but he was there on the front lines during some of the most difficult times this country has faced. that's our show. i'm ali velshi. thanks for joining us. ♪ good evening, everyone. this is al jazeera america. i'm john siegenthaler in new york. ransom, nigeria reacts to chilling video. boko haram says it will trade the kidnapped girls for militants in prison. declaring independence, a formal request to join russia from another troubled corner of ukraine. at risk a second u.s. case of the lethal middle eastern virus. unstoppable, the most alarming warning yet about melting ice in

the anth arctic. and revealing secrets from a tomb uncovered in egypt. ♪ today the world saw at least some of those 276 nigerian schoolgirls for the first time since they were kidnapped almost a month ago. their captored the heavily armed group, boko haram released a video. in it the group gave the government its demands, a prisoner release in exchange for the girls' freedom. >> reporter: their kidnapping has shocked the world, and now these first images of nigeria's missing girls are likely to cause further distress. the kidnappers are heard speaking in arabic, reciting lines from the quran. three of the girls were also

interviewed. it's hard to determine from the video the location where it was shot, boko haram leader also makes a separate appearance. in his second video since the girls were taken, he says he will not let the girls go unless incarcerated members of the group are released from custody. the government has repeatedly maintained it does not negotiate with what it calls terrorists. in the capitol, protesters kept up a daily sit-in calling for the girl's released. they are joined by some of the girls relatives. one man who says two of his nieces were kidnapped says he could not see them in the video. he asked us to conceal his identity. >> when i saw them i was really sad. why i was sad? because that is not how our daughters will appear. and that is -- and that means their human rights have been

infringed upon. >> reporter: there were mixed feelings here about whether the government should respond to their demands. >> i feel bad because i'm a muslim, and in [ inaudible ] so i don't know where he is getting these ideas from. >> reporter: the education commissioner of the state where the girls were taken from, has told al jazeera that the families have been called in to confirm if they were indeed the girls. the video will undoubtedly be another cause for anger, grief and frustration. and now we saw the leader of boko haram in that video. and richelle carey is here to tell us more about who he is and what he wants. >> reporter: he used to be the second in command but when the

government killed the founder, he made himself the combroup's leader, and made the group an increasingly violent force within nigeria. >> reporter: he is nigeria's most wanted man. he is the notorious heard of boko haram. but little is known of the man himself. what is known is his capacity for cruelty. >> he is widely described even by the militants themselves as, quote unquote, crazy. any soft target is apparently fair game. and in that important sense this leader is much more radical than the last one. >> reporter: he started out as a deputy of boko haram's founder. the group's goal establishing a nation under strict islamic law. >> we are boko haram. >> reporter: after the founder's death he took charge of the group in 2010 leading it down a more violent path. since then they have carried out

assassinations and bombings that have claimed some 4,000 lives. nearly half a million people have been displaced by the violence, and under this leader the group has stepped up attacks on schools. human rights advocates say he has reached a new low with the latest kidnappings. >> he brazenly says they are going to sell these abducted schoolgirls, quote, in the marketplace and even used the word slave is truly shocking. it's hard to see how they could sink further, but this is quite appalling. >> reporter: the schoolgirl's abduction has muslim clerics including the highest religious authority in saudi arabia, denouncing the group and its leader. the u.s. is offering $7 million

for information leading to his arrest. john. >> the white house says a u.s. team helping in the search for the girls, they include security and communications experts. it has been almost four weeks since they were taken from their school. it is believed they were taken into a dense forrest that covers about 23,000 square miles about the size of west virginia. and analysts say boko haram's fighters know that area far better than the nigerian military. dave welcome. >> thank you. >> all right. so give us the latest. when you were on the ground, what was the reaction from the nigerian people there? >> well, last week, the world economic forum held their annual event in africa, and they chose nigeria for a reason, because it was recently deemed the largest

economy on the continent. and out there that conference where you had leaders from all over the continent and all over the world, in fact, this dominated the conversation, and the conversation was certainly about the tragedy, the ongoing situation, but also what are the underlying causes. how did this occur and how do you prevent it in the future? and people were talking about how you empower people to have access to opportunities, job creation, infrastructure development, these are things that in that part of the country are virtually nonexistent. so it dominating the airwaves on the street corner as well as the halls of the most powerful locations in the country. >> how has the president handled this? >> the president has been under intense, intense scrutiny, intense criticism.

