consider this. the news of the day plus so much more. answers to the questions no one else will ask. >> it seems like they can't agree to anything in washington no matter what. >> welcome to al jazeera america. i'm michael yves in new york. here are the stories we're following for pup boko haram released a video. some won't recognize the self-rule of ukraine. and tornadoes come together midwest.

>> boko haram, the armed radical group from nigeria releasing video of what it says is the first picture of the kidnapped girls. here it shows the girls in islamic clothing. >> their kidnapping has shocked the world. now the first images of nigerias missing girls are likely to cause further distress. in the release from their boko haram kidna kidnappers, the gire heard speaking arabic and reciting the qur'an. they of the girls said that they were converted to islam and a third says she was muslim.

the leader of boko haram said that the girls will not be let go unless members of the group are released from custody. it's not clear if the government would agree to such a swap. every day that goes by confidence in the authorities have been eroded, the video no doubtedly bringing more cause for anger and anguish. >> in eastern ukraine election officials claim residents overwhelmingly voted for independence. some don't accept the results and william hague said the election has zero credibility. >> they are illegal by every standard. they don't meet a single standard of transparency, fairness being conducted and

that even the people organizing did not even pretend to meet any of those standards. >> there were some violent exchanges during yesterday's vote. some ukrainian troops tried to prevent people from going to the polls. one person was killed after a national guards man open fired. those outside of the building station and several people were injured in those clashes. the vote has been called illegal by the ukrainian government. we have reports from donetsk. >> reporter: this is the man who would be leader of a new republic in the east of ukraine. the donetsk people's republic. on his wall a crude hint of things to come. borders drawn in with marker pen. huge chunks of the south and

east ukraine enveloped in russia. >> reporter: they were trying to tell us that russia is the occupiers, but we know it's not like that. the border should be open. they are already sufficiently open in the rest of europe, and i think in the rest of future there will be some kind of union here. >> reporter: and outside of his office in the local opened registration building people milling about were pleased with the results. >> the newly formed republic will be built as a free republic, free from the kiev junta. >> we want to be under putin's power because our children keep dying. >> reporter: in slovyansk the idea of separation has taken

root amid the violence. >> i'm 100% sure people have made the right decision before i was in doubt thinking maybe we don't need it. maybe it's not worth it. but after these attacks they are 100% right. >> reporter: so as they would have it inside this building the referendum has brought a huge endorsement for the republic of donetsk, and they will step away from ukraine. >> i just want this to end. i don't want to go anywhere. i like it here. i've liked it for 21 years. >> reporter: but with voters in two eastern regions now claiming near total support for separation the voices of opposition have effectively been silenced. al jazeera, donetsk.

>> for more on the occurring crisis log on to www.aljazeera.com. there you'll find a map of ukraine showing cities controlled by pro-russian forces and a timeline of events in ukraine. that's all at www.aljazeera.com. people have been voting across india in the past five weeks in the world's largest election. the main hindu opposition party has been ahead in the poles. the ruling party has been plagued by scandals. the final votes may 16th. no. a daily beast exclusive john kerry said, quote, wasted a year by not toppling ash har quaraishi. the secretary of state said the failure to coordinate aid and weapons for rebels set back efforts to bring down the

regime. nearly 150,000 people have been killed since the beginning that have syrian conflict in 2011. we turn to relentless weather. tornadoes ripping through the nation's heartland destroying homes and businesses and causing a string of damage across four states. thousands remain without power. but tornadoes aren't the only concern. some states have been hit hard by snow storms, parts of colorado and wyoming receiving more than a foot of snow. >> reporter: nearly a dozen tornadoes ripped across the heartland over the weekend. the latest twister tore through a town near lincoln, nebraska, up rooting trees and ripping apart homes. >> we heard a crash and heard trees going through the living room window. i went up to check it out. i went back downstairs again and

the tree behind my house was taken up out of the ground and thrown over the shed. >> reporter: a kansas community hit hard by tornado damaging 300 homes. a giant grain silo mangled by twisters with winds up to 145 mph. rescuers continue to pull people out of the rubble. like this woman trapped in her basement. winter sitting colorado, west indieswyomingand utah. more than a foot of snow fell in some areas and more is to come. in the southwest wind gusts up to 70 mph are toppling trees in texas and crushing cars in california.

