>> this is another significant development... >> we have an exclusive story tonight, and we go live... surprise move. >> this is not the kind of behavior that we should expect professionally from the russian military. >> russia launches its first air strikes in syria raising questions about the targets and the real reasons for moscow's intervention. defiant declaration. >> we will not remain the only ones committed to the

implementation of those agreements. >> on the day the palestinian flag is raised at the u.n., the palestinian authority president announces his people are no longer bound by accords negotiated by israel. >> no pay for play. a big win for the ncaa as a federal court strikes down a plan to allow schools to make cash payments to college athletes. >> and solar system. how clean energy from the sun. >> there's a substantial portion of the country's energy use that can be replaced by this technology. >> is being used to replace the dirty business of drilling for oil. >> good evening. this is al jazeera america. the situation in syria already a quagmire grew even more complicated today with little notice or explanation, russia launched a series of air strikes against what it described as militant targets.

ash carter described it as, quote, pouring gasoline on a fire. here's this story from washington. >>reporter: good evening. top u.s. officials making no secret of their frustration with russia today after it began its bombing campaign in syria. secretary of defense ash carter called it tantamount to pouring gasoline on a fire. and after secretary of state kerry met with his russian counterpart today in new york, the path forward is still anything but clear. this was the aftermath. 20 flights in all says the russian defense ministry asserting its war planes hit isil targets within syria. others on the ground report extensive civilian casualties. u.s. officials including ash carter were again taken by surprise by russia's swift and aggressive moves in syria. >> this is not the kind of behavior that we should expect professionally from the russian

military. >> the u.s. was informed at the last minute say defense officials. a russian officer delivering a blunt message to the american embassy in baghdad. russian bombs will fly soon in syria he told them. coalition forces should stay clear. >> it's not just when but who was targeted that has angered the administration. u.s. officials say russian bombs hit areas where there are no known isil fighters. the clear implication, russia is bombing groups fighting on the side of the u.s. and its allies. speaking at a u.n. conference on terrorism, john kerry issued a warning. >> we would have grave concerns should russia strike areas where isil and al quaeda affiliated targets are not operating. >> meeting in new york monday, president obama and his russian counterpart vladimir putin pledged to work to avoid accidental conflict between u.s. and russian war planes in the skies above syria but before those talks got off the ground, russia launched its strikes.

perhaps the biggest source of friction, russia's stated reason for military intervention in syria, to support al assad. president obama insists assad has no role in syria's future. >> russia is not going to be successful inside of syria and they'll be no more successful in that regard than the united states was in imposing military solution in iraq in the last decade. >> and antonio, top officials at the pentagon, white house, and state department today all insisting that despite the russian air campaign, coalition air strikes now numbering more than 7,000 will continue. antonio. >> palestinian president expressed frustration today with the lack of progress on a peace deal with israel telling the

u.n. general assembly that israel is sabotaging u.s. efforts to broker peace and that they no longer consider themselves bound by the peace accord signed in the 1990s. >>reporter: good evening. palestinian president promised a bomb shell at his united nations general assembly address this afternoon. it will effectively hand the keys to the occupied palestinian territories over to the israelis. the palestinian authority is bound by oslow no more. that's the threat issued by the president of palestine. he went before the u.n. general assembly wednesday and said that as long as israel refuses to commit to agreements made, palestine won't either. >> israel has left us no choice but to insist that we will not remain the only ones committed to the implementation of those

agreements. >> the oslow accords first signed in 1993 did not demand a two-state solution but were went to pave the way for both sides to peacefully settle their differences. key measures have failed to be implemented. israel remains in control of much of the west bank even though the agreements call for full palestinian authority by 1999 and as many as 300,000 additional israelis have settled into the west bank more than twice the amount there when the accords were signed. checkpoints in west bank cities not bordering israeli settlements continue to be monitored by israel. and once again he called for the release of over 6,000 palestinians in israeli prisons. >> we therefore declare that we cannot continue to be bound by these signed agreements with israel and israel must assume

full responsibility as an occupying power. >> the threats to dissolve the palestinian authority would make israel responsible for the well being of all the palestinians in the occupied territories and put an end to security coordination from both sides. >> not only about security coordination. it's also related to trade, commerce, movement, access. and health. water. electricity. many other aspects. >> his warning which he called a bomb shell comes as the u.n. raised the palestinian flag outside his headquarters in new york. palestine joining the vatican as the only nonmember observer state allowed to fly its flag along side those of full member states. that after repeated insistence that the world body recognize palestine. >> it is -- our patience of all

of these years. it's not fair for the issues facing the palestinians to exist to remain unresolved for all these decades. >> and tomorrow the israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu will have to respond to all of that when he addresses the general assembly. tonight he said the address is deceitful and encourages lawlessness and called on the palestinian authority to act responsibly. meanwhile, the secretary, john kerry, speaking here at the united nations said that peace is not an impossible dream between israel and the palestinians and that the administration will go all out to try to bring the two sides together again. >> on the sidelines of the general assembly today, leaders held a special meeting to address the refugee crisis. the european countries emphasized the need to share the burden with other continents

saying they cannot sustain the influx of people on their own. a haunting photograph of a lifeless young boy on a beach has come to symbolize the greed and cynicism of smuggling human beings. it also symbolizes the failures of broken migration policies. we need to address the desperation of millions. let us also remember that such an image can also catalyze solutions. >> today's meeting ended without a concrete plan. afghan army officials say they have retaken control of part of a city from the taliban.

