ws. >> welcome to al jazeera america. >> stories that impact the world, affect the nation and touch your life. >> i'm back. i'm not going anywhere this time. >> only on al jazeera america. >> this is al jazeera america. i'm tony harris with a look at today's stories. breaking news, the supreme court will take up the issue of gay marriage this term. the police arrest more than two dozen people in raids across europe. and president obama with a warning to congress that new sanctions against iran could destroy a nuclear deal.

>> and we begin with breaking news. the u.s. supreme court says it will once and for all decide the legality of same sex nationwide. >> the court has decided to take up this key civil rights case whether gay rights is a right under the constitution. the the court earlier decided not to take up the case but then they were forced really to take up this issue. in november the sixth circuit ruled there was no right against gay marriage. so it's up to the supreme court to resolve it. they'll take up this issue involving four different states. michigan kentucky, ohio, tennessee, all those states ban gay marriage. the courts have waded into this

a bit in the past. they did throw out a part of the federal acts that prohibited the federal government of recognizing guy marriage saying they did have to recognize gay marriage approved by the state. that was part of the defense of marriage act. they also basically upheld a ruling that allowed gay marriage to proceed in california. still the court very split on this and it is unclear, of course how the justices will ultimately rule, but they will be taking up what will be a very key and important civil rights case this term. >> yes this term. that sounds to me like a june timeline on this. is that close to being correct here? >> absolutely. that's why they needed to decide now. they needed to give both sides time to prepare cases and hear oral arguments. we'll hear those oral arguments in april and then a decision by

the time court ends in june. >> lisa stark for us. thank you. arrests in ireland when a man tried to enter the country using a false passport. you elsewhere in france 12 people with alleged links to the kosher grocery store shooter were picked up. in belgium there were raids to stop an imminent attack. >> on the street where the raid took place police stand guard. the raid left two suspects dead. a third was arrested. this police raid was one of a dozen across the country.

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>> in algeria. thousands gathered in algiers. clashes broke out in protesters

and riot police. several people were reportedly arrested. in jordan hundreds of protesters there there. >> there is anger across pakistan on the publication of the cartoons in charlie hebdo magazine. the people is deeply conservative and do not take kindly to insults made towards the prophet of islam. they believe this is an intolerable act. pakistan's lower parliament has passed a resolution condemning the public of the cartoons in the french magazine. over the next few days there is

likely to be more anger on the streets of pakistan on this particular act committed in this particular magazine that is up holding free speech. >> the challenge in fighting groups like boko haram and isil, and the leader of the u.k. and the leader of the united states say they stand united on nearly all fronts. mike viqueira at the white house for us. with all that is going on in the world. the two leaders come back to iran today. >> these were the questions those talks to suspend iran's

nuclear program that potentially would have military applications have been extended once. they've been extended another time. now the president said they're less than a 5050 chance of succeeding. given all that what is happening now in the republican-controlled congress is a new sanctions bill moving towards congress to improve economic sanctions on iran and here is prime minister david cameron visiting with the president. a close working relationship. they're calling on lawmakers not to do it. they would be back to square one and military operations and strikes would ensue around the iran nuclear facility. those are how high the stakes are. president obama asking congress, quote, hold your fire on those sanctions. let's see if we can get that deal with iran. if we do, it would be historic.

here's a little bit more of what he had to say. >> congress should be aware if this democratic diplomatic solution fails the situation would be heightened, and congress will have to own that as well. >> mike, cyber security was one of the major themes. did anything new emerge in these talks? >> in the violence, the terrorist attacks in france. the attack of a police raid in belgium on the day that private david cameron was facing questions from his own press corp about the highest security around jewish places of worship and other areas, a great deal of tension there. david come cameron has said they

have put forward the idea that some certainly media services snap chat is one mentioned in particular, if they do not allow the government a way to legally through courts and a legal process to look into the messages when they suspect they would have something to do with the terrorist activities, cameron said that they would be banned in the u.k. and president obama agreed as well agreeing that new measures would have to be taken. >> if we find evidence of a terrorist plot somewhere in the middle east that traces back to london or new york, we have specific information we're confident that this individual or network is about to activate a plot. despite knowing that