>> the anger, crying, and now we're blessed, though, because we have good homeowners insurance. we have good car insurance. >> reporter: the wind making matters worse in texas where firefighters are already dealing with wildfires due to extremely dry weather. texas is one of several states facing wildfire warnings as well as record temperatures this week. california may top 100 degrees. al jazeera. >> for more on these extreme weather conditions we bring in dave warren. it feels like we had an entire year worth of weather in one day. >> meteorologist: we could see a repeat of that today. this is what it looked like yesterday. these were severe storms, those tornado reports coming in, individual tornadoes there could be a number of reports that come in from the storm prediction center as 36 individual reports all throughout this area here. this area will shift to the east today because this is a slow-moving storm.

you see that round of severe weather die down overnight, but the watch could be issued for chicago today. there is the snow in colorado. the storm slowly beginning to move out and infancy a bi--intey a bit. it pulled up a lot of moisture from the south, so flooding a big issue through the southern plains and moving north toward chicago. here is the center of the storm pulling up the warm air with the cold air behind it with temperatures changes. we'll have more on that. >> it seems like mother nature can't quite make up her mind. >> meteorologist: no. >> the embattled owner of the los angeles clippers are taking to the airwaves to explain themselves. they sat down separately.

>> donald sterling strikes a remorseful tone for saying she community bring black people to his basketball games. he says, quote, i'm not a racist. i made a terrible, terrible mistake, and i'm here to you today to apologize and to ask for forgiveness from all the people that i hurt. as to why he waited until now to respond, two weeks after the release of his recorded racist remarks, sterling said, quote, the reason why it's hard for me is because i'm wrong. i caused a problem, and i don't know how to correct it. then sterling has this to say about the league's efforts to force him to sell the team he has owned for 33 years. he said, quote: . >> i'm fighting for my 50%. >> in an interview with barbara

walters donald sterling's wife shelly said they will resist the nba's efforts to force both she and her husband to sell their controlling efforts in the clipper's franchise. >> do you support the nba decision to ban your husband? >> i can't comment on that. i was shocked by what he said, i guess whatever their decision is we have to live with it. >> the nba wants to oust you completely as a team owner. you will fight that decision. >> i will fight that decision. >> reporter: in response the nba says its constitution is clear. quote, if a controlling owner's interest is terminate made three-quarters vote all other team owners' interest are automatically terminated. >> it was the kiss heard around the world as michael sam became the first openly gay nfl draft

pick. he was chosen by the st. louis rams. he immediately began to cry and then kissed his boyfriend. dondon jones did not like what e saw and went twitter. now jones has been fined and he later apologized for the tweets, but he won't be able to return to the dolphins until he completes his training. a same-sex marriage decision, the state's top lawyer announced his intent to appeal to the high court late saturday night but not before marriage licenses were issued for 15 gay and lesbian couples in northern arkansas. one of the most dangerous and elusive people on the planet. what is being done to find joseph kony.

because they ride motorcycles together they say they're being unfairly targeted. how a bunch of bikers are fighting the australian court system.

>> uganda's joseph kony is considered one of the most wanted men in the world. now the united nations security council is set to discuss a report that could narrow down the search for kony who is accused of crimes against humanity. the u.s. is helping in the hunt for the rebel leader. >> this is a rare glimpse of joseph kony, often called africa's most wanted man. he's leader of the lord's resistence army, the lra, and has lived in the dense jungles of central africa for years. he's wanted for war crimes that

stemmed from war over two decades. many killed, displaced rap, rapd and maimed. many children were forced to kill their own families and forced to kill for kony. >> really in the past three to four years what we've seen is that the tactics of the lra have changed quite a bit. the violence has decreased significantly in the past few years, but their history shows what they're still capable of. >> an african union force with 5,000 soldiers backed by u.s. forces have been hunting for him for years. aircraft helps in the search. it's a massive challenge that covers areas of south sudan, the central african republic and the

democratic republic of congo. it's the inhospitable terrain that kony and his men know well. >> right now. >> we estimate that the lra only has about 160 actual combatants from uganda left, but even though the numbers don't seem that imposing compared to other armed groups in the region, the lra is able to do much damage with relatively few fighters. >> so whereas the lra isn't quite the force that it once was there is a real fear that the group could take advantage of areas of unrest to further destabilize the region. for many who have survived unimaginable tactics hearing joseph kony's name still instills an unspeakable fear.

stephanie decker, al jazeera. >> a psychiatrist testified in the oscar pistorius actual. the defense is trying to show that pistorius accidently shot his girlfriend. >> it is my opinion that oscar pistorius has an anxiety disorder. those with anxiety disorders try to control their environment and try to relief their anxiety. >> reporter: if convicted, pistorius faces 15 years to life in prison. just because they have tattoos and ride bikes together they say it doesn't mean that they are in a gang, but the

australian court disagrees. >> riding in a group, they can seem intimidating and australian police and politicians say people have a right to be afraid of gangs. they say the gangs are criminal enterprises. ledging that biker gang members are behind crime, drugs, extortion, and even murder. but bikeys are hitting back. normally secretive they say right now they are the victims. >> we're very selective as to who we talk to and who we let into our club. >> bikeys are fighting what they say are new laws that enfridge on their civil rights. this meeting is taking place in new south wales.