there has been a wide array of reports that the government had some incite that this might occur. there has been a lot of criticism that the government hasn't been communicative about what they are willing to do to get the girls back. is there is criticism they waited too long to accept help from the international community -- >> why did it take so long for them to record? >> nigeria is a very large country. and there is a sense that if they rely upon outside help it reflects weakness on the government's part. >> but they also responded slowly, not just to ask for help outside, but -- but responded slowly to the crisis itself. is there any indication of why this happened? >> i think the reason why this happened is because boko haram realized they -- they are taking advantage of the election calendar. they are trying to put more and

more political pressure on good luck jonathan. and their prayings have been limited to the extreme northeast corner of the country until they started to venture out, and there have been two bombings in the capitol recently, or just outside the capitol. and this move towards capturing these girls that has captured the world's attention shows they are willing to stop at nothing. because they don't want a government in place, they want sharia law in the country. >> the first lady spoke out over the weekend. how was that received? >> people around the world have been supporting the families and everyone in nigeria during this very difficult time. and the fact that the first lady

of the united states chose to use this opportunity to weigh in, i think by some people was seen as -- perhaps the u.s. is injecting too much of its own opinions around a very internal matter. it's one thing to receive the condolences and good wishes of people from around the world, but to have the first lady of the united states weigh in so publicly and directly, i think people are wondering, you know, is this something the u.s. feels it has some responsibility for? >> how do you get companies to invest in nigeria can stuff going on like this? >> it's difficult, because investors read the headlines and perception is everything. the perception of risks can scare away investment. but the fundamentals are sound. >> the fundamentals are sound? how can the fundamentals be sound when the government is

unable to deal with a terrorist organization like this? >> well, the economic fundamentals of the country are sound -- >> they are not related. >> well, they are related in the sense that -- you are correct -- that investors will feel pressure because of the perception of insecurity. but i live in nigeria, and i can tell you firsthand that it is a country that continues. business goes on. this has dominated people's sensibility, but the country continues to move forward, and that's how they fight the terrorists. they don't allow the terrorists to disrupt the normal course of business. >> all right. david thank you. >> thank you. and now to the crisis in ukraine. tonight more territory seems to be slipping away from the country. today the separatist heard in donetsk normally asked that it become a part of russia.

but government officials insist that the election was a farce. and the white house is standing with ukraine. and the obama administration says it will not recognize the results. the russians say the vote results should be implemented peacefully. jonathan hult reports. >> reporter: this is the man who would be heard of a new republican in the east of ukraine. the don people's republic. on his wall a crude hint of what is to come. huge chunks of the south and eastern ukraine enveloped by russia. >> translator: we are one people, and the border should be open. they were already sufficiently open in the rest of europe, and i think in the nearest future there will be some kind of union

here. >> reporter: and outside his office in the onning pied local administration building in donetsk, the few people milling around were pleased with the referendum result. >> translator: the newly formed republic will be built as a free republic. >> translator: we want to be under putin's power. we want to join tlem. because our children keep dying. >> reporter: in slaviansk, the town held by pro-russian fighters blockaded by forces loyal to kiev, the idea of separation has taken root amid the violence. >> translator: i'm 100% sure the people have made the right decision. before i was in doubt. but after these attacks the result is 100% right. >> reporter: and so as they would have it inside this building, the referendum has

delivered a giant positive endorsement, and with that this region seems to have taken a large step away from any notion of a united ukraine. there are people opposed to it all. opinion polls have suggested a great many people. >> translator: i just want this to end. i don't want to go anywhere. i like it here. i have liked it for 21 years. >> reporter: but with voters in two eastern regions now claiming near total support for separation, the voices of opposition have effectively been silenced. we have much more on the vote in eastern ukraine coming up at the bottom of the hour, including reaction on the ground in kiev. plus a conversation with a russian journalist on what vladimir putin's next move might be. in yemen an apparently drone