information, despite having a phone number or social media address or e-mail address that we can't penetrate that? that's a problem. >> that is a problem says president obama. the patriot act tony, as you know has to be reauthorized by congress by june first of this year. that's when it expires. this will rage until then. >> the u.s. is preparing to send hundreds of soldiers in-to-the middle east east. the pentagon said 400 more soldiers will head to the region in the are spring. this comes amid losses on the battlefield. isil executed 17 people in syria in the last two days. now kurdish forces from iran join the fight. we have this exclusive report from erbil. >> this is the village in

northern iraq. a month ago it was the grip of the islamic state in iraq and the levant. now it is under cereal of these men, rebels from kurdistan or pjak. they've been fighting for autonomy for iran's minority kurds for many years. they are now supporting kurdish forces known as peshmerga. >> kurdistan is one nation. it is tour motherland. we will do our best to defend it and protect it from any danger. >> it's a sentiment shared by their kinsmen. >> after all the kurdish syria, iraq are all fighting the enemy together. >> around the city, they're

defending the oil-rich city but the iran government is not happy. they are turned that they're playing in the war against isil will give it legitimacy. they are discouraging peshmerga fighters from fighting independently, but the fighters want to create their own identity. >> isil calls us to fighters of red feet because we have red shoes. when night false falls we hide awaiting any intruders. >> hundreds of iranian kurds across the border with iraq to join the fight against isil. the peshmerga have secured the territory, and areas in iraq's

armed forces during isil events last year. the loss of 1,000 men in the fight against the armed groups the peshmerga say going up a formidable enemy they'll accept help. >> appearing in a conference the air force convened to address the problem. hagel said that the military leaders bear some of the responsibility. >> i believe today as strongly as i did two years ago and maybe more so, that you cannot-- cannot take the responsibility and the accountability for this out of the chain of command. >> hagel issued new guidelines to make it easier for non-profits to work on military

bases. the international criminal court has opened up a a preliminary investigation. it is looking into possible violations during last summer's gaza war. this comes at a request of palestinian, which submitted its application and waiting to be approved by the icc. names, today's announcement isn't a former investigation just yet what does it mean? >> it is important because it was less than three weeks ago that palestine said that it wants to join the criminal court, now we have what is called the preliminary examination by the chief prosecutor. they want it retroactive to going back to june 13th last year covering last summer's gaza war, which killed more than

2,000 people. the prosecutor in this preliminary examination to see if they should open a full inquiry. it is the first step, and it has democratic and political repercussions as well as legal ones. >> how is this likely to play out? >> it is already playing out and it was swift and very anger reaction coming from jerusalem. let me quote you what the israeli prime minister bench said it is scandalous scandalous that just days after terrorists butchered jews in france, the general prosecutors is beginning an inquiry against the state. this is seen as part of the problem, not part of the solution. remember any full inquiry if open could look at palestinian leaders and hamas leaders in gaza as well israelis. for now they're welcoming this.

that is because when the end of last year palestine decided to sign up for the icc it knew all along the legal process was going to be a very long drawn out one. but in many ways the political impact and diplomatic impact was more important. now we have this latest move coming in the highly charged environment of an israeli election campaign. >> james bays, thank you. 2014 was the warmest year on record and nasa scientists say that the earth will continue heating up. the new numbers on climate change and its impact next. and the price of oil could mean tens of thousands of fewer jobs in texas.

>> there is new evidence that planet earth is in the mist of a warming trend. federal scientists said that 2014 was the hottest year since records began to be collected in the late 1800s. >> meteorologist: records continue to fall, and 2014 was the hottest year on record. and heat records were set during six months last year. >> scientists say never before has it been so warm. temperatures on land and sea broke records last year. surprising experts because it did not happen in an el nino year which usually contributes to warming. parts of the midwest and east coast were unusually cool. alaska california, nevada saw their hottest year, making the

drought worse. >> we're taking carbon out of the ground, coal, oil, natural gas, and we're burning. you produce carbon monoxide, and as we continue to increase that, we're going to continue to see warming records broken. >> the ten warmest years on record except for 1998 have all occurred in the 21st century. the changes in the earth's temperatures since 1880. every year since scientists say the average has warmed. >> later this year nearly 200 countries will meet to figure out how to cut global warming and avoid the floods, droughts and other disasters that come with it. >> temperatures will only continue to rise.

