and you know, impulse to equality and democracy. i need to ask myself that. if that's what it symbolizes to other people, i'm proud of that. >> thank you so much for talking to al jazeera, and inviting us into your home. sess good afternoon. welcome to al jazeera america live from new york city. i am morgan radford. total war against boko haram. those words from african leaders in paris. we will tell you about the international plan to fight back. from the son of a prime minister to the next prime minister, celebrations? india after at a time world's largest democracy elected a new ruler. >> criminal investigations lead to three men who may be

responsible for arsons in california. now, total war on boko haram. >> that's how chad's president describes the agreement coming out of the security summit in paris today. the french president is leading the meeting. four west african nations are there, including goodluck jonathan. he says boko haram isn't just a nigerian problem but an al-qaeda operation all across west africa. boko haram kidnapped three 00 girls from a school in northern nigeria last month and reports say they attacked a chinese plant in northern kameroon today. the latest from tim friend. warm words about cooperation, sharing intelligence, perhaps even cooperating more fully on cross border arrangements so that boko

haram could be pursued across boarders, particularly in recent incidents between nigh year i can't and kameroon. but there are still difficulties and many hurdles ahead. i think in the weeks to come, because this issue is going to remain in the international spotlight, they will have to come up with something a lot more concrete than they have already. of course, on the issue of the girls, the school girls being held hostage, there was very little to emerge from this summit because i think their hands are tied. >> that's the leaders, perhaps, have very few options. they ruled out, at least for now, they have ruled out the possibility of negotiation. perhaps the only other possibility is military action that is fraught with difficulty. they still don't know where those young school girls are. perhaps they are now scattered in different groups.

possibly -- they don't know for sure -- that they are still alive some of the that presents an enormous challenge, but they will continue to portray this image of unit because in their words, boko haram is a surprisingly efficient fighting for force, and they believe it now threatens west and central africa, way beyond the borders of nigeria. >> that was al jazeera's tim friend in paris. the unrest in africa is prompting the u.s. to increase military presence and according to the state department, the pentagon is sending more troops to the base in susly. officials derb -- sicily. they say it is against the interests in u.s. and other countries especially north africa. >> it's been less than a month that the yemeni's al-qaeda wing, one of the most active and the yemeni government says they are

gaining ground. >> reporter: this is the town in yemen's shabwa provins. rocket launchers are shelling al-qaeda positions here the army says these are fighters killed in its offensive. these are bunkers and tunnels dug by al-qaeda to move safety in the front lines. the armed group retreated leaving behind weapons and explosive devices ready to be used in suicide bombings. security forces say they have stopped many revenge attacks and intersected cars up and down with explosives in the capitol. >> translator: we have defeated al-qaeda in this area. the their fighters have fled. we will make sure the terrorists will never be able to return here. >> reporter: this is where the army is concentrating efforts,

al-qaeda's last stronghold in shabawa province. plans for a final mission to recapture the town. >> translator: al-qaeda fighters say they are muslims but they kill our people. islam is innocent. >> reporter: the government is the in these areas. tribesmen have the final say. their support is crucial for the government to win its fight. it's been now three weeks since the start of the military offensive against al-qaeda. the army said it's just a matter of days before it restores control over shabwa and abwian. many fighters have retreated to remote rural areas. ays al jazeera. >> fierce fighting in libya has left people dead and many more wounded. troops loyal to a formal general who defected from the government

to fight the reynolds. libya's acting prime minister says the offensive was launched without governmental approval and called it an attempted coup. they launched airstrikes and rebels who helped overthrow m mumar foreca mumar gadaffi refused to give up weapons. >> another day of violence in ukraine and possibilities of a peaceful resolution seem quite dim. >> reporter: the residents were woken early on saturday by the sounds of explosions and gunfire. in .1 skirmish, it seemed ukrainian forces attacked around a train carriage. elsewhere, the signs of mortar bombardment from the visible here and the anger here. >> we will not be pushed out of here. this is our motherland. our chirp and grandchildren are living and will continue to live here. why do they come here? why are they shooting at

peaceful people? >> reporter: in the city, a broad coalition of the governors and mayors have con vida second dialogue. the separatist leadership which controls donetsk, luhansk and slovyansk are refusing to participate. kiev won't sit down with people it calls terrorists n ukraine, the acting prime minister remains upbeat. >> i am fully convinced distinguished ambassadors, my friend minister, we will succeed. we wi well over come all of these difficulti difficulties, and we will become strong earn we are today. >> reporter: in the separatist strong hold of luhansk, shattered windows and worried people. >> translator: what is happening here, i don't know who to tell for help. they are killing us, our own

army. >> the marketplace, of course, is the place where you deal, where you trade. but there is no expectation here, at least, for an imminent deal with the kiev government. there is the fervent desire for stability for peace, but there is no appetite for reconciliation. paul brennan, al jazeera, slovyansk. >> people in the world's largest democracy today woke up to something they haven't seen in decades. >> that's a new political party in power. the hippedew conservative bjp won elections in a landslide i could have victory. modi received a hero's welcome in the capital city, new delhi. celebrating his win over the congress party which has largely been in power since the 1940s. al jazeera reports. >> he and his father were loyal supporters of the indian national congress but like millions of others, his family expressed its dissatisfaction with the party at the ballot

box. >> there wasn't any movement in the economy and ultimately, the common man on the ground, things were working out and was left with no choice. we were on the a long span. >> reporter: others say the party's cause was lost before leaders hit campaign trail. >> maybe they got complacent, you know, since they have been doing it for so many years, we can't possibly go wrong. >> the govern's deficit, it was something that was really felt at the grassroots level. that was the main reason congress had a huge struggle. >> the congress led united progressive alliance unexpect unexpectedly came to pour in 2004 and remained in the government for 10 years. the first five years were a dream run in comparison to the final few.