strike has killed six suspected al-qaeda fighters. in recent weeks yemen has stepped up the fight against al-qaeda. >> reporter: the situation remains tense across the country here in the capitol. security forces fived warning shots at a suspected gunman near the presidential palace, the same area that was attacked twice on friday and on sunday. the attack came a few hours after a drone attack targeting suspected al-qaeda militants in the province. local sources tell al jazeera that the attacks targeted an off roads vehicle, driving in a remote area, controlled by a tribes member. we cannot confirm whether those who were killed were affiliated with al-qaeda. this is a clear escalation of the fight against al-qaeda. it came only hours after

security forces said they expect al-qaeda is trying to retreat and go to new areas. why? because this is an area where the presence of the government is very beak, and under the control of tribesmen. a new warning about the increased use of torture in a post 9/11 world. a new amnesty international report says nearly half of the world's population lives in fear of being tortured by authorities. it also says that torture has taken place in 141 countries in recent years, concluding that democracies, as well as dicta r dictatorships ignore the convention against torture. >> we have a convention against torture. despite that, what we have on

the ground is complete double standards hypocrisy. >> in many countries people feared the possibility of being tortured if taken into custody. in brazil 80% said they worried if they were arrested they would be tortured. john kerry said he believed the international community wasted a year by not toppling the bashar al-assad regime. the failure to coordinate aid and weapons fob rebels set back ep forts in bringing down that regime. nearly 150,000 have been killed since the beginning of the conflict in 2011. coming up next, patient number 2. a second case of the potentially lethal mers virus is confirmed here in the united states.

the wildfire in the texas panhandle as forced more than 2,000 people from their homes tonight. strong shifting winds helped spread the fire quickly. it's a mysterious virus that has sickened and kills hundreds of people in the middle east, mers causing flu like system

toms and can lead to pneumonia and even death. natasha ghoneim has the story. >> reporter: the new patient in an orlando hospital is a healthcare worker from saudi arabia, who may have exposed more than 500 passengers while heading to florida. cdc officials say the patient felt sick when boarding the first flight. >> this virus can get on a plane and travel around the world wherever it wants. the right person gets infected, doesn't know it, and lands anywhere around the world. >> reporter: the cdc has spent 1,000 man-hours trying to track down the passengers on the american fights. mers was first detected in

saudi arabia in 2012. since then 538 cases have been identified across the globe. of those cases 145 people have died. saudi arabia is the epicenter of mers, where most cases and deaths have occurred. health officials say you can't get the virus by casual contact. it is spread by having close contact with an infected person, such as caring a person with it. 27% of people who get mers will likely die. there is no vaccine or specific treatment recommended. but researches hope they are closer to creating a vaccine. >> we're several steps before we get to humans. all of the vaccine -- the preparations take time to do all of the safety testing and clinical trials. >> reporter: health officials say there is still a great deal

they don't know about where mers comes from and how it is spread. in the meantime, people are asked to take common sense measures such as washing their hands frequently and avoid touching their eyes, nose and mouth. unfortunate this latest patient is expected to recover. the head of the secret service is calling for a full investigation into the latest allegations of misconduct. >> reporter: the allegation, secret service agents pulled off of their white house posts and sent an hour away to patrol the home of their directors assistant. within hours of the report there were calls for another congressional inquiry. >> you have to ask if there is a leadership culture that needs to be ripped out at the secret service. >> reporter: in june 2011 as president obama was about to board marine one, two prowler agents were ordered to the home

of lisa chopay, she had a dispute with a neighboring family and felt threatened. she also was the administrative assist important to the director of the secret service. >> this is very, very concerning. >> reporter: but a secret service official disputes much of the report, asserting the prowler unit is not assigned to protect the president when he is on the move. they performed welfare checks at the home over one weekend not for months. the report comes to a blow from a secret service agency still reeling from crashes. disputes between age engineers in prostitutes in columbia, and an agent allegedly passed out drunk in an amsterdam hallway

