this is al jazeera america. i'm richelle carey in new york with a look at the day's top stories overwhelmed by emotion, parents of the kidnapped girls in nigeria learn how some were able to escape. in a few hours parts of the eastern ukraine vote on whether to secede. michael sam is the first openly gay player to be drafted by the n.h.l. we take a deeper look at growing old in america, the changes facing so many baby

boomers. sh the following day we were sent to fetch waumpt that's when we -- water. that's when we seized the opportunity and bolted. when they shot at us, we took the chance and god helped us arrive in chibok two days later a girl tells a story of her escape from the boko haram kidnappers. listening in horror are the grief-stricken girls in captivity still. all demand the government do more to bring them home. nigeria's military is on the defensive, and is denying report that it was warned hours before fighters snatched the 276 students. u.s. personnel arrived in nigeria to find the school girls. more now from abuja. >> reporter: the nigerian military broke its silence, issuing a statement trying to

exonerate soldiers that they had advanced warning, but failed to act accordingly. the military said what they received were calls for reinforcement once the boko haram attack was under way, that it had to dispatch reinforcements to more than 120km away in a rugged and difficult terrain that soldiers were ambushed. receiving misleading information and their investigation into the conduct and what happened on that day is underway. this assi as international team from the united states and u.k. arrive to provide assistance to authority in areas where they are lacking. believed to be satellite imagery and intelligence gathering. the emphasis is these are not troops or boots on the ground, but technical experts, military personnel, law enforcement,

specifically skilled in the areas of intelligence, hostage negotiations, in fact gathering and victim assistance. >> michelle obama joined the international outrage over these kidnappings. never before has the first lady appeared alone in the presidential weekly message. this morning her mother's day message turned to the tragedy in africa. >> in the girls barak and i see our own daughters. we see their hopes and their dreams, and we can only imagine the anguish their parents are feeling right now. the girls, themselves, also knew full-well the dangers they might encounter. the school had recently been closed due to terrorist threats. these girls insisted on returning to take their exams. they were so determined to move to the next level of their education, determined to build careers of their own and make

their families and communities proud. >> as the first lady said the actions of boko haram forces families to choose between their child's safety and education. al jazeera journalist has more. >> reporter: this mother of four lost her husband to boko haram a few years ago. she dreamt of her children becoming doctors and lawyers, but boko haram attacks in schools forced her to change her mind. >> i wanted them to go to conventional schools, but abduction made me rethink. i pulled them out and put them in a carr antic school instead -- koranic school instead. it's painful. >> our youngest daughter said it was painful. >> translation: i feel sad when i see my mates going school, and i am not. to be honest, i'm afraid of what is happening in schools, at least i go to a koranic cool.

>> sending girls to school is proving to be a real trouble. evidence that boko haram attacks has affected school enrolment. dozens of schools have been destroyed. >> reporter: schools like these in the states are closed, except for students taking their final exams. some parents say the action was wrong, and giving in to boko haram threats would have serious consequences. >> they don't want anyone to go school, particularly women. so we cannot train our children or daughters to become engineers, doctors, nurse, whatever. it means our society is doomed. >> despite government promises to secure schools, the attacks and killings continue with a significant impact on school enrolment and pupil numbers. more than 10.5 million children are out of nijia's education system, and the attacks on

schools, especially in the north means many parents face a stark choice - child safety or education. the obama administration is familiar with boko haram. in fact, when hillary clinton was secretary of state, she tried to get the group declared a terrorism organization. we talked to a terror. >> expert saying nigeria and white house advisors resisted her efforts. >> boko haram was a top priority early on in the obama administration and under the leadership of hillary clinton. the fto designation is a legal designation and a foreign policy tool that there was a robust debate about in the administration. >> the fto administration would have provided tools and finances to combat boko haram. parts of eastern ukraine - local authorities prepare for a referendum hours away.

