>> they observe. and report... >> kidnapping is a very real problem... >> journalists on the front lines... >> sometimes that means risking death >> getting the story, no matter what it takes >> that's what the forth estate is all about... that's why i'm risking my life... >> killing the messenger on al jazeera america info . this is al jazeera america life from new york city. i am thomas drayton. let's get you caught up on the top stories. palestinian roktsdz and israeli air strikes. both sides issue new warnings. lost in iraq, the new reality in borders that shift every day. fightingspreads in ukraine. some family are fleeing. engineers prepare to go back to work on what remains of the costa concordia. ♪ good to have you with us.

it is day 5 of the open conflict between israel and palestinians in gaza. this afternoon, israeli forces destroyed a site where four rockets had been fired toward tel aviv. there has been a flury of diplomatic activity. as it stands, 150 people have been killed in nearly -- and nearly a thousand have been hurt. the military wing of hamas issued a warning to israel earlier today. now, the israeli army is warning northern gaza residents to leave their homes for their own safety. nick schifrin is joining us from gaza. what seems to be the dramatic escalation to the violence in the last hour? what can you tell us? >> reporter: well, what you hear behind me perhaps is that ambulance, and that is what's happening in the last hour. there have been a large number

of very big israeli strikes on the gaza. some from the sea. some from the air. above us, i can hear drones flying ahead. what happened is as you just laid it out, about 8:00 o'clock local, the military wing of hamas said they would attack teltel aviv at 9:00 o'clock local. those attacks started a few minutes later. lots of sigh resign in tel aviv. lots of people running for shelters. a lot of panic in tel aviv. meal after that, those israeli strikes into gaza began. we had one strike outside the police officer -- sorry, the chief of police's office and that strike, according to the gazan medical officials here killed at least 10 people and wounded at least 30. and then, we have that most dramatic development perhaps, the israeli telling people to evacuate their homes. what is happening in the last couple of hours, both sides have severely racheted up and we

certainly have a lot of casualties here in gaza. >> nick, what about the possibility of a ceasefire? >> yes. earlier today, the united nations security council released a statement that said that both sides, that all sides nus conflict, needed to work toward a peaceful solution and needed to go back to the cease fire agreement that they have had until the recent round of escalations. the fact that the security counsel was able to pass that means that the united states supported it, which means the u.s. is putting some pressure on israel to go to a ceasefire, but what happened in the last hour and a half either will be the last push from both sides, the highest peak of violence before you get to a ceasefire or what most people believe means that that ceasefire talk is probably already dead on rifle. >> more to come, nick schifrin joining us from gaza. this morning, a medical center for the disabled was destroyed in the northern gaza strip. several patients and an employee died in that attack.

stefanie dekker has more. >> reporter: may is disabled. the center that cared for her was targeted in annisis israeli airstrike. she survived but her injuries are severe. >> we received four casualties. three of them are disabled. the injuries are between 15 to 30% burns on their bodies. there are severe burns and their lives are still at risk. >> not much is left of this care home. we asked whether it had any links to any armed faction here and we were categorically told, no. this is a place that cared for those who couldn't care for themselves. >> this is not fair. where is the united nations? where are human rights? this is a disability center p what did they do? what is their fault? >> the missile seems to have come through the roof, and it hit here in the ground floor of the center, and it's absolutely

destroyed. you can see a mattress left. there is a wheelchair, which tells you exactly what people were here, disabled people. >> this attack has caused more outrage here civilian casualties are a daily reality in israel's air strikes. there are many questions as to why israel would target a place they know houses the andy capped. only the israeli army can answer that. but many people here tell us they are no longer surprised by the brutality of this war. they say israel considers pal stipian lives worthless and because no one is trying to stop their suffering, they say the international community is to blame, too. stefanie dekker, al jazeera, gaza. >> for those caught in the conflict, seconds can really mean the difference between life and death. i want to show you this example. it is a small mortar shell that explodes on the roof of a building. it's an israeli warning called a knock on the roof.

in this video, 57 seconds elapsed before the building is hit by an israel airstrike. we have added the clock and the sub titles. . >> the home opener says he actually got a telephone call 15 minutes earlier, warning him of the attack. an israeli official has told al jazeera, the families should be getting several minutes warning with a knock on the roof instead of less than a minute. you saw the explosion 57 seconds. at this point, we don't know if anyone was killed or wounded in this incident.