policy paralysis brought about by hard-to-manage allies and allegations of rampant corruption you highlighted how seemingly out of touch the party was with india's realities. >> the congress party is facing an identity crisis. i think it doesn't really have a starting point at this moment given the few numbers it has all over the country. i think it has very little leg room. it will need to make quick decisions and what sort of opposition it is going to give to the one man politician machine, modi. >> reporter: congress headquarters in new delhi looks forlorn. inside attention will have to turn to the task of rebuilding. for more than 60 years, the congress party's identity has been intimately connected to the

political die city but this election shifts aren't from family-base truck driver politics. orb servers say this is a harsh reality the party needs to accept. ays, new delhi. >> fire fighters are taking control of flames in southern california. wildfires have burned through nearly 20,000 acres and destroyed at least eight homes and a condo complex. the flames are now mostly contained. one wildfire is still burning at the camp pendleton military base. but as this crisis winds down, al jazeera rob reynolds spoke for scientists preparing for the next 1. >> a wall of flame leaps high into the aranda blizzard of sparks whirlpools and spins as sooichts probe the secret ign a of the enemy of fire. this is the u.s. forest sechsz

state-of-the-art fire research lab in riverside, california, where university of california scientists and students are busy gathering fire data. >> marco sencrash overseas the research? >> we are trying to help fire fighters to better plan t to fight wildfires. so for that to be, we have a controlled fire under controlled conditions and we are looking at how fire spreads. what are the things that influence fire and how fast it spreads and we are hoping that information will eventually be of use to fire fighters. >> sensors in the fire report millions of data points for analysis. slower wind speeds make smaller fire. in this experiment, the flames didn't reach the upper canopy of vemmingtati

vegetation. >> there are mini infernos. by the time the experiments are finished, the laptops researchers use are covered in ash. big wildfires are on the increase across the western u.s., scientists say, in part because of too dryer conditions and higher temperatures due to climate change. this year's fire season has started early as widespread drought turns forest into tinderboxes. >> davewise said the laboratory research will augment fire fighters' practical experiments. >> this will allow them to describe what fire does from a fundamental standpoint, with equations and really understanding the complexity of fire. >> one thing is certain: fire will always be with us. it is a force that can never be eliminated, but it can be better understood. and that would save lives. rob reynolds, al jazeera, riverside, california.

>> coming up, paying the price. the nation's largest auto maker slapped with a fine for faulty ignition switches, plus... >> that's go to be expensive. >> a thousand dollars. >> 4,000. >> a catastrophic twister causing one tiny town millio$1 f dollars. why is fema refusing to pick up the tab?

general motors is going charged millions of dollars in fines for waiting to recall cars with faulty ignition switches. federal regulators slapped a '$5 million fine, the maximum. critics believe is that doesn't go enough.

is. >> what we cannot to wait, what we will never accept is a person or company that knows danger exits and says nothing. asigh. >> sigh rents can kill. >> co battle and other cars, the problem with shut-off engines and disabled airbags, power steering and breaks is listed to 13 deaths and 32 crashes. executives received detailed briefings about this safety-related defect. engineers knew about it. gm investigators knew about it. gm lawyers knew about the defect but gm did not act to product americans from that defect. >> under a consent agreement with transportation officials, gm pust pay a $35 million fine, the maximum allowable. an additional fine of $7,000 a

day until gm answers 107 detailed questions and the company must make wide ranging changes to the safety reviews in the u.s. >> it's unfortunate it took 13,000 injuries and an alleged cover-up for gm to pay attention. >> reporter: regulators are pushing congress to increase the maximum allowable fines to $300 million. critics say 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 paid $12,000,000,000 for unintended acceleration and this is a clearer example of a company that covered up a defect. >> here in the hartland where people like to buy american, generate motors cars pack parking lots. gm, toyota, employment m, gm, gm. but recent safety concerns have seriously damaged general

motors' reputation, even here. >> we are coveringt up much too long. why does mr. obama keep supporting government lawyers? why didn't he start prosecuting them. >> gm's ceo mary barra has spent much of her brief time apologizing. >> that is unacceptable. >> whether dated apologies and a historic fine will slow gm's recovery will only be answered down the road. john henderon, al jazeera, chicago. >> six months ago today, a late season tornado tore through the city of washington, illinois. six hundred homes were leveled and 400 were damaged. as a community bounces back, diane esterbook says one of the biggest obvious stack cells. >> reporter: throughout washington, illinois, you can hear progress.