the question at ham whether to ses seed. many call the vote illegitimate. some say it's the only way to restore peace. firefighters worked to put out flames from deadly fighting, 20 killed when ukranian forces clashed. amid the violence. local officials say they'll proceed with the referendum. paul beban has the latest. >> reporter: it looks like an election with ballot boxes and booths being assembled. 1500 booths have been promised in donetsk and more in neighbouring towns. the voter register is out of date. there's abundant opportunity for electoral fraud. the man overseeing it says it's too late to stop the ballot now. >> my task is to give every resident an opportunity to vote and determine the final number

and inform mass media and the world community about it. the people of donetsk - how they deal with the result, i don't know. the crimean example is appropriate. >> voters will be asked whether they accept the creation of the donetsk people's republic, a self-declared entity. talk of the crimean scenario hints at what might follow. an overwhelming vote in favour of the pro-russian people's republics is predicted. slovyansk is staunchly pro-russian, and no vote is unthinkable. >> you know, it's hard to say, but i think no less than 70% will vote yes. >> away from the barricades and balaclavas pro-russian sentiment is nuanced. a poll found two-thirds of people disliked the kiev authorities. 18% wanted them to ses seed to

russia. >> we approve the referendum, what else can we do. i'm worried about how ukraine, the country - we want peace and calm and want to the work as before. >> if i go, i would vote no, because i find the referendum unacceptable because there are no observers, no control, no voter's list. one can vote where he wants, as many times as he wants. it's not a referendum. it's a mess. >> a mess is what this is. in the aftermath of fradd's raid by ukranian forces. seven people were killed. they were the circumstances - the circumstances are disputed, the aftermath is clear to see. people here were already hostile to the kiev deposit and are seething with rage. on sunday that anger will be vented through the polling stations.

joining us via skype is richard white, the director from the center of political analysis from the hudson institute. we appreciate your time. could this referendum be viewed in any way as a legitimate vote? >> i don't think so. the way it's described, including in your recent broadcast. it's spontaneous effort by local groups, there's no guarantee of voting, there's no supervision. separatists are trying to grow support for their gender. >> what are the implications once it happens. >> it's clear because of offense taken by the russian government. he asked that the referendum not take place, and then you have to basically put out hypothesis about why it's occurring. vladimir putin doesn't have control over the proxies or

perhaps he was saying that he wants not to do it, but he does want them to do it. we won't know at some point on, at least in the russian policy making until after the vote takes place, and then we'll see what statement they make, whether they declare some lij massy or whether they ignore it. >> vladimir putin says he didn't want this to happen. did he want the destabilization process that he seemed to kick off. did he want that to happen? >> yes. for day and weeks he took actions contributing to this, but he made a declar tri comdawn saying -- come down saying let's not have the referendum in ukraine, and i'll pull back the russian forces and so on. but we don't know whether this

is a faint, he was trying to lure the west off balance and the ukranian government, or he delivers a death blow. we don't know. that won't be clear until after a few days from now. >> the ukranian president told the eastern regions that voting on sunday would be a step into the abyss for these regions, what do you interpret that to mean. >> i interpret it as meaning that what is going to happen when the voting takes place you'll declare it illegitimate and it depends if the separatists declare that we'll have separate republics, and the question is whether the russian government supports it. you can trace out a path by which it leads to destabilization and abyss, and the russian military prevention system to separate the parts of ukraine from the central government control. it doesn't necessarily follow

that scenario. >> also angela merkel and francis hollande said elections were to happen in ukraine. if it doesn't happen they want sanctions against russia, they'll ramp things up. what do you see as the end game in? >> well, the thinking is if you have the elections take place in ukraine, on may 25th, and there's a clear majority and international observers are certified. that doesn'tened the crisis. -- doesn't end the crisis. new government works out arrangements and you work out the grievances. on the other hands, if the separatists reject the ballot, if you russian government prevents it, are using the separatists for other means, you can see the crisis go on. >> okay. so we'll have to see what happens, and then what happens after that, because it seems to