earlier today, al jazeera spoke to the head of the red cross mission in gaza. he said the extent of the destruction is stretching medical resources. >> i have never seen in my 30 years in gaza such a -- such a high level of intensity. there is more than 100 people killed, more than 700 people injured, including civiliansians, including woman and children and this is already far too much only after five days. what we at the, it's the civilians must be respected because once again, civilians are trapped in the middle of a terrible conflict that is increasing hours by hours. civilians should be respected. and people doing, also, the job for help, all of the actors in the gaza strip should be able to -- should be able to access all of the places in the gaza strip.

this is very complex now, and this should be improved. we are ready to scale up at the very substantial level or operation here in the gaza strip. so, yes, the ic. rc will support the health, started already to distribute kids to be able to treat more than 200 severely injured people. we are going to do -- we are going to do more. what we did today, also, it's to repair water pipe that was destroyed over the last days which alone now more than 70,000 people to have access to water again. >> the united nations in and 21 countries are poised to move 800 people out of gaza on sunday. americans make up the largest group set to leave through the red cross starting tomorrow. only one 60 people are left when the u.n.s sponsored amid tensions in 12. they left one 60 people. meanwhile, a security council statement on the conflict was

adopted earlier today. al jazeera editor james bays has more. >> it took three days of extremely tough negotiation not to come up with a legally binding resolution but simply with a statement the u.s. had objected to the wording that had been suggests. in the end, these were the words that were read out by the president of the security council. >> the security council members called for deescalation of the situation, restoration of calm and and reinstitution of november 2012 cease-fire. the security counsel members further called for respect for international humanitarian law interviewing the protection of civilians. the security council members also expressed their support for the resumption of direct negotiations between the israelis and palestinians with

an aim of achieving a comprehensive peace settlement based on the solution. >> arab ambassadors wanted something turn that. they -- tougher than that which called for a fullly respected cease-fire. i think it's important that word "immediate" is lacking in this statement and the palestinian m ambassador to the u.n. said the statement had taken too long. >> we worked all night long. we were hoping to have this position declared last night, but the reality in the security counsel led to officially adopting it at 12:00 o'clock today. we will observe very closely whether israel will abide by this and we hope they do. if they don't, we have a lot in our arsenal, and we will not allow the security council to

rest for a minute. >> meanwhile, diplomacy continues in the region. eat job descriptions and tushingdz are all involved in negotiation as is tony blair, the former u.k. prime minister who is now the negotiate on behalf of the middle east quartet. i am also told that foreign ministers including u.s. secretary of state john kerry on their way to vienna. will also now discuss gaza. it's worth bearing in mind, israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu has said his country will not bow to international pressure. >> joining me is yafa frederick good to have you with us. i know you have been following this situation in gaza. what do you make of the latest round of violence? >> it was almost inevitable. we had a cease-fire in 2012. the question is: was that really the end violence? no. it was a temporary solution with the idea we would move towards

peace talks. in the last few minutes, we have had the palestinian government reconcile and an israeli prime minister i am not sitting down if hamas is there. what happens when peace talks break down? typically an conflict resumes and violence resumes. >> we saw violence respark after the death of four teens. >> i think there are a couple of issues at play. one of the key issues is that meal, netanyahu blames hamas for the death of three israeli teen analers before all evidence had been collected. today, it's debatable even though it was the west bank. what's critical to understand is that hamas's stronghold has typically been gaza, not west bank. it legitimizes israel attacking on all fronts in an effort to protect itself. another aspect is then you have a retaliatory attack. we talk about israeli extremists. they don't always make the

headlines. here, you have a 17-year-old teenage boy in east jerusalem being killed and everyone takes notice. so, you know, it's the spark that set off the conflagration. >> and you have netanyahu saying there will be peace and quiet when he reaches his goals but yet you have the hamas with clearly different goals. how can you accomplish peace and quite when you have two sides with different end goals? >> in a lot of ways, you have to take a couple of steps back before you take a few steps forward. you need to first stop violence. you need to stop rocket attacks intoi israel. when you have leaders who seemingly can't sit down at the table right now. i think this is where outside actors become critical, the united states whether or not it's the best suited has to step up to the plate and broker at least a cease-fire before we can begin the long-term conversations of long-term peace. >> can we see the u.s. playing a hand? has it lost some influence?