in fact, they won't be surprised if this year breaks last year's record. also here is an interesting fact. most people alive today were born after 1976, and they have never seen a year when temperatures, tony r cooler than normal. only warmer. >> take a moment to think about that. jonathan betz with us. thank you. the woman in charge of rolling out the affordable care act is resigning. she has been running the medicare medicaid services since 2010. she said she'll step down this month. sylvia burr well decided to leave on her own and without pressure. oil jumped to end a losing streak. while most of america celebrates the recent job in oil prices,

the state is department on oil revenue as are hundreds of thousands of people who work in the industry. many of them have already lost their jobs and more layoffs could come. >> a city and state that built its fortunes on oil. this is the quintessential oil community with oil refanries and chimneys dot the landscape. >> they are connected to oil in so many ways. entire community here depends on their employment on oil prices and a drop in the price of the barrel of oil has many deeply concerned. >> this is where engineers welders, and cleaning staff come to pick up short-term contracts but things are changing. for the first time that many can remember workers are being turned away.

they now call this area the crying hole. >> it's all refinery, so it's starting to make an impact on a lot of people i know. >> we have to do something. i have to oh support my family. i have to find something else. >> mechanic george mcbroom who remembers the oil crisis of the 80's said cheap oil is a worry. he's concerned about his long-term prospects. >> i'm at retirement age right now. i can't just walk away. even if you try to sell the business, it will be hard to do. >> but economists are saying that jobs are still growing. >> we've been through it twice and it's rough. even if you have to switch to a different part of town it's

still hard but there is still plenty of opportunity here in houston. >> around a quarter of the state's wealth is made from oil. a figure much high center places like deer park. and most are at the mercy of a market they can't control. al jazeera texas. >> oil companies employ more whatever a million people in the united states. the u.s. starts to ease restrictions on travelers to cuba. and pope francis sends shockwaves through the philippines. we'll tell you what he had to say next.

>> back to the news this hour. the u.s. scored will died

whether same-sex marriage should be legal nationwide. we're getting last-minute information. >> that is breaking news. >> so request now? >> well, the supreme court it has to have specific reason. there has to be, for example a disagreement amongst the lower courts, and now they have one. think back to the last set of cases that we had about gay marriage and think about the pace of change. this is 2012, nine states had same-sex marriage. now since the court ruled in the defense of marriage act that there could not be a denial of benefits based on same-sex marriage. you could not discriminate in that way under federal law there are now 36 states in which judges state courts or federal

courts based on that supreme court finding have allowed same sex marriage. the court did not make it a fertile proclamation, and they're relying on that. but in the third circuit they left it to state voters and state legislature and the court should stay out of it. the supreme court said whoa, we now have a disagreement. this one circuit has found the other way from all these other courts that have found-- >> the sixth circuit. where is the sixth circuit. >> we're talking about kentucky michigan ohio and tennessee. >> i was curious. now they have a disagreement. when there is a disagreement they can step up and resolve the supervisor. that's why this is happening now. >> so what is at issue here in this case? >> that's what i was just looking at. i wanted to clarify that i got

this right. they will be deciding the big issue this time around. when they did the proposition eight case, they could have decided the big issue they were able to side strip because it was a jurisdictional technical issue. there are no technical issues here. there are two questions: can a state deny--let me put it more clearly. is a state required to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. that's the first one. they've been able to argue that in court. second question, do they have to recognize same-sex marriage licenses issued in other states. there is no technical question. is it constitutionally required that states recognize same-sex marriage. >> the moment is here. by the end of this term we're going to have a proclamation one

way or another about the constitutionality. it has happened so quickly it is unprecedented in american history. >> you really hustled up to get it. >> it's a very big deal. >> jamie floyd with us. >> happy to be here. >> good weekend to you. for more than 50 years americans were forbidden from traveling to cuba. that will now change. new rules will allow certain people to visit the island nation. however, you cannot just go online and book a ticket. john terrett explains. >> reporter: the door for americans to travel to cuba is now open. new regulation also allow u.s. citizens to travel to cuba if they fit into is 12 permitted categories among those to visit family, education journalist humanitarian purposes. but don't start packing yet. >> you havetourism is not allowed. >> this florida travel agency owner is watching all the rules.

