would ever anticipate this type of violence >> what really happened that tragic day? >> it is the time to point finger at those whose fingers pulled the trigger >> al jazeera america presents miners shot down only on al jazeera america this is al jazeera america live from new york city. dozens dead and wounded at a school used to shelter in gaza. palestinians say israel fired the shots. a grim procession in the netherlands, and reps move forward with a plan to sue the president. ent.

today a united nations school was attacked, and this shows the aftermath. palestinian officials say an israeli tank shell him the compound and killed at least 15 and dozens more were wounded. stephanie dekker has more now from gaza. >> reporter: they should have been safe. everyone left their home to the supposed safety of a makeshift u.n. shelter. >> translator: all our children are in the school and us, too. go and see. they shelled us with rockets. there are children's body parts. there's no safety. we have no security anywhere. >> reporter: it's close to the border with israel, and it's been an area hit hard. when we drove here, there was heavy shelling in the area. >> they told us to evacuate the school because israel wit hill it. the civilians will leave.

okay, we will leave. how can we leave? every family with eight, nine, ten children, they say they will bring us buses. we kept waiting for the buses and got our luggage and waited and the shells fell on. >> reporter: these girls have been brought into the hospital. there is a steady stream of people arriving here, and they're looking at the devastation. the people here are asking the question, why does israel target a u.n. school that they know has civilians? you can see people are extremely upset because they say israel knew this was a shelter for those who already had to flee the area because of israel's military campaign. israel says it may have been a rocket fired from one of the armed groups here. no one believed that here. >> translator: before the buses came, the israelis shelled the school.

>> reporter: a u.n. spokesman told us the u.n. gave the israeli army the exact location of the school, all of their schools, and yet four have been hit in the last four days. >> translator: most of the injuries are critical injuries. they're being operated on. others we had to send to another hospital. this is a crime. what can we do? this is a crime against humanity. >> reporter: there is a desperate fear here. no one can make them feel safe anymore. >> that was stephanie dekker reporting from gaza. earlier i spoke with christopher who is a spokesman for the united nations relief agency. he described to us what happened to the u.n. school that was hit by air strikes today. >> well, at 5 to 3:00 today the most appalling carnage. there was incoming. it's difficult for anyone to know whether it was the israelis or hamas or militants.

it's really unclear amid the fog of war. we had given our precise gps coordinates to the israeli army, and we have been on the phone to them multiple times trying to arrange a pause so that civilians could be taken out of the area, women, children, people who needed to be evacuated. despite our desperate pleas, we simply did not get the approval. >> did israel know there was a u.n. school in that compound? >> absolutely. they have the precise gps coordinates of that school formally given to them just by the way they have the precise gps coordinates of every single one of our installations across the gaza strip. there really is no excuse. this was the fourth time -- again, i'm not saying israel did this, but three times earlier this week, two installations in

three separate incidents took direct hits from incoming israeli fire. >> chris, maybe one more here. again, responsibility for this is an open question, but did israel ever indicate to you or anyone else in authority there at any time that that particular school in that compound might be on its target list? >> not that i'm aware of. not that i'm aware of, but that isn't to say it didn't happen. what i can say is the firing, when it drew closer, we then contacted the israeli army, and we pleaded with them for an evacuation. we never got the green light for that evacuation. look what happened. there was carnage, and you know, the fact is that we could have evacuated those civilians and then the course of history might have been entirely different and that level of tragedy might have been avoided. >> that was christopher gunus speaking to us from jerusalem. as we mentioned, the

fighting has forced tens of thousands in gaza to leave their homes, and there are few places for them to go. according to the united nations the area shaded in pink and red here along the borders with israel and egypt are either restricted or off-limits. gaza's total area is about 141 square miles, 44% of that territory is either restricted or off-limits. nick shifrin joins us now from gaza. what kind of fighting have you seen today? >> reporter: the fighting absolutely continues unfortunately. it wasn't limited to the north at all. just a few miles from here that's gaza city. there was heavy shelling from tanks as well into gaza city. in southeast gaza city, a couple of homes were destroyed early this morning including one that killed six members of the same family and an 18-month infant boy. in the south very, very intense fighting. we've seen it for the last 36 hours or so.