>> it may have but it's the only choice we have. even today kerry announced tomorrow, he, the heads of german, french and i believe english governments are going to gather to try to see if they can broker something in vienna, they can come up with a cease-fire plan to offer netanyahu, for example. i don't know if it's just going to be u.s.-led. i think you might need some european countries to step up to the plate. at the u.s. the u.s. is most involved well aid and the palestinians. >> most involved historically. what about the u.n.? wh what role can they play? >> within israel, there is cynicism toward the u.n. i would argue the palestinians have a similar cynicism. what is their capability? what is their abilitity to go into the country and broker? when was the last time that the u.n. played a significant role in brokering a cease-fire between the two? it's typically been the united states stepping in to fill that role. >> is there a need of change in leadership. >> i would argue most definitely. you have an israel prime minister who refuses to

negotiate with the current palestinian government and a palestinian prime minister who many question his ability to lead. you know, when the first -- when the three israeli boys were first kidnapped. ♪net said to abbas you have to control your people and abbas said, you have to control your people. the reality is, two prime ministers cannot control room millions of people. and the fact that the people are not respecting 2 their rules are, i think, is significant in the lack of faith they have in their ability to actually broker change. >> wouldn't you agree this is clearly a different scene, a political scene than what we saw in 2012 when we saw egypt playing a key role in negotiating a cease fire? >> little right. certainly, it is. i mean the question is what role cc is going to play in these negotiations. he is already starting to play a bit. >> do you think sisi will play any role? >> i think the reality is part of the reason the situation has become so dire is that egypt has closed off a lot of ports between gaza and egypt. you can't county script as a

factor in what happens particularly until gaza. >> no easy solution. yaffa frederick, thank you for being with us. we want to remind you well have an in-depth look at the gaza 12ri7 in our special segment, "a deeper look" at 8:00 p.m. eastern on al jazeera america. turning our attention to iraq now, kurdish forces have taken to major oil fields outside the disputed city of kirkuk. the seizure is the latest territoryial grab by the kurds trying to get full at on me from iraqi. >> reporter: we are 200 kilometers from the iraqi capitol. road signs mean little in the new iraq. the country is now divided into kurd, sunni and shia areas. but here, south of kirkuk province, the lines aren't clear. for kurdish forces, this road is a vital supply line to reach their forces further south. they don't control it, though. it cuts through territory now

under the control of sunni armed fighters including the self declared islamic state group. we reach salahadin province. this has been disputed territory between the kurds and baghdad. >> for kurdish officials, this was a message from the central government in baghdad: the iraqi army may have abandoned their positions in this a sunni offensive in june but the prime ministerm has vowed to retake this plan. >> they used planes to tath this neighborhood. 3 missiles landed in a residential area. two people, including an 11-year-old girl, were killed. >> translator: we are afraid that there will be more air strikes. the government offered an apology but an apology is not enough. >> kurdish officials, however, are confident that iraqi forces are not return to this region. >> yes, it is a threat.

we take it seriously. but malaki doesn't have that much power. the islamic state group is between us and them. he should attack them first and then us. >> kurds have other enemies on the ground. this is an ethnically and religiously mixed district. a double car bombing targeted a marketplace a few weeks ago. people here blame the self-declared islamic state group for the attack. >> group along with other sunni armed factions are controlling territory less than a kilometer from the district center. for now, the kurds are holding their ground. they are hoping to include this region in their future state. but the defenses they are building can't prevent their enemies from entering because this front is also a crossing point used by civilians. closing this road would only an tagnize sunni arabs who live in surrounding regions. this frontline is an important

junction. one road leads to sun sunni-controlled tikrit, the other to shia-controlled baghdad. sunnis and shias have said they won't accept a divided iraq. >> with more on the situation is patrick cog burn, the iraq correspondent for the independent in london. he is the author of a new book entitled, "the gjihadist return to go released on july 28th. good to have you with us. i want to stop at the top here. you have numerous calls for iraq's prime minister, nour nouri al-maliki to step down. would it be a solution to the turmoil in iraq right now. >> it wouldn't be a solution. i don't think anything is going to be a solution at the moment. but given the disasters or the iraqi government over the last month, it's difficult to see any real progress while malkey is still there.

