to dream about, ask our dreams for an answer. >> and hopefully get the answers. thank you all. see you online. >> welcome to al jazeera america. i'm stephanie sy. here are the stories we're following for you. the supreme court up holds michigan bans again affirmative action in college submission. and president obama goes to washington state. he'll meet the survivors and officers respond officers of that deadly mudslide.

>> coming admissions are changing. the u.s. supreme court dealt another blow to affirmative action programs this morning. the court u upheld the right of states to ban racial preferences in university admissions. >> this case does relate to voter pass constitutional amendment. the voters of michigan said that they didn't want to see any preference given in the public university applicant process, not given for ethnicity, race or gender. a lower federal court overruled that and said that was discriminatory. the supreme court disagreed, and on a ruling 6-2, they upheld the michigan state law, and this changed the michigan constitution.

justice pendy, he wrote this case is not about how the debate of racial preferences should be resolved but rather who may resolve it. and the constitution doesn't authoritoffer the authority to n state law. this is from justice sonya soto meyer, say this puts it to the university that other universities don't face. when you asked about what the implication will be in other states. there are seven other states wit,and this law specificsly res

to michigan. >> thank you. we turn now to another spring court hearing that that will change the way we watch television. the live tv screening violates their copyright and they want the company shut down. on the steps of the supreme court, lisa, this is just one of a series of legal battles that aero is facing. what is the latest with the hearing today? >> reporter: well, there were an hour of arguments on both sides. they have tiny antennas like the ones they put on the house? theirs are the size of a dime. user use the antenna to get over the air broadcasting. but arrow is not paying any money to broadcast that. and broadcasters are saying that that violates copyright laws. and arro aero it broadcasting.

>> we have our state forward position which is the cover cannot provide live tv up over the internet without engaging a public performance. it's as easy as that and the statute protects the public performance rights and aero service violates this public performance right. >> aero argues that it's not a content provider. it just provides the equipment. chief justice roberts talked about whether the technology was designed to circumvent the law of copyright. >> it seems that we're hearing initial uncertainty about how

the supreme court is going to rule. but what is really at stake for the big broadcasters. >> they say this is a make or break decision. they believe if the court finds for aero ,then the broadcasters will lose lots of money, and they may go off the public airwaves entirely, and just become cable providers. there is a lot at stake. the justices weres are very concerned if they ruled against aero ,and what that might do to cloud systems that store content that people want to get. they'll want to walk a very fine line in this case. >> this is a very complicated one. thank you. new tensions in eastern ukraine. the defense ministry reports unidentified gunmen fired on a military plane today. the plane wastable land safely. this comes as vice president joe

biden visited kiev with words of warning for russia. >> we call on russia to stop supporting men hiding behind masks in unmarked uniforms, sowing unrest in eastern ukraine. >> the vice president pledged an additional $50 million to the country. he also said another aid package from the imf worth $18 million will be finaliz finalized. >> reporter: joe biden had tough words for russia from kiev. he said no country had a right to take part of another country, and russia needs to stand by its commitment. he also had many words of praise for the interim government. he said kiev is operating under extremely difficult circumstances and was pushing ahead with painful economic reforms, reforms to root out

corruption. this vision and this language would have been very welcomed by the kiev government. it has been a difficult situation, and it needs friends, and they have been more powerful. but ultimately it's the government that feels that it's country is something in an existential crisis from its giant neighbor to the east. by itthe words from the americae welcome, and at the end of the day joe biden will be flying home to washington, and the government of kiev needs to find a way to coexist with russia. >> united nations is condemning what it calls the targeted killing of hundreds of people in south sudan, more than 200 people inside a mosque in bentiu were killed after forces secured

the city. we have this exclusive report from bentiu. with a warning that blurred out parts of the video because they're disturbing. >> reporter: with no preparation of what was to come. there were so many dead bodies the construction equipment were used to move them. outside of the gate there was another pile of bodies either dragged there or killed together. the stench of death was overwhelming. even for the rebel soldiers standing guard. according to the government, the presence of relevance in the town is a clear indication of responsibility for this massacre. >> they have been violating the

citizens in which it must all come to an end. >> reporter: bentiu has changed hands several times since government and rebel forces began fighting in december. they are believed to be targeted for a specific reason. because rebels from sudan are believed to be fighting. >> what we've seen in betiu town is utterly horrible and beyond description. >> reporter: the u.n. has accused the rebel forces of killing civilians based on their ethnicity, a charge that the rebel command north area denies. >> we don't kill. >> reporter: as the conflict

