>> a day after separatists seized two ukranian military basis, report of fresh advances. hello, you are watching al jazeera live from london. g7 leaders meeting in brussels warn that russia insist on new sanctions in ukraine. manhunt in canada after three police officers are shot dead in new brunswick. 70 years on after d-day in normandy, veterans are honoured

in france. hello. armed separatists in the eastern ukrainian city of luhansk have reportedly been making fresh advances. six separatists and 11 ukranian soldiers are known to have died. many civilians are leaving. they are in control of a guard base and border guard post which ukranian forces were forced to abandon. western leaders are threatening russia with more sanctions. david chater has this update from luhansk. >> reporter: the fact that the separatist fighters overran this border base after a fierce firefight is not just a humiliating defeat for kiev and their anti-terror operation, it has strategic consequences. this is the base, the headquarters where they control and coordinate the russian border crossings, where they communicate with the border posts, which are emptying, and

have no way of communicating with the border guards. that means a large blind spot is opening up on the russian border. it means the people in kiev, the government in kiev, the security services no longer have eyes on parts of the russian border. sprattist fighters -- separatist fighters say they are trying to create a humanitarian corridor to role a safe passage for women and children. a safe way flow the front lines that are closing in on luhansk. the women and children are bussed through the russian border and taken to crimea. now the separatist fighters have control of a corridor coming out of luhansk, coming into the russian border. traffic is always two ways. g7 leaders meeting in brussels for a final day of discussions, the agenda will

include the economy. there's a warning too that russia risks further sanctions. russia is excluded from the discussion, but president vladimir putin says he remains open to dialogue. u.s. and russian president are due to join world leaders in france for the 70th anniversary of the normandy landings. they are not planning face to face talks. he will dine later, with barack obama, and then vladimir putin an hour or so later. diplomatic editor james bays joins us live. ukraine is not officially on the agenda. presumably it's being discussed because there's continuing violence that they are worried about. >> they'll certainly talk about the continuing violence in the margins of the meeting. they had the main session, saying that there could be tougher sanctions and they have been saying that for months.

they are having a meeting on climate and energy. ukraine will be important. they'll look at the ukranian president's plan to reduce his energy dependence on russia, and they'll talk about the other european countries that rely on russia for energy supplies. take one of the other g7 countries - italy. not only is it russia's third-largest trading partner. it supplies a third of its gas and 15% of its oil. one example of how much europe relies on russia for energy supply, and a reason, i think, why some european countries are reluctant to go to the final stage of the full-blown sanctions that they have been talking about, but haven't activated. >> talk through the niceties of the diplomacy. russia is frozen out of a g7, but they'll have meetings a day later. is it for a face-saving

exercise? >> well, it's a coincidence for the timing, that they are here in northern europe, and are going to normandy for the d-day commemorations, 70 years after the d-day landings. of course, the russian president will be invited to that event. they'll be there on the podium. because they'll be there some of these leaders will meet with the russian president. the germans, the french and the british will have one-on-one meetings with the russian president, with vladimir putin. what about president obama? he'll be there in normandy. so will president vladimir putin, they'll be close, probably speak, but we are told there won't be a formal sit-down meeting. thank you james bays, live from brussels. syria is preparing for another seven years under bashar al-assad after the president won a landslide victory. supporters have been celebrating a win, and opposition groups and

allies condemned it as a farce. voting took place in government-held areas, including huge swathes of the country. a trial of three al jazeera journalist held in prison resumed in cairo. peter greste, mohamed fadel fahmy and baher mohamed have been held in custody for the past 159 days. we have this report. >> reporter: for the 11th time this year, al jazeera's three journalists appear in a cairo court. the prosecutor is expected to sum up his case against journalists peter greste, mohamed fadel fahmy and baher mohamed. they are accused of broadcasting false news and providing a platform to the outlawed muslim brotherhood. after the prosecutor's closing argument, the defense lawyers represent their case. during the last hearing, this past sunday, important prosecution witnesses contradicted their previous testimony. they said, for example, they had

