>> good morning to you. welcome to al jazeera america live from new york city. i'm morgan radford and here are today's top stories. seeking answers, african and western leaders meet to clamp down on boko haram. >> celebrations in india after the democracy chooses a new prime minister. >> arson charges as firefighters continue to battle the blaze in california. >> in the sense that it might be. >> cups of coffee as a canvas?

making art out of latte. >> total war on boko haram, that's how that had's president describes the agreement coming out of the international summit taking place right now in paris. the any jenery president and french president are leading that summit. leaders from four west african nations are also there. nigerias president claims boko haram is clearly an al-qaeda operation in west africa. among other aastros cities, they kidnapped 300 school girls last month. >> of course the crisis that has brought this summit about is the abduction of the school girls in nigeria, their fate of course is still unknown antleaders here will have been discussing ways

in which that may be resolved. it's difficult to see a way out of this impasse, because the government in nigeria is refusing negotiate, it says it won't do that and one wonders if military action would be potentially disastrous. experts suggest the girls may be scattered in different grooms and it may be difficult to rescue them without further casualties. on the bigger picture, the most recent attack in cameroon illustrates it well. they want to tighten border crops, want countries to be allowed to cooperate more fully. they haven't in the past, so they can go in hot pursuit of boko haram and capture them if necessary. there's a feeling nat nigerian army has not been up to the task. william hague, the british foreign minister has promised

military advices. the u.s., canada and israel now have counter terrorism experts on the ground, specifically trying to help to resolve the abduction of those school girls. >> the security meeting comes as 3,000 french troops are being sent to south africa to fight al-qaeda. we met up with the troops in training. >> lush, french countryside is about as far from the sahara as you can get, but these french troops are gearing up for their new mission. blackhawks helicopters simulate dropping small teams in remote locations. this is a frenchar tilly regiment, so they will be taking these mortars, as well. also on display, the tiger helicopter, french made and packed with the latest weaponry. just as they did in marlee last

year, french took place will be seeking out an illusive enemy across thousands of kilometers of remote desert. according to the french, the threat is growing. >> terrorism in africa is a global threat. we intervened in marlee to security not just regional security, but also our own security, security in marlee leans security in france, and west europe, as well. >> the french say this new deployment is designed to prevent armed groups linked to al-qaeda from rearming, regrouping and destabilizing the region once more. they say it's about contain at the same time, not solving the problem and admit they could be on the ground for many years to come. this i will expand with new bases in marlee, chad, nyjer and ivory coast. host governments are said to

welcome the move and have the backing at home for a long term commitment. >> it's not just about the victory. you need to make sure the post conflict phase goes well, stabilize and stick around for a long time. >> the french calculate such intervention carry minimal political risks. french casualties have been light so far and despite spending cuts is something they can afford for now, but as with any military operation, that has a vaguely defined goal, it's easy to send troops in, much harder to know when to pull them out, aljazeera in eastern france. >> the celebrations continue in india as the victory for the

president brings high hopes and expectations. >> the celebrations continue, party workers gather at the headquarters in new delhi. the sweeping victory at the polls have stunned the nation. newspapers are describing this event as momentous. many are just coming to terms with the enormity. the numbers were expected. i was shocked. >> i think corruption is the first priority. if you tackle corruption, inflation will come down and make life easier for everyone. >> modi left for delle saturday to claim his prize, the prime ministers office of india. the journey from the airport to the road wheres headquarters is was awash with tearing crowds, young and old trying get a glimpse of their countries new

leader. modi won an outright majority. it was a moment to save and reflect on. security is tight around modi. a new cordon of security surrounds him everywhere. he won't have as much freedom as during the campaign. india has seen two prime ministers assassinated in the past. no one is taking any chances. the supporters will continue to celebrate their victory at the general election. behind the scenes, ministers are being appointed and the final formation of the government finalized. modi will be sworn in early next week. >> it's been five days since a major fire erupts at a coal mine in turkey. officials are still recovering bodies, two were pulled out today. the death toll stands at 301 and 485 miners were rescued alive. protests erupted across the

country as grief turned to anger at the government's very slow response. >> thousands of firefighters continue to battle a rash of wildfires in san diego county. police arrested three men in connection with those fires. one has been charged with arson. two others face similar charges. some of the evacuation notices have been lifted at fire across slowly gain control of those wildfires. >> the weather is finally cooperating with firefighters in southern california. cooler, more humid conditions are preventing flames from spreading even further. it's already helped crews bring two of the wildfires north of san diego under control. >> the focus now is to make sure we secure the perimeter and go interior like you see here and kind of work on some of the hot spots. >> for so many, the damage is done. 20,000-acres have burned, dozens of homes destroyed. in all, an estimated $20 million in damage, and one of the worst