be a domino effect for sure. so many moving parts. thank you so much. appreciate it. >> absolutely. news in - reports of widespread storm damage in a small town outside of kansas city. tornado damage was reported in oric mississippi. -- missouri, it's not verified that it was a tornado. but a storm caused this. this was taken after the storm. psilos torn down, roofs ripped off. buildings damaged. 800 people like in oric, no report of injuries, and we'll follow that for you. >> virginia police recovered the body of a second person who died in a hot air balloon accident. three were in the hot air balloon when it hit a powerline, caught fire and crashed to the ground. the balloon and the person piloting it have not been found. >> because of the time that

transpired since the hot air balloon crashed and we've not had contact with occupants that were in the hot air balloon, we are transitioning from a rescue operation to a recovery operation at this time. >> two of the victims have been identified as women basketball officials from the university of richmond. the national transportation safety board says it will have a preliminary report on what happened in 10 days. it came down to the final round, final day of the n.f.l. draft. an hour ago the first openly gay player was chosen by the louisiana rams, giving michael sam a -- st. louis rams, giving michael sams a chance to play professionally. >> what's going on. >> it's an historic and emotional day for michael sam. the player of the year from

missouri made headlines for coming out in february. on the final day, in the final day of the draft michael sam got the call. >> with the 249th pick in the 2014 n.f.l. draft the st. louis rams select michael sams, defense for missouri. good for you. >> with that, michael sam's dream became a reality. the 24-year-old says he just wants to be judged as a football player, and it was a touching moment for sam, surround by friends and family. the st. louis rams gives him a chance to prove himself, after taking in the 7th round. there are some concerns that sam wouldn't get drafted after a disappointing performance. make no mistake, it was a high energy, player, the one thing that scouts cannot measure, a

players' heart, and sam plays with a lot of passion. the next step from mikael samuelsson. the st louis rams are flying in, and it's time to go work and learn the playbook, learn the system in hopes of making the ram's rotter. the nice thing for michael sam is he'll stay in missouri, two hours away and play for the st. louisize rams. a veteran coach says he saw something. he'll make his name on the special teams. >> because you are drafted doesn't mean you make the team. you have to go through camp and prove yourself. it's a deep roster on defense. he has to make the team. everyone hopes he will, he has the chance to make the team. >> his dream of getting drafted is one part. to make the team he has to go through training camp. get the respect from the veterans and the head coach, and that way hopefully he'll be on the 53-man roster. >> so much about football is the

intangibles. the heart. everyone sees he has that. hopefully it will take him far. >> they do measurables. 255 - a little slow, but the scouts cannot measure the players' heart. >> he's from texas, i have to get that out. all right. thank you so much. still ahead on al jazeera america - americans are living longer. ageing is getting more extensive, we take a look at the challenges facing baby boomers as many hit retirement. a look at the last decade in afghanistan. we talk to the author of the book exploring the relationship between that country and the ♪

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it looks like the future! we must have encountered a temporal vortex. further analytics are necessary. beam us up. ♪ that's my phone. hey. [ female announcer ] the x1 entertainment operating system. only from xfinity. tv and internet together like never before. united states. it's time for to us take a deeper look. our focus tonight is aging in america. according to the latest sensor, there were 43.1 million people over the age of 65 living in the united states. that's 14% of the entire population. it's up from 9% in 1960 when the

population was half of what it is. the immediate income of elderly americans in 2012 was under 41,000 a year. the median household income for the country is around 50,000. we asked correspondents across the country to take a look at people's personnel stories. we have reports from texas, pennsylvania, and florida. i'm julia in fort lauderdale, florida, where for some the american dream of enjoying a golden retirement is fading as they care for ageing relatives. >> judy begins most days preparing coffee, breakfast and laying out residents for her 95-year-old aunt hilda king. due to failing capabilities king moved in with her niece. >> it's not just an adjustment for her, it's an adjustment for me. when she came in, she was very disoriented. >> king is thankful her niece takes care of her.

