>> wildfires rage in populated areas in texas and new mexico. how the weather could affect a round the clock battle to contain them. >> irreversible and unstoppable, the melting ice that could race water levels to dangerous levels. >> a growing number of americans desperate for children are

turning here for a cheaper alternative. >> what started as a domestic dispute ends with that, a home exploding. how a police officer lost his life in the process. >> welcome to al jazeera america. i'm del walters. >> i'm stephanie sy. wildfires are burning in texas and new mexico. a fire in the texas panhandle consumed over 2500-acres, destroying 89 homes. new mexico's first major wildfire of the season consumed more than 4700 acres so far. >> the double diamond fire is burning in texas while new mexico's silver fire is racing through a national forest. we are tracking these fires. where do we stand this morning? >> when these wildfires break out, we're anxious to hear the containment numbers. that means how much of the fire is under control. overnight, the news on that front got worse in texas. as for new mexico, the

containment number is worse. >> the estimate in texas is dropped from 75 to 65%. one county official said it looks like a war zone. sally wall can relate. >> my home and the home next to mine was the only ones standing in our block. >> so far, an estimated 700 people have sheltered in local churches and schools. air tankers and firefighters from 26 counties are working up to 30 hour shifts to put out the blaze before anyone else has to evacuate. >> the wind may shift later, be prepared to evacuate in the event that something goes wrong. >> the last estimate out of silver city, new mexico is that 0% of the fire threatening that town has been contained. the good news is forecasters say approaching cooler weather and diminishing winds are help to go slow the fire progress.

it is moving northeast away from silver city. drought conditions have communities on edge about wildfires from the southwest to the west, where later this week, some southern californians will deal with high winds and temperatures in the triple digits, they're not expect ago bad wildfire season in colorado, but their governor is taking the better safe than sorry approach. >> it is appropriate that we sign these three bills into law today to make sure we further secure our ability to fight fires, to get to fires sooner. >> despite the property that's been lost or threatened by the texas and new mexico wildfires so far, there have been no reports of loss of life. evacuations went out early and residents took heed. >> weather plays a key role in battling these wildfires. >> very hot and dry.

let's turn to our meteorologist ebony deon for the latest on that. >> it is going to continue unfortunately, tuesday hot and dry in these areas. we ever the rain out there, but it hasn't gotten to areas that desperately could use the major.

>> we will continue to watch the flood threat into arkansas. we have the much colder air in place behind it, so freeze warnings at least for colorado through this morning. this afternoon, rain and shower activity will continue to push offer to the east. we'll see thunderstorms embedded in this line pushing into the lower mississippi valley. it's a very slow moving system and we're really going to see it marching eastward over the next couple days. the threat of severe weather wanes. we could be dealing with a few stronger storms but by tomorrow, this is the area we're going to be watching for the threat of severe weather. we'll be dealing with the threat of damaging winds and large hail. a little bit of a break but still on the wet side today. the temperature side of the story, as this front moves to the east will keep us warm, behind it, big cooldown makes its way off to the east. >> ebony deon, thanks very much.

>> pro-russian separatists announced donetsk is seeking an =phepbtation with russia. the vote over the weekend is undermining the role presidential elections will play in ukraine. we heard from the self-appointed leader for the donetsk people's republic and today the appointed governor responded to that leader's demands. what did the governor have to say. >> strong words from kiev's appointed governor at a news conference this morning. what he said was that the donetsk people's republic doesn't exist, in name only. he said they have no economic policy, no security policy. interestingly, though, he went on to say that there are talks

on going between the authorities in kiev and the accept are a activities who have occupied the city hall here. he said it is very difficult, because every time they meet, it's a new personnel put forward by the separatist leaders. he said it's problematic trying to get to the bottom of exactly who's in charge and what policies they have. they said the negotiations and talking about are on going. >> aljazeera in east he were ukraine, paul, thank you. stay with aljazeera america for continuing coverage of the ukraine crisis. coming up, we'll look closer at the republic of georgia's campaign to become a nato member to protect the company from what it calls russian aggression. >> the search for school girls in nigeria getting a boost from the u.s., manned missions being flown to track down the girls. the u.s. saying the missions are aimed at gathering intelligence and surveillance. a new video released by boko haram showing the abduction may

yield clues to where the girls might be. a team of americans arriving in nigeria last week to help with the search and rescue. libby casey is in washington, d.c. what about those assets are you providing for the search and rescue effort. what can you tell bus that. >> we did get intine jig yesterday, del. there is this manned aerial search underway and the u.s. is considering the use of drones. there's been resistance in nigeria to that level of involvement. the u.s. is emphasizing that the nigerians are taking the lead, the u.s. providing commercial satellite imagery. a team of 30 americans was assigned to work on this and they include state department officials, pentagon planners and the state department says they are combing over that video to look for clues for the girls'. >> turning to ukraine now, what has been the u.s. response to the referendum vote in those

cities over the weekend? >> the white house is not recognizing the election results, calling it an illegal wrench did you mean, saying it's illegal under ukrainian law. the white house said it's an attempt to further create division and disorder. they are also disappointed that russia didn't play a bigger role in trying to stop that vote from happening. >> secretary of state john kerry meeting with palestinian president abas in london. >> while palestinian officials told the news agency a.s.p. that abas would like to address the failed peace talks and drill down into that conversation, the u.s. is down playing the significance of this meeting. they are not saying this is about big steps forward. a state department spokeswoman said this meeting is to talk about the on going relationship between the u.s. and palestinians and calls for some

restraint from all parties. >> lynne, thank you very much. >> now to israel where former prime minister has been sentenced for his role in the so-called holy land housing scandal. an israeli court sentenced him to six years in prison and $290,000 in fines. he was convicted on two counts of bribery for approval a large housing complex. it is the first time a former israel prime minister has been convicted of a felony and sentenced to prison. nick, good morning. what has been the reaction to the sentencing? >> good morning, stephanie, the finance minister has reacted and he speaks for many today when he says this sentencing proves that in israel, no man is above the law. that is with a the judge was talking about today, as he sentenced him. he said he had been a high

profile figure, climbed to the most senior position in israeli politics. he felt the judge needed to enact a punishment that "expressed contempt" to help uproot a contagious affliction. the judge is speaking sentencing him, saying that a public servant who accepts bribes is akin to a traitor. that's why the judge slapped one of the largest fines and prison sentences he could. those six years and $300,000 are exactly what the prosecution was asking for. in the background of this, the holy land, well it's in the background there, that is it right behind me. he is accused or convicted of accepting $150,000 to support that housing complex that was not there before he was the mayor of jerusalem. he passed that money on to his brother, so the court says as well as to his sister. >> that sends to strong message. what happens next for olmert? is there a chance for appeal

here? >> he will appeal and he maintains his in sense and his lawyer maintains his in sense. he has 45 days to launch that peel, but he's not expected to win with the supreme court here, the high court as its known so on september 1 is the date that he is exspecksed to go to prison. ed headline is it is the first israel prime that will serve time and it doesn't seem anything can stop that. >> nick, thank you. >> iran and six word powers are looking to seal the deal on a nuclear agreement this week. they're in vienna today, hope to go drop a comprehensive solution to the standoff. the u.s. wants iran to reduce its present nuclear weapons capabilities in exchange for more relief from sanctions. an interim relief is in place now. >> the hunt for the missing