no idea if the journalist coverage endangered egypt's natural security. al jazeera's evidence was unlicensed. witnesses working for egypt state tv - their written testimony was the central piece of the prosecution's case. the trial of the al jazeera journalists has attracted global attention. democracy groups, activists and governments criticised the proceedings. al jazeera strongly relates all the charges against its team and continues to call for their immediate release. another al jazeera journalist, abdullah al-shami, has had his trial postponed until june the 11th. he's been held and on hunger strike for four month. he insists he will not stop his

hunger strike until he's released. it's thought his trial was adjourned because he was not well enough to attend court. do you have information about abdullah al-shami, there was a suggestion that he was moved to a hospital yesterday? what can you tell us? >> it's been difficult to found information about his exact whereabouts. we don't have any new information, but we at the doha center for media freedom are concerned about his wellbeing. we've called for his release and for him to be given medical treatment. >> what do you expect to come out of the court case today? >> it's hard to know what to expect. this case has been so unpredictable. we hope that the prosecution will sum up its case, and the defense can put forward their

strong case for the journalists to be released. >> why have there been so many adjournments so far? >> we are not sure. the political situation surrounding the case probably doesn't help, but that doesn't really concern us. the main thing is there are three journalists who have been detained for this long for simply doing their jobs, which is unacceptable. >> thank you very much, indeed. still to come this half hour - remnants of history go on sale. we'll show you the d-day mementos up for auction in new york. plus... >> i'm in new delhi - one much many indian city that is has seen a large influx of migrants. coming up, we'll see how the migrants are a burden and

necessity. >> dark complected... medium height... you described most of the majority of the men in america >> sometimes witnesses get it right >> when you have an eyewitness to say i saw him do it, that is the best evidence. >> and sometimes sometimes they don't >> no one is listening to us... george is innocent... >> the system with joe burlinger only on al jazeera america

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top stories on al jazeera - a day after they seized two ukranian military bases armed separatists begin a push to seize the airport in luhansk. at g7 meetings it's warned that russia will have further sanctions if it continues to destabilize eastern ukraine. the trial of the al jazeera journalists that have been in custody for 151 days continues, peter greste, mohamed fadel fahmy and baher mohamed are accused of supporting the outlawed muslim brotherhood. a gunman who shot dead three police officers and injured two is at large in eastern canada. the officers were killed late on wednesday night in new

brunswick. the gunman was described as armed and dangerous. this update first. >> reporter: this is the man canadian police are looking for, after a shooting leaving three of their colleagues dead, and two others injured. he's named as 24-year-old justin burke from monk tonne. he's believed to be in the area. they told people to stay in their homes and lock their doors. drivers were asked to stay clear. a police spokesman could barely contain his emotions. >> around 7:30 on june 4th, while responding to a call of an armed man in the north end of the city of monk tonne, three rcmp police officers were shot and killed. two other officers were also injured, but their life is not

threatened at this time. >> reporter: some of the local residents spoke of their shock. >> we live over, and we took off when we heard the gunshots. >> reporter: you heard the gunshots? >> we heard the shots from in our house. >> reporter: has the manhunt got under way the the provincial mayor offered his prayers. cases like this are shocking for any community. more so for a place where gun crime is so rare. and on the phone now a radio reporter at the scene. take us through what the latest is in the manhunt. >> well, currently we are still looking at - looking for the gunman. there's a strong police presence right across the city at this point in time. specifically in the area of pinehurst subdivision where they

believe the gunman might be hiding out. >> is there any more about what led up to the shooting. >> obviously at this point in time we have not got a lot of details. they were called to an incident between 7:30 and 8 o'clock yesterday evening, in regards to some sort of weapons complaint. and when they arrived, they were, i guess you could say, ambushed at the scene. and obviously you were speaking about earlier, the three rcmp officers killed, two others were injured, taken to hospital and the gunman fled after that and has been on the run since. presumably it's frightening for people who live around there to know that he's still out there. >> absolutely. it's a very uneasy feeling here

in town, again. gun crime not a very big issue at all, especially in the community of this size. we are about 70,000 here in mung tonne. we consider ourselves safe and peaceful. this is not detroit or los angeles, or any other big global city here. these types of events are rare. if they happen at all. obviously things are very uneasy here. the town has closed down here today. schools were closed for the day. property becauses closed. nothing is really operating. it's feeling like a thursday morning. >> thank you very much indeed for talking to us. another victim of the ill-fated south korean ferry disaster has been found miles from the sungenship, raising the death toll to 289.