>> i don't have any children. i'm lucky, you know, that i have her to take care of me. >> st. john hamilton is one of a growing number of americans caring for relatives. she thought this time in life meant slowing down, enjoying travel. instead, she's spending time, energy and funny caring for her aunt. >> the role of care take are is a challenge emotionally, financially and logistically. >> traversing the medical system was also really a challenge. i never had to do that before. >> caring for aunt hilda is not how st. john hamilton visualised her life, but said it is teaching her to prepare for her own senior chapter. >> i'm in dallas. >> 10 children, 22 grandchildren and 15 great grand chin. >> here is what 50 years of marriage looks like. and this, too, is what 50 years

of marriage looks like. >> he had colon cancer, quadruple bypass. he's a kidney patient. he's had two knee replacements, back surgery. >> this day, for 71-year-old brenda barnes mirrors every day. >> right now he's on 10 different medications. >> levy was in good health until 2010, when he suffered a heart attack, forcing his wife into retirement, and the couple into financial straits. >> i don't have leisure money. >> the barnes receive food stamps and social security between the two brings in under $1700 a month. >> it pays for the rent, the light bill, two telephone bills, gas, credit cards and the things that we are involved in at our

church and our doctor bills. we have to be studious about what we buy. >> keeping close tags on where every dollar goes is the harsh reality that we both have to come to terms with. >> a trio of women in pittsburgh found an alternative to living alone. housemates - they started their golden girls household. they had seen group houses like their on tv ♪ thank you for being a friend ♪ . >> the three friends were this their late 50s, travelled and thought about sharing a house. >> it would be economical, efficient and fun. we said "why wait for retirement? why not now?" they found a house, split the mortgage and moved in. they had doubts. >> it was an unnatural kind of situation to think about living with other people who aren't family members.

>> the benefits started right away. >> frees up time. now you are sharing the chores. you're sharing - you're paying for some services that you used to do yourself. >> as they have gotten older the baby boomers found themselves independent and willing to by something new. >> the boomer generation-on-down are more innovative and willing to experiment with different live styles. >> the pittsburg girls got so many questions living together that they wrote a book, sharing tips for success. >> we are different people. >> right, that shared values, lifestyle and sense of responsibility. that's the core. >> louise, karen and jane say they have more fun together and are better prepared for what is ahead. >> to discuss the challenges faced by elders in america, we are joined by marlin moon, director for the center on ageing at the american institute for research and janice van

shuster, writer. i appreciate you both joining me. >> marilyn, is it more challenging now to be helderly in america than it has been in the past? i don't know if it's more challenging. there are different dimensions than there used to be much the cost of health care is greater. on the other hand, people are coming to this age with better education, more sense of what they want to do. so it's a mixed bag. >> ms shuster, i want to give you a chance to answer that as well. >> sorry, what is different about ageing today? >> yes, is it more challenging than it has been in the past. marilyn says it's a mixed bag. janice, what do you think? >> it will be more challenging because we will be living for longer with so many different conditions, health conditions and challenges in our lives. >> so let's talk about that.

living longer, maryland, i suppose, means you have to have more money put aside. how do you prepare for that, why is that more challenging than it has been in the past? >> well, one of the ways in which it is more challenging is that people used to have traditional pensions that paid a certain amount of money every year for the rest of their lives. now most of us have to save ourselves through special vehicles like 401 ks, 403 bs et cetera. we accumulate a large amount of money, we have to figure out how to use it over the rest of our lives. the longer life spans create additional changes that way. >> janice, the money that marr ill jip is talking about -- marilyn is talking about, does a lot go to health care costs? >> people are surprised at how expensive it is to pay for, if you need a home health aid to come to your house, if you wound