malaysian flight has an official issuing doubts about pings heard last month. the captain of the search vessel said based on the new acoustic analysis, he believes that some of those pings didn't come from the plane's black boxes, but two signals heard back on april 5 may have come from the locator beacon. >> canadian authorities charged a u.s. company and three men. a train derailed in quebec. dozens of oil tanker cars came off the tracks and exploded in a massive fireball leveling 30 buildings in the area. investigators say the engineer failed to properly set the brakes which could have stopped the train from barreling into the small town. >> the u.s. has helped authorities in yemen tackle a growing al-qaeda in surgeons

targeting oil pipe lines in the country. it's leaving many struggling with fuel shortages and blackouts. >> this isn't a traffic jam during rush hour. it's a lineup at a petrol station. people in yemen face severe fuel shortages. sometimes they wait for days to fill their tanks. arguments turn into scuffles. >> we've suffered from fuel shortages for months. we pay the price and black market traders make the profits. >> fuel prices in yemen are high compared to neighboring countries, a lighter here cancel for almost $3. in nearby qatar, it he sells for 25 cents. >> crude oil is carried through pipe lines in the province where the main oil fields are. when the pipeline comes under

attack, which happens often, supplies are reactioned, forcing stations to shut down. >> this isn't the only problem people here face these days. attacks on power plants by armed groups or angry tribes often throw the capitol into darkness. this man is one of millions forced to cope with rolling blackouts that sometimes go on for more than 18 hours a day. >> it's really too much for us to handle. on one hand, you have the fuel shortages and then the power cuts. if the government doesn't find permanent solution, yemen will face an uncertain future. >> to cope, many people have bought or rented power generators. despite excessive noise and air pollution, they are often the

only way of keeping the lights on. aljazeera, yemen. >> the u.s. state department says al-qaeda's affiliate in yemen which has been attacking those pipe lines is the world's most dangerous. >> senate republicans blocking a bipartisan energy bill that would have cleared a way for a vote on the key stone pipeline, the legislation would have tightened efficiency guidelines and created tax incentives, but majority leader harry reid refused to make changes, causing the bill to stall, the congress not passing a major energy bill since 2007. >> a second case of mers is confirmed in the u.s. the health care worker from saudi arabia is being treated at a hospital in orlando. the patient flying to boston, atlanta and finally orlando. he may have exposed hundreds of passengers.

mers was first diagnosed in saudi arabia in 2012. since then, more than 500 cases have been identified, most of them in the middle east. 145 people have died. >> is oscar pistorius mentally ill? that's what the prosecution in his murder case wants to find out, the prosecutor calling for him to be committed to a hospital for a psychiatric evaluation. the turn in the case comes as a psychiatrist testifying for the defense says she has diagnosed pistorius with anxiety and depression. this calls into question whether he was feeling threatened when he fired four shots, killing his girlfriend on valentine's day of last year. the move could put the trial on hold for a month. >> enrollment in state funded preschool programs is now dropping. >> a new report finds half a million children may not be getting a quality education. the report card on early childhood education. >> there's a warning out about the rising sea levels caused by a problem they are now saying may be too late to fix. >> today's big number is

$50 billion. >> how that could change the landscape of television.

>> 2014 could turn out to be the year of the cable merger, that's the subject of today's big number, which is $50 billion. it's how much telecommunications giant at&t is offering to buy direct t.v. the deal would trump comcast's recent $45 billion for time warner cable. >> if the merger is approved, it would become the second largest cable carrier in the u.s., with 28 million subscribers. that would be right behind the proposed time warner comcast merger with 30 million subscribers. >> the president will present a war hero with the highest honor, set to receive the medal at a white house ceremony. it will be the seventh time a living recipient of the award will be given to the medal of honor recipient in abcs in iraq and afghanistan.

he helped with evacuations of wounded soldiers in 2007. six soldiers died in that attack. you can see the full ceremony right here on aljazeera america. it will air at 3:00 p.m. eastern time. >> enrollment in state funded preschool programs has declined across the u.s. for the first time in more than a decade. this is according to a new survey set to be released. 4,000 fewer children attended state prek programs 2012-2013 compared to the year before. we break down these findings. does the report give indication of why there's been a decline in these enrollments? >> not really, but there are a couple of ways you could look at that. first of all, these are state funded programs, not federally funded like ted start. considering the economy and head start is based in part on income, you could look that more families slid into an income

where they were eligible for federally funded programs, in other words, the families are losing money and eligible for different programs. some families doing better may have put their kids in private programs. these aren't all the kids in preschool. some parents put them in private programs. >> what is worrying is that it says 500,000 children are in preschool programs of questionable quality. what problems did they find in these programs? >> that is a concern. what they did, they looked at 10 benchmarks, the national in statutes of research, 10 areas they thought create adequately preschool program. having your teacher have a bachelors degree, the teacher's aids having enough training, service training while they're on the job. then there is vision screenings for the kids, making sure they get meals while there and class sizes kept small, things like that. some states only hit one or two

of those benchmarks, only four states hit all 10. in some areas, there were a number of things the states needed to work on. >> several governors from both political parties have been advocate forego creating or expanding preschools. are those changes reflected in these current findings? >> not really, almost the opposite. we saw another $30 million spent on 9,000 fewer children overall. when you look at ok, $30 million are doing better, there was half a billion dollars lost the year before. it's incremental when we look at investment we have been previously making in preschool for kids. advocates say the more you put up front, the less problems you have with crime later in life. >> a lot more research coming to the fore. thank you. >> taking a look at weather, we have been spoiled after the last

few days after that long miserable winter. let's look at temperatures across the nation today. >> we are going to see big temperature swings as you may go your way out and about today. grab the jacket around boston, we are going to be 30 degrees colder from where we sit this time yesterday. highs today only in the mid 50's, stretch to go portland as well. this is a front slipping south across the northeast ushering in much cooler air. we'll get that wind shift along much of the northeast coast, but today, still very, very warm in d.c. with a high up to 88 degrees, 80 in philadelphia, cooler new york city, some areas around new york city made it into the mid-80's yesterday, but today closer to 70 degrees. we are feeling that cool down across parts of the upper midwest, as well. >> thank you. >> scientists now say part of antarctica melting and the results could be a disaster. they say the process is irreversible and that is a big problem for the rest of the world.

>> this is a sizeable amount of antarctica we are talking about. >> in fact, it's so large that when this area melts, it will raise the sea level around the world by four feet. a team of scientists spent 20 years tracking the melting glaciers using satellite radar measurements. this video photographs nasa shows the area. it shows massive glaciers melting. the biggest are pine island on the for left and the center. the color coding reflects how fast they are melting, blue the fastest. the water beneath the area is warming, causing the glaciers to pull away from the bedrock. we explain. >> the last point of which this big glacier is basically attached to the rock underneath it have come loose. there's no pinning points as they're called left, which means

the whole thing is infiltrated by ocean water underneath it. it's just going to continue to melt from here. this isn't going to happen immediately. we're talking 200 to 500 years before the whole thing goes. >> the glaciers hold enough ice to raise sea levels by four feet when they melt into the sea. to put that into perspective, just two feet of sea level rise will do a trillion dollars of property damage to u.s. coastlines. >> let's let the debate begin. are scientists blaming global warming. >> yes, they absolutely do. they believe that a build up of man made greenhouse gases affects the wind patterns around antarctica, driving the warmer waters in the continent. >> boko haram said it will release hundreds of kidnapped school girls in exchange for captured fighters. >> the u.s. is calling it a terrorist organization. how likely the nigerian

government is now to negotiate with them. >> how children are being caught in the crossfire as the conflict in the central african re public continues. >> there was times i was living that this was impossible. i feel very fortunate this is possible now. >> couples crossing the globe to turn their dreams of a family into a reality. >> a papal surprise, the pope talks about martians.