everywhere. many next to those bearing scars from the tornado that piled through here last november. >> this will be our front entry. >> laura wilcox is building a ranch style home in the spot where her two-story spot stood. >> it will cover everything. >> while washington is on the mend, the financial pain of the tornado still lingers. residents and businesses got roughly 28 million in federal disaster aid. but city government got nothing. it spent $12 million clearing away debris and now faces other costs. >> that's going to be a cutout. >> the mayor says thousands of cracks in curbs need fixing. >> give me an idea? a thousand dollars? >> gosh. 4,000. >> there are also did you say integrating side walks and potholes that need repair along with the water and sewer system that needs replacing. costs the mayor fears could

bankrupt washington. >> about 8.8 million, spent 12, could be 26 million. doesn't take a math genius to figure out it could. >> when i will know applied to the federal emergency management agency for aid it estimated the tornado caused $6 million of damage to nine counties. that the amount was far below the $17.8 billion threshold required by a government formula so aid was rejected. the state appealed the decision putting the damage closer to $21 million. fema rejected the request a second time saying, the impact was not beyond the capabilities of the state and the affected local government to necessitate additional federal assistance. >> i was very disappointed. >> the mayor things state funds and schuenemainsurance will comr but not everything. the mayor doesn't want to raise property taxes to pay for this recovery because he is afraid it could discourage some homeowners

from rebuilding. about half of the 600 people who lost homes have applied for building. >> if someone is on the fence, if i raise the property taxes, it will probably make them go to the next stu over. >> laura thinks higher property taxes are inevitable but is rebuilding anyway. >> are you okay with that. >> i am. i am. particularly when i see our taxes at work. >> in confident, cox is confident this difficult chapter can be put behind it. diane esterbrook, al jazeera, washington, illinois. the harsh went are slowed down the rebuilding process. washington city saw more than 60 inches of snow. meanwhile, there is flooding in the northeast. meteorologist eboni deon is here to tell us more? >> it is thanks for a cold front keeping it cool across the middle of the country where they are rebuilding and cleaning up. in the northeast, the rain is falling. we are dealing.

we have different parts of maine clear here we have that trough digging out. a disturbance on the bottom of that. >> that's what has brought us rain across parts of tennessee on into alabama and nowga. here is a look at the rain we are still dealing with in the northeast. wet and windy around caribou. earlier, around portland, it has come to an end. we have it around lots of deep moisture. a lot of heavy rainfall came in across the mid add atlantic and northeast over the last 24 hours. recordbreaking rainfall where we picked up over three inches. over two around washington and national. that was a record for the day. so, it's soggy out here. we will get a chance to dry out. we have dryer air moving in. rivers will get a chance to recede as we catch a break because now, we are seeing that rain coming down but a number of rivers are dealing with minor flooding. we have warning advisories up. we need the rooiven across the southwest. we aren't going to get it.

but we will get a cooldown. now, thanks to a flow bringing in a little bit of moist pure. mainly only in the form of clouds. temperatures are trending cooler and we will see at least about a 5 to 15 degree drop from what we have here. in san diego a record, high of 92 degrees. today will fall back into the mid 70s, down to 70 on sunday and then turning into the 60s, it's going to be a rain-free forecast but at least a cooler one. with that flow, interior dealing with the fire threat where we are expecting triple-digit numbers as far as the highs are concerned. >> rain-free forecast. what i like. thanks, eboni. ahead, technology is changing the film business. stay tuned because you are watching al jazeera america.

[ooven. ,to al jazeera america. i am morgan radford. >> at a summit offiin sparrows, totalwar' before before boko haram. the final day. a son of a street grinder will

be the leader of the largest dem onocracy in tthe in the world. >> film makers know gettis smoe out. >> big names, big screens. will be released on the internet. an ever popular internet t seems

dyi is in this year. partly to do with power. movie makers find themselves beholden top film distributors but by controlling how their movies are released. they regain some of that power and save money in the process. this tuesday in with the insatiable demand to have everything now, now, now brought about by technology. if a film is relied in a cinema, you have to physically go there to see it. if it's online, all you need is one of these or one of these. enjoy it wherever. star true and correct copy is al big screen hit. star wreck enjoyed success thanks to the net. this is the income generation. as far as it is concerned, it's the only way to go. >> if you have a working relationship with your fans, you know how to sell to fans. given access, i believe the best

way serbs the film, it's self. >> this was released in theaters but not before viewers had a chances to buy and watch it online. there is a real push in canes to bring power to the pixel, with the makers in control. >> you put something on line does not mean anyone will see it. you have to have a good story and film or a good piece of work or something that has anginterest, an audience. >> sky got an exclusive online release, now a skwel is in production bringing it into focus. big-budget blockbuster may stick for the old way of doing things for now at least. but there is nothing to lose for smaller film makers by helping themselves. at the cannes film festival. >> thanks for watching al jazeera america live from new york city. stay tuned. for news updates throughout the

day, always head over to aljazeera.com.