up in a nursing home environment. there's a lot of out of pocket expenses as you age. there's the cost of becoming more isolated for people who don't have large families, and care takers. in addition to the financial cost there's the human cost they with have experienced in this different time of life. >> let's pause for a moment and talk about the financial challenges that seniors face. lisa stark did reporting on this. let's take a look at this and we'll pick it up on the other side of her story. >> reporter: when karen works these days it's primarily has a volunteer. they retired a few years ago at age 52,ar nearly three deck -- after nearly three decades as a county government worker. >> one of the main reasons for taking the job was the excellent retirement that the county had. >> her 28-year-old daughter has a management job with a small company, but has not been able

to start saving for retirement. >> reporter: does your company offer retirement plan? >> no, not at this time. >> have you worked for a company that offered a retirement plan? >> no, i haven't. >> more than half of american workers do not have a retirement plan. middle aged workers who are offered a plan are more likely to put money away. >> people making between $30,000-$50,000 when covered by a plan, over 70% participate. savings plans like 401 k, when they don't have access to a plan at works, less than 5% of them save on their own. >> having money automatically deducted from her pay check was key. >> i did not get to factor the dollar amount in. >> the retirement situation is dire for blacks and his panics. a report found those families

have $30,000 socked away compared to 120,000 for those near retirement age. >> let's do more to help americans save for retirement. president obama highlighted the issue, but through executive order created a new fund called a my ra. >> businesses can voluntarily offer the programme at little or no cost to the company. money deducted from paychecks would go. >> a government-backed fund, and workers can start saving with with as little as $25. here is a low risk, low cost, but low balance alternative for vokes that haven't -- folks that haven't got started. between living expenses and paying off loans, saving for rer tired is tough. it worries us. but our hands are tied. her mum supports new retirement plan options for young workers. >> this gives them the opportunity to start thinking

about the future. >> it's never too early to do that. it was remarkable that she retired at 52. that's not the norm. she may have another 40 years, and that's great for her. most people are not in that situation. when the money runs out, that's when people's families have to step in, if they are lucky enough to have families. if you could speak to how difficult this can be on families when you have to take care of the older people in your family, because it's your responsibility, how difficult can that be on families, marilyn, if you can go first. >> one of the things that is important is the family ties that people have. and folks do count on that. but it means that you are having people who often still have children at home, or children in

college having to then help to support their parents. sometimes called the sandwich generation of people that get in a bind that way. it can put a damper on their own savings for retirement and create the problem that continues in the future. it is a difficult challenge and it's hard to convince people in their 20s and 30s, when they are facing a lot of other responsibilities to put money away. >> that is so important. it is so essential in the current system. >> can you pick up on that point, it's great. it sounds like it's about trying to plan. >> it's hard for people to plan for things that are not an immediate risk. it's easier to plan for what to have for dinner tomorrow, not what you'll be doing in 40 years. we need to talk about redefining family for people. my generation had fewer children. we will have fewer caregivers

available for us, and women that never mory and don't have children have fewer available. we need to rethink who the community will be to care for adults when they face that time of life with no family to turn to. there are not enough people. >> that's a great point. >> life will be a challenge. >> it's a great point and a wonderful story that libby casey pointed out, the golden girls story, the three women decided "we'll move into a great house and take care of each other." it redefines family. that's a great point and we'll leave it on that note. it's an important conversation that we need to continue to have and move forward with. thank you ladies so much. >> thank you. >> thank you next on al jazeera america - no good men among the living - a new book looking at the u.s. involved in afghanistan. we'll talk about the mistakes america made and the damage.