the most wand man tried to -- wanted man tried to seek asylum through seoul. he's been denied. the de facto owner of the ferry is on the run. harry fawcett reports. >> reporter: this southern town is the focal point of a manhunt. you wouldn't know it. 50,000 police nationwide are said to be involved in the search. here we saw a handful at the checkpoint, the checks cursory at best. south korea's most wanted man found it easy to stay on the run, leading to an apology from the lead prosecutor. they've been focuses efforts on the mountains, and farms like this were subject to repeated searches. >> translation: although the mountain is rugged, it's difficult for someone to hide here. there would be no one to help them. >> reporter: but there has been plenty of work.

a nation-wide et network of his religious group, foundation sect has been called to action. no one has been tempted by the half a million bounty to turp him in, to face questioning over financial misdeath and ownership through his sonses, of the say wol, the ferry that sunk. the closest investigators believe they came was 10 days ago, arresting a couple suspected of sheltering him. while all that was going on prosecutors believed mr yu was hiding out. it took the manhunt several hours to make it's way here, time for him to make a mistake. he's a photographer but is a patriarch between a wealthy family, and the link between his finances and that of the church is hard to unravel. the church spent plenty on

property, the trademark sub way cars used for accommodation - mark this as another one. numbers of theories abound. he's in the mountains, headed to seoul. he stowed away on an international ship. the pressure is on to find him, and fast. there are increasing calls for an investigation into the discovery of a mass grave containing the bodies of 800 chiment in ireland. the -- children in ireland. they were found in a sewerage tank. records show the children, some as young as three months, died from malnutrition or infectious disease. the ireland roman catholic church directed this they must cooperate with inquiries. >> we can't judge the past from our point of view, but all we can do is mark it appropriately and make sure there is a suitable place where people can

come and remember. >> there'll be more clashes in iraq between security forces and fighting in iraq. violence was reported, north of the capital baghdad. i.s.i.l. controls several districts. the situation is tense as the army sends in reenforcements as the death toll is expected to rise. the 70th anniversary of d-day landings joined thousands. d-day marked the last invasion. world lead exercise dignitaries will gather to honour 160,000 forces that risked their lives in world war ii. 70 years ago this friday they captured the leaders leading to defeat in germany. rare documents and artefacts have been auctioned in new york.

the battle for normandy proved the turning point of world war ii, and the human cost was immense. over 245,000 german troops killed, wounded or missing. many dead from allied bombs. in the window of bonn's auction house a tattered american flag reminds passers-by of that event. along with a rare model enigma code machine, which the british cracked. another rare item. here is the first version of the operation overload plan as devised by eisenhower in 1944. >> reporter: this faded collection of news bulletins from the dow jones financial service gave hourly updates of the fighting. rodney hilton brown who owns half the pieces up for sale, spent 50 years collecting world

war ii memorabilia: like the german helmet found near the beach. >> i like items i can connect to the soldiers. >> reporter: brown wanted it given recognition. >> there would be a big yard sale. everything would go for nothing, and no one would know what it was. i decided to catalogue and connect the provenance documents with the objects and get myself organised. >> reporter: many the auction items come from other world war ii fronts. one of the valuable pieces is a signed flight log of paul tipet cetera, the pilot of a plane that dropped the first atomic bomb over hiroshima. other wars draw their share of memorabilia, memento of world war ii are popular. >> it is the last war of any wars, where there was a good and a bad.

