in washington, i am ray suarez. ♪ ... ♪ good afternoon to you. welcome to al jazeera america. i am morgan radford live in new york city. here are the stories we are following for you right now. ukraine's interim president launches what he calls an anti-terror operation as a result of deadly clashes with pro-russian militants. syr syria's government and rebel forces blaming each other for a poisonous gas attack. plus, pot in a vending machine? a colorado merchant turns to technology to help him sell

marijuana. >> not about me t i am dead. christ lives inside me. >> critics say they have been brainwashed. now they are wearing out their welcome in the lone star state. some are calling the group a cult. >> ukraine's interim president says he is launching what he calls an anti-terrorist operation. the target is pro-russian militants who seized a police station inslovslov. they say one security officer has been killed and five others wounded. people are being warned to stay indoors and stay away from windows. aj's hoda abdel hamid is there about 100 miles from the russian border. >> the building is still under control of the gunmen who seized it on saturday. they appear to be holed up inside and there is no sign of that anti-terror operation that the ukrainian interior minister

had warned of. now, the ukrainian police that was in the building at the time appears to have fled. outside here, the street leading to this police station has been barricaded from both sides. on top of the barricade, the men are unarmed. they are just holding plastic shields and wearing helmets. they also are counting on the support of hundreds of residents ofslovslov who came here to show their appreciation. the government of ukraine is probably fearing that there is a replay a la crimea here in eastern ukraine where in several towns and cities, either security buildings or local councils have been taken over. they might be a reality that the government of ukraine so far has not been a able to counter. >> for more on the escalating crisis in eastern ukraine we turn toaj kim venel.

>> tension are spilling over in the city ofslovslov. they have launched an anti-terrorism operation. the military they claim at least for a short time moved in. there are reports of dead and wounded. this report appears to show a man taking cover after being shot on the outskirts of the city. nearby, a second man sits apparently lifeless. sclainian forces tried to retake the building but retreated, report reportedly because of a risk to the publicukrainian forces triee the building but retreated, reportedly because of a risk to the public. >> we are the residents ofslovslov. the national guard is coming here. there has already been a shoot-out this morning. we have nothing to hide. here is my face. i want to ask comrade putin: you promised to protect us. please come here and protect us.

of this the scene on saturday in the nearby city t amateur video shows the moment gunmen stormed the city's police station. after a tension stand-off, shots were fired and pro-russian activists moved in. a day later, the station remains in their control. >> when we were given access to this building, we were told we shouldn't film the outer barricades, only the front of the police station. people here clearly weary of how the unrest in the east is being portrayed. >> people here are frightened by reports of bloody shed but maintain their calls for a referendum. donnperignon is like a bear. the bear right now is asleep. but when you wake up this bear, there will be trouble. please don't ask me how far we will go >> reporter: the city council has been taken over and protesters have also blocked entrances and exits to the region's military air field. they say if ukrainian special

forces return, they won't get past. authorities in kiev maintain the people here do not represent the region but with supporters continuing toeth together outside of state buildings, buildings quickly fall to go protesters in the east, the use of force could be difficult t kim vanelle, al jazeera. in terms of the u.s. response, vice president joe biden is heading to ukraine later on this week. secretary of state john kerry says there will be consequences if the russians don't stand down. u.n. ambassador samantha powers says there is no question that russian agents are behind the rebate attacks in eastern ukraine. >> it has the tell-tale signs of what we saw in crimea. it's professional, coordinated. nothing grassroots seeming about it. the forces are doing in each of the six or seven cities that they have been active in exactly the same thing. so certainly, it bears the tell-tale signs of moscow's involvement. >> barrels full of chemicals have been dropped on three

grudges across syria, including on the outskirts of damascus. the assad regime points the finger at a group linked to al-qaeda while opposition says it's the work of the government. it sparked outrage from president obama as well as world leaders. this time around, it seems the international community has fallen silent. al jazeera's al shabim has the latest. >> the aftermath of a barrel bomb attack in aleppo. people are searching for survivors under the rubble. the government intensified air raids across the country. rebels say this cylinder is all that's left of a barrel bottom that exploded in the town of quazati. activists say the bombs were filled with toxic chemicals. these videos are said to show victims of the attack being taken to field hospitals on the

