys were just that good. what a great season, you know, things like that. i thought they were just missing lebron was the only thing they were missing. >> he was busy last night playing the nets. >> the brewers ryan braun showed his face tuesday, the man who served a 65 game suspension was harangued with boos and periodic chants of cheater as the phillies hosted the brewers. all braun did in response was have himself a grand old time at the expense of phillies pitching, drilling it to deep left and gone, three-run home run, first of the year, brewers

led, up five. braun hits it to the opposite field this time, a solo home run, moves into third on the brewers all time home run lift with 213. brewers lead 6-1. top of the yard, two on for braun, he crushes one to left, a three-run home run, his third of the day, it's his second career three home run game. he made a diving catch in the outfield, too. brewers win 10-4. >> tuesday was the anniversary of the nightal downing threw the pitch that hank aaron hit over the wall for home run 715, moving past babe ruth to become at the time baseball's all time home run king. in atlanta, the braves honor the man who offered the moment in braves history, uniforms styled like the ones worn on that fateful night, when aaron facing the los angeles dodgers sent the pitch over the left field fence.

aaron is now 80 years old, he addressed the crowd. >> i want to thank all of you, the fans here tonight, that what you stand for was the same thing that you stood for 40 years ago. was here cheering for me then and you are here tonight, and i am very grateful for that. thank you very much. >> he finished his major league career with 755 home runs. that's a look at sports for this hour. >> one of the nicest men in baseball. >> absolutely, he was. he is. >> when we come back, we'll talk about another dramatic day of testimony in the trial of oscar pistorius as prosecutors urge him to take responsibility for killing his girlfriend.

>> breaking news out of the pittsburgh area this morning, we are now hearing that as many as 20 students, 20 students may have been injured at that stabbing at a high school in suburban pittsburgh. police are on the scene. it took place at franklin regional high school. the suspect is in custody. we continue to follow this story and will bring you the latest developments. >> just ahead, more on how the testimony of oscar pistorius at his murder trial could affect the final decision of the case. first, nicole mitchell said the sun will be sidelining on most of you today. good morning. >> good morning, temperatures will be mild, across the country, a couple showers mid atlantic barely making it to the ground, if it is, it is pretty light. northwest, skirting across idaho, montana, very isolated area here. whole midsection of the country pretty dry especially the

eastern half after the rain. could actually use rain in the central plains where we have between warm temperatures, wind kicking up and dry conditions. that's the fire risk as far north at minnesota and down into portions of texas. for this area, not a lot of rain expected even in the next five days. back to you. >> there was more emotional testimony today from oscar pistorius, the former olympian defending hips during cross examination. he is on trial for killing his girlfriend on valentine's day last year. the prosecutors showed a video of pistorius shooting at a watermelon. when it explodes, he compares the fruit to brains. the prosecutor showed the court a graphic picture of reeva steenkamp's head. >> you know the same thing happened to her head. it exploded.

>> i've taken responsibility. >> he then saying he thought he heard and intruder and accidentally shot his girlfriend through the bathroom door. he faces life in prison if convicted. our legal contributor joins us here. today's testimony, the showing of that video with him at a gun range and then his testimony, what impact do you think that had on the judge. >> i don't think that this cross examination was terribly effective. i should say that this has been the most emotionally impactful testimony i have ever seen. del, i have covered every celebrity trial that weaver seen

in this country and some internationally. i've talked to the people who have been in that courtroom. they agree. there's never been anything like it in terms of emotion, but to have the prosecutor suggest that he's not taking responsibility, that's not effective. he's been extremely remorseful on the stand. the question is whether or not he's guilty. he may have done this, he may not have knowing she was in the bathroom. he feels guilty for it now. there's no doubt about that. the question for prosecutors and the judge are the nitty gritty facts, the time line, did he intend to kill reeva or did he intend to kill someone else. that's what they need to get it, drilling into his emotional state, unnecessary. >> i want to play you his testimony yesterday during direct examination.

>> so you say this isen issue with about whether the judge sees him as sincere or guilty. >> in a case like this, it's all about the state of mind of the defense. a lot of people, you and i the other day in fact compared this to the simpson case, and it is in many ways like that case. i suggest that this is much more like the zimmerman case, the trayvon martin zimmerman case, because this is a self defense case. in a self defense case, there's really only one thing that matters, the state of mind of the shooter. that's all that matters. all of the rest of it is circumstance.

the judge has to decide what was oscar pistorius thinking at the moment he pulled the trigger. >> what do they need to do next in order to prove that? >> the prosecutor? >> yes. >> it's very, very difficult to prove what anyone was thinking. the only person who knows that is oscar pistorius. it's a story of credibility, who does the george believe oscar pistorius or the prosecutors and prosecutors can never prove what someone was thinking. he's been very credible on the witness stand so all prosecutors can do is drill down on the facts and so far, they've been drilling down on the emotion, the very wrong strategy. >> so far, does oscar pistorius walk from what you've heard. >> that's really about the judge. this is where their system is very different from our system. this is a judge, not a jury. she can remove herself somewhat from the emotion and look at the facts. that's why prosecutors need to focus on the facts.

>> as always, thank you very much. >> we want to show you something different, a cosmic event that happens every two years. mars reaching a point in its orbit when it aligns directly opposite the sun making it visible from the earth. it can be seen all night. it won't appear this big and bright again until 2016. new nasa photos are fueling speculation about whether there is life on mars, several photographs show that little beam of light. nasa say the bright spots show up nearly every week in thousands of photos they take on mars. that will do it for this edition of aljazeera america. we want to take another look at the unrest in ukraine as we leave you and more news including the latest developments on that shooting situation in pittsburgh. all of that news coming out in just two minutes. once again, the situation in ukraine, three major cities now

saying they want to break away and become part of russia, ukraine saying no.

>> announcer: this is al jazeera. ♪ >> welcome to the news hour. i'm here with the world's top stories on al jazeera. kiev's ultimatums to the pro-russian activists in eastern ukraine. the man who would be president for the third biggest democracy. netenyahu tells ministers to stop high-level talks with palestinians. and virtual campaigning, the