>> good morning. welcome to al jazeera america. >> ahead in this half hour, inside boko haram, who the fighters are and why they have a bad name even among other accused terror groups. >> groups don't want anything to

do with them. the controversy over using robots to kill on the battlefield. why some countries are dealing with the issue. >> in our next hour, why are chances are surviving hard surgery could actually depend on your doctor's vacation schedule. >> don't get surgery on monday. >> yeah. >> lets check our top stories. wildfires burning in the southwest this morning, the double diamond fire in hutchison county texas burning more than 500 acres. in new mexico burning through a forest. >> pro-russian separatists in eastern ukraine, moscow has previously recognized a similar independence vote in crimea. >> the pentagon saying the u.s. is conducting manned missions in

nigeria to track the hundreds of missing girls. the missions are gathering intelligence for the nigerian government. they say video showing the abduction could yield clues to where the girls might be. before april, some parts of the world new little about boko haram, now the group at the center of an international fire storm over the abduction of the school girls. their goal now is to create an islamic state in nigeria and wipe away all western influence. >> this is believed to be a training camp in northern nigeria, the men are being shown how to use automatic weapons. the group has existed for 10 years, the name means western education is sinful. it's members want to create an islamic state and stamp out any activity linked with western society. for the past five years, they've led an armed campaign against

the government mainly in the north of the country, attacking schools with that police station and other officials buildings. thousands of people have been killed or wounded. the group leader is this man, a radical idealogue who enjoys killing. last year, the nigerian president declared a state of emergency in the three states where boko haram is strongest. an aljazeera team sent these pictures in march where four attacks killed more than 100 students in the past year. in one incident, 32 students were killed at the federal boarding school in the remote town. every building in the school compound was burned down. the international community has condemned boko haram with the u.s. government calling it a terrorist organization.

>> the kidnapping of hundreds of children is an unconscionable crime and we will do everything possible to support the nigerian government to return these young women to their homes. >> while many moderate muslim organizations have called for boko haram to be disbanded. aljazeera, nigeria. >> max abrams is a professor of political science in boston this morning. professor, a lot of people are trying to figure out how is it that a group can try and achieve an end game in this case by kidnapping children and actually setting schools on fire with other children inside. how does that happen? how do you get people to follow you? >> well, that's a very good question. a lot of people want to know, you know, what are the motives of this group, what's the strategic logic of boko haram blowing up all these innocent

civilians. basically, terrorist groups tend to have two kinds of aims, two kinds of motivations. they have strategic goals, in this case, boko haram wants to establish is that rhea law throughout the country, but boko haram has organizational aims, because organizations, militant groups, they require manpower and they require funding, so the point of these hostage takings isn't so much to achieve the group's strategic demands. it's not going to help establish sharia law, but it could if the government is willing to trade, it could increase the manpower of boko haram as well as its financial position. >> tomorrow is a month since those girls were abducted. how should the nigerian government respond and should they even negotiate or bargain

with a group that has done what they've done? >> the official position of almost every target country in the world is that they will not negotiate with terrorists. when it comes to strategic goals, like establishing sharia law, this is true. when it comes to smaller demands of militant groups, like the release of militants in government custody or some kind of financial compensation, the reality is that governments do sometimes negotiate. if i were the nigerian government, i would be much more willing to trade money for these hostages than i would want to release militants in government custody, because then these militants could in turn kill more people. i also think that it's important for the government to vet out which militants might be released, because some of them

are presumably more dangerous than others. >> i wanted to hit on something that you told us, which is that other groups, other terrorist groups believe that boko haram gives them a bad name and they want to steer clear of this particular group. why? >> well, you know, basically when militant groups blow up civilian targets, it carries with it a high political cost, because people throughout the world recognize that, you know, innocent life, you know, should be sacrosanct, that they should be protected. what we're seeing is that even many sort of muslim terrorist groups want to distance themselves from boko haram. we've seen this before, particularly with respect to al-qaeda central, which was very, very critical of a.q.i.

these groups were engaged in too much in discriminate violence against the population. it's this reason i think boko haram is lonely. internationally, it has very few friends, even in the muslim world. >> max abrams joining us from boston this morning, thank you very much. >> half of south sudan's population should be displaced, starving or dead by the end of this year if the violence continues according to u.n. secretary general ban ki-moon. both sides in the conflict of accused of crimes against humanity. >> u.n. secretary general ban ki-moon briefing the security council about what he describes as the mounting cries in south sudan. just days after the countries president signed a face-to-face agreement with the rebel leader, there have been fresh clashes.

the secretary general visited last week, 80,000 people are now sheltering in u.n. camps, fearful of being targeted in ethnic violence that's lasted now five months. there were warnings of what ban ki-moon says could be a catastrophic famine. >> if the conflict continues, half of sudan will either be displaced internally, refugees are starving, or dead by the year's end. >> the secretary general now wants accountability for opposing a hybrid tribunal similar to a court that sat in sierra leone, a mixture of national and international justice. >> the issue of impunity is at the heart of what's at the stage of this conflict. past peace processes have made no provision for accountability

and it resulted in war. >> the situation on the ground in south sudan is so fragile, it doesn't want to upset the two men who signed last week's agreement, the president and opposition leader, the only two men who perhaps can bring peace. >> when you spoke to the two leaders, what was reaction to this idea no they could end up being prosecuted by that court. >> my message to prison server here was quite clear and loud that we have found crimes against humanity by both sides. you must stop this one, otherwise you will be held -- those will be held accountable. >> the u.s. recently introduced sanctions, the first to be put on the list were the right hand men which both leaders. some now want international u.n. sanctions, too. james bays, aljazeera at the

united nations. >> now fighting between those in favor of south sudan's president and those loyal to the country's former vice president has now killed thousands of civilians since december. >> the country of chad is shutting down its border with neighboring central african republic until the c.r.a. cries ends. chad with drew forces from the war torn country last month. fighters are accused of regularly crossing into chad to stir up violence there while armed groups from chad are often accused of crossing the other way. thousands have been killed and nearly 1 million people forced from their homes since fighting broke out last year. throughout the conflict, children are caught in the crossfire. 2.3 million children there have been affected by this conflict. 6,000 of those children have been recruited into armed groups, and there is only one functioning pediatric hospital in the entire country.

a unicef for central african republic joins us this morning. good morning. >> good morning. >> the statistics are staggering, how are children in central african republic most affected by this on going conflict? >> children have been directly targeted by the crisis, and as you know, even before the crisis, the situation was not good at all. let me tell you that every 21 minutes, a child dice in south africa. >> either because of direct conflict, because of literally being -- >> even before the crisis. with the crisis, the situation became very, voir dire for the

children. the children have been recruited by the militias. >> you talk about the schools, we have numbers to show on that, too. since october of last year, unicef found almost two thirds of schools in the central african republic remain closed. one third of the 355 schools surveyed have been attacked in recent months, and one in three children enrolled in school did not go back this year. parents are concerned about sending their children back to school. why are schools being targeted in central african republic and are there linkages of what we've seen in nigeria with the kidnapping of school girls. >> schools are utilized when they take a village. they need a place to stay.