the day before the president's arrive. brenda allen says she was shaken by the experience. >> it was miserable to live there. it wasn't nice. it wasn't fun. >> reporter: after mark sullivan the former director left, a new director came in. julia pierson, she promised to clean house, and yet there have still been scandals on her watch. today she promised to ycooperat in the investigation. winners of this year's top cops award include the officers on duty during last year's shooting at the washington navy yard as well as the boston marathon bombing. a world war ii veteran is finally receiving the recognition he thought nearly

two decades ago. he was rejected by a university because of his race. ♪ >> reporter: amid the pomp and circumstance, and the graduates at the university of kentucky, there is one man who stands out at a school now trying to right a wrong. in the 1940s the university of kentucky was segregated and did not allow black students. harrison wilson has always dreamed of becoming a uk wild cat, so after serving his country he tried to enroll, but does -- was denied admission. >> not only was he a star athlete, but he was a veteran. >> so when i wanted to come here and was disappointed i went to the black school just 28 miles away. got a good education. >> reporter: wilson got his master's and doctorate degrees.

now nearly 720 years later. >> to harrison b wilson, jr. >> reporter: dr. wilson at age 90 is receiving an honorary diploma. >> it is a wonderful opportunity to say this was an unjustice. here is our attempt to symbolically correct the situation. we can honor harrison wilson who was one of those people. >> reporter: the timing of the honor is particularly special. because his grandson, brandon is sharing the stage with him. receiving his master's in history. brandon says his grandfather's success continues to motivate the family. >> he has always inspired me and not even has that sort of role

model that has gone so far in education, so i was really blessed to have that growing up in >> you have got to be oriented towards working. take the lousiest job and save your money. but you get out there and nichols become dimes and dimes become quarters. i showed them. >> reporter: brandon says he hopes to build on his grandfather's legacy. jonathan martin, al jazeera. coming up next. a stunning report concludes the gradual disappearance of the west and arctic ice sheet is unstoppable. and the often brutal violence has resumed in south sudan. we'll look at the newest efforts to stop it.

♪ welcome back to al jazeera america. i'm john siegenthaler in new york. we have a lot more to cover this half hour. a farce, that's how ukraine's interim leader describes sunday's vote by two regions to

break free from ukraine. closing in, a un report revealed new information on the where abouts of the notorious african war lord. and inside the tomb, what archaeologists in egypt found. first richelle is back with the top stories. >> john the kidnappers of the 276 kneeingian schoolgirls have released a host taij tape. it says it will not release the girls until the government releases its members from prison. nigeria's government says it does not negotiate with what it calls terrorists. new research that says torture is still being used around the world. at least 79 countries continue to engage in torture. nearly half of the world's population is afraid of being tortured by authority figures. human rights groups are demanding world governments put

an end to torture. and a disease hah has killed hundreds of people in the middle east has made another appearance in the us. mers is a respiratory illness that can lead to pneumonia and death. richelle thank you. there's an alarming new report that concludes that a large part of antarctic ice is melting, and melting rapidly. researches from nasa, say the loss of the west antarctic ice sheet is unstoppable. jacob ward is in san francisco tonight. why is this so important? >> the's sheet is a collection

of glaciers and the particular section that we're talking about is very, very large. it's about twice the size of philadelphia. the whole thing is on a huge depressed bowl, which means it is sort of sinking into the water. and the mass of this thing means if it felts, which scientists have determined it is absolutely going to. it will create sea level rise across the globe of four feet at least. that's just this one glacier. >> so the idea is that it's too late to do anything about this, that it is going to happen. how soon might that happen? >> well, the time scale here sounds like a long way out. they say it will be 200 to 500 issues before this thing melts into liquid completely, but when you consider this is just one

identified object, that's just one. we're talking not about all of the other glaciers that are part of the ice sheet nor all the of the other flay sures that are part of the eastern antarctic or the arctic itself. there is just rapid rapid melting going on. a recent national climate assessment showed that just two feet of sea level rise will cause a trillion dollars of damage to the u.s. alone. so we're really talking about a tremendous, tremendous trouble. this was a very, very dark press conference. >> direct impact of climate change, yes? >> well, we are not sure. it isn't sort of a clear cause. this is not about a warming air temperatures. it was caused by the warming of the ocean water, the upwelling from the bottom there. it may have to do with depletion of the ozone layer.

