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 ♪ this is "al jazeera america" live from new york city. i am richelle carey with a look at today's top stories. >> israel has agreed to extend it by an additional four hours to midnight israel time. hamas has said they reject that. >> a temporary truce has ended as hamas rejects a 4-hour extension. >> the death toll in gaza now exceeds 1,000. plus, a popular religious shrine is destroyed by fighters in

mosul. it's a dangerous and sometimes fatal journey for migrants through the coredor of death. ♪ >> the cease-fire at gaza has ended. a dispute among palestinian leaders led them to reject a 4-hour extension proposed by the israelis. a government spokesman said the short-lived peace ended almost immediately. >> three minutes after the additional 12 hours of the humanitarian pause ended, the first set of sirens range off signalling a renewal of attack on israel by hamas. >> many residents returned to their homes to look for survivors and to bury the dead. more than 100 bodies were found today putting the number of palestinians killed above 1,000. nick schifrin joins us from

gaza. why did hamas reject this cease-fire? >> reporter: they haven't actually listed a reason for why but they rejected it almost immediately and right after the cease-fire ended, we saw evidence of rockets flying from gaza to israel. hamas said that they fired seven rockets just on the border of gaza, and israel is about two or three miles east of here, just next to one of the neighborhoods inside of gaza that has been absolutely destroyed and israel saying that they detect he had four rockets in total including two that were shot down by the iron dome othver one of the mai cities about 10 or 15 miles from here. clearly palestinian fighters from here rejecting that. so far, richelle, we have not seen any evidence of any israeli strikes. >> neick, what is the status of the talks in paris? >> reporter: yeah, so as we have been talking about all day, the u.s. officials along with

counterparts from italy, germany and france have been talking with the intermediataries, with hamas. >> that's turkey and qatar trying to get both sides to agree on some kind of cease-fire. hamas asking, insisting, on some kind of assurance by the west that their demands would be met during a cease-fire. what are those demands? opening up the border and lifting the israel siege. they say it's not so much with hamas but with israel's government. the israeli cap natural rejected john kerry's cell phone propose -- cease-fire proposal. you see them talking about continuing the operation inside of gaza until all of the tunnels, all of the tunnels fighters use to get from gaza to israel are eliminated. u.s. officials say israel doesn't seem very interested in the cease-fire proposal. >> israel has said this is about the tunnels. >> that's what these military operations are about. have they given any type of timeline of when they think they are going to accomplish what

they say they set out to do? >> well, of course, they are not predicting or at least not telling us what kind of timeline they need. but just look at the numbers. they found about 55 or 60% of the tunnels according to 7 are joyousisi military officials and it's taken them about nine days or eight days to do so. so, if you extrap late, they need at least three or four more days. you challenge them on that. they say, well, we are getting better at it every day. but these are very difficult to find, richelle. these are not just normal tunnels that people would sneak through on their hands and knees. these are concrete, reinforced tunnels, with multiple arms extending from the original tunnels. so the israeli military officials i am speaking to say it's very difficult to find them. they don't even have the technology really to know how to locate all of them. so this could take days. >> could mean that israel does not seem very interested or does not express a willingness for

this cease-fire until those tunnels are all destroyed. >> nick, how would you characterize the feelings of the people on the ground as this cease-fire has ended? >> yeah, this is really the main story here today. going into these communities, this is day 8 of the ground operations, day 9 of the ground operation. and we have seen a couple of communities especially absolutely devastated, and we have been spending most of our day in the shujayea neighborhood about two or or three miles to the east here you really get a sense of the devastation, almost apoclimitic seen. some of the areas have been oblitrated, half a mile long streak close to the israeli board, devastated by team bombs again and again and again. you see palestinian fighters' flags still flying there. there is a smell of death. you can smell the blood that stained the streets there and