most of them take the schools and prevent the children from going to school. also the parents don't want to let the children going back to school -- >> they are literally using the schools as militia bases. unicef has been able to rescue children. what happens to these children once they are rescued? are they able to reunite with their families? >> yes, this is what we are doing on the ground. we've been there before the cries and we are still there and we will remain there after the cries. i've been myself, you know, meeting with the rebels in the bush for the release of these children. some of them have been released and they have been also sent, you know, for educational

training and it is working in progress. as you recognize, the number of children with the groups, we are talking about 6,000 children, and it condition even be more than that. >> it's been called by your organization the worst crisis nobody is talking about. i appreciate you coming in and talking to us about it, unicef representative for central african republic, thank you, sir. >> thank you for giving to me to equal the voice of the children. >> a chaotic scene unfolding when police responded to a domestic dispute. an officer went into the home a second tried to go in forced out by gunfire. the house exploded, all of it caught on camera. the new hampshire attorney general taking michael nolan fired the fatal shots. investigators believe nolan was

killed by the fire or explosion. his 86-year-old father was taken to the hospital, no word on his injuries. 48-year-old officer steven arkel was killed in the gunfire. >> a growing number of people adding to their families but not the old fashioned way. the demand for children and shortage of adoptable babies in the u.s. sending couples to unexpected places. we look at booming business of international surrogates. >> for crystal, her small business building families is very personal. she has three children born half a world away. all of them conceived using an egg donor and a surrogate mother from india. >> the one thing i remember about it is when mark came out, they said he's beautiful. he looks just like you. i said thank you. [ laughter ] >> now, crystal helps others

build their families. more than 600 couples so far. couples bringing team together from five continents to get a baby, including a friend donating her egg from london. the partner already trying to adopt a child, but found the process slow. >> i'm 46. there was a time i was living when this was impossible, so i feel very fortunate this is possible now. >> they hope international surrogate hopes them become dads fast. >> it happens in your back yard. >> in india, you can find a doctor that will allow a single

birth from 35,000 to 40,000 or 50,000. california, i have clients who have paid over 200,000. >> when money is no object, global surrogacy takes a new look. jane now has three children, a daughter and a twin boy and girl all from the same surrogate in california. all three were born in the u.s., so they're american citizens. having three children would have been against the law in china. it's an in sensitive attracting many well to do chinese parents like jane to the u.s.

>> so it means that they are getting new babies with passports. they don't bother with just the newborn as chinese citizens. it's going around that one baby policy. >> some critics of international surrogacy would say that these women in third worlds delivering these babies are being exploited. what do you say to that? >> my surrogate if she felt exploited, she wouldn't have asked 24 hours later if she could be a surrogate again. >> yes, the same surrogate also gave the travis couple their twins. >> i think it's neat that we're a global family. i think it's the way of the future anyway. >> in part two of our special series, making babies, america tonight looking at the dark side of international surrogacy. we follow the money south of the border, mexico, the newest

destination for american couples seeking occur gets. for one couple, it turned into a nightmare. you can see that oh night at 9:00 p.m. eastern right here on aljazeera america. >> time now to take a look at today's headlines making news around the world. you've heard of the benefits of drinking red wine, right? it's full of antioxidants that help prevent heart disease and cancer, but now according to time.com, researchers say that may not be the case with a study done in italy where there is a lot of red wine drinking and results negative for every outcome of heart disease, cancer, early death, all stayed the same. >> i have been drinking all of that wine now for nothing. also, "u.s.a. today" money reporting that all of us want less. shoppers around the globe say less. half of those surveyed say they would be happy without most of the things they own.

70% say over consumption puts the planet at risk and 65% say society would be a better place if people shared more and owned less. >> the sharing economy is the next thing. >> the pope making headlines for opening up the catholic church to all and now the city morning herald is spreading the good word to outer space. he said monday morning that if martians came to be bob tides he would not turn them away. >> it brings up the image of the wizard of oz with the bucket of water. >> maybe martians don't like water. >> that could be the case. >> dangerous machines causing widespread destruction. you remember term nature and they said this is science fiction. >> i do. >> not anymore. >> this countries taking that threat seriously and making sure robots are not used to harm

people in the future. >> 1492, columbus sailed the ocean blue. 500 years later, one of those legendary ships may have been found. it is our discovery of the day. presents the system with joe berlinger >> you had a psychologically vulnerable teenager, you had aggressive investigators... it was a perfect storm >> put behind bars after making a false confession >> i prayed my innocence could be established, and i would be released >> what if you admitted to something you did not do >> the truth will set you free yeah don't kid yourself... >> the system with joe burlinger only on al jazeera america r

as a person >> talk to al jazeera only on al jazeera america >> it is time for our discovery of the day. christopher columbus made his historic voyage in 4092. a modern day explorer believes he has found one of columbus' long lost ships, the santa maria, the large effort on the expedition ran aground christmas day that year. >> he believes the ship is loathe off haiti and he plans to bring up anything that is left of the priceless vessel. he wants to put it on permanent display inside a museum in haiti. >> the much smaller ships on the

journey, the nina and pinta sailed back to spain. their whereabouts are unknown. welcome to al jazeera america. killer machines like the term nature we think only exist in the movies. why there is a global push to make sure it stays that way. >> the weather across the nation today, some wet, our meteorologist ebony deon is here now. good morning. >> good morning. we've had the moisture lingering across the middle of the country over the last several days and parts of the east, as well. as you can see, i've been watching a frontal boundary moving off to the east slowly. plenty of moisture in advance of it and rains blossoming right along the front. now it's heading eastward and again all moving slowly. areas across texas we're now dealing with the possibility of flash flooding. we've seen the rain continuing around houston into san antonio, tracking rain into the midwest. chicago, it's on your doorstep.

don't leave home without that umbrella in hand. >> ebony, we got so spoiled. thank you very much. >> they have been seen in the movies, sometimes serving justice, sometimes portrayed at cold calculated killers. now the life of machines also known as killer robots is under debate at the united nations. technology reporter explains why. >> in the 21st century, a weapon in vented like no other. robotic killer machines have long been the subject of science fiction. evil cyborg battling with the side of good at stake humanity. now that fiction is close to becoming an issue of fact and is the subject of international talks. robot's like these being developed in the united states are increasingly able to be armed and put on the battlefield. >> getting close tort action, look around the corner, make

sure there are no civilians there, make it possible for the human to make the decision. we are not saying there shouldn't be robots on the battlefield. it should be up to the human being to make the decision about whether to fire the weapon. >> there are already some you a to know moss weapons in use. there's anti missile system developed by the u.s. military automatically fires on incoming threats. south korea has used robotic armed guard posts along its border with the north, though human makes any final decision to shoot. israel has used this drone which once launched can automatically attack radar stations. currently, each military decides how and when it can use these weapons. the u.n. talks are aimed at bringing the use under one international treaty. experts say the technology is evolving too fast for those to be effective. >> given that these machines have such specific tasks,

missile defense, tank activear mother, think of the attack against iran's nuclear policies, you can't discuss those machines in one treaty. >> there are expected to be widely differing views between those countries with the most to gain from the technology and those who most fear the potential use of force. aljazeera. >> the u.n. debate over killer robots begins today in geneva. >> coming up in our next hour, arkansas's ban an same-sex marriage was overturned last week. why dozens of gay couples who tied the knot were denied this weekend. >> residents in brazil forced to

recycle every drop of water they can find. >> we'll be back. stay with us.