continues, the level of violence continues even with the sanctuaries coming under attack. al jazeera, south sudan. >> one week after they were abducted there is no word on the missing nigerian school girls, and the discrepancy of how many girls are missing is at issue. >> reporter: conflicting information and ongoing confusion about the number of abducted girls. the officially the figures given from 129 girls missing. the school principal said that has raise on it 230. however, the principal's statement has not been corroborated by the security services, meaning the military, who are standing by the figure of 129 girls initially kidnapped, and a number 6 those have been rescued or escaped. this confusion is exacerbated by the fact that there is no video

of evidence of these girls since the story broke, and it's impossible to access the area because the authorities say it is too dangerous for the media. meanwhile, parents are calling on the security services to do everything they can to find these girls. so far there remains a large number of girls who are still missing. in a separate incident not far away over the weekend another government secondary school was attacked by armed militants. it is not known who is behind the attack, but it does look like the work of boko haram. the group that has been behind so many attacks against schools of western education. clearly given the ongoing information, there are huge concerns about the security services to protect students who

are at school. >> the first to call came from a frightened boy. the death toll continues to rise in south korea's disaster. 100 people are confirmed dead. 200 are still missing. a funeral was held for a navy officer who tried to rescue people from the ferry. funerals were also held for ten students who died in the accident. we have more from jindo. >> they have problems breathing, they cough, vomit-- >> we appreciate. we're having problems with harry's piece there. we'll move on it syria where there are new allegations of a chemical attack this time in hama province where civilians from targeted. syrian rebels blame for the

attacks. we want to warn you there is disturbing footage in this story as well. >> they have trouble breathing, they cough, vomit. this is the hospital, a town in the northern countryside of hama. helicopters have been dropping barrels bombs that contain this poisonous gas. over the past two weeks hundreds of people have been treated. >> using a chlorine gas. when the bombs are dropped, three people have died so far. >> reporter: this is not the first time toxic materials have been used in the war. the united nations said sta sarn

gas was used. >> we have indications of a toxic chemical. we're examining allegations that the government was responsible. we take all allegations of use of chemical in combat very seriously. >> but the people say that's not enough. they want these attacks to stop. >> they're using it as a field of experiment. they want to see if the gas also force people to flee. many people have left the town. >> this is not the only area where chlorine-related incidents have been reported over recent weeks. and the frequency of these

attacks is increasing. >> chlorine is not listed as a banned chemical agent nevertheless it is not allowed to be used as a weapon of war. they have destroyed 80% of syria's declared materials but the government did not include chlorine in its list of stock pile. >> civilians have been largely the victims of these attacks. these chlorine bombs are dropped not far from the front line. >> you'll hear noise about this, but i don't think any particular country or community is going to act on in right now. you sort of got that sense from the white house statement because they want to wait until the last bit of chemical weapons is officially destroyed, then they'll take on this other issue as separate investigation. >> people here feel that the government is backing on international silence as it continues to clear these towns in its push to retake territory. al jazeera. >> the trial of al jazeera's detained journalists in cairo

have been adjourned until may 3. they are falsely accused of providing a platform to the outlawed muslim brotherhood. they have been behind bars for 118 days. the fourth al jazeera journalist has been held in detention without trial since last august. al jazeera denies all charges and continues to demand their release. the u.s. may significantly drop the number of troops in afghanistan. plus a project that pits farmers and environmentalists against energy producers. more details on the delay of the keystone pipeline.

>> these protestors have decided

that today they will be arrested >> these people have chased a president from power, they've torn down a state... >> what's clear is that people don't just need protection, they need assistance. >> south korea's defense ministry is reporting increased activity towards the north's nuclear site. the you south is warning that north korea may be about to on duct a nuclear test.

north korea has had three nuclear tests since 2006. media reports say if you go from the 33,000 troops down to $5,000 with smaller forces with the afghanistan selection. they now believe that afghan forces can handle the taliban insurgency. president obama is flying to washington to meet with families of victims of the oso mudslide. 41 bodies have been recovered from the mudslide. it triggered memories of another mudslide that truck ten years ago. one community fears it could happen again. >> it took 15 seconds for the earth to swallow the heart of la conchita. a 100 year storm 100 day storm.