the gains were made following u.s. air strikes a few hours ago. officials say taliban fighters suffered heavy casualties and retreated from the city center. the army says the taliban is still attacking from positions in the suburbs. the taliban took control of the city on monday. it was the first provincial capital to fall to the taliban since the group was driven from power in 2001. congress has narrowly met a midnight deadline to keep the government running at least until september. the house voted to avoid government shut down while keeping planned parenthood funded. michael shore reports. >>reporter: antonio, the president this evening signed the continuing resolution that wound up on his desk after a day here on capitol hill. it started in the senate. 78-20. they sent an approved continuing resolution to the house but the house wanted to involve planned parenthood funding so there was a procedural move employed by

some of the most conservative members of the republican caucus. they took a vote that would be a nonbinding amendment to the bill knowing the president would not approve it. so they took the vote and then they went on and approved the continuing resolution essentially saying the government is now funded. but it's only funded until december and that caused some members of the house such as steve israel of new york to say we should not be celebrating too much. >> success can't be defined as avoiding carcinoma -- -- catastrophie. >> this is not the way to do business kicking the can down the road every once in a while. this is no way to run a government. but they have now until december 11th. planned parent hood is still going to be part of the conversation. the next time that they sit down to try and work these things

out, there will be new leadership in the house. john boehner says he'll try to strike a deal with mitch mcconnell and the president. but some say it doesn't matter. if these budget deals don't go through committees in the house they're not binding. so is john boehner a lame duck? we'll see soon but we'll also see who the new leadership of the house is. >> the secret service is under fire again. this time for trying to discredit a congressman who investigated scandals at the agency. a government report says dozens of secret service employees improperly viewed the 2003 file on the chair of the house oversight committee. the report says employees began looking at it in march just minutes after he convened a hearing on agent misbehavior. soon after that, reports

appeared in the media that he had been rejected for a secret service job in 2003. hackers linked to russia tried to access hillary clinton's private email server on five separate occasions. on august 3rd, 2011, she received a series of e-mails disguised as speeding tickets. they were infected with spy ware. it's unclear if clinton clicked on or opened any of the suspicious e-mails if the the eastern u.s. is bracing for hurricane joakeem. it's become a major the rain. >> that's right. we've gone to a category 3 and at 5:00 o'clock this afternoon it was a category 1. that is how fast this particular storm is intensifying. as you can see right here, this storm is actually getting bigger

so haiti as well as cuba, bahamas all being affected by the storm but it's really the bahamas right now seeing the brunt of the rain. we have a tropical storm and hurricane warnings for most of the region through the next 24 hours. it's going to be heading north so free point, nassau, your conditions will deteriorate very quickly here. 115 miles per hour winds. let's put this into motion. notice it will go toward category 4 for just a little bit of a time and then the track really has not changed though as it makes its way very, very close to cape hatteras as well as towards parts of the chesapeake bay. that's going to be a major problem if this track continues. but i also want to show you other models. these are all the forecast models put together and as you can see it takes it a little bit more towards parts of north carolina so anywhere from north carolina all the way up towards

the chesapeake bay not out of the woods. >> and it's moving slowly so the islands will have a lot of rain. >> absolutely still ahead on al jazeera america, a big loss for some college athletes. players have been fighting to get paid but it looks like that's not going to happen any time soon. and starting tomorrow, recreational pot will be legal in oregon. how sellers are preparing for the big day.

issed the today that ncaa policies limiting what college athletes can receive is a violation of antitrust laws but the judges also ruled that college athletes should not be compensated beyond the cost of attendance. they threw out a proposal allowing schools to give athletes up to $5,000 a year in deferred compensation. the decision was generally seen as a victory for the ncaa which has been criticized for earning hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue from college sports with no compensation going to players. joining us now is a finance professor at the university of notre dame who specializes in the economics of sports. good to have you with us. when a federal appeals court panel from a liberal court, the ninth circuit, says that colleges don't have to compensate studentings beyond the cost of their education, it

would seem to be a clear victory for the ncaa. >> well, i would respectfully disagree with that but i'm speaking as an economist rather than a lawyer. when i read in the decision is the question that they can't say the price is going to be $5,000 just as they couldn't say the price is going to be zero. so, yes, if things get rolled back to no compensation but no compensation based upon collusion among colleges and whether the college athletes would agree with the $5,000 which would be better than zero is irrelevant to the judgment. >> so you think it actually could open the door for a free for all of compensation? >> it's possible. i don't think that, that's likely any time in the near future but frankly the horse has already left the barn and left a long time ago when you talk about the notion of college athletes being paid. i find it amusing that the court kind of takes the perspective