>> we have to move out of here right now >> i think we have a problem... >> we have to get out of here... >> they're telling that they they don't wanna show what's really going on... >> mr. drumfield, i'd like to speak to you for a minute... >> this is where columbia's war continues... >> ...still occupied... >> police have arrived...

you see the blast scars from a bomb that went off... >> hundreds of school girls abducted in nigeria by a group labeled terrorists by the u.s., the u.s. military involved in the effort to bring them home. >> it can travel around the world where it wants. >> it has killed 140 people oversea, now the deadly mers virus on american soil again. >> a house goes up in flames,

then explodes, the dispute, shootout and the aftermath of a deadly standoff. >> you may not want to go under the knife if your surgeon has been on vacation or had the weekend off. why it could decrease the chances that you'll survive. welcome to al jazeera america. >> boko haram is stirring more international outrage over the abduction of hundreds of school girls in nigeria. the group released this video, showing hundreds of girls dressed in islamic garb. >> boko haram saying all the young women were kidnapped and now converted to islam. they say the girls will be held until the nigerian government freeze all militant prisoners. >> a team arrived in nigeria last week to help with the search effort on the air and in the ground. the 17 minute video released by boko haram will likely add to the despair of the missing

girls' loved ones. the u.s. is stepping up efforts to help find the more than 200 missing school girls. >> we are providing intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance support. >> u.s. surveillance planes will share imagery with its government. >> our intelligence is combing it for clues. >> under the close watch of armed captors, some children are reciting from the koran, wearing conservative muslim dress. they are mostly christian but converted to islam from the leader, who appears separately in the video. >> after boasting last week in another video that he would sell the girls, a new threat. >> these girls will not leave our hands and won't be released until nigeria releases boko haram fighters from prison. >> the government may negotiate

a swap with you will not pay for the girls' release. >> no intention to pay ransom, because the sale of human beings is a crime against humanity. >> the nigerian government widely criticized for its inability to rescue the girls has accepted help from britain, but finding them is not easy, with the search area the size of new england and no indication the girls are still altogether. >> the best we can hope for at this point is quiet negotiation wimp keeps them safe, which gives you more time to identify where the vast majority are and potentially some sort of rescue. >> we want to go now to libby casey in washington, d.c. what types of assets has the u.s. provided for the search and rescue effort? >> there are manned aerial searches underway, which is a significant development. they are sharing satellite

imagery, special imagery with the nigerians, there are a team of 30 americans tasked with the mission to help out, including state department,. he gone planners. the state department said yesterday that they are combing through the city to look for any clues and they're not doubting its authenticity. they are really looking at that to see if there's any information they can green from washington. >> there has been talk of using drones in the search. a lot of people would probably want to see those drones armed. >> there has been this question of whether or not drones could aid in the search effort. that came up even before this video was released. the issue is there is resistance in nigeria to seeing those drones go into the region, so the u.s. is having to deal with that diplomatic question. officials in the u.s. say they are letting the nigerians lead this effort, the u.s. there to provide assistance. they want to get clearance from

the country's leaders first. >> those drones will not be armed. will you by, thank you. >> a second case of middle east mers has hundreds at risk in this country. >> the new patient now in an orlando hospital is a health care worker from saudi arabia who may have exposed more than 500 passengers just on adjustment flights while head to go florida. cdc officials say the patient felt sick when boarding the first flight with fever, chills and a slight cough. >> this virus can get on a plane and travel the world and just find the right person that gets infected, doesn't know it and lands anywhere around the world. >> the c.d.c. has spent 1,000

man hours trying to track down the passengers on the american flights. they say if someone hasn't gotten sick at this point, they likely won't. since it's nearly past the five to 14 day incubation period. 538 cases have been identified across the globe. of those cases, 145 people have died. saudi arabia is the epicenter of mers where most case and deaths have occurred. the virus is characterized by a fever, cough and shortness of breath. health officials say it's spread by close contact with an infected person such as caring for someone with it. according to the world health organization, currently, 27% of people who get mers will likely die. there is no vaccine or specific treatment recommended.

researchers at the maryland school of medicine are hope to creating a vaccine. >> we are several steps before humans. all of the vaccine preparation take time to do testing and clinical trials. that is not a rapid process. >> there is still a great deal health officials don't know about where it comes from and how its spread. people are asked to take common sense measures, washing hands and avoiding touching eyes, nose and mouth. this latest individual in the u.s. with mers is expected to recover. aljazeera, miami. >> another mers patient in indiana has fullery recovered and been cleared to travel. >> there has been a series of attacks today in iraq's capitol, 12 people killed, dozens injured in baghdad when multiple car bombs exploded across the city. since u.s. troops left iraq, there has been a surge in violence. 8,000 iraqis were killed last

year in attacks, the highest death toll since the peak of sectarian violence in 2007 and 2008. >> celebrations in eastern ukraine after the results of votes on self rule. >> fireworks were set off monday near a government building in donetsk. the leader of the self proclaimed people's republic saying it was now an independent state and would seek to join the russian federation. donetsk is the largest of the two regions of eastern ukraine where accept are a activities held a referendum for self rule. those rex comes declared illegal by the u.s. this people republic creating a new set of challenges, prompts stern words from the governor. what did he have to say? >> yes, the governor is kiev appointed man in donetsk and

dismissed the vote which took place sunday here as nothing more than a soberological questionnaire, saying this entity self delayed by the accept are a activities didn't exist, existed in name only. he said they had no policies, no economic policies, no policies toward security. he said his team, the key every appointed team was in daily contact with the accept are a activities, but every day the personnel seemed to change. they've got a number of different leaders and when they go to talk to them, they are not quite sure who has authority. that is causing problems to deescalate the crisis. >> there is a push on several levels trying to find the diplomatic solution. what's been happening on that front? >> the acting prime minister has been meeting the german foreign minister, saying the changes that were required were certainly not going to take

place in kiev or perhaps even here in donetsk, but in moscow. he said if moscow stops supporting the separatist movement here, the situation would resolve itself very quickly. that's unlikely to happen. what is happening is several members of the kiev based cabinet are going to brussels today to discuss the cries and try to find some way forward. >> paul, thank you very much. >> texas plans to execute the first prisoner in the nation since last month's botched lethal in vehicles in oklahoma. he was convicted of the rape and murder of a texas woman. his lawyers are trying to use the oklahoma execution to stop his execution. they now use a single drug instead of the three drugs used in oklahoma. >> former israel prime minister is head to go prison for his role in the so-called holy land housing scandal, the first time

a former israel prime minister has been convicted of a felony and sentenced to time behind bars. nick schiffron joins us from jerusalem. can you tell us about the court's decision? >> it is a dark day for israeli politics, olmert sentenced to six years and a fine. that is one of the largest fines he could have received and one of the longest sentences. there's been reaction that the finance minister put it for many saying that today's sentence proves in israel, no man is above the law. that's what the judge was talking about today when he sentenced olmert. he said that because olmert was so senior, because the problem of corruption reached the highest levels, the judge said olmert deserved a punishment that will express the contempt and help uproot what the judge called bribery, saying a public