you come up to families. they are picking through the rubble. you see them trying to retrieve bodies of dead loved ones. and tonight, what we see is evidence that people do not believe the cease-fire was going to go last. they came into their communities. they got what they needed to. they got what they could and so they all fled, hoping for a kind of cease-fire but not expecting that there would be one. >> maybe perhaps feelings of hopelessness. nick schifrin action live in gaza. thank you. palestinians used a cease-fire to sift through the rubble of bombed-out buildings. for neighborhoods, it's the first chance they have had to recover the dead. stefanie dekker was there. >> reporter: a 12-hour cease-fire that is negotiated means little, means nothing to go those who have lost everything. we are in an area in the north, a and they are actually just pulling a body out of the rub e

rubble. >> that is the sound of absolute grief as they are pulling people out of the houses here we are being told that just before this cease-fire took place, israeli warplanes hit this area extremely hard. there is areas of complete devastation, as you can see. they are still looking for more bodies, and people here will tell you with we met one lady 70 years old and said this has happened throughout my lifetime. israel has come in, has killed us, and has devastated our lives. when will it stop? >> stefanie dekker reporting there in southern gaza, 20 members he members from the same family were laid to rest. charles stratford was there. >> reporter: he is the person who brings me food. who is going to provide for me now? >> it only took the push of a button, a split-second for the israeli military to wipe out

almost 20 members of fatima's family. remnants of their lives lay ripped apart in this hole in the ground. the blast ripped the skin off mohammed's face. he and his brother, hussein, were the only people in the house to survive. >> we sell chickens and we go home. we have nothing to do with the resistance. we are civilians just like everyone else. >> we move to the nearby village of el hazar. the israeli military has been targeting what they say are hamas tunnels? >> i am standing about 200 meters from the border of the village near konunis. the israelis say no one can go in because they are looking for what they say are hamas-built tunnels. a lot of people haven't seen friends and relatives for a couple of days. it was about half an hour there were warning shots fired from

that area over the crowd here and a few minutes okay, we saw a tank moving from left to right. but we cannot get any closer than this. eight people were in this house when the israeli shell hit. miraculously, they all survived. we moved as close as we safely could. you could see the tanks kicking dust into the air. people here told us the israeli military had confiscated their relatives'mobile phones. >> translator: the international ross's red cross certain going to come. there are dead people in the houses. >> we demand ban ki-moon come to see what's happening on the ground. it's burning. there are bodies decomposing on the streets. >> translator: where is the safe fire? we have a right to see our relatives. give us mercy. >> the israeli military fired more warning shots as a drone hovered overhead. we retreated back down the road.

>> in a nearby cemetery, men struggled today lay the 19 members of the el najar family to rest. they frantically pulled earth into the tomb. >> netanyahu is a criminal who committees crimes every day against our children and our old people, too. >> reporter: the israelis are calling this a humanitarian cease-fire as the people of gaza bury their dead. al jazeera, gaza. >> scott anderson, deputy for reliefs and works agency for palestine refugees. this cease-fire, as brief as it was, what were your people able to do during this time? >> it's not only our people, richelle. it was everybody in the international humanitarian community trying to fix needed

infrastructure to try to restore a bit of normalcy. additional what you saw was that the normal citizens were going to the bank, getting cash, buying food and trying to get back home before the cease-fire ended. >> basically, just trying to make things better for a temporary amount of time just for this to all start up again? >> that's unfortunate. we had hoped that talks in harris would lead to a longer cease-fire after the 12 hours. during the 12 hours, everybody did the best they could to try to restore some normalcy for the civilian population ingars gaza. >> nick schifrin used the term "the smell of death." other reporters on the ground have described that, as well. can you tell us, give us a little more pour expectative on is that? >> i mean currently within our shelters, we have 165,000 people that have had to flee their homes from across mostly eastern gaza and northern gaza to try to escape the fighting that's gone on between israel and the people here in gaza.