so the causes are not very clear, but it's clear that this thing is going to melt. the last point that this glacier was pinned to the rock are now gone. so now it's just a matter of physics. >> jake ward. thank you. >> thank you. the white house says it will not recognize the vote for independence in ukraine on sunday. today a separatist leader in donetsk asked to become part of russia. kim has more. >> reporter: as the votes were counted in the east, authorities in kiev said the outcome was irrelevant. they called the referendum illegal, with forged ballot papers, no international observers, and low voter turnout. the interim president said organizers of the referendum will be held criminally responsible. >> translator: that farce that

the terrorists call a rer ren dumb is nothing else but a prop gan discover for kidnappings, killings, violence and other grave crimes. >> reporter: in brussels at an uu foreign ministers meeting to discuss the crisis, william hague no country will accept the votes. >> they have zero credibility. they are illegal by anybody's standards. they don't meet any standard of objectivity, fairness or being properly conducted. and indeed the people organizing them didn't pretend to meet any of those standards. >> reporter: kiev says this is at an tempt by russia to create division in the lead up to the

election. the ofce is offering a road map to resolve the crisis in ukraine, and said the work in the east could make the work more difficult. >> translator: it's a provocation for some. it's what increases the gap between the different actors for others, but the elections are essential for stabilization. we have to do something possible to have as positive of environment as possible. >> reporter: russia's action is being closely monitored by the european union. those in kiev where support for the government is high, say russia shouldn't get involved. >> translator: why should we listen to russia? it's madness. pure madness. >> translator: i'm very worried we had to go through such

horrible event, and it's very scary now. >> translator: we have a constitution and we can't have a referendum in the regions of ukraine. our country is united and independent. and what moscow says means nothing. >> reporter: progress will be difficult with authorities offering to talk to representatives from the east, but refusing to include those who they say have blood on their hands. kim vinnell, al jazeera, kiev. vladimir joins us from washington, d.c. he is the senior advisor for the institute of modern russia. welcome. >> hello, john. good to be on your program. >> thank you. i just want to start with the elections in donetsk and luhansk, where voters voted around 90% for greater autonomy. what do you think of that vote? >> well, these so-called

referenda have has much legal significant and legal force as you and i and your staff would print out ball late papers, put some signs on them, put them in a cardboard box and then count them up. these are self proclaimed groups clearly backed by putin's regime and the kremlin. the word farce which was used in the report we just heard would be right if it wasn't so tragic. let's remember that more than 50 people have died in the donetsk region alone during the past few weeks. >> so you think in donetsk most people don't want to be independent from ukraine? >> just a week ago there was a big survey published by the pugh research center which showed that every region of ukraine had a clear majority of a united

ukraine. so, you know, given this poll data and these so-called -- the sham results that we're hearing about yesterday and today, of course it's clear that they have no connection with reality. >> russia said it would respect the results but stopped short of annexation. what is putin's strategy here? >> it's important to remember, that too many western analysts unfortunately have been missing this point. the origins and the nature of the events in ukraine, the origins are domestic. for more than three months now ever since they drove out the corrupt regime of viktor yanukovych, putin has been trying to get back and continue to claim that there is no

legitimate government in kiev. and the principle domestic origin of this is the precedent is too close to home for putin. here you have the society rising up against a corrupt regime. what mr. putin is really afraid of is a similar movement against his regime in russia. in 2011, 2012, we had hundreds of thousands of people protesting against mr. putin's regime. so his idea now is to try to sabotage -- >> let me stop you right there. because we had an expert on this program a couple of times who has talked about it is nato's aggression that has inspired what vladimir putin is doing today. what do you think of that? >> well, of course that's the classic kremlin propaganda line. and what is most amazing for me as a russian is the level of