and the good won. and that is why people remember it with honour and commemorate it. >> many veterans of d-day died without telling their families what they saw and suffered. these remnants of history offer generations to come a small token of their sacrifice. >> china's government sentenced nine people to death on terrorism-related charms in the north western jink jang region. 81 people received sentences in what officials called an anti-terror crackdown. a government promised a year-long campaign against terror after 29 were killed in a suicide attack. in the past year, the area home to a muslim uyghur minority saw an increase in violence. >> in brazil, 4,000 protesters marched near the stadium that will host the football world

cup's opening match. they called on more housing for low-income families. the tournament begins next week u.k.'s archbishop of canterbury made a visit to nigeria to offer sympathy on the crisis they are facing. the leader of the anglican church met goodluck jonathan in abuja. he condemned the abduction of several hundred school girls and a string of bomb attacks. >> i was - i know jos very well, i was saddened by the bombings in jos. so i wanted to come and pray with his excellency and express our condolence for the losses. pakistan's prime minister

nawaz sharif promised many things after winning election. pakistanis are waiting for the commitments to materialize. >> reporter: for years this man has been a spore of nawaz sharif. he created -- supporter of nawaz sharif. he voted for his party and encouraged family and friends to do so as well. the important issues for all of them, he says, was the power crisis. he believed nawaz sharif could fix it, and that would help the sugar cane juicing business grow. a year later he is without electricity, leaving his employees little choice but to work by hand. >> no electricity means no business. i'm barely able to earn a living. i know it's not an easy problem to solve.

i believed nawaz sharif would have improved things. >> reporter: tied to the electric shortfall is the economy. the pro business and promise to create jobs by attracting international investment. little materialized. international corporations are aware of lackle energy and poor security, leading nawaz sharif to take billions in loans from lending agencies. the national debt is so large it caused an increase in inflation. >> i think nawaz sharif is a good leader. i support him. things are not getting better. prices have gone up. people have stopped coming to the market. >> another reason the market lost kust merits is because of -- customers is because of security. last month a bomb went off, killing eight people. it happened as the government's talks with the taliban all but ended. >> during the election campaign he made tall promises. now, when he came to the ground, in the deposit, i think he

realised that the challenge was huge, than he had expected. >> while nawaz sharif is yet to deliver, it would appear he has brought support. >> it's clear most pakistanis accept that kenny shaw needs time to solve the many countries. but the hope and optimism that followed his win last year is clearly fading. india's capital is a sprawling city of 17 million people. many are migrants from other parts of the country who has come in search of work. we have reports on how a strain is put on the city while keeping the economy going. >> it's a daily site in india's growing city. migrants arriving from the towns and villages looking for a better life in the city. men wind up here, waiting to find work. they come here early, every morning. those lucky to be picked up will

earn about $5 a day. that is not enough. i'm not getting work often. where i'm staying there's problems with water. >> there are illegal slums like this in many indian cities. the cities struggle to keep up with basic services, having to use severalry measures on a long-term basis, even after decades, little has changed. >> i live in a makeshift home. we have to get water from a well. the power comes for two hours, and goes off. it's been like this since i moved here when i was 10. >> better educated middle class migrants add to the urban strain, overloading infrastructure. >> it's a paradox for indian cities. migrants arrive and add to the congestion. it's the same migrants needed to keep the economy here going. new delhi relies on the myi migt

workers to build the city. >> the master plans exercise is a firefighting exercise. it's not a visionary exercise, it's a problem-solving exercise. >> this man says plans happens formally through essential structures, but informally to adapt to influxes through illegal and semilegal settlements. typical 5km radius in delhi, there's seven or eight types of settlement out of which two or three are formal settlements. it's a proliferation, the different types of settlement that are part of the city. so as more migrants arrive every day, slums to accommodate them are changing the face of the city they now call home. and you can catch up with the news any time on the website. the address is aljazeera.com.