hit towns is escondido. >> we had planned to live here forever. >> this is the remnants of 30 years of life. >> i've never experienced anything like it. >> flames broke out at camp pendleton forcing all non-essential personnel to leave the base, which is why some marines became firefighters, dropping water from helicopters meant for war. meanwhile, officials arrested three on arson charges connected to two of the 11 fires. a 57-year-old man in oceanside and two teenagers in escondido. officials don't know if they're relierelated to the other fires. >> our investigation will continue until hopefully we're satisfied with the results that we really know the cause. >> i can't imagine what would be going through someone's head to do something like that. we were going to lose everything that we've worked so hard for. >> meanwhile, hundreds of

evacuees are still in shelters waiting to go home to see even if they have a home left. >> if the 57-year-old is convicted, he could face up to seven years in jail. california officials say the fires have been unprecedented and season has only begun. >> general motors is being charged millions of dollars in fines for waiting to recall cars with faulty ignition switches. on friday, federal regulators slapped general motors with a $35 million fine, which is the maximum penalty that could be imposed. its critics believe that amount doesn't even come close. >> the u.s. government's ordered a tune up of safety at general motors, the world's largest automakers has been told to own up and pay up with the heaviest civilian penalty ever imposed over an auto recall. >> what we cannot tolerate, what we will never accept is a person or a company that knows danger exists and says nothing.

literally silence can kill. >> g.m. took years to report a faulty ignition switch in 2.6 million chevrolet cobalts and other cars. the problem which shut off engines and disabled power steering and brakes is linked to deaths and 32 crashes. >> detailed briefings were received about this sift related defect, so g.m. engineers knew about the defect, g.m. investigators knew, g.m. lawyers knew about the defect, but g.m. did not act to protect americans from that defect. >> under a consent agreement with transportation officials, g.m. must pay a $35 million fine. the maximum allowable. an additional fine of $7,000 a day until g.m. acknowledged 107 detailed questions and the company must make wide ranging

changes to safety in the u.s. >> it's unfortunate that it took 13, that's the numerous injuries and an alleged cover up for g.m. to actually pay attention. >> regulators are pushing congress to increase the maximum allowable fines to $300 million. critics say for a $155 billion a year company, that's not even close to enough. >> it should be in this case, at least a billion dollars, because toyota tate $1.2 billion for unintended acceleration and this is a clear example of a company that covered up a defect. >> here hat hard land where people like to buy american, general motors cars pack parking lots. g.m., toyota, g.m., g.m., but recent safety concerns have seriously damaged general motors reputation, even here. >> they were covering it up, for much too long. >> why oh why oh why does mr. obama keep supporting

government motors, why doesn't he stop prosecuting them? gouge's new c.e.o. mary barra has spent much of her time apologizing. >> that is not acceptal. that is not the way we do business in g.m. >> a historic fine affecting the recovery will only be answered down the road. >> the brown versus board of education system ended segregation in american schools. the president met with family members at white house. he cautioned there is still work to be done and that we must recommit ourselves to the long struggle to stamp out bigotry and racism in all their forms. >> aljazeera is in chicago, where the closure of several schools is stirring a new fight for education rights. >> words don't always come easy

for jeanette taylor's son, michael. >> i was -- i would not like them here or there. >> she hopes one day they'll read together effortlessly, but worries her son's education is suffering because consolidation doubled the size of his school. >> what is behind this? >> you're profiting off the poor, closing schools to bring charters so give them a signee new building, lap tops, it's not overcrowded. >> in the face of a $1 billion budget shortfall, the chicago school board voted to close 49 poorly performing and under used schools in the economically high crime south and west sides. >> save our schools! >> the decision sparked outrage and protest. this week, a coalition of civil rights groups filed discrimination claims with the department of justice and the office of civil rights against school districts in three

cities. newark, new jersey, new orleans and chicago. the groups contend that charter schools, which are publicly funded cherry pick students and inflate performance figures by kicking out poorly behaved students. one alleges that chicago. schools is deliberately and repeatedly setting intensely segregated african-american schools up to fail in order to close neighborhood schools in african-american communities. it points to 12 years of school closure data from chicago in which .6% of white students were affected compared to 88% of african american students. >> they are taking art and physical education at on line classes. they can't even take physical education. that is a civil rights issue. >> law professor harold kent said proving institutional discrimination will be tough, but could bring changes. >> the justice department, the

office of civil rights will investigate to see if chicago did take enough steps and can be made to take greater steps in order to soften the impact of the very serious change that took place here. >> the chicago school district says: >> they net taylor doesn't see evidence of that. >> we still live in a segregated city. it is about civil rights, if your child is worthy of a laptop and books, my children use books that still have my name in them from the 1980's. that student happen. >> still ahead on aljazeera america, a look at the national forecast. record flooding in the balkans where thousands are forced to flee to stay dry.

>> i'm at the cannes film festival.