servant who accepts bribes is akin to a traitor. that's why the fine was so large and the sentence to long. the background to this is in the background right there, that is the holy land development. that is what olmert is accused of supporting as the mayor of jerusalem. he accepted $150,000 in bribes, according to the prosecution. that money went to both his brother and assistant. >> john kerry is meeting president abas in london, their first face-to-face since talks collapsed last month. what's on the table? >> sufficient officials tell me what is not on the table is salvaging the peace process. there's a firm belief there needs to be a pause right now. the u.s. has to pause and as what it wants to do with the peace process and the palestinians and israelis have to pause and reassess whether they are willing to keep going

with this u.s. mediated process and are willing in the u.s.'s words to take the sacrifices needed to make peace. so therefore, part of what kerry and abas are going to talk about is the future, maintaining the cooperation and economic rance that the u.s. gives the palestinians, $600 million almost every year. the palestinians have gone on since the end of the peace talks, talking about de facto state hood. kerry and the u.s. oppose that. the palestinians are trying for a unit government. the palestinian president abas leads the fafwa party, hamas leads garza. the u.s. believes ham mat is a terrorist group. there are trip wires that if that group joins the government, the money will go away. they will talk about avoiding

those trip wires. >> nick, thank you. >> secretary of state john kerry is expected to discuss the situation in ukraine along with the foreign minister of france. aljazeera america will cover their remarks live this morning beginning at 11:00 a.m. >> police in spain arresting a mother and daughter in connection with the murder of a local politician. investigators believe the shooting of is bell in broad daylight was an act of vengeance. the body of the council chief was found on a bridge in madrid. a spokeswoman for the ruling party say she was shot several times. the government saying it appears to be a personal matter and not motivated by politics. >> a former minnesota state linebacker is fighting for his life, in critical condition after allegedly beaten by another football player, a recent transfer to rutgers named phillip nelson. he was found unconscious in the street after the beating. police are looking for a second suspect. doctors are not optimistic about

his recovery. nelson is charged with first and third degree assault. >> a majority of county clerks in arc argue denying requests by gay couples for marriage licenses, waiting for the state supreme court to weigh in on the decision to overturn the state's ban. not all county clerks decided to wait, five counties issuing more than 200 same-sex marriage licenses. arkansas now the fifth state to ban same-sex marriage and have to overturned. alaska's ban have that ban called unconstitutional with an action seeking to change the laws. alases governor and attorney general are named in that suit. >> today president obama will present an american war hero with the military's highest honor. former army sergeant kyle white will receive the medal of honor.

he will be the seventh living recipient to be awarded the medal of honor for wars in iraq and afghanistan. he helped several wounded soldiers during an ambush in afghanistan. six u.s. soldiers died in that attack. you can see the full presentation right here on aljazeera america. it will be at 3:00 p.m. eastern. >> a former soviet republic defying moscow. >> why the crisis in ukraine has georgia looking for military back up from the west. >> if it's dirty water, we use it to water the plants. if it's soapy, we reuse is to clean the floors. >> west not the only place that is bone dry right now. why they are being forced to use every last drop of water in brazil. >> a boulder gets away from a

crew. why some call this a divine intervention. >> why your surgeon might be off his game when you go under the knife.

>> welcome to al jazeera america. let's check the video captured by citizen journalists around the world. the first comes from syrian activists, showing the aftermath of barrel bombings on monday, activists were able to capture some of the explosive barrels. you can see the size and shape of them just before impact. >> we want to show you this, a joint boulder that just missed this massachusetts church over the weekend. construction workers capturing it all on camera north of boston. construction workers were blasting property when the 20 to know boulder jumped out of the ground and narrowly missed the church, the pastor calling it divine intervention. >> from kenya, amazing views of

the conservancy. viewers were provided with a unique vision of the landscape. >> welcome to al jazeera america. in just a moment, we'll talk about why a former soviet republic is trying to join nato. >> first, a look at the forecast. >> we have cold and we have hot. we are going to see that across the west and east coast. a lot of areas that are see ago cooldown is going to be a relief from the hot weather we've experienced. across the eastern u.s., we are going to keep it milder longer. we have a frontal boundary, a very slow moving one. just a few more days, but behind it, chicago has gone from 80's to the 50's over the next few days. the heat is on in the west with

records breaking today. >> ok, ebony deon, thank you. >> there has been a renewed diplomatic effort to solve the cries in ukraine. neighboring georgia now asking nato for protection from russia. >> safely home, courtesy of the united states air force, they might look american, but these are georgians. >> it's very great, great pleasure for me to be safe at home in georgia in my morland. >> georgia's armed forces have received support and training from the u.s. military. >> these soldiers are among more than a thousand georgian troops that have been part of the international security and assistance force in afghanistan. georgia hopes to continue to be a contributor to a future mission there next year. >> they are a welcome nato ally.

they have taken casualties, 29 killed and more than 120 wounded. georgia wants nato membership in return. >> the trust there between our militaries is so high, that i want the politician to say catch up with that trust. >> nato could guarantee georgia protection from russia with whom georgia fought a war and lost in 2008. is there the political will? president obama dampened expect is as in march. >> neither ukraine or georgia are currently on a path to nato membership. there has not been any immediate plan for expansion of natos membership. >> clearly it was quite own fortunate for us. >> at least send russia a stronger message says georgia's defense minister. >> there should be a very smart reason to vote, but very effective combination of

sanctions with the military, putting more military assets around and close to russian federation. >> last week, britain's foreign minister hague hinted georgia deserved something. there's talk of georgia getting a so-called map to nato membership. >> georgia is a valid partner to nato, and i'm confident that the summit in wales later this year which we will be proud to host will want to recognize the progress that georgia is making and the work we all do together. >> georgia has put more of its soldiers in harm's way than most european countries, but for now, it's long march to nato membership continues. >> again, these calls from georgia to join nato come in light of the the crisis in ukraine. here now to discuss the latest developments there is fellow at the truman national security

project, joining us from washington this morning. thank you for being with us. >> good morning. >> the kremlin is asking kiev to negotiate with the accept are a activities through the organization for security and cooperation in europe. isn't that the same international body whose monitors were captured by accept are a activities a few weeks ago? >> that's right. that's a good point. i think stepping back a few days, it's important to look at the referendum and the purpose of the referendum. russia really sees or saw the referendum as a way to create some sort of independent autonomous identity in the east and now seek to use this in the context of mediated dialogue under the and you say pisses of osce. dialogue sounds better than war, but created this artificial identity that russia is going to try to use. >> you are saying that russia was behind this referendum. >> absolutely. you look at the poll numbers out of eastern ukraine and they vary

a little bit, but you have nowhere near any numbers that look like what the results of the referendum were. clearly, it was a very chaotic environment, a hastily created referendum. across eurasia is probably the best bet to sponsor the next round of talks in geneva. although the organization has a hard road ahead of it, given what's happened with the referendum, going back to geneva and geneva talks number two is probably the best thing that can be done at this point. >> i want to go back to the current situation in ukraine. you wrote before ukraine's former president yanukovych was ousted back in december, you wrote "that ukraine risks the pathway of egypt, loft in a