details of the g7 meeting held in brussels. that's the one that russia is excluded from. and on wednesday the talks focussed on the crisis in ukraine, and a warning that russia risked further sanctions. day two they are talking about energy and climate, among other things. president obama and other world leaders gathering in brussels. russia's vladimir putin was uninvited but his presence looming large. >> these are dangerous people. that's why we held them in captivity for so long. many questions remain about the prisoner swap that set bowe bergdahl free. political leaders want answers about why the white house released five taliban detainees without telling congress first. >> what is at stake, and that is

our civil liberties a website calling whistleblowers. what is behind a ledger of illegal activity by the us government. honouring the last of the nava hoe code talkers, native americans pivotal and helping to win world war ii. the g7 summit is underway in belgium. president obama is meeting with leaders of the richest nations. there's an extension. russian president vladimir putin, he has been excluded as punishment for his annexation of crimea in ukraine goorn. welcome to al jazeera america. i'm john henry smith, and i'm stephanie sy. the president arrives in brussels, reassuring eastern european nations of america's commitment to the region. forging a unified stance against russia. >> now there are seven, as the group known as the g8 gathered

in brussels. it was the banished leader whose presence hung over. meeting petero poroshenko in war saw, president obama vowed to keep the presence on russia by pressuring allies for tougher sanctions in response to its actions in ukraine. in his west point speech, president obama declared his policy of sanctions is working. >> our eighty to shape world opinion helps to isolate russia right away. >> vladimir putin is not frozen out. leaders of three american close allies, britain, france and germany will meet vladimir putin one on one at the d-day commemoration. president obama attending, will not. with much at stake for the leaders, tightening sanctions will be a tough sell for the president in brussels. >> particularly when europe is economically weakened. this is hard to do. there'll be european reluctance to move forward in a difficult

stage of sanctions. >> before leaving warsaw, president obama spoke before thousands of polls, praising them for gains in 25 years of independence, vowing unity in a fight over ukraine. we stand together because people and nations have a rite to determine their own destiny, and that includes the people of ukraine. mike viqueira is travelling with the parents -- with the president and joins us from brussels. yesterday it was said that allies were played against each other. will the side meetings affect the summit? >> well, the swedish foreign minister is not the only one. in the run up to meetings vladimir putin is making conciliatory gestures, it's adding fuel to those reluctant to impose sanctions. there were two triggers. interfering with elections. the other was ipp vading with the troops massing on the

ukranian border. now we have the meetings that will be happening with david cameron and other world leaders, with vladimir putin, and president obama will not meet him. a lot of people see that and have the same suspicion. >> if there is no formal meeting is obama administration likely to rub elbows and have a side conversation with vladimir putin? >> i think he will literally be rubbing elbows. they'll be in the same room. keep in mind there'll be 16 world leaders gathering on the beach for the 70th anniversary commemoration of d-day. the white house insisted that they could exchange greatings. there's not a plan for a formal meeting. the meetings with american allies notwithstanding that hasn't changed a thing. >> mike viqueira reporting from brussels. thank you. >> as mike said on friday - 17 heads of state. including president obama will travel to france to mark the

70th anniversary of d-day, ahead, of a pivotal moment of a surge. hundreds of veterans were on hand for a replague at the pegasus bridge, a strategic crossing captured by the troops, preventing the germans bringing reinforcements to the normandy beach. u.s. officials are looking frame by frame at a propaganda film released by the taliban, titled "don't come back to afghanistan", documenting bowe bergdahl's release. randall pinkston reports on the handover and the controversial deal to free him for five taliban leaders. >> reporter: a pick-up truck delivered bowe bergdahl to the field. taliban fighters surrounded him, one holding what appeared to be a rocket-propelled grenade launcher was on a hilltop.

bowe bergdahl appeared frail, talking with taliban fighters in his last moments as a prisoner of war. as a black hawk helicopter approached, one of the taliban told bowe bergdahl, don't come back to afghanistan, if you do, you won't make it out alive next time. the exchange took less than a minute. three u.s. special forces officer approached, shook hands and a taliban fighter and took bowe bergdahl back to an aircraft where he was frisked. one helicopter touched down. dozens of u.s. troops took part in the operation, along with aerial surveillance and intelligence. his release, widely praised at first, is the subject of controversy. especially over the obama administration's decision to exchange five high-level taliban leaders for sergeant bowe bergdahl's freedom. late wednesday, administration officials from the departments of defense, state and c.i.a.