11th of 12w april the city was targeted. we went to the scene. there were dozens of people who were affected, almost suffocated. most were elderly people, women and children. two died. >> the syrian opposition is demanding an international investigation. the government blames the attack on a group affiliated with al-qaeda. it is a rebel stronghold in hanna province. it has been bombarded by the army which is pushing to recapture areas such as quazat a&m orik. but the rebels hold out. >> this military commander from the front explains why the fighting there is important. >> translator: our aim is to cut off the government supply root link to go aleppo and prohibid reinforcements reaching

the area. >> rebel attacks are expanding north. helicopter crews drop goods and soldiers near the military base. recent gains by the opposition in aleppo now allows the rebels to send in more weapons and fighters as fighting escalates. al jazeera. in afghanistan, a tight race between the two frontrunners, ex finance minister abdullah ab dulla and ghani are poised to face a second round of votes. more from kabul >> reporter: to win afghanistan's presidential election outright, the leading con tender would need to get more than 50% of the vote. there are still results coming in. some will be released next week. the final tally, the final

announcement will be mid may it looks like they are headed for a run-off vote second round. >> will be held at the earliest at the end of may, both of them a have said the election committee said fraud wouldn't ascthe outcome of the poll so there will almost certainly be a run-off. they might not know who their new president is going to be until the end of october when the final results are all in and counted and any disputes dealt with. 16 people are dead after a fire in chile. the blaze began saturday afternoon in a forested area. it is the worst fire in the entire region since 1953.

>> fire killed 50 people. boston is preparing for this year's marathon. with it, a somber anniversary. tudes marks one year since the explosions at the finish line killed three people and injured 260 others. city officials released detailed public safety plans for this year's race, which is a week from tomorrow. there will be several changes. among them, more than 100 security cameras all along the route. the new safety plan also includes a bigger police presence for those anniversary events and an improved emergency communication system. christians are celebrating the beginning of holy week with palm sunday services. the vatican, thousands of catholics filled saint peter's square celebrating mass with pope francis. scripture marks palm sunday as the day that jesus was welcomed into jerusalem a week before he was persecuted and crucified. the next seven days are the holiest 69 christian calendar. palm sunday is being observed in jerusalem where pilgrims retrace the steps they thought jesus is believed to have walked through

jerusalem's old city starting it he mournt of olives that over looks the city and they make their way to saint anne's church. a few weeks back, we brought you the story of the church of wells. now, it's an evangelical congregation that set up in a small town in east texas. the people who live there are calling it a cult. in recent weeks, they have clashed with members in an effort to get them out. al jazeera's heidi jo castrow has their story. >> who are the church of wells? the group of 100 some fundamentalist christians own homes and businesses in this small east texas community. they raise their chickens and homeschool their children. they live behind covered windows and closed doors and as captured in this cell phone video, they tell people they are going to hell. the wells home coming parade turned violent. several attacked church members as they preached to the gathering, which included jeffrey brotherton's 4-year-old daughter. >> her and several other

children that are unmentioned are traumatized from it. they are having nightmares. they are not wanting to, you know, go out and play any more. >> two church members were treated for injuries but did not press charges. >> i forgive them and i love them. and i have nothing but love in my heart for them. truly. >> 28-year-old sean morris, 25-year-old jacob gardner and 28-year-old ryan ring walleted are the church's so-called elders. they say they are willing to be martyred for their beliefs. >> one of our main, like c, objectives as christians is showing people how they deserve to die and they need to die and it will happen at the second death or it can happen right now by the grace of god in christ. >> i understand your message is some would say is filled with damnation. and even hatred. you are preaching god hates sinners. that's a messages adults may be able to talk about but why target children? >> you have to understand,