fighting to the point where ambulances trying to get in, trying to find some of the wo d wounded and fighters killed down there can't get into the city. so the fighting absolutely continues even though everyone is talking about diplomacy in cairo or in israel. absolutely, the fighting on the ground here is as intense as ever. >> nick, secretary of state john kerry is back in egypt. what is the status of the diplomatic efforts to stop the fighting? >> reporter: we've been talking about this for 48 hours now since kerry has really put his full attention on this. u.s. officials hope for some kind of temporary cease-fire, a humanitarian cease-fire probably starting tomorrow, at least that's what they hope. at some point maybe for two, three, four days. they say that will give them a window to negotiate a longer cease-fire. they want the violence to stop so that they can take the days

to negotiate through a permanent cease-fire, which can't be done in a few hours. however, israeli officials are not saying they're willing to do that -- rather until hamas is willing to do that, and right now we have no indication that hamas is actually willing to accept any kind of cease-fire deal because they say that all of the promises they got in the past were changes to, for instance, access through the borders, lifting of an israeli siege, those promises were broken, and they want assurance from john kerry, from the u.n. secretary-general, from everyone the promises won't be broken again. it's not clear that any diplomat has convinced hamas they will follow-through on the promises. >> you're referring to the 2012 agreement. nick shifrin from gaza. some perspective now. israel has uncovered 31 hamas smuggling tunnels and has launched more than 3,000 air and naval strikes on target in gaza.

the gaza health ministry says israel strikes have killed nearly 800 palestinians, most of them civilians. more than 1500 people have been injured. the united nations says more than 41,000 have been displaced. on israel 35 have died since the fighting began and more than 170 israelis have been injured. most of israel's dead and wounded are soldiers. the israeli army says hamas has fired nearly 2300 rockets into israel since the fighting began. israel's iron dome defense system has intercepted more than 400 rockets heading towards populated area. the crisis is leading to violent confrontations between left and right wing protesters in israel. activists are increasingly seen as traitors. as we report from jerusalem now, they say it is becoming more dangerous to speak out. >> reporter: she's an israeli

student activist no changer to pro-palestinian anti-war protests. in recent weeks she says the abuse from the fellow israelis has taken a sinister turn. >> we were, first of all, told that we're the cause of the arab -- things are bad at this point. people are saying that a rocket hits our house. they hope that we -- that there's a holocaust against us specifically. >> reporter: she was at this protest in tel aviv last week when things turned ugly. you're a traitor. you're a killer this man shouts directed at the israeli left wing protesters calling for an end to the israeli occupation. tensions have always existed between the left and right in israel, but left wing protesters say right wing activists are more organized now and have an increasing sense of legitimacy among israelis. pictures like these released by the military add to the israeli

support to the campaign in gaza. tunnels are destroyed and soldiers walk through the rubble. many israelis feel that those who are against military action don't understand the threat. >> translator: if they want they can go to gaza. here in this country it's not possible to live in peace. they are kidnapping our soldiers and kill us and dig tunnels to reach the houses of those that support them. >> reporter: she said she'll continue to protest even if her neighbors don't understand. >> the israelis protesting them, is very confuses for israelis and it's easy to categorize us as traitors or people for the other side. >> reporter: being labeled an outsider she fears is a small price to pay in the face of so much suffering. the bodies of more victims of flight mh17 arrived in the netherlands. two military aircraft carrying

remains flew in. more than half of the people died when the flight went down were from the netherlands. the hearses stretched for miles as the second wave came home. thousands lined up along the highway as they were taken to a military base for identification. we have more from the netherlands. >> reporter: the day of national mourning may be over, but the grieving goes on. the mound of flowers laid in tribute to the victims outside the airport terminal 3 where the fated journey began is growing ever higher. thousands have now added their names and thoughts to the books of condolence. the flight to kuala lumpur won't be known as mh17 on the departure boards, it carries too much emotional weight. the passengers have the reassurance at least that the flight path has been diverted over turkish air space.