gave senators a closed-door briefing, explaining the administration's insistence that the five high risk were not a problem. >> i'm reassured that the five taliban leaders will not get back and reengage in the fight against us and our allies. >> these are dangerous people. that's why we held them. if they get back in, and the statement mentality, it will not be a good situation. >> while sergeant bowe bergdahl continues to receive medical treatment. some of the soldiers that served with him accuse him of being a deserter. defense secretary chuck hagel said that will be dealt with later. >> let's get the facts but focus on sergeant bowe bergdahl, getting his health back. getting him reyooupified with his -- reunified with his

family. >> another twist dash in hailey idaho, plans for a big celebration were cancelled. the official reason - the town doesn't have the infrastructure to handle the huge crowds expected when sergeant bowe bergdahl eventually returned home. the pentagon said bowe bergdahl is in table condition at a u.s. army hospital in f germany. coming up army surgeon will join us to break down the legal aspects of the release and the swapping of five taliban mem pers for his freed -- members for his freedom. the family of a couple held by the taliban is pleading for help, releasing a video showing kaitlin coleman with her canadian husband. the couple asks president obama to help free them and their child from the taliban. the couple went missing nearly two years ago when they were

travelling near kabul. colemans family released the video, but they received them last year. syrian president bashar al-assad won a third term in office. bashar al-assad getting 90% of the vote. polls were only open in areas under government control. millions of syrians who fled during the war did not vote in the election that the u.s. calls a farce. bashar al-assad's closest challenger received 4% of the vote. >> secretary of state john kerry peaking out against the election calling it a great big zero. making the statement during a surprise visit to lebanon, where many syrian refugees are living. he promised $290 million in humanitarian aid for refugees and countries. the u.s. contributed $2 billion to help with the crisis. police in eastern canada are hunting for a gunman who killed three officers and injured two others. the suspect is 24-year-old

justin burke, he's on the loose in new brunswick. he was seep wearing military camouflage and using at least two high-powerful rifles. residents are told to stay in doors. a motive has not been offered. >> congress is pushing the white house to take action to deal with the veterans' affairs scandal. as libby casey reports republicans and democrats are introducing bills aimed at fixing the problem. >> plenty of congressional autorage over problems at the v.a. >> this cause should be one that galvanises the nation. >> the standal reached proportions where the american people are angered. >> reporter: veterans groups say they heard it before. >> it's not a new problem. >> reporter: this man served in vietnam. a decade ago a task force found hundreds of thousands of vets

waiting six months for health care. >> they found a mismatch between the funding and the demand. if the mismatch was not addressed, that we would have access problems, and that we would have quality of care problems. >> reporter: there was concern, but no action in washington. funding is part of the problem say watchdogs. >> congress pushes agencies to do things without giving them resources or authority. >> reporter: incentives to remove them may have backfired. >> agencies like the v.a. cannot discipline their employees effectively or quickly. congress agrees the v.a. needs to change. there's a struggle about how they shake things up, send veterans to other doctors. >> money is not the problem.

it's management and accountability. >> reporter: many democrats say it can't stop there, and the federal government should invest more in veterans care. >> what we here is in many parts of this country primary care physicians are saying we can't do it. too many people. >> reporter: some members know first hand how the v.a. works, most do not. one in five served in the military, down 70% in three decades. in congress where seniority is power the v.a. committees are not the ones most fight to serve on, turn over is high. of 25 lawmakers, 17 are new to congress. this man hopes they are lipping and it's not what he calls -- listening and not what he calls politics um. >> using veterans to be reelected and forgetting us. hopefully somebody will do something to correct the situation and take the political

atmosphere out of the sways. veterans groups say this time they will not let congress forget. a recent poll by c.n.n. found six in 10 americans found president obama is not doing enough to fix the failures at the v.a. >> the senate republican primary in mississippi is heading for a june 24th run-off. since neither that'd cochrane nor chris mc-daniel earned more than 50% of the vote. they'll go head to head again. only 1,000 votes separate the candidates. mc-daniel is slightly ahead. the race is seen as a battle between the g.o.p. establishment and the tea party. a victory for same sex couples, the national organization for marriage asked the high court to halt unions during the appeals process. hundreds of same-sex couples