height heidi, there were little children in the crowds the prophets, the apostles of every generation of which they appreciated to, there were children in the crowds. >> while the church of wells may strive to live like biblical times, the present day towns people of wells say enough is enough. they staged they had protest saturday you are judging these people because they are not like y'all. answer yes or no? yes or no? yes or no? >> in a way, this meeting is what the church of wells has always wanted, a conversation with the town. but not every church members member here was wanting to talk. >> katherine, do you still love your family? do you love your parents? >> 27-year-old katherine grove is a church member. her parents have tried to reunite with her since last year. they accuse church leaders of brainwashing their daughter. >> praise the lord. it's not about me. i am dead. christ lives inside me. you want to talk to katherine, she's dead.

>> the church of wells says all of its members are free to leave when they wish but that the group, itself, won't leave wells until god tells them to. heidi jo castro, al jazeera, wells, texas. >> coming up next, a vining machine that sells -- vending machine that sells pot. we will tell you why some people aren't so high on the idea. >> we have more confidence in the traditional way. >> they say it's not witchcraft abo but it does sure look like it. t the new push to turn traditional medicine men into doctors.

>> the worldts top finance authorities say the global economy is recovering. the world has gone through a very lengthy economic disaster and is now moving into what it calls a strengthening phase. the imf policy chair says the new task for politicians is to avoid making bad policies as

times get better. >> that means especially placing strong emphasis on medium term fiscal planning so that we don't build up deficits that can only be solved in a crisis when it's much more painful. >> the imf and world bank have been meeting washington and they are pledge to go work towards faster economic growth hoping to alleviate high unemployment. a new way to purchase marijuana. a vending machine that takes a photograph and a dependary owner says it's a good way to keep track of his inventory. the man who developed the machine says he worked hard to keep the weed out of the hands of children? >> you can really stack inventory in a safe manner, in a concentrated area. >> i am a father of a 12-year-old daughter and i wouldn't want her having access to it. so we played close attention to that. >> the machine can detect a buyer's age using his or her driver's license although rec e

recreational marijuana is legal, these machines will only be placed inside licensed dispensaries. many residents of nigeria opt for traditional medicine. critics say it should be ruled out. asaj reports, nigerias reports, it is trying to implement it -- implement it into the country's traditional system. >> he is using a traditional form of orthopedic therapy. he has no medical degree. he took this up from his father, who learned it from his father but make no mistake he is licensed. he is one of thousands of traditional medicine practitioners recognized by the state of lagos. >> if a bone is broken, they tell you about eight weeks before formation comes in. but in a traditional way, i would tell you before six weeks, you will walk with it.

>> patients say they find traditional healers more available, affordable and less invasive. >> my friend had a fracture like mine and went to a hospital. they amputated his leg right away. we have more confidence in the traditional way. for men generations, traditional medicine appears to be doing as well as it ever has. critics are of traditional medicine say it's not based upon scientific evidence some say it's difficult to draw the line between it and witchcraft. >> that's exactly the impression the lagos alternative medicine board had been trying to change. for years, it has been licensing, monitoring and training additional healers. they including herbalists and bone setters and birth attendants. it he had indicates in nutrition and basic lab techniques. it's a prerequisite to getting licensed. the chairman of the board is a

doctor. he says this in the end is about providing better healthcare. >> what we are doing now is that we are trying to have the traditional doctors and healers so there can be a midway. we are talking about a country where we have 30 doctors to 200,000 patients. >> as part of the renewed push, lagos is setting up a botanical center to capitalize on the country's wealth in medicinal plants. they hope there will be home grown solutions to endemic diseases such as malaria. they have been lobby to go have a hospital that would work this side-by-side with physicians. their practice is here to stay, they say it is, well, the natural thing to do. al jazeera, lagos. >> a check the top stories just ahead plus we will introduce you to some of the people who are risking it all just for a chance at life in america.