>> it's all general. visitors will still need a visa from the human beingen government. president obama made good on his commitment to loosen restrictions on dealing with havana. this is the furthest that any kurt has gone to normalize relations with cuba since it was established 50 years ago. >> it would only serve to put more pressure on the castro regime. >> senator marco rubio, who is cuban-american saying while those statements remain unanswered one thing that is crystal clear is this one-sided deal is enriching a tyrant and his regime.

american telecommunications providers will have more opportunity to do business, but most trade is still illegal. only congress can lift the full trade i am parking. trade embargo. besides travel, visitors will be able to use their credit cards there. one improvement for cubans, that amount of money that americans can send to family members home has increased 37. john terrett al jazeera. >> the president of the u.s.-cuba train and economic council. john john terrett has done a good job laying out where we are today. the question i've had and i've had the same question since this all was announced by the president, why is this happening, and why is this happening now? >> the president is looking at

legacy issues. he has two years left. and he realized that there was going to be a limit upon what he would be able to do legislatively. he campaigned on the cuba issue and so none of this is huge surprise of his intentions. wrapping it all together is a surprise. >> what do you mean by wrapping it all together is a surprise? >> the president yesterday the issue issued 80 pages of regulation and commerce, and it's all expansive basically a blueprint for changing cuba. the question is whether cuba wants to be changed. if cuba feels it can survive the onslaught of the obama initiatives, then there is going to be a lot of activity. the question is going to be cuba generally will allow what it

feels it can control. and in this particular case all of these new initiatives are designed to tear at the social fabric of cuba and designed in essence recreate classes that the revolution extinguished, the middle class the professional class. it will involve issues relateing to race, white cubans, and black cubans the haves and have nots. the cuban government has been struggling to define success and how rich can someone get before the government feels they're too rich and they have to take some of it away. everything that the president announces is all designed to tear away at this. they used the word regime, so they're using the word regime, which is generally a term that

we call a government then we call it a regime if we don't like it. we're sending down the secretary of state to renegotiate the opening of an embassy. >> is this a plan to promote regime change in dub? >> i think its more change the behavior of the government than the characters. there is only so far that president obama can go. statutorily there are three laws that are restricting him a little bit but for the business community there are some great opportunities. for citizens this, great opportunities. you need a sees is visa from the cuban government to still get in. right now cuba's focused on its

relationship with venezuela, china, russia, iran, and the u.s. isn't a major actor other than potentially providing a lot of financial resources that are going to be entering cuba, which had not been there before. cuba is still restricted by its infrastructure. it can only host to many people, and therefore there is only so much that can be done. >> appreciate. john, thankit john, thank you. 20 mexican officials are now under vision for corruption. they're accused of covering up the army's role in the murder of 22 gang members. the military is under increased scrutiny following this incident as well as it's possible role in the disappearance of 43 opportunities. adam rainy reports. >> i'm standingouts of mexico's main army headquarters.

the court has ordered the army to open up several bases across the country. including this one for human rights experts and family members of missing or killed people to fight evidence that the army may have played a role in the disappearance of students who went missing in september. this is in the midst of a drug war in which the army has been battling along side police. it was a move at the time was very popular in 2006 when former president calderón decideed to send the army into the drug war but they have not lived up to the promise to bring down levels of violence. and the military and the army particularly have now been linked to thousands of cases of human rights abuse rape, torture, and murder. and in the next few weeks we could expect to see forensic teams searching this base in