in the neighboring state of queensland it would now be illegal because the new laws also ban two club members being in the same place at the same time. >> australians are very quick to condemn other countries for human rights abuses, but what they're doing to us now isn't much different. it isn't much different at all. if we haven't committed a crime why can't we associate? >> reporter: the lawyer leading the challenge has brought similar laws in other australian states and won, but legal cases take months. >> even if these laws were unconstitutional they don't care. they'll do enough damage in the meantime before these laws get knocked out by the high court 1234 the police are unapologetic. bikeys, they say, are criminals, and along the queensland gold coast the violence is getting worse. >> the intimidation and

extortion and harassment, they're a criminal menace on the community. >> reporter: bikeys say they are not the menace, draconian laws are. australian's high court are being asked to determine if the constitution agrees with whether the laws are legal. >> coming up on al jazeera america, trying to make things right. a school hands out an honorary degree after making a mistake 70 years ago. ♪

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>> welcome back to al jazeera america. i'm michael yves. here are today's headlines at this hour. boko haram releasing video of what they're claiming are the kidnapped girls from nigeria. they say they'll release them but only for exchange for prisoners.

today a leader of the donestk separatist say that it is separate. nearly a dozen tornadoes rip through the heardland this weekend destroying businesses and homes, but that's not the only concern. some states are dealing with snow storms while other states deal with wildfires. dave warren, things like this are becoming severe in places. >> yes, and again today the storm is moving slowly. there is only one storm that is causing all that snow. to the west you have the cold air, that's where the snow is, and now there are fronts with this storm. the warm air is pushing up from the south. a lot of moisture with this. there is the warm front trailing cold front, but it's a little drier, too.

the storm will slowly begin to lift north. temperatures to the south really warming up today, but a quick drop right through oklahoma and kansas even as far north as nebraska as this front moves through. the temperatures will quickly drop as the cold air returns. here is where the severe weather could happen today. all the way from texas to chicago. cold air with that winter storm warning around colorado. and eventually the storm begins to lift out. so the severe weather will push to the east. the winter weather slowly begins to taper off as you get that dry air moving in and the storm moves out. so that snow will dissipate. look at these temperatures now. 70s chos close to 80 degrees. these are the current temperatures the front will slowly begin to push south, so we're climbing up into the 80s across the southeast and the east, and the temperatures will continue to climb the next few days as the storm slowly begins to move to the north. the dry air returning.

now there is some winds, fire weather danger there where the moisture is being pulled in from the gulf. there are flooding problems across the east and out west it is still hot and dry. >> very interesting spring to say the least. >> a lot going on with this one storm. >> thanks a lot. it is the time of year when college graduates are walking down the i'll. but one graduate had a special meeting. starting with a degree for a world war ii veteran. we have reports from lexington, kentucky. >> reporter: amid the pomp and circumstance there is one man who stands out, and a school trying to right a wrong. in the 19 40's the university of kentucky was segregated and did not allowed black students. after serving thinks country in world war ii, he tried to enroll

there, but he was denied admission. >> there was no opportunity even though harrison wilson was a star athlete, but he was a veteran. he was coming home after serving in the navy on the gi bill. >> when i came and wanted to come here, i was disappointed. i went to the black school 28 miles away, got a good education. >> undeterred he became a successful basketball coach and then college president. now nearly 70 years later dr. wilson at age 90 is receiving an honorary doctorate from the university that once rejected him. >> thank you, doctor, it's a pleasure. >> so it's really a wonderful opportunity to say, this was an injustice. here's our attempt symbolically to fix it. we can't go back and give the people who were denied degrees,

degrees. but we can honor harrison wilson, who was one of those people. >> the timing of the honor is particularly special because dr. wilson's grandson brandon is sharing the stage with him. receiving his masters in history brandon said his grandfather's success continues to motivate the family. >> he's always inspired me. not everyone has that sort of role model that has gone so far in education. i was blessed to have that growing up. it's just something where he set the bar high that we're pursuing. >> take the lousiest job and save your money. you get out there and nickels become dimes, and dimes become quarters, and i showed them. >> congratulations to you, sir. >> brandon said he hopes to build on his grandfather's legacy, perhaps aiming for university presidency some day knowing that education is

possible for him and many others: >> now the proud graduate from the university of kentucky, very nice package for jonathan martin. i'm michael yves. "inside story" is next. for news o updates go to our website the www.aljazeera.com. in 30 years of deadly strife, known as the troubles. recorded reminiscence of the bad old days become the subject of a legal battle and it's the inside story. hello, i am ray swarez. in 1972, a mother of ten named jean mcconnell was taken from her home and disappeared from her belfast