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>> this is the story of a boy, a boarder, and a wall of silence sometime shortly before 11:30 p.m. on october 10th, 2012, the 16-year-old died instantly when he was hit by a bullet in the back of the head. as he fell facedown, eight more

shots hit him in the back. at least one border pat tro agent fired from somewhere around here on top of this cliff in arizona through the fence, down into the street and down into mexico. why? border pat tro says jose antonio was throwing rocks at them. at least one eyewitness says jose antonio was just walking down the street, even if he was throwing rocks, was shooting him an appropriate response? was he really a threat to armed agent did up to the cliff behind the fence? jose's grandmother is an american citizen. she lives on the arizona side of the fence in nogales, a few minutes away from where her grandson was killed at a bedside sideline, she prays. >> there needs to be justice because it seems to me a cold-blooded calculated crime. to me, it's a crime with no

justification because he wasn't doing anything. he was just walking. he wasn't doing anything. >> almost a year and a half after the fatal shooting, the border patrol has at last formally responded to jose's family. this is the claim of his mother. the family's american attorney roberto monteil showed me a letter he received dated march 14th. >> your client's claim to not be attributed to a wrongful or nect act or omission on the part of the united states customs and border protection and it's over as far as they are concerned. >> monteil says the border patrol took two minutes from the time of the shooting to make this call to mexican authorities. >> let's listen to that call. >> the border patrol. >> monteil says the delay suggests indifference to the fact a mentionco can boy had been shot. may if they're really worried

about somebody being hurt, you don't wait four minutes bays obviously, the shooting had stopped. >> hose an antonio's mother, aricelli says the letter from the border patrol is an outrage. >> translator: well, i think they are mad. they are wrong. how can they not be to blame? it was an assassination. at no point did my son shoot at them. he didn't have a weapon. so for me, it was a murder. i think a murder needs to be paid for injustice has to be dealt with. people can't go around killing people and have impunity. >> setting aside the unanswered questions of the case, border patrol agents do face assaults with rocks. this memo went out to agent did just a week before the letter to jose antonio's family. it says agents have been attacked with rocks more than 1700 times since 2010, 43 times, they responded with deadly force killing 10 people. no border patrol agent has ever been killed by a rock.

the memo instructs agents to take cover and not shoot unless they are in imminent danger of death or serious injury. with all of this in mind, the question remains is shooting ever an appropriate response to rocks? despite the border patrolsr's letter, both the department of justice and the f.b.i. investigating. local border patrol agents wouldn't talk about the case or use of force policies. >> people feel like they are stonewalling. there is a lack of information, a lack of transparence. how does that affect the job? >> it doesn't really affect it too much because we don't have any control over the investigation. i explain that but over all once that investigation is pending, we are out of it, you know, like i said, we cooperate fully with the investigative agency. as far as giving information to the public, we can't do that. which surveillance cameras tower over the intersection where jose antonio was killed but whatever images those cameras caught that

night haven't been released. >> show me the video where my son throws rocks. even with that, they didn't do the right thing. i want to see the video. i want to see where my son hurts them. it's a pain inside knee will be there until there is justice, until i know who killed my son and i know he has been judged. only thing will i think all materials are border patrol agents aren't bad guys. >> coming up tonight, al jazeera america will debut a new original series called border land. it tracks six diverse americans retracing the steps of three my grants who died while trying to cross into the united states tonight at 9:00 p.m. eastern, 6:00 pacific. thanks so much for walling a lot of sashings. "real money" is coming up next. . "real money" is coming up next.

>> snoo >> a world without extreme poverty by 2030. i'm talking to the man. and christine la guard tells me what will happen if the u.s. doesn't system up, act like a leader and help are reforms. this a "real money", and i'm ali velshi.