>> it breaks our heart, and we understand how helpless you feel knowing that relatives and friends could be buried up there, and you don't know where they are. >> reporter: the la conchita slide stopped here. >> this is your house there. >> yes. and this one here-- >> that one is crushed here. these are gone. >> yes. these are gone. this one here, and this one here. see this dirt here, it was level like that. >> reporter: the landscape of buried homes and tributes to the dead, la conchita bears many

similarities to the slide in washington one month ago. it was forewarned. it was preceded by a mini mudslide and it is suspected to happen again. >> at this point we don't have an avenue to move down. >> reporter: in 1995 a landslide took down the left side of this hill so contractors built a wall 20 feet hide and 100 feet long. another landslide effected this hill and that protective wall came down like a house of cards. they say the wall was never meant to stop the slide. to make it safe it would cost $56 million. >> the county has done nothing to fix this hill at all. >> so it remained as it was after the slide. >> and what the study said was that this hill will fail, it will fail in the same location, and it will fail for the same

reason. the dirt is too steep for the hillside. >> reporter: residents learn if yoyoucan get the study done, buu can't necessarily get the save guards that the study recommends. they wait, watch for heavy rains. al jazeera, la conchita. >> more than 100 firefighters put out a fire near the phoenix airport. an oil tanker exploded in an industrial area at least two people were injured. there is no indication the fire interrupted airport operation. well, april has been a great month for wall street so far. the dow jones is up by 1 108 points. over all the dow jones has gained 500 points this month. the obama administration has delayed a ruling on the keystone ex-he will pipeline.

the 1700-mile pipeline would carry 800,000 barrels of crude daily from canada to the gulf coast. as reported, the decision has brown both oubrought out outrag. >> i do want to be clear. allowing the keystone pipeline to be built requires the finding that doing so would be in our nation's interest. >> reporter: canada is the world's sixth largest oil producer and sends virtually all of its crude oil to u.s.

refineries. there are four major pipelines from alberta delivering crude to u.s. markets that and does not include the secondary pop lines that cross the states of montana, wyoming and colorado, so why such big concerns over a new one? part of the reason is location. the keystone excel would travel under the ogalla la aquifer. >> if our waters are contamina contaminated we would have no water for the cattle. >> reporter: there would be new processes of low grade, high sulfur crude that generates more carbon emission than current oil production. but there is a report that it would not worsen carbon solution

because it would reach u.s. markets any way by rail if the pipeline is not built. >> what will happen if we don't do it. if we're not getting that oil, we're importing more oil from other countries. >> the decision fully rests with the state department, with the midterm campaign season quickly approaching, the obama administration said when it comes to a keystone decision it's still going to wait. al jazeera, new york. >> next on al jazeera america. people in rome come out to celebrate a gi big birthday. well it's official...

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>> welcome back to al jazeera america. i'm stephanie sy. here are today's headlines at this hour. college admissions are changing. the u.s. supreme court dealt another blow to affirmative action abraham. the courts upheld the rights of states to ban racial preferences at university admissions. with justice kennedy writing for the majority. a developing story out of ukraine. the acting president said that the anti-terror operation is underway in the east. this comes after two people were murdered. one of them a local politician.

the operation comes before a visit of vice president joe biden who called for an united ukraine. in a disaster 100 people died, 200 are still unaccounted for, and funerals are being held today for some of the students who died in the accident. officials are expanding the search area for the missing malaysian airlines jet. officials detected a pulse signal earlier this month which could have come from the plane's black box. flight 370 vanished on march 8th with 239 people on board. >> i'm meteorologist nicole mitching, and i want to start off with the temperatures. it shows the two systems we have across the country. the east coast, a warm search of air, and a lot of temperatures in the 70s.

our other weather system is moving in. cooler air and 54 for seattle. these are the high temperatures for the day. the outlook, the cold front is not going to have a lot of moisture with it, but scattered showers through the day in the overnight. the west coast, a little more moisture, and that claws because it's cold enough and snow with higher elevations, so watch for that. it's great for the snow back but it will make for the driving a little tricky. with low humidity that means the fire dangerous are going to be elevated for the next couple of days. the other thing as this system moves its way includes the country into the day tomorrow, we'll start to tap in some moisture, warm temperatures once again, and the instability needed that we have that risk for severe weather. that's again into the day on wednesday, anywhere from texas northward into nebraska. we'll keep you posted on all of that. for now back to you. >> rome celebrated it's official

birthday founded in 573 bc, the city celebrated with a parade of lee onnarrows, gladdaters, and barbarians. thank you for joining us on al jazeera america. >> nairobi is my city, well perhaps not exactly. i was born here and so were my parents, but i spent most of my life living overseas. i've been here now for less than a year, but the city has really grown on me. one of the most interesting things about nairobi is its divey.