two more flights carrying the bodies of the victims will arrive at the military section of the airport on thursday with their tragic cargo. among the relatives watching the first flight come in was a man from newcastle who lost his 28-year-old son, liam. >> you look at it and it's far away. it's not anything to do with you. all of a sudden it becomes part of you. every family that was there yesterday lost somebody. so everybody was hurting probably exactly the same way. so i said, i hope it never, ever happens even to my worst enemy. >> reporter: two more planes landed carrying in our 74 victims from flight mh17. they, too, were gin full military honors. over the next few days the convoys carrying the coffins will bring a somber shade to the country's highways. all the relatives have to hold

onto are the pictures of their loved ones. intimate memories of lives cut so cruelly short. they're all receiving special counseling to help them through this ordeal. >> it's grief, mourning and frustration, too. it's a very complex set of emotions relatives are experiencing in this period. >> reporter: beneath the dutch flag at the airport, more flowers and tributes including a handwritten note which ends with these words. this will never be forgotten. our hearts, thoughts and prayers to you all and your families and friends and loved ones. david chater, al jazeera. ukraine's prime minister and cabinet have announced their resignations. yatsenyuk was elected in may. he's resigning due to the breakup of his governing coalition. yatsenyuk said he and his ministry will remain in office until elections in october. a u.n. official says russia

is fueling the conflict in the ukraine. they say they plan to deliver for rocket launchers to separatists after they alleged shot down two fighter planes yesterday and there's more shooting from donetsk not far from the crash site of malaysian airline flight 17. a massive search is underway for a passenger plane believed to have have crashed in africa. flight 5017 as it was flying to algeria. 116 people were on board the plane. half were french. officials say it went missing in northern mali shortly after the crew asked to be rerouted around a storm. what more do we know about what happened here? >> reporter: well, tony we know that this plane disappeared about 50 minutes into the flight. it took off about 1:15 in the morning from the airport in the capital of burkino foso.

there were rainstorms and those on board asked air traffic control for a different route. it was about 20 minutes after that that the plane disappeared from radar. the jet was an 18-year-old plane made by mcdonald douglas. it was leased and the crew was from a spanish company, swift air. it had reported checked out just in week mechanically in france and supposedly everything checked out fine. it was flying over an area of unrest whether it was lost, but they don't think anyone on the ground had any capacity to shoot down a jetliner. so this may be nothing more than a tragic accident, and there is a search under way. we do not -- we have unconfirmed reports as to whether the wreckage may have been found. >> you mentioned so many on board were french. i wonder how officials are responds. >> about 51 of those on board

were french and the rest from 13 other countries. officials have launched this air search, a french military jet is used as well as u.n. and algeria assets. here's french president francois hollande. >> translator: all means are mobilized to find the aircraft and to give the families all the information they're asking for and our solidarity, which is total and that of the whole country. >> reporter: now, this is, of course, the latest in a string of aviation disasters this year. flying is considered very safe. it has been exceedingly safe for the last three years. unfortunately, we have seen a reverse of that so far this year, all for different reasons, no particular cause. really not something we to hear. >> difficult year for sure. lisa, appreciate it. thank you. congress is moving forward with a plan to sue president obama. today the house rules committee voted along party line to approve a potential lawsuit. house republicans accuse the president of overstepping his

authority in complementing the affordable care act. libby casey is live at the white house with the latest on this. libby. >> reporter: hi, tony. today's vote brings speaker boehn boehner's lawsuit against president obama closer to reality. it's expected to go to the full house floor next week for a very visible debate. that vote will break down along party lines right before members go off for their month-long august recess. at the heart of this is the employer mandate in the affordable care act. the question is whether or not president obama was in the right when he delayed the employer mandate. that is, the requirement that businesses make sure their workers have health care through their jobs. it was supposed to kick in there, but it was pushed back. republicans like pete sessions of texas, he's the chairman of the rules committee. he said the president overstepped his executive authority. >> unfortunately, the president has ignored the requirements of the constitution.