>> and a victory dedicated to nelson mandela, and what the a.n.c. are staying about their landslide victory. appear

afghanistan's presidential election is heading for a run-off. 7 million afghans went to the poll on april 5th. the two top contenders. former foreign minister and economist failed to get a majority of the vote. hamid karzai was barred from seeking a third term in office. a new book explores the history of afghanistan "no good men among the living", looks at the campaign, and more than 10 years of u.s.-afghan relations since the u.s. invaded. let's talk more about this book. we appreciate you coming in. the book focuses on three main characters, a taliban commander, a member of hamid karzai deposit

and a housewife. why the characters to tell the story? >> a lot of us don't realise this has been the longest war in american history. we know little about what afghans think about the law. when i set out to write the book, i wanted to know what the war feels and looks like from the afghan point of view. i wanted to see how does it look from the point of view of our enemy, from the ally, someone from hamid karzai's government, and someone caught in between, who is a housewife who has to navigate. >> someone that you can connect with. >> what surprised me is there's ways to connect with all three, of course. even the taliban commander, who are at the very excessive government. what surprised me about why he decided to fight is he was not always in the taliban. he had been in the taliban in the 1990s, and quit when the u.s. invaded in 2001.

because of various forces, war lords, et cetera, he decided to fight again. it was surprising to me. >> you spent years living there researching, something most americans would not have the opportunity to do, or choose to do. what might surprise people about afghanistan? >> well, there are two afghanistans, there's the afghanistan that we hear about in news reports, in the city. we heard about the elections that had gone off. in the country side where the report is fought, it's a different afghanistan. there people are caught between two sides, the taliban on the one hand and warlords and powerbrokers on the other side. that is something that doesn't come about, and it's something that surprised me. >> there's a sense in the book that the u.s. made a lot of basic mistakes in its approach to afghanistan. is your thinking that the u.s. made a mistake in inviting period, or just that their strategy was wrong once they

invaded. >> the strait any flows -- strategy flows from the idea of the war on terror. if you remember what president bush said, you are either with us or against us. it meant we divided the world into good guys and bad guys. and we prosecuted the war on that basis. when we went to afghanistan in 2001, a lot of taliban fighting against the u.s. surrendered. they'd drop the weapons and switch sides. they did that because of what happened in afghanistan gan history. >> it happens every few years. >> this has been a country at war since 1979. you learnt to survive and switch sides. this is what happens to 2001. a lot of taliban fighters switch sides and came to the government and said "we want to join you." the u.s. didn't recognise it and tried to kill them or anybody accused of being taliban. that helped to restart the war. >> what lessons do you think the

u.s. can learn, will the u.s. learn. will afghanistan learn from this. >> what we should learn is the idea that you are with us or against us or the war on terror divides the world into two categories is not accurate. it's more complicated on the ground. for afghans, they are caught between people who have guns on all sides. whether people we support who are committing grave human rights violations or the taliban. the civilians are the ones to suffer, and we need to rethink what it means to prosecute a war on terror, and saying we should stop supporting guys that do these. >> what do you say to the criticism that is a positive. a critique said that perhaps you were a little too soft on the taliban in your book. what do you say to that? >> i have a chapter about the crimes of taliban. there's a distinction to be made between calling attentions to the reason why the taliban

reconstituted themselves and justifying the actions. my book says these are the reasons where the taliban came up again, which is a tragedy for afghans and americans. it's different from justifying the actions of the taliban, which are heinous. >> a criticism is the review says that you didn't kelent the dots enough -- connect the dots enough between pakistan, afghanistan and the united states. what do you say about that. >> i have a lot of scenes in support of the taliban. to talk about pakistan, which some commentators like to do, shifts the focus away from u and we bear a lot of blame. we killed a lot of innocent afghans in 2001, 2002 and 2003, laying the ground work for the insurgency that pakistan came to support. >> what do you think are the lasting effects on americans after a lengthy, longest war in

u.s. history, what do you think are the lasting effects as americans? >> we support the afghan state. we pay billions to prop it up. if we stop, the afghan state will collapse and there'll be a war. the policy is to continue the funding forever, there's no plan. america is going to prop up a state and warlords predatory in committing human rites violations - that is somethingual americans should care -- something all americans should look at. >> thank you for letting us look at the book and this discussion. still ahead - an emotional day for the families of those that died in the 2001 world trade center attack - a new resting place, and some family members not happy about it. fishing for gay rights in cuba. the high-profile protestor who took to the streets today.