since 165,000 people that we have to feed and water, provide hygiene for every day, we are shifting with world program about 200 metric tongs of food out to people and it's a challenge to keep water moving when roughly 42% of the gaza strip is basically a no-go zone. >> so you are providing shelter for all of these people, but a lot of this, you are going to need a long-term solution because many of these people will not have homes to go back to. is that right? >> that's correct. there has been thousands of homes that have been destroyed or rendered to a state that they are not liveable. unfortunately, we have dealt with this before as this has happened many times throughout the history of gaza where the fighting has affected the homes of civilians. so we will have to find a temporary means for them to live somewhere else through some form of cash assistance to help with rent until we can find a way to rebuild their homes. the biggest concern we have now as we move forward is: will there be construction material available on the market so that

civilians can rebuild their homes? >> of course, scott, you did reference obviously this is a cycle that seems to repeat itself every three years. can you put this in perspective compared on the other times this happened, the challenges you are facing? >> the challenges, unfortunately are much the same. i have been here since 2008. i was here at the operation at the end of 2008, 2009. i was here during 2012. and the hardest thing, i guess, to accept is, as you make friends with people, both here and gaza, and in israel, is that it's just normal people that are the most impacted, and they have to find a way to rebuild their lives over and over again. so, i am very hopeful that when the diplomats continue to talk in paris that we talk not only about a truce, but, also, a with a to address the underlying conditions that lead to these continued esclations. >> scott, i couldn't let you go without talking about what happened earlier this week when rockets actually hit one of your schools. many casualties, injuries. obviously there is no place that's safe in a war zone, but does it feel even more so this

time? >> i think that for me, it feels very much the same. for the civilian populous and the people that i have talked to in our shelters, they are very scared. they feel they have no where to return to, nowhere to flee. it's just about impossible for a palestinian that doesn't hold a passport from a foreign country to actually travel outside of gaza. so, you know, when people relocate, they are relocating only a few kilometers away from the front line, and it's very dangerous for them. most people don't feel safe. children don't feel safe and to the average 6 or 7-year-old child are this is the third major escalation they have had to live through in their their very short life. >> quite a task ahead for your organization and various other humanitarian organizations. scott anderson, thank you so much? >> thank you, richelle. >> in lip libya escalating violence has shut down the em in case tripoli. the staff was sent to tunisia. >> a lot of the violence is around our embassy but not on

the embassy. but nevertheless, it presents a very real risk to our personnel. >> a report on the decision to close the embassy. >> the u.s. government says that it suspending operations at the u.s. embassy in tripoli and all embassy staff including military guards have been evacuated to tunnisia. it took a 5-hour drive overnight to get all u.s. personnel out of libya. the reason for the evacuation is very simple: the u.s. says the security situation has deteriorated so much that fighting between various partisan groups in tripoli has come essentially to the embassy's doorstep. in light of the killing of the u.s. ambassador christopherstens and three other americans opinion september 11th, 2012, the obama administration made the decision to evacuate the personnel rather than have them put in harm's way. along with this decision to suspend operations at the embassy, which of course will have an impact on any libyans

who want to obtain a visa or do other business with the u.s. government, u.s. citizens who are inside libya right now are being told to depart. there is no evacuation plan for them. they are simply being told, call the airline. call the airport and leave immediately. >> joining us on site is jim walsh, research associate with mit research studies. we appreciate your insight. three years after the revolution, it's never a good sign when you have to shut down embassies. >> absolutely. >> never a good sign. how unstable is libya right now? >> i think it's pretty bad. this has been -- there has always been violence since the fall of kadalf. i. we have seen it escalate in the last couple of months. in particular, this last month. three things: one, the airport has come under fire. they have shut down the airport. so that sort of closes off an exit avenue. >> sure. >> if they had to move people out quickly and the violence is getting closer to the embassy and increasing in intensity, the number of casualties per day.

>> that's what the left the u.s. really no choice. the u.n. had already evacuated. turkey had already evacuated. >> those things are good reasons. >> yes. >> to get out. but is it also the u.s. being extremely cautious,ering on the side of caution because of what happened at the consulate? >> you don't know unless you are listening in on those phone calls or getting the traffic back and forth, the memos in the embassy. of course you would have to think that. but again, i would say the u.s. is not the first one out here. right? there are others who have already moved out and they are often reluctant to leave places but i mean i wouldn't blame them. certainly you would want to have an abundance of caution here. >> let's talk about what is happening in libya. secretary of state john kerry said the violence is coming from the hands of free wheeling militias. this is what's taking place in tripoli right now. who are these malishas? what are they trying to accomplish? >> the central government doesn't have a standing army, a strong force.