tied the not since may 19th when a judge ruled ut oregon ban was unconstitutional. looks like most of the u.s. has severe weather. let's bring in meteorologist nicole mitchell. >> here is the broad picture. there has been a lot of activity in hugo, colorado. 11 o'clock last night or close there to was when we had a tornado report move through. so it hasn't been bettered yet. definitely the damage. likely. it's dark, it's hard to see. that's the point, especially the late-night overnight tornados, a lot of people are in bed. it can be more dangerous because you don't see them and may not be aware. you want the weather radio close at this time of year or any time of year. these are the - the pings are the reports of severe whether as it went through, one band expected south of the ohio river

valley area, and more of this through the rockies, they were the two areas where we were expecting it. 200 reports of severe weather, not as many as the day before, closer to 400, but a lot of activity this morning. the one area that we are watching into portions of kansas, moving into parts of oklahoma, still some of that watch and even a couple of warning areas for the thunder storms, so that's something we'll have to watch through the course of the day. that with the boundary is the firing point. we have showers in places like the east coast. but the severe weather into the plain. >> thank you. >> well, the sale of the l.a. clippers is moving ahead. embattled owner donald sterling says he will not stand in the way, days after vowing to fight till the bloody end. and a group of world war ii veterans, remembering the last of the nava hoe code talkers.

>> and a delicate effort to save a piece of art history, a self portrait by leonardo da vinci. and a live look at the world war ii memorial, for the serviceman that lost their lives in battles around the atlantic ocean. . and and

l.a. clippers owner donald

sterling agreed to sell the team and dropping his $1 billion lawsuit against the n.b.a. former microsoft executive steven balmer is buying the clippers for $2 billion. the n.b.a. banned donald sterling for life in april after a leaked recording went public. welcome back to al jazeera america. two former u.s. contractors set up a website encouraging whistleblowers to come forward and expose possible illegal government activity. the site follows edward snowden's revelations about the n.s.a.'s mass surveillance programme. >> reporter: they are former national security agency employees wanting to expose concerns about how the agency was working. when they did, the government was not happy. >> when we started to address all of the unconstitutional activity they were involved in, they sent the - eventually sent the federal bureau of

investigation in to shut us up. they took computers, written notes, records that we had in hopes of finding something they could use against us. >> the two resigned from the n.s.a. but said the retaliation continued. each time they were hired by an agency. the contracts were terminated. it was years before edward snowden provided proof that the u.s. government was conducting mass surveillance on ordinary americans. >> we are at a severe crisis point. >> so the pair is part of a group launching a web side, expose facts.org. the aim to shed light on hidden government activity. >> what is at stake, and that is our civil liberties, the first amendment, the fourth amendment, and really what makes democratic functioning possible. >> they know getting employees to come forward will not be

easy, given u.s. government threats against those like edward snowden, who expose wrong doing. >> edward snowden is a coward, a traitor and has betrayed his country. >> the u.s. justice department will not reveal how much money it spent investigating or prosecuting government whistleblowers. it's estimated to be more than a billion dollars in the past decade. >> still the group hopes others will come forward to preserve u.s. democracy. >> i would say depressing to go through this process of exposing what our government is doing in terms of corrupting the process. >> the website is backed by former officials from the n.s.a. state and u.s. justice departments. the group purchased bus shelter ads positioned in front of the u.s. state department. it's hoped their own experience will encourage more u.s. government whistle blowers to

speak out. the new website has the support of daniel ellsberg who leaked the pentagon papers in 1971. the potential whistleblowers are encouraged to submit their complaints through a secure server. >> this man and his unit played a key role in the war effort in the pacific. >> reporter: it was the beginning of world war ii. u.s. marines visited the nava hoe relation and asked 25 young men to take on a special mission. chester was one of them. >> we developed our own code. >> the code dockers created a spoken language based on nava hoe words, nearly impossible for anyone to mimic. the nava hoe marines used it all over the pacific, on posts and

ships and in battle >> we had a small box. one guy cranked up the batteries. and the other used a microphone to send messages. some transmissions were intercepted. the japanese never cracked the code. the first message in the battlefield read like this - japanese machine-gun on the right flank, destroy. and in a code i said [ speaking foreign language ] . >> reporter: the code talkers are credited with saving thousands of intern lives. after they returned to their homes and kept quiet. nobody knew their story. their work was declassified.

