now that the government show down is officially over president obama and conger turn to go the budget in hopes of avoids another cries let a few months. could be a messi commute in san francisco. bart announced they are going on strike crippling the popular train service, wild fires raging down under, more than 100 fires are sweeping across australia's most populous state, forcing hundreds to flee the flames. and chilling new video showing what went on inside kenya's west gate mall when attackers opened fire killing dozens of people. ♪

♪ welcome to al jazerra america i am stephanie sy. a cloud of uncertainty was lifted on thursday after the 16-day political standoff finally came to an end. a sense of normally returned to washington and the nation. as hundreds of thousands of furloughed federal employees went back to work. the day was billed as a political win for president obama and the democrats. but some question if they can capitalize on the victory. mike viqueira has the details from the white house. >> reporter: well, in the aftermath of the overwhelming victory that the president scored political victory any congress on wednesday night the president wanted to build momentum towards his agenda for the rest of the year. he started off by declaring that there were no winners in the debate and the impasse and the crisis that had preceded everything that happened before the vote and certainly if you look through the eyes of those

who suffered the $20 billion in economic loss, the 800,000 government workers furloughed at one point or another during the impasse, certainly they were not winners. but from a political standpoint the president won, there is no question about it. even john boehner admits that. we saw a stern president. we saw him scolding republican for his damaging the economy ann the president's estimation for damaging the nation's reputation overseas and he once again made a call for an end to the partisanship and gridlock that brought the nation to the precipice. >> and now that the government is reopened, and this threat to our economy is removed. all of us need to stop focusing on the lobbyist lobbyists and bs and talking heads on radio and the professionalism activists who profit from conflict and focus on what the majority of americans sent us here do and that's grow this economy, great good jobs, strengthen the middle class, educate our kids. lay the foundation for

broad-based prosperity and get our fiscal house in order for the long haul. >> reporter: and so the president has about three months until january 15 when the next rounds of negotiations comes due. that spending bill to keep the government open to really get down to the nuts and bold on several issues that he mention specifically. first the budge it sell. house republicans and senate democrats sitting down together for the fires and immaterial coming up way unified budget for congress for the dim time in fie years, the immigration bill. it has passed the senate. very controversial bill with conservatives and those affiliated with the tea party they call it amnesty. those that support a path to sit 10 ship for some 11 million people here illegally. the president wants a farm till done, an issue that passes with little controversy in the current climate of fiscal condition serve tim a bill like the farm bill is having difficulty getting through congress in many farmers and

potentially consumers could suffer as a result. the president laying on the line tacking cab diddltalking candidn scolding republicans in the aftermath of last night. >> thank you. it wasn't just federal workers punching the clog, loggers around the country were getting back to work. some even sooner than expected. a judge in oregon ruled that logging companies can resume operations on federal lands immediately. that means they don't have to wait for written permission from washington. during the shutdown, members of the timber industry sued the government after they were ordered to stop work. and thursday's deal didn't just reopen the government, it also authorized nearly $3 billion for a controversial dam project on the ohio river. critics are contending it br* -- condemning it as pure pork and putting one of the heros of the budget deal in the cross hairs, jonathan martin has the story. >> reporter: the u.s. army core

of engineers in the middle of one of its big the projects along one of america's busiest commercial water ways. it's replacing locks and dams on the ohio river that were built nearly nineties years ago. >> it's actually falling apart. literally falling apart. >> reporter: and if it does fall part shippers will have to find some other way to move the 90 million tons of goods that normally pass through the stretch of the ohio every year. the project is under new scrutiny now because the senate bill that ended the government shutdown also allows congress to spends a total of nearly $3 billion on the dam project. the project was first approved by congress back in 1988. expect today cost just under $800 million. but now it's years behind and 10s of millions of over budget and the army corp. of engineers says there are several reasons why. the leadening near says funding is the greatest challenge. half the money comes from the government the rest from the inland waterway trust fund which collects a fuel tax from

commercial towing companies. >> if the economy is bad there won't be a lot of money in the trust fund that will impact our construction. >> reporter: some conservatives blaming mitch ma coming for slipping the provision in to the bill to reopen the government. his home state kentucky would benefit along with tennessee and illinois. a political action group the senate conservatives fund call it a kentucky kickback, macomb's aids say it wasn't his request. senator john mccain says mcconnell isn't to blame but critical. showing people who are in the body willing to use any occasion to get an outrageous pork barrel project done at the cost of millions of dollars, it's disgusting. lamar alex arounder of tennessee says he and diane feinstein it had asked for the extra money, alexander says they are concerned if there is not enough money to keep the project going the government will lose