mexico city and others around the country. it's a sign that shows just how far this long honored and respected institution in mexico has fallen in the eyes of many mexicans. >> saudi arabia has postponed the public whipping of a blogger who ran a website. he was supposed to under go the second round of 20 weekly nothings floggings. the married father of three is serving a ten-year prison sentence on charges of insulting islam. schools opening in guinea since the height of the ebola outbreak. for more than a year health officials have struggled to stop the spread of the virus. 21,000 infected. more than 8400 people killed. the outbreak remains contained in sierra leone, liberia and

guinea and the end may be in sight. >> i do really anticipate that in much of the region we'll be there in a very short distance in the future. that's why the number of cases is coming down and will continue to come down. and we will before long see an end to this outbreak. >> the key statistic is the number of new infections reported every week. that number has dropped drastically from the height of the outbreak. liberia has seen ten confirmed cases so far this month. pope francis spent his first full day in the philippines speaking out against poverty and inequality. his five-day visit will include the largest gathering of catholics ever. >> reporter: pope francis spent no time attacking politics during his visit in the philippines. he said that the country's leaders need to get serious

about poverty and what he called scandalous inequality. >> the philippine president has waged an anti-corruption charge. away from the politics the popular devotion. thousands crammed around the cathedral to await the first mass of pope francis' visit. >> pope francis is here. i want to be enlightened. i want to be inspired. all the things that he suggested are doable. and people should follow his champ. >> his arrival brought new waves of excitement and expressions of love. inside the cathedral he began quoting jesus' words from the gospel. his main message focused on

poverty and catholic values where church attention is following and use of government-funded contraception is on the rise. the philippine church said that his visit will be a wake-up call. >> the pope spoke in english with a direct message about the need to fight inequality and poverty. that seemed to be very much the theme of the first day of his visit. >> later for a number of families much more than a glimpse in a nation where so many are divide by the need of one or both parents who travel abroad for work. >> cars incorporate phones and other gadgets to keep drivers plugged in and safe. but does it all work or are we adding more distractions?

and mars rover that went missing 12 years ago is found.

>> smart until cars is supposed to make driving smoother, but it could be putting you in danger. >> reporter: each year more than 3,000 people are killed by accidents caused by distracted drivers. but what types of activities cause drivers to lose focus on the road and put themselves and others at risk? we headed to the university of utah where david strayer is a professor of cognition and nurl science. >> our goal is to try and benchmark the kinds of things that people commonly do while driving to get an understanding of how distracting those things are. >> voice activated commands, a feature very common. car makers and dealerships are

eagerly touting this technology. which allows drivers to speak to their cars in order to do everything were changing the radio station to sending messages. >> five years ago you could have said let's separate out the phone and what the phone does from what the car does. they're becoming intermingleed. so right now when i get into the car my car becomes my phone. i can talk. i can place voice messages. >> using driving simulators his team measures how mentally demanding different voice commands are. they follow a host of things from heart rate to brain activity. >> there are 32 electrodes. this is a modified swim cap. >> we can measure your eye movements we look at how much is

taken away by talking on a cell phone. >> you're able to quantify my brain activity. >> that's exactly what we do. >> then it was time to start the engine for a warm up lap. >> your job is to follow that car. that car will brake randomly. your job is to press on on the brakes when that car brakes. >> this is awesome. this is like a real car. there's my rear view mirror right there. what does that do. >> so you can check your blind spots. you're distracted. >> all right so techno's contributor costa good to see you. are you more or less--that's the question that everyone wants an answer to. are you more or less distracted with these vehicles? >> oh, it's incredible.

a lot of people think they can handle more than one thought at a time. you can only do one thing. so when you're talking. when you're texting talking you're really not driving any more and you miss that ability to operate your car. and it's crazy to see it right there in front of you. >> whoa, that almost says to me that this whole idea of multi tasking is a myth, but we'll leave that for another discussion. are you saying even hands-free distractions are just as dangerous and distracting? >> absolutely. that's what this research is all about. pilots have this problem in airports where there is all this gains and alarms going off and they can only handle so much information before the brain is overloaded and they have a big problem because they can't process it all. these technologies in our car are so complicated that it's incredible that we can focus at