instead, he has selectively enforced the law in some instances, ignored it in others, and at times changed statuses and statutes altogether. in these ways the president has repeatedly encroached on congress' power to write the laws. >> reporter: democrats say this is all for show. jim mcgovern, a democrat from massachusetts, spoke before a very tense committee markup today. >> this is nothing to do with the law. this has nothing to do with the law. this has everything to do with trying to manage some of the extremists in your party, some of the cuckoo clocks talking about impeachment. >> reporter: so, tony, the president for his part has called this a stunt. >> okay. libby casey for us. thank you. the centers for disease control says it has resumed transferring inactive materials from its clinical tuberculosis

laboratory. the agency stopped transferring materials last month after dozen of lab workers was exposed to live an tlethraanthrax. investigations in the wake of the anthrax incident have uncovered similar incidents in other labs. arizona's governor promises an investigation after a death row inmate spent two hours gasping for air as he died. they're trying to figure out how con artists got their hands on personal information and used it to scan -- scam migrant children and their families. when you run a business, you can't settle for slow.

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actually worked. >> hey, tony. a brief background on just how this government at act works. they're detained at the border and transferred into the custody of health and human services which then taking time to identify family members or friends of these children who are already residing in the united states to take these kids in while they wait for their court date. now, somehow the scammers you mentioned learned who these families are. they learned detail about each child's immigration case. they called these families pretending to be charity workers and asked for anywhere between 300 to $6,000 to cover the so-called fees and travel expenses to reunite children with families. now, parents who are desperate to see their child -- perhaps it's been years or a decade or month since they have seen the children and they're in an emotional time, many of them

paid without question. the fbi tells us that this happened to families in at least 12 states, alabama, georgia, virginia, new york, maryland, florida, nevada, louisiana, massachusetts, california, nebraska, and new mexico. so according to the fbi, this was certainly not an isolated case, and they're worried there could be more victims out there that haven't shown up. many families who are sponsors are undocumented themselves, and they may fear a retaliation by coming forward. tony, right now the fbi is working on identifying more of these families. >> all right. this is crazy. how did the scammers get this information? >> well, that's certainly the question at the center of the investigation right now, which the fbi launched last friday. now, we do know that all of these children has one thing in common. they were housed in one of two military bases, fort sill in oklahoma and lackland military

base in san antonio where according to health and human services about 4,000 children have passed through since this immigration crisis began. the fbi is not calling this a security breach. however, it is obvious that scammers had access to very private information. they knew who these kids were, who the sponsors would be, travel plans, immediate case stat status. both of these shelters are operated by a contractor, baptist children and family services. it's a nonprofit child placement agency. a spokesperson referred us to health and human services who gave us a written statement saying the well-being and safety of these children is our top priority, and we take any reports of fraud very seriously. no direct payments to shelters will ever be requested during the reunification process. we are told by the fbi now that the push is to be proactive. these government case managers now reaching out to sponsors and

tells them that not to expect to pay a penny to see their child again. >> sounds like an inside job. this is a hot one here. heidi jo castro for us in dallas. two people died when a possible tornado tore through a virginia compound this morning. authorities say the storm slammed into the camp ground on the eastern shore of the chesapeake bay. powerful winds and heavy rain toppled tries and flipped over trailers. as you can see here, a lot of destruction there. at least 20 people were injured, but officials say it could have been a lot worse. >> we're thankful actually that there was not any more damage to people. there's a great deal of property damage, so we certainly express our condolences and pray for a speedy recovery of those injured. >> officials said about 300 people were staying at the campground and taken to a nearby

shelter. we go to the system that spawned the storm. dave. >> it was one small storm along the line. it was a lot of destruction right over the campground, so the problem could be with the warnings coming inment a tornado warning was issued, but this was the a campground. be aware of that if you're away from your television, you can still get these warnings issued from the national weather service. the line came through. it was this one storm along the delmarva peninsula near the chesapeake bay, the eastern shore of virginia, the southern county had that warning issued for this one storm. it continued to push east. this was the campground at 8:40 this morning. the tornado warning was issued, and these storms went from west to east. that one storm came through the very remote area. always important to be aware of weather situations. >> that's where weather radar is so critical.