160 million taxpayers dollars by having to cancel existing contracts. the vote raising the spending limit for the project, congress still has to vote again to actually allocate the money. jonathan martin, al jazerra, illinois. >> earlier this year the senate passed a bill that would authorize a variety of water projects around the country, including this project. bart workers walking off the job in less than an hour. several unions for san francisco's popular train service are going to strike after marathon negotiations fell apart. they are asking for better pay and safer work conditions. melissa chan has more on the impact for the city's commuters. >> reporter: it's actually very surprising it has come to this because as recently as wednesday evening the federal mediator said that a lot of progress had been made. i mean, if you compare to earlier this week, with the unions and bart management, they were about $16 million apart. and they have managed to resolve that issue. the final and salary issue.

the unions have said they are striking. they plan on continuing to strike until bart management approaches them again to deal with workers safety issues, overtime are issues and sick lee issues. the impact on the city of san francisco, 200,000 commuters use the bart transit system and this is the fifth largest transit system in the entire country. 200,000 commuters each commuter going two to and from work you are looking at 400,000 trips that will not be taking place and in fact one economic institute looked at the economic impact of a potential strike, they looked at the strike that lasted four and a half days back in july and the city lost $73 million. so the impact could be huge. >> melissa chan reporting from san francisco. air pollution is just as deadly as tobacco smoke and u.v. radiation. the report says polite ant polle

ant in the air are the leading cause in lung cancer and linked an increased risk of bladder cancer. they taupe it send hope it sendg message to governments to tack the problem. the fires are burning in the south eastern state of new south wales, fire crews are battling 100 separate blazes brought on by an unusual warm and dry spring. al jazerra's katlyn mcgee has the story. >> reporter: the flames have no mercy. >> pretty much i was in the house and came through pretty quick. you have to be prepared. >> did they save your house? >> i don't know i put water on it and did the best that i could. >> reporter: almost 100 fires are burning across new south wales, some completely out of control. >> we have more than 2,000 multiple thousands of people fighting the fires. we have volunteers coming in

from around the state. we are unclear yet as to how many properties have been lost, but it's suspected that by the time we finish counting it will at least be in the hundreds 679 smoke blankets the ground an indication of quite how fierce the fires burn. sydney too suffocate bide smoke. the fires have been called the worst in years and officials warn it could take a few days a to bring them under control. >> cooler temperatures are expected soon in new south wales, firefighters are hoping that will help them get the upper hand. ♪ ♪ >> meteorologist: well, on friday morning it's going to be a rainy day for most people in vermont, new hampshire as well as maine. you can see on the radar showers are pushing through no now. no severe weather.

no winds damage, new york spotty showers as well as here down the southeast. up to the northwest it is actually more of the same. if you have been there a lot of sun anywhere from vancouver down to seattle. even portland, oregon seeing nice weather. we don't expect that to change any time soon. you can see most of the rain will be out here towards the east but all down western seaboard we expect things to be fine and dry. for seattle, how about that 60s, low 60s all the way across the board. all the way towards tuesday, overnight lows in to the low 40s. down to the southwest, we are looking at some dry conditions as well. there are some clouds in the forecast, but really no precipitation at all. any precip will be over here towards colorado. and parts of new mexico as well. phoenix, your temperatures in the 80s, your lows down in to the high 50s with plenty of sun there. texas had a lot of rain, then we have dried out unfortunately, what you haven't seen here is more rain going to be coming in

the forecast over the next couple of days, unfortunately, that is to say that you can see it start to come in here from the south as well as down from the north. so over the next couple of days and in to the weekend more showers there, temperatures friday for dallas 72 degrees down towards san antonio at 74 and we are going to be seeing about 69 for a high. as we go towards saturday. here across the southeast, showers pushing through the area, mostly going out here towards the atlantic, savannah a shower or two towards pensacola as well. aatlanta expecting to go see drying conditions over the next couple of days, friday 74 dez agrees and birmingham a high for you of 74 as well. security footage from the kenya mall massacre shows new details that left dozens dead. al jazerra reports how the footage may also illustrate the vulnerabilities of malls in the u.s. >> reporter: chilling new images from inside the west gate mall.

one moment shoppers, some with children are browsing, the next here is chaos. security guards tripping over people. everyone crawling on the ground for cover. other pictures show two shooters casually walking in to the mall. the halls are suddenly empty. shopping cards ban donees while more shooters look for targets, guns drawn. one man already down, and shot again at close range. >> it's a nightmare that people should be doing something they enjoy doing, going to a premier mall, and suddenly having their lives at risk. >> reporter: robert teaches security management at john j. college of criminal justice in new york. he says the u.s. is full of so-called soft targets. >> in some ways, malls are greater risk for the public than city centers are. because in malls, there are very tight accesses and so people are

in a confined area. someone is able to to shoot peoe without them being able to run. it's also interesting that the mall that was chosen, west gate, was the premium mall. it says something about the type of people that the terrorists wanted to influence. wanted to send a message to. >> reporter: while he says he thinks the u.s. is not completely safe from this type of attack, tighter security in this country means there will be fewer casualties. >> the mall of america is an example of a mall that thinks a lot about risks of this sort. they have plans for active shooting in place and practiced. kenyan authorities are now watching this video piece together clues about the gunmen. the somali armed group al-shabab has claimed responsibility. but investigators don't even know how many attackers were involved. ray lynn johnson, al jazerra.