hypocrisy. you heard putin urging for a quote federallization of ukraine. when it was putin that destroyed the federalization in russia. >> are the sanctions having an impact in russia? you have been back there recently. >> i go back and forth all the time. yes, of course. the sanctions -- let's start by saying these are not sanctions against russia. which they should not be against russia. they should be sanctions against officials of the current regime of vladimir putin, of specific people involved in human rights violations, and corruption against ukraine, and the trend of the sanctions is definitely correct, but they i would be much more effective if they targeted higher level people. the u.s. list has been much more impressive than what we're

seeing currently from europe. and i hope this will change in favor of higher ranking names. >> vladimir thank you for your incites. >> thank you. the world's biggest exercise in democracy has drawn to a close. today was think last day to vote in india's general election. thousands of people in the northern part of the country were still waiting to cast ballots. the voting began nearly a month ago. new exit polls suggest the main opposition party is ahead, but results aren't expected until this friday. fighting has returned to south sudan less than 48 hours after the latest ceasefire was signed. today un secretary general ban ki-moon said more evidence that

both sides committed atrocities. >> there was the peace deal signed face-to-face in ethiopia last week when the president and the opposition leader. but there is still growing concern here at the united nations. there have been fresh clashes on the ground since that deal, the announcement by the president that he is going to postpone presidential elections. ban ki-moon said he was deeply worried about the situation. and said there needed to be accountability for the violence, the atrocities that have been seen on the ground in south sudan. he said he favored the idea of a hybrid tribunal. that's something we have seen in various countries. the problem, of course with to plan is right now with the fragile situation on the ground, they don't want to do anything to upset the two leaders, the

president and opposition heard. and potentially if there is this sort of court set up, they could be prosecuted by the court eventually. the war lord joseph coney is one of the most wanted and despited men in the world. for years no one knew where he was hiding. but now that might be changing. >> reporter: this is a rare glimpse of joseph coney. he is wanted by the international criminal court for alleged atrocitied as the lra waged a gorilla war. a new un report details the recent activities of him and his men. >> we need to see our way collectively to make sure that coney himself is removed from

the battlefield, so populations, idp's, refugees can all go back home and live in peace. >> reporter: they are believed to be split into several highly mobile groups. senior lra leaders are thought to be based in the northeastern part of the central african republic. and sources kate that coney and other co other come -- co manneders may be hiding out together. a video helped raise awareness of the horrific nature of coney's crimes. over a million displaced, many raped and maimed. countless children were forced to kill and mutilate their own families. >> the lra is really responsible

for just about every war crime and atrocity in the book. but really in the past three to four years, what we have seen is that the tactics of the lra have changed quite a bit. the violence has decreased significantly, in the -- in the past few years, but their history shows what they are still capable of. >> reporter: an african union task force with 5,000 soldiers, has been trying to find coney for years. and in march the united states sent four aircraft to help them search. >> translator: we must not fail to bring just disto the main leader of the lra. a war rent has still not been implemented. >> reporter: it isn't the fighting force it once was.

so far this year they are credited with just 65 attacks. but there is a real concern here at the un that they could take advantage and further destabilize the region as long as joseph coney remains free. it is a desperate and very dangerous attempt for a letter life. migrants from africa trying to get to europe by stowing away in ships or taking rickedy boats over the mediterranean sea. today at least 14 migrants died when their boat capsized. another 200 people were rescued. there were similar accidents last tuesday and sunday. dozens of bodies have been found on the coast of libya over the past few years. let's head to washington, d.c. jo joie. >> good evening, john. would be parents going to the