the unidentified remains of those who died have been returned to lower manhattan, from the victims of the world trade center attacks. vick tips' families are not happy. >> reporter: under police escort unidentified remains from september 11, 2001, are brought back to the world trade center site for the first time in 13 years. this is one of three kaz kets transported to the 9/11 memorial and museum due to open next week. the family members are not happy about it. black armbands cover the mouths to signify, they say, they were

given no voice or choice in where the unidentified remains, mounting to 40% of those that died at the site, would end up. they are angry at the city of new york for putting the remains in a vault 7 stories underground inside a pay as you enter museum, built on a floodplain and are demanding a more reverential location, representing all those who died here and whose bodies have never been recovered. >> i think they deserve something beautiful, because they never got a chance to go home to the family cemetery. of all the remains from 9/11, these are the ones that should be given the most beautiful, fitting place to rest. >> the families have written to president obama appealing for help. he'll be at the museum's opening ceremony next thursday. >> the city says it did consult family members, but the family members today to see them come back to the place they decide

said they'll boycott the memorial and museum until a more suitable resting place is found. for the latest in yemen where the government is cracking down on al qaeda. the government is providing for the yemeni government. the militants are putting up a fight. a bomb went off near the president's home. no injuries were reported. seven alleged al qaeda militants were killed and state government officials confirm two men were shot and killed during a kidnap attempt two weeks ago. >> in south africa the a.n.c. won another term in office. the election victory dance may be short lived. we have this report where voters expect more from the party that liberated the nation. >> the african national congress celebrates its fifth consecutive election win. jacob zuma is upbeat, beginning his second term in office. millions of south africans have

given his administration another chance. the president survived accusations of poor delivery of services and allegations of corruption. >> who can defeat us if you are with the people. who can? no one. those who are not with the people, the people are not going to vote for them. and that is what has happened. that's why other parties of those who spoke so violently in parliament - they have been reduced to little puffs in parliament. >> the party has been voted into power, as a party of government. this time with a reduced majority. >> jacob zuma's majority has lost the a.n.c. in two elections, it fell from 70% to # 6%, and -- 66%, and from 66% to

61.5, 62%. the big question is people are unhappy with jacob zuma, and some of the behaviour. >> the new kid on the block, economic freedom fighters got 20% of the seats. the main opposition party, the democratic alliance increased its share of the national vote. >> reporter: senior aides here are celebrating their win. it's straight to the drawing board and planning the way forward. local government elections in 2016 - they can't afford to lose more support. >> the african national congress is more than 100 years old and is seen as a majority that liberated the party. analysts say it's a wake up call to party officials that south africans have other options, if the a.n.c. is seen to fail its electorate. the vatican is preparing for another sainthood ceremony. two weeks ago, after a double

anonisation was given the seal of approval to a miracle attributed to pope john paul vi. he is remembered for the position on birth control. the beautification is set for october 19th. in cuba several hundreds gay rights activists and the president's daughter took to the streets to bes for gay rights -- process for gay rights. cuba approved sex change operations and banned work place discriminations against lesbian, gay, trance sexual people, but gay marriage is not allowed. >> reporter: cuban society is making progress. each time there's more snoouckss and social -- institutions and social groups that support us. we face criticism from people that do not understand. >> under the previous president,

parades were not allowed. same-sex marriages are allowed in arkansas. this morning, christine and jennifer tied the knot. the attorney-general vowed to appeal the ruling. the senate related a proposal to raise the minimum wage to $10.10 and remained at $7.25. [ chants ] . >> reporter: the marching workers chanted demands for a higher minimum wage in spanish and english. [ chants ] >> reporter: faith leaders joined the march for interdenominational, interracial, international service. >> we people of faith are here to stand in solidarity with