thank you. coming up on al jazeera america, witnesses say joseph wood gasped for air for nearly two hours before he died. can you imagine? now his execution is bringing the death penalty debate back into the spotlight, and one government is considering a law to make it a crime just to talk about gay rights. details are next.

so arizona's governor is ordering a review of an execution carried out last night. the procedure took nearly two hours, if you can imagine. the execution is renewing a debate over capital punishment. >> the aclu of arizona is calling for a halt to executions today and are calling for an independent investigation into what happened. i spoke to a journalist who witnessed the execution.

he told me he saw joseph wood snorting and gasping for air. executions by lethal injection usually take about ten minutes. for joseph wood it lasted nearly two hours. >> it was a strange thing. his mouth would open like a gasp, and then you'd see sort of like a spasm go right down his chest and his stomach would con vuls. it was over and over. >> reporter: journalist michael kiefer witnessed four executions before there but saw nothing like this. >> i turned to the reporter sitting next to me and said, i don't think he's going to die. >> reporter: he said he gasped more than 600 times before finally dying. critics say arizona ignored warns after botched executions in oklahoma and ohio. >> this is the third time in just this year that an execution has taken exceeding long where the inmate was moving and clearly not thoroughly

unconscious, not the way the state had planned it. i think this is going to require some interventions. >> reporter: all three states use controversial new mixes of lethal injection drugs including a sedative. >> so i have a feeling we won't see that in any more executions after this, but who knows what they'll turn to next. >> reporter: critics say the druks are less effective than trashl one, in short supply after the european union blocked sales to the u.s. arizona's correction department followed protocol, and family members of the victims say the convicted murderer doesn't deserve anyone's pity. >> this man deserved it, and i shouldn't really call him a man. he sdefrned everything he had coming to him. >> reporter: ohio said today it still plans to go ahead with an execution in september despite what happened in arizona. tony, by some counts there are 17 executions scheduled for the rest of the this year around the country. >> 17 of them. appreciate it. we should tell you that wood's death is the fourth botched execution in the u.s. this year.

all of them are being blamed on bad drugs. in january oklahoma executed michael wilson using a cocktail of three drugs before he died. he said he felt his body burning. later that month in ohio it took 25 minutes for the state to execute dennis mcguire. he received the same cocktail as wood, and he was also heard gasping. in april oklahoma spent 43 minutes trying to he can could you tell clayton locket. she stopped the execution and he died of a massive heart attack a few moments later. it stems from a decision by european drug makers to stop supplying phentobarbital. mary is joining me, a professor of law. i believe we've spoken before. >> yes, we have. >> in this case did mr. wood's lawyers aware of what the drug

cocktail was and where the cocktail actually came from? i know this is a bone of contention and something that a lot of people are trying to sort out. >> lawyers knew what drugs were being used, but they were seeking were the source of the drugs, the lot number of the drugs, the maker. >> so the constitution, the eighth amendment of the constitution protects against cruel and unusual punishment. what is your view of this? i've got a view, and i guess many americans do. we've heard the view of the family of the victim in this case, and there were two victims, as i recall. when it takes a man two hours to die, is that considered cruel and unusual punishment in the eyes of the law, which is the critical question here? >> well, the question is going to be in general lethal injection, cruel and unusual punishment. in general the prior three-drug cocktail that was in popular use

before the diminishing supply of drugs because of the eu decision that you mentioned, the supreme court in 2008 actually upheld against an eighth amendment challenge the use of lethal injection using the prior protocol that kentucky had. with respect to this particular case, this is something -- this is not the usual posture of our case in the case where the individual has died. really, this is a question for states and democracies to decide if they can stomach this. >> i think you're right on that. states like arizona are keeping the source, right, of these drugs secret. journalists and lawyers as i alluded to a moment ago have sued to get the information made public. do the journalists have a case here in saying that to provide a safe execution, the source of the drug cocktail needs to be made public? >> well, the ninth circuit