-- >> one in zitan, in the mountnus northwest and in the port city, there is another set of militias morris lammic-based more complicated than nationalists and islamists but two groups with guns battling each other. >> were these people who were once all on the same side? >> absolutely. absolutely. of course, this is classically a problem. it's a lot easier to oust a dictator than it is to rebuild a civil society and have a stable and coherent government. >> is that that will some of what we see is expected after a revolution? >> in part, it depends upon what a dictator leaves you behind and what you do with that. some are going to be more stable, going to have civil institutions and judiciaries and things that are good at making society hold together. >> wasn't libya, and it wasn't libya under kadalfi. it wasn't a we feel-developed

state. it was thin. when that went away, there wasn't a lot left behind. >> this is a loaded question. what do you see the future of libya being? >> the government has called for a cease-fire. it's called for truce talks between the malissmalishas. >> those conflicts seem to be increasing in number and intensity. i think in the near term t doesn't look very good. >> could it be quite awhile before the u.s. actually returns by their staff. >> i think they want a skeleton crew on the ground. we don't want to leave countries abandoned, to protect u.s. interests. i think they will try to get someone in as soon as possible. but they can't do it if there is a bunch fighting in the capital city. >> jill walsh, research associate with mit. thank you so much? >> thank you, richelle . next on "al jazeera america," unrest in eastern ukraine sentence waves of refugees from their homes.

the u.s. says russia is sending more military might to eastern john boehner, the

estimate is 15,000 firing into ukraine and there are reports of heavy shelling and the rebel stron hold. the european union sent its first economic. randy phillips has that story. >> reporter: the people of donetsk are abandoning their city. they fear the war that has reached its outskirts. some like tanya say they don't want to live under separatist control. >> they came to our town to occupi occupy the territory, to take our business and spoil our life, and i want to continue my business in different city. i want to leave to have future. >> outside donetsk, they are also on the move. only these people are fleeing the government army. what they say is it's indiscriminant shelling. this is a tower on the edge of the city.

shells have landed in its car park. almost every lived here is gone. >> viktor is still here. >> you have been here for some four years, i think? >> yeah. maybe five. >> he saent his wife and childrn away weeks ago. he's trying to decide whether he should go, too. >> my feelings are so complicated. on the one hand, i want to leave. but on the other hand, this is my native city. i just want to see the end of this situation. >> in central donetsk, empty malls, abandoned restaurants. >> donetsk is a dying city. the majority of shops and businesses and factories and cinemas here in the city center have all closed. people have left because they fear the worst. some are going west to government-controlled areas. some are going east to russia. >> these people are going to the russian city of rostal.

in kiev, an abandoned cement factory is a shelter for 200 people, including sasha who felt he had to move for the sake of his daughter, anna. >> translator: there is a real war there. lots of shelling. my daughter is disabled and she is much more relaxed now that we are out of it. >> back at dondon station, more goodbyes. nobody knows when they will see friends and family again. nobody imagined ukraine's crisis would come to this. barnaby phillips, al jazeera, dondon. >> the fighting between the ukrainian army and separatists is hampering the investigation into the downing of malaysian airlines flight 17. the u.k. is accusing russia of making false claims about that crash. the dutch government has identified one of their citizens as the first victim of the flight but isn't releasing the details. the parents of an australian woman on flight 17 visited the wreckage site today.

25-year-old fatima was on board the aircraft and believed to have been killed along with the other passengers. despite that, her family is still holding on to hope. >> i have no pain. i don't have. but of course i cry. of course. we thought, how survived? couldn't believe it. this but she is alive. >> the mother says she doesn't want condolences. she wants answers. russia's president, and australia's prime minister spoke today on getting a recovery team safe access to that site. u.n. peacekeepers found the second black box belonging to the air al jazeera flight that crashed last weekly. they say poor weather was most likely to blame. these are some of the images in a remote area of mali. all on board died. several investigators's are on

the site and france declared a three-day mourning period to honor the victims. next on "al jazeera america," the dangerous journey many my grants face on the corridor death. >> more gun violence in chicago. nearly 2 dozen killed already this weekend. inside gaza, the death toll exceeds 1,000. live pictures of what's happening related to the end of the cease-fire when we return.