>> the west gate mall attack last month lasted three days and left 72 people dead. china's economy on the rise. growing by its fastest pace so far this year, why only some in the country are bennetting, though. president obama picks his next homeland security chief. the experience that he would bring to the table. and the hacker group anonymous getting involved with a missouri rape case. the impact it's having on efforts to reach justice. uncovers unheard, fascinating news stories? >> they share it on the stream. >> social media isn't an after-thought, it drives discussion across america. >> al jazeera america's social media community, on tv and online. >> this is your outlet for those conversations. >> post, upload and interact. >> every night share undiscovered stories.

al jazeera america - a new voice in american journalism - >> introduces america tonight. >> in egypt, police fired teargas at supporters of the ... >> a fresh take on the stories that connect to you. [[voiceover]] they risk never returning to the united states. >> grounded. >> real. >> unconventional. [[voiceover]] we spent time with some members of the gangster disciples. >> an escape from the expected. >> i'm a cancer survivor. not only cancer, but brain cancer. america tonight 9 eastern on al jazeera america one of the world's biggest economies is getting bigger. china's economy grew by 7.8% from a year earlier but as al jazerra's margo or teague a reports despite the jump the country's economic future still uncertain 67 the exhibit halls of china's largest trade fair report as busy as they used to be. this bi annual i vent is usually

a game for the county's economy. there are less exhibitors and many say they expect to make less money. >> business hasn't been too good. we have to adjust and make ourselves competitive boo adapt to go needs and lower our costs. >> reporter: there is little doubt that the economy is growing the drop in the export figures is he next tiff a global slow down coming a is the government is putting economic reforms in place. the currently leadership wants to increase domestic consumption and is test-driving policies in a free trade zone opening in shanghai. here regulations aren't as tight allowing for freer operations in the service sector particularly in financial services. >> china is going to follow the standards everyone has set and we are trying to move this great economy in to this great world

and we are trying to be part of that. >> reporter: back at the canton trade ferrets a china's consumption attracting foreign exhibitors to bring in new products. >> we feel this market, regardless of the economic situation, there is demand from the effluent community. so we feel there is a great opportunity here in china. >> reporter: china is, indeed, getting richer. but the wealth remains in the hands of a few. if the gap in distribution isn't worked out, the widening disparity could force the government to deal with official issues that may bring with them political costs. the international monetary fund predicts kind's economic growth will be thiago year will be the weakest since the early 1990s. thousands of students in france are protesting the dee pour take i've teenage immigrant. they are calling for the return of her. >> my home is in france because in france i have everything. all move friends, my boyfriend,

my teachers, my school, my few, he everything is? france. >> reporter: the protests began after the 15-year-old was arrested while on a school trip and sent to kosovo. her father admits he lied to french authorities about the family's origins in kosovo, but says she was born in france and should be a i believe to stay. an 10 at this government pro nest haiti ended with tear gas and flaming barricades thousands gathered to challenge the cost of living. police fought back as the protesters a 3r0e678d the president's grounds the demonstrations took place on a national holiday. president obama taps a former pentagon official to be the next head of homelands security. the white house is the president will job name jay johnson. he serve as a counter terrorism advisor during the president's first time he feel set the legal framework for lethal drone strikes and allowed homosexual

to his serve openly in the military. the official announcement will be made friday. several former black water security guards are facing charges in connection with a deadly shooting in iraq charged with kill fountain tear unsarpld civilians in baghdad in 2007. the justice department has filed new ms. charges againsnew mansl. they say they acted in self-defense. ramon news is getting involved in an alleged rape case rocking a small town in missouri, as alan fisher reports two teenage girls say they were threatenedded after telling the police they were assaulted by high school football players at a party. >> greetings, world, we are operation maryville, two young girls have been raped in the town of maryville 67 th. >> reporter: the involvement of anonymous has changed the face of a rape case in the midwest. >> i hope people see through all the small town stuff.