>> so no progress being made. is iraq now divided in three states, kurd youish, isil and baghdad? >> yes, it is effectively divided. you can't go west from baghdad to fallujah. you can't get north of somara. we just heard what the situation is between the area held by isis, the islamic state and the kurds. so, yeah, it's more divided than most countries that have regular front easier between them. >> you have been covering this region for quite some time. what has surprised you the most about the isil's march across iraq? >> i think that the speed with when it which it happened, i was very conscious. i was conscious of it rising. >> that's why i wrote this book before the fall of mosul, that isis was getting stronger and stronger, that it controlled the

great sway of territory in northern iraq and eastern syria. even sew, i was a bit surprised when mosul fell and the iraqi army is very corrupt, had failed to retake fallajuh but it has 350,000 men in it, millio$350,0 dollars have been spent. so the speed of which it dissent eg grated, i think was a shock and surprise for everybody. >> here, you have this division. i want to talk about military might, the kurditch military fight. forces continue to take control of oil production facilities in northern iraq. the oil ministry called on the kurds to withdraw or face dire consequences. what do you make of this threat? >> well, threats from baghdad weigh less and less because if you are in the oil ministry in baghdad, would you drive to kirkuk? you couldn't because isis is in

between you and the kurds. so they are not really in a position to make effective threats. they can make it difficult to sell this oil. it's complicated for the kurds. but possession is 90% of the law in this case. so, it's impossible to see what baghdad can really do to stop the kurds taking over the kirkuk oil fields. >> remains to be seen patrick cockburn, we certainly appreciate your time. on al jazeera america, fear of the ongoing violence is sending some ukrainian civilians to find security in russia. in the yemeni government, they vow to crack down on rebel fighters.

. >> two candidates have agreed to abide. john kerry is in afghanistan to mediate the agreement. bothmen accuse the other of electoral fraud during last month's run-off vote. the u.n. will begin the audit within 24 hours and will review 8 million ballots.

it's expected to take several weeks before a result is announced. in yemen, there is a governmental crackdown advancing toward the capital after capturing the town tuesday. the united nations has called on the rebels to leave. for two decades, the group has been fight for more rights. there is a hunt underway for pro-russian separatists who killed more than 20 ukrainian soldiers on friday. ukraine's president prompting to find and destroy them. meanwhile in the east, civilians are fleeing the violence from moss co. soed hideler reports. >> reporter: it's the escalation everyone has been bracing for here in donetsk. fighting has reached the western suburbs killing four people overnight. we are sitting outside on the bench when we were hit by a wave of explosions from rockets. 10 of us were literally thrown into the basement by the heat. explosion. it was so scary.

>> the rocket attacks continued into saturday in nearby areas. it's unclear who fired the rocke rockets, but a separatist fighter base is very close to the four buildings hit. >> this is the main road going south out of donetsk. as you can see, hundreds of cars and trucks lined up to leave as it bruces for some type of confrontation. now, a lot of these people just made the decision to leave because this fighting on saturday has come even closer to the city. >> this morning, i went back home from the office and decided to bring my family out of here and take them to safety. on the other side of the city, it was getting ready to leave. the mortar rounds could be heard in the distance and many had their tearful good-byes. one was malida boka. she and the men were staying behind to protect their homes. >> her daughter tells her she

does not want to leave. >> we do not know what will happen to us. we hope they will not bomb donetsk, but our hopes are weak. >> as her family pulls out of the station for their 24 hour journey to moscow, the next time they speak, the situation on the ground here in donetsk could be completely different. scott hideler, al jazeera, dondon. work begins on moving the costa concordia. it sank two and a half years ago off of the coast of italy. it was raised last september. engineers will allmove it out st can be cleaned and assessed. cutting government red tape. preparing for the showdown, the countdown to the worldcup championship is now less than 24 hours away.

on aljazeera america start with talk to al jazeera at 5 captivating conversation >> i think the president needs to have absolute freedom... interesting and iconic... >> the artist should say what's on peoples minds... at 5:30, stay connected >> ..lisa fletcher, and you're in the stream... >> we've got so many great stories that have come in from social media today... >> at 6, get the latest news from across the world. >> this is al jazeera america and we'll look at todays top stories... only on al jazeera america