welcome back to al jazeera america. the u.s. embassy in libya has shut down after officials say escalating violence between rival malitias has made it unsafe for the staff at tripoli. they were taken to tunisia overnight. the netherlands say they identified the first ticket vick timms from flight 17. the european union said the

first economic sanctions. the cease-fire has ended. a dispute among palestinian leaders led them to rejection a 4-hour extension. a government spokesperson told al jazeera the short-lived piece ended almost immediately. the number of palestindead, above 1,000. the temporary humanitarian cease-fire in gaza, as i said, is over. people are bracing for more violence. nicole johnson spoke to some war-weary residents in gaza. >> parts of the neighborhood are in ruins. there is not much for people to salvage here but they still try. tired men covered in dirt and if you will of despair. the gibari family had a house and a small shop. this is all they have left now. they have no faith in

cease-fires. >> translator: what will we achieve if we have a cease-fire without conditions? they could come again and destroy our houses. today, they hit our houses. tomorrow, they might open the border. they don't respect what's agreed upon. >> there are few words to describe what's happened here the entire neighborhood has been destroyed. buried beneath the rubble are the homes an lives of countless palestinians. once the cease-fire started, the people shujayea walked home. it was a answer it to take whatever was left. mattresses, clothes. some pushed their cars out. they don't know when they will be back. >> i came to my house to see what happened to it. we aren't here to take anything. we only took our clothes when we evacuated. it's an earthquake here you can't take anything from inside. go. take a look. >> this man has lost his home, but he's relieved he has all of

his family. >> all of my family, because of the bombardment and shellings, they get out and safe. but they were very horrified because of the heaviness of shelling and shells that were reaching everywhere. >> reporter: the smell of death is everywhere. dozens of bodies were taken out of the area. three wars in seven years. in people in gaza have rebuilt their homes and lives before. but they are worn down. where do you start rebuilding this? nicole johnston, al jazeera in gaza. >> thousands of pro-palestinian demonstrators protested in several cities across europe today. one of the largest being held in london. for the second straight week, as many as 10,000 people rallied outside the israeli embassy.

in paris, hundreds of people protested despite a police ban on that demonstration. more palestinian demontraitors were scheduled in chicago and dearborn michigan this afternoon. >> as islamic state gains ground, the group has killed minorities and destroyed sidelines and churches in that city. some residents still support the movement. al jazeera's omar al sala reports. >> since june, fighters belonging to the islamic state group ruled mussul. black banners across the city. at this gathering in the city center, there is some support. this shows government employees waiting to get salaries. some of the fighters talk to people here.

>> the group has imposed its own rules. it has issued a set of teachings that call on women to cover up and men to pray while smoking has been banned. fighters destroy the number of statues. they have also ordered shop owners what to sell. members of the group told us to stop selling indecent women's clothes that violate the tea teachings of israel -- of islam. >> many people are concerned, too scared, perhaps, to talk but there are others who praise the new reality. >> the conditions now are 100 times better than before. it's very good, and there is security. >> but for minorities, conditions are tough. christians were ordered to leave their homes marked in red and confiskiated. most shia muslims left the city.

sunnis who oppose the group's ideology are also being persecuted. >> mosul is only 30 minute drive from here. it's very dangerous for us to go in. there are people in mosul who say they prefer to live in dignity under strict teachings over marginalization and being ruled by a sectarian government. >> jafi says he remains the governor of mosul. he blames the government in baghdad for what's happened. >> the policies and bad practices of the army led people to desire salvation even if they sale for the devil. these will go away when the mistakes and bad practices by the islamic state start to appear. >> mosul is iraq's second largest city. islamic state fighters launched lightning assault against government forces to capture it. they are preparing for a tough fight to keep it.