low-wage workers and families. >> the 2-hour programme was filled with testimonials. >> there's no respect. abuses are too many. >> sorry mons. >> i want -- sermons. >> i want to say yes to fair work. >> and song. [ singing ] >> reporter: there are 1600 here, given a pledge written in english and spanish. what you can do is pledge to join the strike later this month and take a bus to albany. the clear political message that new york city has the greatest income inequality in the nation, according to local leaders. more than 3 million men and women are working, but still live in poverty because the state's $8 minimum wage is too

low and clearly not enough. >> she says something needs to change. >> pending legislation would allow cities and counties across new york state to supplement the minimum wage by raising the local minimum wage. recent falls show 73% of new yorkers support the measure. >> opponents say there are other ways to help the poor, that raising wages will make it harder for businesses to hire younger and lower-skilled workers. president obama called for a wage hike and made it clear, making sure it's the focus of the remaining time in office. some think it's too late. >> people thought obama would do something. we see now they can do something. his book is written, and he's at the door. >> the movement continues on. >> let's march to albany on the 20th, in the spirit of joshua. let's march on in the spirit of

jesus. a programming note. our critically acclaimed series "borderland" is airing a special episode. the cast members are coming together to talk about their experiences crossing the u.s., mexican boarder. that's tomorrow. astronomers are flocking to the desert and chile. >> here we are. my baby. >> it's the perfect place for new discoveries - next. r

cl we know about vladimir putin, the politician. now meet vladimir putin the hockey player, wearing number 11 during the festival of ice hockey in socially. it's an -- sochi. it's an amateur game. he scored six goals - yes, they probably let him score. >> chile's desert is one of the level places on earth to observe the galaxy. avt ron om erts have looked for one of the oldest stars in the

universe. >> reporter: the atta camera is one of the driest and old es deserts on earth. some parts get no rain. that's why it lures astronomers time and again. >> it's very dry, and that's good for astronomy. essentially it means the stars don't gingle as much -- twinkle as much. it is pretty when the stars twinning -- 2001ingle but the westbounding twinkle but the stars don't like it. >> they are 200m up in the andes, waiting for nightfall. others are perched in the air, the atta camera the focus of our yearning to know more. >> here we are. my favourite telescope. >> tell us about the discovery you made. >> we use the telescope several times a year and were here in 2013, a year ago, and one of the

stars we observed turned out to be the second generation star of the universe. >> mark phillips is the director of the imaginel um observatory and knows the significance of the discovery. >> we have to understand the chemical revolution of the universe. anna's work is fundamental in understanding how life on earth came about, actual. >> right now, it's our star beating down, all is quiet in the living quarters of technicians and astronomers - they are creatures of the night. the telescope operators prepare to find star targets. they are above the constellations - they continue their relentless spectacular march across the skies, full of mystery and unanswered questions. >> can you go to target number 13. >> the telescope hones in on the

second generation star. the faint life is passed through an expecto graph, which determines what it is made of >> here we have a lot of carbon absorption, there's a lot of carbon. >> we think that the second generation of stars, forming from the ashes of the first one, that that generation included low mass stars. we have found one of those. that is, of course, terrific, that we have the tool and the telescopes to fish out these fossil records of the very, very early time, and we can study the early chemical and physical conditions of the universe. outside the observatory the raw wonder of the star at night is compelling. night time compressed into seconds shows the milky way sweeping across the sky.

>> in amongst it all is an old, old star, taking us close to the beginning of everything. thank you for joining us. i'll be back at 11:00 pm eastern. "consider this" starts right now. the war on drugs - is it a trillion failure, plus al jazeera obtains emails between the n.s.a. and google that raise questions about a cosy relationship between the intelligence agency and major computer companies. could researchers have sfound a modern -- found a modern-day fountain of youth. >> a massive scandal at a powerful university - we are joined before the whistleblower