welcome back to al jazeera america. here are the top stories we are following right now: it's the end of day 5 in israel's aironsi. the death toll there has risen to 150 and continues to climb. four rockets launched over tel aviv this evening. the army intercepted three of them. the u.n. security council is calling for a ceasefire. >> two major oil fields, the seizure is the latest territorial grab by the kurds trying to get full payton me from iraq. afghanistan's r i have a l presidential candidates have reached an agreement on a disputed run-off election. they say they will abide by the results of a u.n.-led electoral audit. john kerry has been working with the two men to help broker the deal. it is expected to take several weeks before a result is reached. hugher tax revenues and an improving economy are pushing the nation's deficit to its lowest annual level since 2008. the government says the deficit for the first time -- first nine

months rather of the fiscal year is down 28% from the same period last year. now, u.s. national debt stands at roughly 17 and a ha$17 and a trillion dollars. now, there is a new push to cut government red tape that affects start of businesses. our david shuster looked at a case study near the heart of innovation, itself, silicon valley. >> lease a marie martinez has made it through life without sight raising down a full-time job and raising a family with only the guidance of her cane. when she needs to catch a flight, this 350,000350,000-year-old finds her hard-fought independence is all but lost. >> as a sighted person, you can glance around and see what's around you. and you could just navigate independently through an airport. as a blind person, i can't do that. >> but a novel collaboration between the san francisco international airport and a startup called indoors sponsored by the city's entrepreneurship in residence program hopes to change just that. >> we want to really realize a

project where everybody going through san francisco airport can use our technology. >> by installing about 800 small disks around the airport terminal that can track a user's smart phone and by pairing that location information with a customized app visually impaired travelers can access audio instructions directing them to where they want to go. indoors is one of the 200 companies from 25 cities and countries that awe applied when the pilot entrepreneurship until residence program was announced last october by san francisco mayor edwin lee. six city departments selected startups to partner with. together, they did developed cutting-edge solutions to existing problems, from better monitoring air quality to improving services for blind travelers at sfo. each partnership was given only 16 weeks to complete their projects, an unheard of timeline for the unusually slow moving bureaucracy of government. >> by the end of 16 weeks, our

goal is to have some really clear outcomes and our goal is to have that show cased through a demo day. >> jane app is the chief officer and a crater of the program that interviews a twist on the public/private partnership. >> we want to understand how do you work with government? who should you talk to, to better understand problems and sell your product? >> he says all of the startups participating volume you know teared time pro bono and the city gained access to for free. they said changing the dna of government may be an uphill body but says the entrepreneurship in residence program is a first crucial step. >> it's not going to happen overnight. this is a process, but i think by opening ourselves up, by opening government, by sharing data, by opening up our processes, by saying, hey. we need help on solving this, we can make this a much more collaborative effort rather than government knows best and we can is solve these challenges.

♪ >> all right. here we go. tomorrow, the new worldcup champions will be crowned in brazil. soccer giants arrangentina and germany will faceoff sunday at rio de janeiro where official are beefing up security security. german players arriving last night sinaling autographs and posing for pictures with fans. this will actually be the third time argentina and germany have met in the world cup finals. but before the big game, a decidedly anticontest t 2-nothing in the first half. the two sides. brazilian fans heart broken after last week's trouncing by german and conconflicted about who to root 4 in tomorrow's final. the worldcup organizing body is having to deal with a ticket scandal. the director of the hospitality ticket agency is on the run,

accused of running a racket to help resell tickets for the tournament. lucia newman. >> the cocobana pallance as looks like a crime scene and apparently, it is. the security camera footage shows ray whelan, the director of world cup hospitality leaving as police went in to rearrest him. he left an hour ago and he is considered afuge i have been at the moment. his arrest warrant has been issued. he is considered afuge i have been. >> he was first arrested on monday and accused of being the main source of world cup tickets who ran an illegal ticket reselling scream worth at least $90 million. his company, mat services hired by fifa has denied any wrongdoing. when the world cup began, we saw

the usual street scalpers trying to make a profit by illegally reselling tickets to games that had been sold out. >> the guy in orange over there is offering the tickets for $600, but it's too high. we are waiting to see if they are going to go down. >> as the world cup advanced, there were sometimes thousands of empty seats but it was impossible to buy a ticket. for example, to the algeria-germany game. >> all right. there were no tickets there. but i hear that there are still tickets available. so no more tickets. nobody sells tickets here okay. . >> many began to ask where all of the tickets were since almost no one was selling them on the street anymore. as it turns out, the biggest bizarre for the black market tickets was right here inside the copa cabana palace. the top investigator has been saying he is confid he want that