series of popular revolt that present leadership from the country dealing with dire problems." what's your assessment today? >> i think you have constant pressure on a government newt perceived at fully legitimate but ever control of the center of the government as you ever with the kiev government now, but they don't have support to implement policies that justify their legitimacy as a leader of the nation. i think having a resolution to that crisis legitimacy is the core issue right now. there are a couple ways that that could happen. certainly, it could fall into civil war at this point and that would be a very messy, protracted affair that wouldn't benefit anybody, but is i think important to recognize that is one possibility. another is a mediated dialogue as i mentioned under the the auspices of the o.c. or any

international format that would allow the different elements of ukraine to get behind a new government. the third option to sort of get beyond that crisis and legitimacy of course is the may 25 election and what everyone keeps talking about. given what you've seen over the last couple of weeks and what you've seen with the referendum in the east a couple of days ago, it's extremely difficult pour me. >> right. >> and difficult to understand how you can have a free and fair election at this time. >> thank you. >> we live in a world where cameras are everywhere. incredible footage caught on camera in new hampshire. >> a house leveled by a powerful explosion happened right after a deadly standoff with police. >> the american west in flames, conditions that are fueling not one, but two raging wildfires. >> from fire to ice, the new

study on antarctica showing the american coastline accounted soon be under water. >> a look now to our images of the day, crowds gathering in portugal for a candlelight vigil at the lady of fatima shrine. they pray in honor of the virgin mary. it is believe that had three shepherd children saw a vision of her at that site back in 1917.

>> the dowell diamond fire is

burning in texas, around lake meredith while new mexico's silver fire has been racing through the national forest north of silver city. official estimate out of new mexico had 0% of the fire contained. approaching cooler weather and diminishing winds are help to go slow the progress of the fire, which is currently moving northeast, away from silver city, a town of just over 10,000 people. the texas a&m fire service dropped it from 75% to 65% contained. sheer work to go put out the blaze before anyone has to evacuate. several families have taken shelter at schools. >> my home apartment home next to mine was the only standing in our block. >> it's total devastation around

the property. >> places to sleep, we had dinner last night, snacks and water through the night. we are working on bringing in breakfast before they go out to face a tough day for many people. >> communities on edge about wildfires from the southwest to the west where later this week, southern californians will deal with high winds and temperatures in the triple digits. they are not expecting a bad wildfire season in colorado but the government is taking the better safe than sorry approach, signing three bills adding to the state wildfire fighting and wildfire prevention capability. >> it's important to sign these bills into law to further secure our ability to fight fires, to get to fires sooner. >> despite all the property that's been lost or threatened

by the texas and new mexico wildfires so far, there have been no reports of loss of life. evacuations went out early and residents took heed. >> a lot of scientists are pointing to climate change as the reason for the weather. global warming is blamed for an area of antarctica meting so fast nothing can be done. >> this will affect the entire planet. >> that's because this ice sheet is so large that when it mets, it will raise the sea level across the globe by four feet. a team of scientists with nasa apartment university of california used satellite rarity measurements to track the melting glaciers for 20 years. this video from nasa shows the part of western antarctica. the ice sheet is made up of six massive glaciers that are melting into the sea.

the color coding all of a sudden how fast they are melting, red fast, blue slower and green the slowest. the scientists may they have already passed the point of no return. the water beneath the area is getting warmer, causing the grocers to pull away from the bedrock. we explain. >> the last point at which this big glacier is attached has come loose, there are no pinning parts left. the whole thing is infiltrated by ocean water underneath it. it's going to continue to melt. this isn't going to happen immediately, we're talking 200 years to 500 years before the whole thing goes. >> the fastest melting gabe sheer of the smith, that retreated more than 20 miles over the 20 year period. the scientists say the cause of the warming waters is global warming. a build up of man made

greenhouse gases affects wind patterns around antarctica pushing warmer waters toward the content. >> the sea level rising four feet, what does that mean for us? >> to pu put it in perspective, two feet of sea level that rises will do a trillion dollars of property damage to u.s. coast lines. experts say an additional two feet could inundate miami, new york and boston. >> that is scary. thank you. >> fires out west, melting grocers president poles, it's all about the weather. >> let's bring in our meteorologist. >> another active day with a little bit of everything to talk about. i am tracking a cold front making its way to the east in advance that have front, where all the rain activity is. we will continue to see storms blossoming along the front from the great lakes into texas, where this rain that continued to come in over the same areas.

we call that training. we've seen three inches of rain around san antonio and we expect to see an additional one to two inches of rainfall. that's going to create flooding concerns, some areas dealing with roads covered in water. we'll to have watch that from texas into arkansas, where storms are expected to fire up later in the day. although we see rain out there, areas that need it across northern areas of texas back in eastern new mexico where we have extreme to exceptional drought, we will not see rain. we are get that go offshore wind flow, red flag warnings around los angeles. we have heat advisories around the bay area where we are going to see temperatures near 90 around san francisco by wednesday. >> an estimated 600,000 people will converge in brazil next month for the world cup. the fans might have limited access to a basic necessity during their trip. the country's largest city is

dealing with a major water shortage. the lack of rain has left a key reservoir bone dry. >> in this home, they don't waste one drop of water. no water is allowed to go down the drain, all water is reused in any way possible. >> if it's dirty water, we use it to water the plants. if it's soapy to clean clothes, we use it to clean the floors. it's important everyone tries to conserve. >> for now, there is at least water to save, but maybe not for long. this is sao paulo's main water reservoir, a moon scape of dead nothingness, cracked, parched pd earth. this area received only a quarter of the average rainfall in the past year, but demand for water has gone up and this is the result. >> at this time last year, this reservoir was 62% capacity.

one year later today at 9.8%, the lowest in recorded history. the visual effects of that are pretty obvious, but the long term effects could be quite dramatic. >> experts say even if rainfall picks up again, it could take anywhere from 5-20 years for this reservoir to recover. the state water agency is now drawing on what they call a dead water supply, a last resort ground reserve estimated to last a few months. such extreme measures are necessary because the reservoir is one of the key sores of water for busy sao paulo, south america's largest city with 11 million people. despite the low levels, it's unlikely there will be water rations this year. >> we need to declare water rations right now so people start saving water.

it will be difficult, yes, but it's necessary so the little water we have can be used in a sustainable way. at the reservoir, the day after we filmed here, the water levels dropped to below 8% capacity, a water crisis that is quickly going from bad to worse. aljazeera, brazil. >> the water shortage is one of many problems plaguing the government in the run up to the world cup. there are allegations of corruption, security concerns and the question of how the airports will handle the massive influx of fans. >> the lack of water a long standing issue in syria, as well. according to the syrian observe atory for human rights, things are getting back to normal, water supply returning to neighborhoods after a week of cuts that affected the entire

city. >> iran and six word powers are looking to seal the deal on a nuclear solution to the standoff. an interim agreement in place now expires in july. >> a professor of iranian and middle eastern history joins us now. according to the united nations, iran could be hiding its procurement of materials needed for its nuclear missile programs. if that is true, could this report derail talks taking place now in geneva. >> no, it won't, because it's not really a serious accusation. it's not the u.n. accusing it, it's unnamed officials from the u.n. there's a lot of basically fuzzy things from the past, documents

that we're not sure whether they're genuine or not, whether it was dual purpose buying materials. it's really murk key stuff from the past. i think both iran and the united states are focused on the present and the future rather than what happened in the past. >> ires leader saying the ballistic missile program isn't up for discussion. >> they expect to restrict iran's missile capability while continually raising military threats. if you want to raise restricting iran says missile program, you should not publicly threaten us with military attack. >> the concerns rewarding the missile's ability to carry nuclear warhead, why can't the missile program be taken off the table or rather be put on the table and included in the talks? >> i'm sure the iranian government would be happy to do that if other neighboring