all. and those are the problems that we're seeing. yes, you see all these-- >> finish your thought all these car accidents stay are because our cars are so much more complicated than they used to be. >> where did this driving research actually originate. >> the university of utah is where they're doing this specific research. but as i said earlier it all started with pilots. >> i don't know if this is the right way to be it, but what is the best mart phone distractions. >> it may surprise you but believe it or not suri is one of the most distracting smart phone helpers. because you have to decide what

you want to tell suri to to tell her what you want. i thought i would be special. lindsay and i are smart. we're scientists on tv. i'm so average. i'm so unbelievably average. in fact, there is only this small group of people called are super taskers your race car drivers or jet pilots, or, you know nasa astronauts. those are the only people who can handle that big of a work load that many tasks simultaneously and switch between them quick enough and still an good driver. >> well, we think you're pretty special. good to see you, thank you. >> 11 years ago the european special space agency beagle ii broken disappeared

disappeared. >> sending aircraft to land on mars and at $72 million, a fraction of the cost of most space exploration. but after beagle 2 was released, it was never seen or heard from again--until now. >> what we can say today with some confidence is that beagle 2 is no longer lost. >> it had been feared that beagle 2 had crashed into the surface of mars. recent photographs from an american spacecraft orbiting mars turned that thinking on its head. this is where they found beagle 2, sitting nery it's intended landing spot. >> beagle 2 did not fully deployed. it had four solar panels, all that needed to deploy.

what's extremely frustrating about it is we got so close. >> this is britain's first attempt to getting a spacecraft to another talent. scientists hope the purpose of beagle is to unlock the secrets of mars. >> beagle 2 collected some scientific data and it may still be on beagle, but we have not been able to get to it. >> we're not that far away from it. >> he died last year, but his daughter was there to hear the news that her father's life work was not lost in space. >> he would be saying, when are we going again? when is the next mission? how are we going to do things differently. >> the scientists think they have every chance that beagle two would work if own there was a way to open it's solar panels. the european space agency plans

to land a probe on mars next year to take in the lessons of what was once called a heroic failure. >> the massive drop in oil prices making food shortages across the country worse. now some places are banning access to markets. ines has the reaction next. >> hello i'm ray suarez. there is much more to the change in relationship between the u.s. and cuba than vacations and fine cigars and rum. the economic benefits is gauged in the billions of dollars. still there is that embargo thing to work out. we'll talk about all that live at the top of the hour.

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>> tony, venezuelans are getting up in the early morning hours to wait in line to buy basic goods. take a look at these recent videos posted online. people are lining up for hours just to buy things like soap, milk, or diapers. the national guard has sent to monitor these lines. they start he's lines very early in the morning. >> look at this. >> overnight, that goes all the way around the corner. all the way the block because some fighting has broken out and robberies overnight. now when a shipment comes in, there is sometimes chaos inside the stores. you can see there people grabbing as much as they can in their hands. as you know, in venezuela produces oil. with the oil prices so low the country is struggling and inflation is very high. the president said it's the opposition hording goods and sending prices even higher, but opposition say this is happening in government markets and private markets and all around venezuela. people are posting pictures of

empty shelves inside the stores. you see them going to the market supermarkets. this is the meat section. the dairy section. juices are left there in the bottom and this looks like it's the pasta section as well as beans over here. long lines are sparking a new type of business. people who now charge to wait in line for others. >> sure, sure. >> some get up as early as 2:00 a.m. to find out where food is selling what stores are selling them and they wait in line. >> those are pictures of folks looking for basics to get through life. it's ncaa is restoring joe paterno's wins at penn state. 112 wins from 1998 to 2011 were taken away from paterno over the jerry sandusky sex abuse scandal, but now they're giving it back as part of the restructureing of the university's penalties. joe paterno is once again the winningest head coach in college

history. if you want to know more about any of the stories head over to www.aljazeera.com. ray suarez is next on al jazeera america. >> there is a new rule book for dealings between cuba and the united states. the obama administration is released a new set of guidelines governing rules for travel, money, technology and more. now the hard part starts. that's inside story. hello, i'm ray