the probe will review that fifa and brazilian football federation officials are also involved in illegal ticket sale scams. fifa which faces allegations for taking bribes says it will great with the investigation, the same thing whelan said before he disappeared. lucia newman. >> we need perfect weather. let's go to kevin korrveau. >> there have been 12 venues across much of the kwupt tree and it hasn't been perfect for all of those venues. tomorrow, we will get to that in just a moment. what we have seen, though, over the last couple of weeks is flooding in mudslides and landslides. >> happened to the north in the venue of natal. that was, of course n june. but for tomorrow, there is going to some incredible weather. here at the stadium mostly covered, the sent he were is open. it's an open-air stadium. if you are going, if you have

the opportunity, this is what we are expecting to see, beautiful weather, clear skies and a high temperature of 74 degrees. and that is going to be the highest temperature through the game. >> temperature will go down into the high 60 did. in the southern hemisphere, we are talking about the wintertime and this is their wintertime. well, 74 degrees seems nice but we are not going to see that in the upper parts of the northwestern united states. what we are dealing with right now is a heat wave that is, in effect, for many states across this area. right now, we are looking at temperatures starting to come up out here towards the northwest seattle. it is just after 1:30 in the afternoon, and we are seeing seattle at about 81 degrees. those temperatures are going to go up. we are looking at heat advice occurs for much of washington as well as oregon and this is the temperatures we are expected to see this afternoon. portland, oregonngon reaching 82. >> that's not the end of t tomorrow, those temperatures go up even more. take a look at redding, 105

degrees there. and we are going to be seeing even more temperatures rising, boise on monday at about 100 degrees. for seattle, normal high at this time of year is about 72 degrees but those temperatures are almost 20 degrees higher than normal for this time of year. of course, what this also does is it raises the risk of fires across the region. we are going to watch that carefully over the next couple of days because it's also very dry. >> great concern. all right, kevin see you. coming up in a little bit. nasa's launch defendant signa ii spaciast has been delayed. it's scheduled to take off sunday from virginia. it is headed to the international space station on a cargo resupply mission. now, to a birthday, kind of a special benefit day, if you will, of sorts. the rover named "curiosity" completed year 1 on mars. how did she celebrate? jennifer london has a sneak

peek. >> it's the selfie from spice seen around the world. the mars rover curiosity snapped this vanity shot to mark a major milestone, her one martian year anniversary which is longer than you may think. 687 earth days to be exact. it is wild. the mars day is 40 minutes longer than the earth day. and the most efficient way to get curiosity to do what we want her to do is for her to operate on a mars day. >> table a look back at hera land okay mars. that was just the beginning of the rover's challenging journey of exploration. her mission: ro ha m the red planet taking be pictures, selfi selfies, digging for rocks at nasa's jet-prop pulse

laboratory. >> she is curious, very appropriate name. so when she sees something interesting, she stops. but then when she has figured out what it is, then she wants to high-tail it to the next interesting rock. >> curiosity project manager, jennifer trosper like edges it to aeteenager. >> she sleeps about 16 hours a day. it gives her a personality about how we have to manage her energy like you would have to manage a teenager's time awake and give her good things to do. >> during her first martian year, the s.u.v.-sized rover has captured rock samples and photos, 85,000 images, if you can believe it. she has also captured an audience on social media with more than a million and a half followers on twitter with tweets like, "happy first martian year to me plus my gift to you." meet some role models.

>> you start relating to the rover and seeing things through the rover's eyes and you feel like you are exploring, seeing new vistas, making these exciting discoveries along with the scientists. >> in her first truck around the sun, curiosity discovered an ancient lake bed. she also found chemical ingredients needed for life. she is now looking for more clues about mars' past. >> we want to get over to this big mountain, mount sharp and study the different rocks in that i think she is a geologist at heart. >> as curiosity em bashingdz on her second trip around the sun, she puts it best in her tweets: what a long strange trip its been and i have miles to go before i sleep. jennifer london, al jazeera. >> amazon isn't ready to give up the plan to use drones to deliver products. it's asking the federal aviation administration for an exemption to the ban on commercial drone use. amazon wants to move forward with its test of its proposed

delivery. they would care packages up to you 5 pounds at 50 miles an hour. >> they rejected the '70's soft rock and changed the direction of modern music. the show must go on unless it's too expensive. the fight to keep new york's historic metropolitan opera up and running, coming up next on al jazeera america. but before we want to go, we want to see live images out of rio de janeiro. what a better way to spend your saturday evening. fans piled up for the fan fest. this is one of a dozen locations where people can watch the world cup. we will be right back.