that college athletes are immature because they don't get paid but when you look at college athletes, you may get a scholarship worth $60,000 plus compare that with the value of, say, a minor league baseball player who may get $50 a day compensation. who's the pro and who's the amateur just looking at the compensation? >> wouldn't a free for all if it's open to compensation and i'm not arguing the merits, but if that were to happen wouldn't then the richer programs just get richer and then smaller schools wouldn't be able to compete and what would happen to the other programs? the other athletic programs that don't produce revenues and need the revenues from the revenue producing sports to support those athletic programs? >> i think you raise a couple of good points. i think that you would have a problem potential problem with competitive balance. it's not clear though if you all

of a sudden allow a free for all that you're going to have the starting quarterback at ohio state or some place like that suddenly commanding a premium of, say, a million dollars. the point i would make is that the uncertainty associated with any collegiate, any high school athlete, collegiate contract is fraught with unknowns and uncertainties so it would be i think probably pretty unlikely that anybody is going to -- even if it was totally free for all. >> do you think this will end up at the supreme court? >> you'll have to ask a lawyer on that one. i would guess no. i don't think -- i don't think you have -- you generally are looking for differences across circuit courts and this is really the only game in time as far as college athletes are concerned. >> and the nllrb ruled recently against players unionizing at

northwestern but many issues are being brought up these days. richard, it's a fascinating topic. good to have you with us. thank you starting tomorrow, oregon will begin selling marijuana for recreational use. meaning people 21 and over can legally buy the drug from dispensaries without a medical prescription. we took a look at what to expect. >>reporter: a big day in the state of oregon for marijuana sellers and buyers. you'll be able to pick up a dream queen clone or sprout also be able to buy seeds and bud and do it recreationally without a medical marijuana card. that's the way oregon is rolling out marijuana legalization. currently licensed medical dispensaries are also now selling to recreational customers. about 200 shops statewide are going to be doing that. most in the portland area. there's going to be a tax holiday until the first of the year and these products won't be taxed at all and eventually

oregon's tax system will be considerably lower than washington or colorado. one of the folks very involved in the business, the owner of rip city remedies is scott. you've been waiting for this day for a long time. what have you had to do to get ready? >> double our staff. brought in extra product. updated systems. just really getting training and getting ready to go. >> so oregon joins washington and colorado as states where people can legally buy and sell recreational marijuana. >> coming up, plans for corporate cuts at volkswagen. a company has built this facility to create incredible amounts of power through steam.

the thing is they're using it to pull oil out of the ground. more in a moment.

volkswagen is cutting back production after its diesel emissions scandal. the auto maker has announced it's ending a shift at a german engine factory and imposed a hiring freeze on its financial service was division that will last the rest of the year. harris county in texas is suing the company seeking up to $25,000 per day per emissions scandal most of the oil left on

earth is thick, heavy, and hard to get out of the ground. a company in california has found a cleaner way to do it using the power of the sun. jacob ward has a look at the new technology. >>reporter: it's a messy problem. >> the oil industry is one of the world's largest users of energy. >>reporter: not only does burning oil produce carbon in terrible amounts but getting it out of the earth is also a hugely polluting process. >> we've already gotten the easy oil out of the ground. light oil that is essentially in liquid form deep inside the earth but two-thirds of what's left on earth is this stuff. heavy oil which comes out in this kind of consistency. match trying to get that into a pipe and that's why companies use steam to loosen this up. make it easier to bring out in liquid form and then pipe it out that way. >> so far, they've made that steam by burning natural gas. a lot of natural gas.

only 15% of the natural gas used in california is used for oil. now clean renewable solar power capable of replacing fossil fuels is being used to extract oil from the ground. it's relatively simple, a mirror picks up the sunlight and precisely focuses it onto this steel pipe over the top that has water in it which heats up the water and turns it into steam. eventually this company is building a facility that's going to be 3,000 times larger than this one. today in the country of oman about 25% of natural gas is used

in energy production and there's a rising fraction of oil production dependent upon steam injection and gas usage. so there's a substantial portion of the country's energy use that can be replaced by this technology. the project could reduce carbon d bonn dioxide emissions by 300 tons a year. this is the sticky reality of our global dependence on oil and the slow, difficult work of trying to improve the whole dirty business. jacob ward, al jazeera. a rocket launched in south america is giving a communications boost to two countries, argentina and australia both had satellites geared toward internet

connectivity. thanks for joining us. for the latest news any time, head over to al jazeera.com. ray suarez is up next with inside story. have a great night. how to avoid shooting at each other. the not quite united nations, it's the inside