seemed to agree. they issued a temporary stay. but the u.s. supreme court in this very case vacated the stay and allowed the execution to go forward. so certainly you should be allowed to know what drugs are used. wrapt -- with respect to the source of the drugs, the state has had to resort to other protocols because of sources drying up. so there is a concern that if the source is revealed, you're going to get even more sources running away, basically. >> professor, good to see you again. she's a professor of law at the university of washington joining us from seattle. thank you. yesterday's execution put the death penalty issue back in the global spotlight. headlines around the world reflect the same concern over the practice. some refer to as the lethal injection regime. the united nations says it has sent humanitarian aid from

turkey into syria with theal assad government's permission earlier this month. they helped 10.8 million syrians in urgent need of help. the aid is sent through four border crossings, and there are two on the turkey-syria border. in mayayanmar they're allow to return after being expelled three months ago. they were told to leave because of ethnic violence there, but doctors without borders was kicked out after being accused of bias. bias against muslims and the other has boiled over the last four years. sudan has allowed a woman once sentenced for death for converting to chris yann knit to leaf the country. she met with pope francis in vatican city. she and her family will stay in italy for a few days before

returning to the united states. she converted from islam to marry her american husband. her death sentence was overturned last month, but she was stopped from leaving want country until today. the government is considering a bill to make it illegal to discuss guy rights, human rights organizations say it violates basic human rights for the community. discrimination is already a fact of life that. zane has the story. >> reporter: we don't know her real name. she was too afraid to tell us. she asked that we call her camilla. only 19, she feels persecuted and vulnerable. >> translator: it's very difficult to lynn in kyrgystan if you're different. for transgender people it's difficult. it's a discriminating society. on your i.d. you're a man but look like a woman.

we can't work or find jobs. >> reporter: her family disowned her and because she's a male, no one will hire her. desperate to earn money, she turned to prostitution. extort and abuse by police is part of the job, she says. she still considers himself to be tufrt. a girl she worked with slit her two wrists after being attacked by officers. >> translator: two policemen came and they nanded money and found money in the bra and one raped her and told her she would always pay. after that she disappeared and she was in the hospital after she tried to kill herself. >> reporter: it's hardly surprising that members of the gay transgender community live on the fringes of society, but on the outskirts of the capital is a place where they can get help. this is a safe house where young and men women go for information, support or just to feel safe for a little while.

the people here ask that we hide their faces. the frgroup has maintained a lo profile after several aenlt-gay sdmr sdmon demonstrations at the capital. >> it's a question of human rights. nobody's rights should be violated but they're different from the lesbian, gay, tranned gender or not. the person shouldn't be discriminated again. >> they recognize the tens of thousands deserve the same rights as their fellow citizens, but in the same breath they insist that no one can be openly gay in this muslim country. >> we propose to make it a crime to spread information about the issues. there are several reasons for such a decision. it is against our society, even animals don't do that.

>> reporter: just a short walk away a place where young people come to abandon inhibitions. they're judged only for their dance moves. when the night is over, things outside are still the same. gay activists say public opinion is against them, and the law will likely be adopted. for camilla there's no future here. she says she's earn what she can and leave, perhaps to europe. she says she will be accepted for who is there. the chicago police made an arrest in the fatal shooting of an 11-year-old girl this weekend. we have that story and other headlines across the country today. >> the chicago police say it stemmed from a fistfight between two teenagers. investigators say suspect kevin lee was attempting to retaliate against rival gang members

following the fight. 11-year-old shamiya adams was playing nearby and was shot dead. >> shamiya was shot while she played at her friend's house at a sleepover. on tuesday he was arrested, 18-year-old kevin lee. >> police say the suspect fired about four or five gunshots, but the murder weapon has not been recovered. today is day two in the racially charged trial of a detroit man charged with second-degree murder. theodore wafer who is white shot ranisha mcbride who was black after shebanged on the door last near. mcbride has been drinking. prosecutors say wafer should have kept the door shut and called 911 if he was scared. he claims his actions were in self-defense. the nypd is investigating video

from a harlem station on july 14th. it shows them punching rondz johns and placing him in eye chokehold. a move against policy. they say he didn't pay the fare and resisted arrest. an investigation is under way into the death of a brooklyn man also put in an apparent chokehold during an arrest. the milwaukee man who admitted he stole a violin will be sentenced today. his co-defendant is expected to change his not guilty plea. police recovered the 300-year-old violin in good condition nine days after it was stolen in january. the violin was worth $5 million. >> wow. okay. you back later in the show? >> sure am. >> okay. see you then. in northern cypress a new project is happening at the site, which many believe was a setting for shakespeare's