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

welcome back. a man who helped define the beat of punk music has died. the drummer for the ramones, the band formed in 1974. all four members were leaders of the punk scene in the 1970s. they influenced nirvana and green day and were inducted in the rock and roll hall of fame. for more on the legacy of the ramones, we turn to bill wyman. good to see you? >> hi, thomas. >> how would you define the ramones? >> it's interesting because people think of punk rock as this big, loud noisy thing. it was, but it was a genuine artistic statement. the mid '70s, it was led zeppelin and the eagles and fleetwood mac. orchestrated rock or soft rock

and they were almost a piece of rock criticism saying rock and roll should be short, fast and loud, keviny songs, three chords and no more in it. one-of the ironic things is sometimes you change the world. it took 10 or 15 years but then nirvana came along and turned music on its head. >> it was such a different sound. why do you think it caught on so quickly? >> it didn't. they were likely the velvet underground but almost every we want and saw them started their own band. they were the first punk band. they went to london. the joy division and the sex pistols and wow this makes sense and they we want on to form their own bands. >> they took away a certain sound. we are hearing everywhere this is the death of the last ramone. is this the end of an era for many fans? >> it is. i will tell you something a little poignant. there are two beatles still alive today and no more ramones

even though they came around 15 years after the beatles. it shows you punk rock is a tough lifestyle and those guys lived it. tom daly was responsible for the band and he went on later to produce their replacements, another great band. >> the band members had different last names. why did they take on the name of the ramones. >> it wasn't quite as confro confrontati confrontational. the lead cedar liked the girl group, loved the sound and deedee liked paul mccartney. paul ramone was his supseudonym. >> many modern day bands, if you will, punc bands, have taken on the sound, a certain aspect of the sounds. who you think is one of the greats today, the punk bands? >> say that one more time. >> how would you define one of the greatest punk bands of

modern day time right now? >> let me just think. the green day, for example, is one that did come in the '90s and they had another resurgence in 2000. of course, nirvana as well. they remind you every once in a while rock and roll has to get back to basics. >> that's what the ramones told us. we were the drummer. joining us from phoenix. good to see you. >> thank you, thomas. when the ramones ruled, the metropolitan opera was almost a century old. managers say it will go broke within two years unless there are drastic budget cuts. opera performers are not so convinced. >> this season, the biggest drama at norm's est e-mailed opera house is taking place off stage with ticket sales and charitable doanations down, management is engaged in an epic battle with the met's 16 unions over the budget. general manager peter gelb said

the met will go bankruptcy in two years without spending cuts. he said labor costs account for two-third was budget. he wants the unions to take a 16% pay cut and change rules that guarantee them patient for four performances per week. >> struck the wrong tone with staff and musicians like weston sprott. by his union's estimate, the cuts are as high as 7% when you include changes to healthcare, sick leave and pensions. he has little faith in the figures quoted by peter gelb? >> he has been saying a lot of different things in the press without giving much substantiation for them and the fact that we have been asking for clarification for months now with no response leads us to be skeptical about what's going on. >> their is skept simply over the management's lavish spending like this 169,000 dollar poppy field built for a recent production of prince egor. critics say it's time for both

sides to give way. >> this means, prograerhaps som flexibility on union agreements. but, also, cuts in management salary for senior management. they have to do it. secondly, budgeting in a realistic way so that you bring down the annual budget and you build up the endowment. it's the only way to save the met. >> similar budget battles have forced other opera companies to close. but here at the met, neither side appears willing to compromise. staff contracts are due to expire at the end of the month leaving opera fans to wonder if the show will go on. kristin salumy, new york. >> in another sign of china's backlash against apple they say there is a security threat. state-run media criticized the app saying it could be used to reveal chinese state secrets. similar features exist on all smart phones including those

made in china. coming up on al jazeera america:? >> i really believe that occurred people like me can do extraordinary things with a little bit of grit. >> a gritty grandma hitting the high seas for a good cause. why she is making a 2500 mile journey next. >> these old military vehicles could be yours. we will explain coming up on al jazeera america.