>> record flooding not seen in 100 years is in the balkans. boss glee and serbia declared a state of emergency, calling for emergency aid. the landslides have killed at least five people. >> there are storms right here in the northeast. >> we still have the rain around. just yesterday, we saw record breaking rainfall across areas of the northeast. some areas saw three inches of rain that did include the north of virginia area. d.c. and baltimore had over two and a half inches in localized areas. dull less and international set records picking up between two inches and 2 1/3 inches.

the rain that since wound down across many areas of the northeast, but we are still dealing with flooding concerns especially around rivers in virginia. the potomac river lad flooding. really watching out there for still this flooding to occur. there are a number of road closures in the d.c. area. they have drier air, but the rain continues to come down across northern areas of maine, wet and windy around portland, winds gusting 30 miles an hour at times. it has reduced visibility. elsewhere, not seeing a whole lot in the way of rain, just a small disturbance across the northeast brought heavy rainfall, pockets of heavy rain into parts of tennessee, northern areas of alabama as well as mississippi. where we do need the rain, we are just not getting it.

we still do have on going wildfires into some southern areas of california. at least as far as our temperatures are concerned, it's going to feel better. yesterday, record highs into the low 90s. today's, temperatures drop by about 10 degrees. that's where we're going to keep things going, a cooling friend. as we start to get more of an onshore flow. not only will has help to bring in moisture and cloud cover, not much in the way of rain, we are expecting a cooldown that hill help coastal areas, but southwest still dealing with the fire threat. >> nasa wants america's budding scientists to shoot for the moon, conducting a contest it calls the stand launch rocketry competition. the event is in utah where teams are launching rockets they built themselves. they have a fly a mile high and the winner is who does it with a low style.

>> the cannes film festival is underway in france. movies about africa are the surprise hit. >> cannes film fest vet is as international as it gets. one flying the flag this year, lots of them, in fact, africa. cannes is associated with the glitz, glamour, the good life, but it is real life that forms part of this festival's d.n.a. some films are quite difficult to watch. there is as real doze of that this year. it's got critics rather excited. >> an unfor giving tale of love and violence in mali, lashings, stonings and killings, a painful story, but one its director and actors felt compelled to bring to cannes. >> it is not a big movie.

it's very interesting and maybe the people affect about what's happened for the movie. >> other movies,ed heat characters chaotic life. africa is a continent rich in untold stories. the feeling is cannes is all the better for hearing them. >> african cinema can be the most exciting with the the freshest, the most unusual of the cinema that we get. >> africa isn't just selling its stories, it's leasing locations, to. filming a good old fashioned u.s. western in africa. lowering the budget and doing its bit to raise the continent's 16 mattic appeal. >> there's a lot of production

going to africa, because they have really good intentives, good crews and really going out to attract as much business as possible. >> top prizes will certainly help. tim buck too's in competition for the big one there may be sms for the makers come the big night. aljazeera at the cannes film festival. >> still ahead, expressions in espresso, serving up the most fantastic art. you're watching aljazeera america. america.

>> welcome to al jazeera america. here are today's top stories. nigerian president good luck jonathan is in paris attending the security summit hosted by france to find ways to fight off boko haram, a great security threat. 200 nigerian girls kidnapped last month of still missing. >> the son of a poor street vendor rises to become india's next prime minister. the ruling congress party is booted out after 30 years in power. >> firefighters are still battling wildfires barreling across southern california. it comes as prosecutors filed arson charges against a 57-year-old man and similar charges against two teenagers.

>> making a good cup of coffee is a science, but maybe there's a little art involved, too. dozens of barristas are competing for the title of the world's best latte artists. we take you right inside. >> barristas as artists. competitors from 32 countries giving their run for the title of world champion latte artist their very best shot. >> these are guys and girls who represent their art and industry knowledge in one cup of coffee. >> is any of this more than just a froth of an industry fair? robert nelson's regular hants are these hallowed halls. as an art critic, he has his favorite artists.

collectiveness, clarity, prolific, aghast, an analyst, a lyricist. >> so can art be expressed in foam? there's a big difference between a monet and a macchiato. >> one of the things you look for is that it promises people to say something.

it's not art in the way that rafael did art. it's not having to fulfill some weightie agenda, but it is art in the sense that it makes you wonder. >> nelson isn't one of the formal competition judges. they'll choose their winner over the next two days. >> it might be a while before caricature in coffee comes near you, but expressionism in a foam topped espresso, it is the latest scream. aljazeera. >> the world's best latte artist will be announced on sunday. >> thank you so much for watching aljazeera america. i'm morgan radford. "inside story" is coming up next. don't go anywhere. there's more news and updates throughout the day. thanks so much for watching.

>> the crisis of the bees, mass death, threats to agriculture has gone so far that the slowing down of the decline is framed as good news. what is happening to the bees? that's the inside story. >> hello, i'm ray suarez. honeybees haveed