that they really see the story for what it is instead of everyone's opinion. >> reporter: daydaisy coleman ss says she's been threatened since they went to the authorities alleging that she had been raped boo i a 17-year-old high school football star from a politically connected family. 14 at the time she went to a party with a 13-year-old friend after both had been drinking. there she says both were raped. two 17 year olds high school students were originally charged with czec sex offenses but prosecutors dropped the charges when the victims would not cooperate. since the case lie high lated and taken up by anonymous the town hall has been swammed from calls of angry people. >> it's devastating for our community to receive this many violent posts as we have. >> reporter: speaking to al jazerra the other alleged victim that night, says the increased support is very welcome. >> we didn't have this kind of support when everything

happened. but now that we do some a lot of support and we have people listening, it's like a miracle. it feels really good that it's finally getting spoken about. we have waited for this day for a very long time. >> reporter: the case has drawn comparisons with stubenville, ohio where two tie ohio school american football stars were evenheventure tummy convicted of raping a 16-year-old. in maryville the local sheriff says there is no cover or conspiracy. >> if you look at the past history of these young men, they have previously been prosecuted in the county by our current prosecuting attorney for other crimes. >> reporter: the special prosecutor will examine all aspects of the case, the two 17-year-old males say they are innocent social media has grout the investigation to the wider audience the biggest change may be the a lends victims now

saying they are willing to give evidence. alan fish, he al jazerra. >> anonymous is vowing to a launch a twitter storm against local authorities. the pope and palestine's president, why they are extending an invitation to the pontiff. researchers exampling a nearly 2 million year old skull making new claims about the evolution of human beings. why our family tree may not be as big as we thought. and millions of people taking part in a global drill to prepare for the next great earthquake. millions who need assistance now. we appreciate you spending time with us tonight. up next is the golden age of hollywood going golden but elsewhere.

why l.a.'s mayor has declared a state of emergency for the entertainment industry there. next. on august 20th,

poll stun vinnie authority president mcmove abbas wants pope francis to visit the middle east formally extending an invasion on thursday during their first meeting at the vatican. he accepted an invitation from israel and is expected to visit next year. presented a gift during the meeting, a pen. he told the pontiff he hopes to

use it to sign a peace treaty with israel. a discovery in western asia is offering a new theory about how humans evolved. scientists found this skull more than a decade ago, it's about 1.8 million years old and is the most complete human skull ever discovered. after comparing it to four other skulls from different time periods, researchers suggest they might all be from the same species and that the human family may not have as many different species as previously thought. a massive global earthquake drill had millions of people running for cover, organizers are hoping the exercise will help reduce earthquake deaths and improve rescue efforts. as stephanie stanton reports, nearly 10 million people in california took part. >> drop. it's time. >> reporter: this is only a drill. a mock scenario being played out at an elementary school of what might happen if a major earthquake strikes los angeles.

emergency responders helped those injured in the quake. the drill is part of the global earthquake preparedness movement called the great shake out. the injuries are fake. but the threat of a big earthquake hitting los angeles is very real. >> there can be many earthquakes of district size that his can happen here in southern california. we have more than 300 faults that can have a something stood six or greater. >> reporter: which the big one hits this earthquake simulator gives you a sense of what i major quake might feel like. even more frightening, a recent investigative report by the los angeles times newspaper found that more than a thousand old concrete buildings in the city may be at risk of collapsing during a major earthquake. like the 1994 north ridge quiet. >> any building that's concrete and older than 1974 you would immediately begin to think, well, maybe i better look at it. >> reporter: older buildings are made of columns that haven't been retrofitted and even if the building is known to be unstable, it would cost the

owner hundreds of thousands of dollars in repairs. a cost that many can't afford, especially in the currents economy. the l l. actual times investigation cited a study in berkeley, engineered identified 1500 vulnerable buildings in los angeles. but the findings are not being released for fear of legal ramifications at least one city official is demanding action. >> i am calling for the department of building safety to give us a report on what's out there, what the challenges are, and what steps we have to take next. there will be another earthquake, i jump because just as i can jump, the earth will move and i am just telling people to be prepared 67 the prep rapes, however, does not yet seem to extend to the thousands of structures that might be at risk across southern california. stephanie stanton, al jazerra, los angeles. >> in all, nearly 19 million people took part in the great shake out drills were held in several u.s. states long with canada, guam, puerto rico italy

and ne new see lands. that does it for this edition of the al jazerra news, i am sniff sy. remember news at the top of every hour. >> hi i'm lisa fletcher and you're in the stream. some native americans drive more than 100 miles to cast a ballot and they're fed up . voting, it is essential to our democracy. but some native americans in montana say they don't have equal access. they filed a lawsuit against county and state election officials asking for satellite voting on their reservations to begin 30 days prior toct