countries also actually discarded their ballistic missile program. the no one proliferation treatment are. >> it sounds like you're splitting hairs. >> they don't mean necessarily nuclear missiles, it could be conventional. iran's use is for space research. >> you expect that to fly with the p5 plus one. >> yes, because the real problem would be whether they were using materials for triggerrers of nuclear bombs. again, that's something about the past. at present and the future they are not doing that, that should

assure the united nations. >> after this round of talks, do you expect significant progress made? >> i think both iran and united states, which are the main parties, are either to get an agreement, but if there is no final agreement, it could be extended another six months, but along the line, they expect an agreement. >> thank you for being with us. >> international space station has a new commander. >> knowing that we will leave the space station in best hands formally, i hand over the command to steve. congratulations and best wish to the crew of expedition 40 for successful mission. >> passing off command to nasa

astronaut, four are heading back to earth today. also bidding goodbye to a special little crew member. when he returns to earth, he'll be leaving a robot behind. it is the first talking humanoid. he will stay on the space station until the end of the year. >> coming soon to a toy store near you. >> a fascinating piece of technology that the f.d.a. approved for sale. a prosthetic arm that movers on its own by receiving signals from a person's muscles. we explain how it could help people who have lost a limb. >> it has been seeking approval for eight years and now has got it, making it the very first

that can move multiple giants at once by thought command. the arm wasn't always this slick. i got to see early version of it and they used a sort of joy stick built into shoes. you had to move it with your feet. the new version is much more elegant, using what are called electromyelogram electrodes, connected to the arm or what remains of it. the brain sends signals to what remains and nerves once connected to the hands and finger communicate with the prosthetic limb, which can sense your intenses. it's like learning to use chopsticks times 1,000. this enables the hand to do amazing things. an f.d.a. review showed 90% of the people trying this were able to perform activities that they couldn't otherwise perform with old school prostheses, such as using keys and locks or preparing food, feeding themselves, using zippers or

combing their hair. this allows extraordinarily shooting and movement with great dexterity. the technology combined with the arm could not just replace a loft limb, but give total control over entirely prosthetic bodies. >> that's jacob ward reporting. the device created by the same man who in vented the segue. >> do you feel rusty at your job after taking time off work? surgeons do too. that could affect your chance of surviving an operation. the elite author of the study, up next.

the system with joe beringer

>> welcome to al jazeera america. why you might want to avoid a certain type of surgery if your surgeon is planning a vacation. >> first a look at forecast. not really vacation weather today. >> it depends where you are. certainly the middle of the country will be soggy, so we are certainly not looking to great weather conditions. the clouds are socking us in from the midwest to the southern plains. rain will continue to be heavier at times. into chicago, it's breaking up just a bit. with clouds overhead, with enough instability over the day, showers, maybe stores will be possible. also expecting to see scattered rain showers. it's quiet for now, but grab that umbrella just in case. >> a new study shows a gene already located in the brain could help prevent alzheimer's andy men is that.

scientists say the gene could provide a boost to cognitive performance and preserve memory in the elderly. it is found increasing levels of the gene in mice made them smarter. they conducted studies on participants, researchers say 20-25% of the participants who had at least one copy of the gene performed better on tests than those who had none. >> surgeons need rest and weekends like everybody else. they also need a vacation from time to time. a new study claims surgeons come back rusty after a little time off. that according to numbers that show you might not want to have surgery if your doctor is coming back from a break. the author of the study joins us. you looked at 188 surgeons who performed 56,315 heart by pass operations in pennsylvania

between 2005 and 2010. let's begin with the reason for the study itself. why did you take a look at this? >> hi, good morning. yeah, we were interested in finding out if surgeons will perform better or worse after taking a few days off from the operating room. one hypothesis is that they come back refreshed, mentally more sharp and do better. the alternative hypothesis is they lose a little dexterity, diagnostic acumen, procedural proficiency and that will be reflected in worse outcomes for patients. >> people die at a higher rate when a surgeon has been away from as little as a day. that is a pretty sizeable

increase. >> well, yes. that's in relative numbers, that's a pretty sizeable increase. it was even larger when we looked at patients admitted to the emergency department and treated by surgeons that perform at least 100 procedures a year. we found that on average for these patients and these surgeons, for every thousand patients, about four additional patients died if the surgeon had been away from the operating room for an additional day. we were able to do this because we looked at so many administrative records. >> anybody watching now is thinking i want to make sure that i don't have by pass surgery on monday and certainly not after the doctors have been on a vacation. are they right? >> i certainly don't want to alarm anyone at this point. weaver documented that for every

additional day, there's a very small but statistically significant increase in the mortality risk of the patient. we don't know just from these data what exactly is driving this association. it could be that there are warm up exercises that surgeons can do just before they return to the operating room. we don't know at this point. >> doctor, thanks. >> we're joined by dr. shaw, the associate director of cardiac surgery at johns hopkins hospital. he joins us from baltimore this morning. doctor, thank you for being with us. you heard from the lead author of the study. what do you make of these findings? >> thanks, stephanie, it's nice to be here. i think i certainly applaud the authors to examine the

performance in something that's a high risk enterprise and important for patient safety, but i think as the authors point out, these risks that they're talking about are really, really very small, and patients shouldn't be concerned about their particular surgeon or their operation being done on a monday versus a friday. i think it's certainly legitimate to look at how a team performs, but i think what the authors of shown are that the risks are very, very small. >> small but significant, say the study authors. if i'm a patient, i think that needs to go in for coronary by pass surgery, i want the best odds, why shouldn't they be concerned to ask their during have you just taken a long weekend? >> i think it's a, well, again as you mention, it's statistically significant. sometimes things that are statically significant aren't really clinically relevant, that there are other things that go into a complicated procedure

that are more important. how many of these procedures have you done, these are questions all patients should ask of their surgeons. >> do you think this study warrants the need for surgeons coming back from a long golf weekend to do calenda calendarsc with their hands. >> our training allows us to perform in varying conditions. that's important to know. the second thing is that it's more than just one person in the operating room. you have a team of people that's taking care of you, so it's really a system and most systems are designed to minimize these

risks. if you look at your chance of dying from heart surgery, it's incredibly low given how complicated these operations can be and how many moving parts there are for a successful operation. i think it's reasonable to ask these questions, but i don't think people should be worried. >> doctor, we appreciate your insights. thanks for joining us this morning. >> i'm going to phone ahead regardless of what they say. >> me, too. >> tomorrow morning, spending on cancer drugs up, $90 billion worldwide. >> how some doctors are revolting against the rising costs. that's tomorrow morning. >> i'm still trying to figure, callisthenics for heart surgeons. >> i'm going to use the ball.

>> thanks for watching. have a great morning. >>america tonight investigates .>america tonight investigates what is this teach us about the brain? >> can ibogaine cure heroin addiction? only on al jazeera america

this is al jazeera. ♪ hello. welcome to the newshour live in doha. the top stories on al jazeera. hunting boko haram. u.s. surveillance planes join the search for nigeria's missing school girls. more 20 people can killed in the iraqi capitol, baghdad. israel's former prime minister is sentence today six years in prison for taking bribes while mayor of jerusalem. past the point of no