since then they inspired books and a movie. "wind talk." in 2001 president george w. bush gave the original 29 the congressional medal. one of the greatest experiences. >> they were honoured for indominable spirit and dedication. using science to restore art history. the delicate process of saving a self portrait of leonardo da vinci. and the latest on a manhunt for a gainman that killed three police officers, including where police believe he is now hiding. hiding.

real reporting from around the world. this is what we do.

al jazeera america. >> welcome back to al jazeera america, i'm stephanie sy. and i'm john henry smith. in a minute the science of 500-year-old paper and a priceless self portrait by leonardo da vinci. first a check of the forecast with meteorologist nicole mitchell. >> temperatures as you head out the door - it has cooled in the south-east. keeping the sun right out and the front clearing the area. through the south a lot of 70s, a core of heat, arizona to texas again today. temperatures well over the 100 degree mark. northern interior of the country into the 70s. cooler air into the north-east,

versus the 80s. comfortable temperatures. you have to deal with the rain. >> nicole mitchell, thank you. a vanishing portrait of leonardo da vinci could be saved by science. the artwork was drawn with red chalk on paper and has been fading for 500 years. as jacob ward reports, researchers can pinpoint how much longer it may survive. >> reporter: this is the legion of honour, containing a conservation lab for paper art. it's a great way of understanding the process of making art. beginning in the 14th century artists used paper to plan out and thinking about their work, their sculptures or paintings before executing them. leon arto da vipsy is an agreed -- vincy is a great example. paper was great stuff.

more recent made out of wood pulp. back then it was made mostly out of linen rags, meaning it lasted a long time. as you know, paper eventually yellows and that process is caused by atoms within paper, ab sort offing blue light, and the more yellow light it reflects. the work in question is a great self-portrait by da vinci. i'll draw a self-portrait of myself - ready. i can't do that, i'm a terrible artist. but the idea here is that when you put chalk on paper the contrast makes it beautiful. in the case of da vinci's works, as the paper yello, the red chalk is losing its contrast. the work that these polish researchers have done is basically a way of detecting the number of chromofors in paper, it's ability to grow yellow,

they nailed it down using a certain kind of near visible light and are no closer to preserving or reversing the effects of the chromofors reflecting yellows. in the middle of the 20th century people were talking about bleaching the works. it works with black and white. but if you put chlorine gas through a bottle of tomato views, it turps it white. and this red chalk white, and you would lose the pigment, destroying the work. new technology is good at nailing down how bad the degradation is, we are no closer to reversing the effect of aim on artwork like da vinci's. still ahead - the latest on the taliban prisoner swap that feared army sergeant bowe bergdahl we'll look at the video showing bowe bergdahl's airlift out of afghanistan, and break

down the moments with a former c.i.a. operative. stay with al jazeera america, john henry smith and i are back with you in a minute. we leave you with a look at normandy france. apprenticeships charles and camilla bowls laying a breathe at pegasus bridge. >> now inroducing, the new al jazeea america mobile news app. get our exclusive in depth, reporting when you want it. a global perspective wherever you are. the major headlines in context. mashable says... you'll never miss the latest news

>> they will continue looking for suvivors... >> the potential for energy production is huge... >> no noise, no clutter, just real reporting. the new al jazeera america mobile app, available for your apple and android mobile device. download it now [ screaming ] >> oh, my goodness! oh, my god! >> on the hunt for a shooter who killed three mounted police officers in canada. >> a collision at the heart of an international dispute, what new video shows really happened between a chinese coast guard ship and a vietnamese fishing boat. >> i've had my freedom stripped because i was liv