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to view the world. >> the brain is re-learning how it sees again >> after decades in the dark, >> i couldn't get around on my own >> a miraculous bionic eye... >> i'm seeing flashes >> great >> tech know, every saturday go where science meets humanity. >> this is some of the best driving i've every done, even though i can't see. >> tech know. >> we're here in the vortex. only on al jazeera america. . >> welcome back. artist in kentucky is working on an intense project focusing a project around dogs in animal shelters that are on death row. here is his story. >> i am mark berone with 55 shelter dogs. 5500 is the number of dogs put down every day. i am doing 10 a day. >> that's what i average is 10 a day. our project was designed to actually put faces to what was going on in the shelter system.

you know, they have just been such great companions for so many people. i thought it just really touched me. i thought maybe there is something i can do. maybe there is something we can do to make a difference. >> that's we started this. you know, we wanted to set up a charity, so 100% of our money was going to go to these animals. >> the division that we have for this is to actually have its own permanent music of compassion. >> that's what it's really about. every picture i look at, they know what their fate is. you can see it in their eyes. the imagery has changed quite a bit. um, as i would expect. i mean after three and a half years of painting 12 hours a day and 4800 paintings later, you know, it's going to morph into something different. they are all individual dogs. i mean but i've always thought of this as one large work. i mean it was one large statement. what we have done with this project and the sacrifices we have made has been our philanthropy. our vision and we need other

people to help us out and step up to get it the rest of the way. we can't do it all ourselves. i hope they look at the shelters in their own community and get these dogs adopted and fostered. this is what i think i can do. i mean to change it. and if i didn't think that these works were going to change anything, i never would have done it. but i think the idea of putting faces to these animals is extremely important in that they won't have died any vain and that maybe the ones that did die will help save the rest. >> a daring grandmother from maine is headed for the high seas. her goal: to paddle all the way to central america. she is hoping to raise awareness and money for a community of 7,000 adults and children living in a garbage dump outside of guatemala city. deborah walters will set up tomorrow in a kyak. al jazeera caught up with her right before she left. >> reporter: deborah walters isn't your average grandmother. she paddles her kayak all over

the world, week's long solo journeys through the arctic. >> you can get closer to the wildlife. you are slowing down. you are seeing more of the world around you. you are feeling really immersed in the environment. >> her next journey will take her farther than she has ever gone. 2,500 miles to the atlantic and the caribbean. >> i am kayaking solo from maine to guatemala. and when i tell people i am doing that, most people say, are you completely nuts? but my favorite question was: what we want wrong in your life that led you to this? actually, what went right in my life was i joined a group of rotarians and i visited the garbage dump there. >> according to nonprofit organization safe pages, many scavenge the dump, they are

trash pippingers, some of the poorest people in one of the poorest nations on earth. deborah first began volunteering at the school safe package built nine years ago. >> i smelled the methane and the rotting garbage, felt the blowing dust, vault tours circling overhead and i talked with the parents who support their families scavenging. >> to help, she decided to plan this journey raising more than $10,000 for the community and pledge to go share their stories along the way. the journey will take almost a year. deborah plans to camp along the way and, also, rely on the kindness of strangers, people who volunteer to host her in their homes. for deborah, home will be the open occasions but she says she isn't worried about feeling lonely. >> i really believe that occurred people like me can do extraordinary things with a little bit of grit, a little bit of determination. >> a little determination deborah hopes will take her all the way to guatemala.

kaelyn forde, al jazeera, mystic, connecticut. >> collecting old cars is one thing, but old tanks? the estate of a california gene is auction off his collection of tanks and other armored vehicles. morning 80 will be sold to raise funds for a military vehicle museum in massachusetts. a german panzer tank from world war ii is expected to sell for more than 2 and a half million dollar. the sherman could fetch more than a million naved dollars. this site was puzzling a lot of new yorkers. we have it solved. a giant rep lick can a of the rubic's cube, the 20 by 20 piece is taking a trip around the city honoring the popular and, yes, sometimes frustrating toy's 40th anniversary. >> that's going to do it for this hour. i am thomas drayton. "talk to al jazeera" is next. we invite you to head to

aljazeera.com. another live look coming out of r rio de janeiro. this is one of a dozen locations where people can watch the world cup. right now, the netherlands is beating brazil 2 to nothing. when i met the president, he did say, i borrowed your slogan. >> activist and presidential medal of freedom winner coined the phrase, "yes, we can." the mantra became barack intaps's call to vote. she co-founded the united farm worker's union. >> when you think of this mentality that you want to hu humiliate people and oppre