tragedy "othello." >> it was built by crusaders. it came under va nichian rule and then the ottoman turks took it. his play is set in the city by the sea in cypress, which many believe is this place. the modern turkish invasion and the division of cypress brought isolation and slow decline. the once mighty wall of othello's towor have crumbled. they started restoration, and in early 2015 it will reoccupy to tourist. it's a rare animal for cypress. it was established by the political leadership of both sides of this divided island and it was quickly and enthusiastically supported by both the u.n. and the european union. it's one of those rare, good news stories that everyone is keen to promote.

>> we have to respect us, who actually built the monuments. these are not just the monuments of greece but the monuments of humanity. >> reporter: the committee has 17 projects funded by $7 million of he u money. they need a lot more. this work is be defying 40 years of division and miss trust to save common hair faj for both sides. >> occasionally we do argue, but not across ethnic lines or community lines. we argue about which is the best way of conserving. >> reporter: the work is slow and pain-staking, but this project is just one example of a trend, greek and turkish separatists working together to get things done. after 40 years more are beginning to spend more time thinking about the possibilities of a shared victim than about their divided past. simon mcgregor, al jazeera in

turkish occupied northern cypress. coming up, the housing market is hot in some parts in the country, so hot employers have trouble finding enough people to actually build new homes. that story is next. people of our time.

>> talk to al jazeera only on al jazeera america it was a mixed day on wall street as investors mulled

corporate earnings and economic reports. the dow fell as you can see just about 3 points, the s&p 500 up slightly while the nasdaq was off by two points. the world's largest retailer has a new leader here in the united states. walmart's u.s. chief bill simon will leave the company next month after four years and succeeded by greg foran who heads the walmart asian unit. the exact reason is unclear, but walmart's sales are sluggish. new numbers show the really sector is still suffering to recover from the great recession. sales fell more than 8% in june. that's a big number. just 406,000 homes were sold during the month. sales of existing homes rose 2.6% during the same period. where there is a building boom, there is actually a lack of skilled workers to do the work. a new study finds that more than 70% of construction companies are having trouble filling jobs, and as jonathan martin explains for us, they expect the problems

to make it worse. >> reporter: it's not hard to tell in nashville there's a boom in construction. >> whether it be hotel projects, mixed-use projects, we have a ball field going on, we're doing a riverfront project right now. there's different projects out there right now. it only seems to be -- it only seems to be increasing. >> reporter: the wave of new development has come at a time when the industry said there's a shortage of qualified workers. the regional vice president of skanska a leading construction firm. >> there is a lack of skilled workers right now, and then there's the lack of people actually getting into this work force, into the construction industry. so when they do need folks, there's just not enough skilled workers out there right now. >> reporter: a nationwide survey by the associated general contractors of america, which

represents more than 30,000 companies, found 74% of construction firms report having difficulty in finding skilled labor and nearly half of those surveyed expect the problem to get worse. the shortage can be tied to the recession in 2008 when nearly 2 million of 8 million u.s. construction workers lost jobs, retired or found other careers. more than half of those left are age 45 and older. >> it's almost the candle being burned at both ends. you see older carpenters, older trades people getting out of the industry because they're aging out. the problem is they're not being replaced in an equal rate with younger people into the industry. >> reporter: the tennessee college of applied technology offers a 16-month program to certify students in carpentry and electrical fields, but instructor steve lane says in the last few years interest has dropped. he said wages are not the issue. construction workers can make an average of $16 an hour and with

more experience $20 to $30 an hour. >> we also see at the secondary level, high school guidance counselors and whatnot, they push students so hard to go into college, they're not talking to young people about vocational education like what i teach. that's contributing to the problem as well. >> reporter: many in the industry worry with the low number of young people entering the field now, the shortage will be a concern for years to come. jonathan martin, al jazeera, nashville. listen to this. coming up, iraqis stand up to the islamic state and support the christian neighbors. the debate over capital punishment is happening, and ray suarez addresses that tonight. >> it took two hours to kill joseph wood through an unproven drug protocol. is lethal injection still the