ends of the earth to create a family. it is expensive, of course, and increasingly interesting option is to outsource baby making. we'll meet a woman who used her own experience to help others become moms and dads of truly international babies. >> when we started that process, you know, six and a half years ago, it wasn't billion dollars industry. now it's a different story. >> it's a billion dollars a year industry. >> correct. >> our in-depth look at making babies and outsourcing the process. that's coming up at the top of the hour. and coming up next on this program, our picture of the day and historic find. what archeology giists are learning about an ince an in -

good evening. over the last 48 hours here

across wyoming and colorado we have seen exceptional amounts of snow. in some locations we have seen about over 30 inches of snow. highway 80 which runs along parts of wyoming 400 miles of that highway had been closed on sunday. and the snow is not going to melt any time soon. we are watching severe weather from chicago over towards cleveland. we have tornado warnings over here towards cleveland. we're going to watching this very carefully, and here in chicago, we're looking at severe weather pushing through. that is going to be a problem at least for the next four to five hours. looking at texas looking at the thunderstorms that have built up over the past several hours. we are going to be seeing anywhere between 3 to 5 inches

of rain falling across the region. flash flood warnings are in effect across that region. if you are traveling in the area, you need to be careful of those low-water sections. we are going to see our temperatures dropping over the next couple of days. take a look at washington by the time we get to wednesday, that is dropping down in to the 70s.

the washington monument is finally back open to the public. the structure spent 32 months closed for repairs after being damaged back in august of 2011 by an earthquake. the monument had been encased in scaffolding since then. archeologists in egypt have uncovered a tomb dates all the way back to 1100 bc. chris naughton talks about who is believed to be buried in this

3 millennium old tomb. >> the discovery is of a tomb of a man called basa, he seems to have been an extremely important official who lived in the 20th dine nasty, towards the end of the period we call the new kingdom. the fact that he has a tomb at the very important cemetery site indicates in itself he was a high ranking, probably wealthy person of the army. and also probably had a role of a messenger or enjoy to foreign governments as well. so it's the very beautifully decorated, very high status tomb of potentially quite man. for a high-ranking individual of this period, you might expect a grand entranceway, an entrance

of the kind we call a pylon, a very substantial wall build of a stone or mud brick, and a series of courts, parts of which would be inscribed with decoration related to perhaps the individuals life or aspects of daily life at this period. and then the burial, and within the burial chamber which you would normally find beneath ground. and within that you would expect to find a sarcophagus, and then one or more probably wooden coffins and very finely decorated inside which the mummy of the deceased would be placed. there is certain sort of visceral excitement to the idea that you are looking at something which may not have been seen by human eyes for not just years, decades, not even centuries but melinia.

>> this discovery is the latest in a long series of tombs uncovered in the an inenth egyptian city of memphis. coming up new this at 11:00 eastern time. a series of firey accidents involving trains carrying crude oil. plus fired for being gay, the missouri law getting attention now that michael sam has become the first openly gay football player drafted into the nfl. and finally the incident that continues to spark international outrage and protest, our picture of the day. a sand sculpture calling for the release of the kidnapped girls.

welcome to al jazeera america. i'm richelle carey. here are tonight's top stories. the kidnappers of 276 nigerian schoolgirls have released a hostage video. boko haram took the girls from their school about a month ago.

the group's leader says it won't let the girls go unless nigeria's government agrees to a prisoner release. in ukraine two regions have voted to break away and form their own independent republic. ukraine says it is illegal, but russia says the two votes were valid. separatists may hold another round of voting on joining russia. efforts to combat militant fighters have lead to increase in torture worldwide. 30 years ago the uflshgz adopted a convention against torture making the practice illegal. a second case of the deadly mers virus has been confirmed in the us. a saudi is in a florida hospital after testing possible for the virus. an effected man in indiana was

treated and released last week. "america tonight" with joie chen is up next. and you can always get the latest on our website, check out aljazeera.com. ♪ bargain chips? the violent terror group holding girls hostage in nigeria ignites worldwide demands for the girls release now. could boko haram be ready to make a deal? also tonight where do babies come from? an american couple with an egg donor in london, a surrogate in india, and in any pal