best means of fulfilling capital punishment in the states that still want it? we'll find out live at the top of the hour. see you then. >> on al jazeera america presents >> we always have strikes... people should never be allowed... >> what started as a peaceful protest >> police seem to stick to the self-defense story >> became a horrific moment in south african history >> i don't think any organization in this country would ever anticipate this type of violence >> what really happened that tragic day? >> it is the time to point finger at those whose fingers pulled the trigger >> al jazeera america presents miners shot down only on al jazeera america

real reporting that brings you the world. >> this is a pretty dangerous trip. >> security in beirut is tight. >> more reporters. >> they don't have the resources to take the fight to al shabaab. >> more bureaus, more stories. >> this is where the typhoon came ashore. giving you a real global perspective like no other can. >> al jazeera, nairobi. >> on the turkey-syria border. >> venezuela. >> beijing. >> kabul. >> hong kong. >> ukraine. >> the artic. real reporting from around the world. this is what we do. al jazeera america. iraq's parliament has elected a new president. many have blamed prime minister al maliki for the current

crisis. you may find some of the images in this report disturbing. >> reporter: he's iraq's third president since saddam hussein was forced out of the power. massoum is from the kurdistan party. he was sworn in after a second round of voting. he secured the votes he needed after days of political rangling. >> translator: in the name of god, the most merciful, the most compassionate, i swear by almighty god to carry out my legal tasks and responsibilities with loyalty and dedication and to safeguard the independence of iraq and it's sovereignty. >> reporter: now the president has 15 days after taking office to nominate a prime minister, but politicians remain deeply divided over who to choose. prime minister nouri al maliki, won the most votes in the april election. he wants a third term in office, but his opponents say he's

leading iraq to civil war by eliminating sunni arabs and kurds. ban ki-moon arrived in the capital to urge leaders to form an inclusive government. ban says they need to unite to face a threat with the islamic state group. further north of the capital of baghdad, the islamic state rule. they still are in mosul, tikrit and other provinces. the government is battling these fighters in a number of areas. this video shows the aftermath of an air strike on the city of mosul on thursday. witnesses say a number of civilians were killed. in the capital of the kurdish region, the u.n.'s top diplomat will meet with kurdish officials to discuss the formation of the government and the country's future.

ban ki-moon says iraq is facing difficult times. he called on iraqi leaders to unite before the islamic state has sectarianism and form an inclusive government. the islamic state has begun to target minority christians living in its territory. thousands of iraqis protested against the discrimination today. christians are being forced to convert to islam, pay a fine, or leave. anyone who refuses could be killed. support for iraqi christians has grown online. we're back with that story. >> they've been targeting christians by marking the buildings where they live with this symbol. it's the arabic letter n and similymbolizes nazarene, and the shows solidarity about christians by posting images along with the #wearen. they mark their homes with the letter n to intimidate them is

disgraceful. iraqis in baghdad, christ wran and muslim, are also taking part in the campaign. these are two little muslim boys carrying a sign in the streets of baghdad supporting christians. also, ali writes from today's mass in st. george in baghdad with a sign, we are all christians. >> i see, i see. >> this is a group of christians also in baghdad. this gentleman has the koran in his hand and one has a cross here all with signs supporting christians. ali writes the birth of young generation willing to coexist and revive its country. one group of christians is holding a prayer day on august 1st, tony, for christians driven out of their homes in mosul. thousands have already fled the area. their churches are completely destroyed. >> that's clearly a story we will continue to follow, and i know you will continue to follow

that on social media and the hashtags associated with it. thank you. that is you will athe time for this news hour. pleasure to have you with us. if you'd like the latest on these stories, head over to our website. "inside story" is next. convicted killer joseph wood finally headed to arizona's death chamber some 25 years since his crime. then it took hours for him to die. how states carry out the death penalty is the "inside story." hello. i'm ray suarez. since the u.s. supreme court cleared w