omar al saleh on the outskirts of mosul. >> a al-qaeda group released video saying monair mohammed. they claimed he died in antac on syrian army attacks. he grew up in florida and traveled abroad abrought. the claims correspond. >> president obama says he is looking for a way to stop the flood of my grant children entering the u.s. he met with the leaders of three central american countries friday and promised to help with the root of the problem. more from the white house. >> reporter: president obama said all of the leaders recognize they have a shared responsibility for the problem. when it comes to the u.s. role right now, he said they need more facilities to deal with the kids and, also, more resources to help process their court cases. the president praised what he called the outpouring of

generosity from americans. families, non-profits and churches who have taken in these children while they wait for their court dates. but he warned that they ultimately will be repattreeiated. in other words, they will be sent home. >> i say that not because we like compassion but -- lack cooperation but in addition to being a nation of immigrants, we are a nation of laws. if you have a disorderly and dangerous process of migration, that not only puts the children, themselves at risk but it also calls to question the legal immigrants' immigration process of those who are properly applying and trying to enter into our country. >> the president said the u.s. and the central american countries need to work together to get at the root of the problem, namely violence and poverty. to that end, he talked about improving security but, also, trying to deal with drug trafficking and trying to deal with the flow of arms across borders. now, congress has some role in this because a lot of what the

president is talking about comes with a price tag. well, republicans are trying to craft their own proposal. they went behind closed doors on friday morning. here is texas republican bill flores afterwards. >> we all know the president caused this issue. the president has failed to lead on this issue. i think it's appropriate for congress to step into the breach and try to fix this issue doing nothing, i don't think is a good approach. >> republicans are concerned if they leave next week for a 5-week august recess that without coming up with their own propos proposal, president obama will be able to criticize them and shift the blame to them. they are trying to come up with their own ideas. now, those include adjustments to the 2008 law that deals with child trafficking, also trying to get more judges on the border, perhaps more national guard troops. these are not proposals when taken as a whole that democrats are likely to support. en as proposals fly around capitol hill, there is a question whether they can pass

anything over the next week. >> the president of guatemala toldays he agrees with president obama's call for all nations to work together but molina says the u.s. should share the blame. >> the united states has a responsibility, too. we must work together and president obama is clear on this: we have to come up with a program to combat the situation. >> the majority of the almost 60,000 child i am grasped who crossed the border have come from honduras, guatemala and el salvador. friday, we brought you the story of one honduran teenager trying to cross the border. the final part can be the most dangerous, the most deadly. more on the so-called corridor of death" that leads to u.s. soil. >> reporter: 15-year-old brian soler left friday morning. he had been waiting for a chance to cross, but despite all warnings -- >> if you died?

>> oh, well, he answered. at this moment, he may already be on u.s. soil. we are waiting to hear. >> at worse, ryan's journey could take him here, the dessertert of brooks county texas, 950 square miles of cactus, mountain lions and sun where the sheriff's office picks up an avenue of two bodies a week. >> how likely do you think that if he comes you might find him but put him in a body bag? >> i hope that doesn't happen. i hope i don't have to pick him up. >> chief deputy shows me a st staggering number. 403 bodies since 2009. >> but you know looking at this number, this is like a boeing jet going down. >> uh-huh. >> in your brush every three years. >> that's how many people are dying. >> yeah. >> is that number real to you? >> yes. it is real. uh-huh. >> a ride-along with the deputy

shows us why. smugglers pull over six miles before a boarder patrol checkpoint. this is where the smuggler leaves the journey on foot. >> if they twist their ankle, if they fall down, when they are resting, if they rest and they fall asleep and they don't wake up in time to go with the group, they leave them behind. >> underneath the cover of the brush, water bottles, coats shed in the heat, even deoderant, things that keep people alive and remind them they have dignity. >> you are trying to stay a little bit sane and everything, not just being pushed like almost livestock or something. >> out here even a few hours in the 100-degree heat drains you. after getting these shots, our photographer feels nauseous and dizzy, signs of heat exhaustion. when the temperature goes up, so, too, does the body count. >> do you ever want to just scream to these people, don't

come because you are going to die? >> well, what i am hoping is that government becomes more pro-active and tell the respective countries to make sure they keep their people where they should stay. >> but it's difficult to deliver that message to those who need to hear it most. since october, more than 57,000 children have crossed alone. this boy has joined the wave. hid de-joe castro, the texas/mexican border. >> another weekend of gun violence in chicago. police say 13 people have been shot since yesterday afternoon. among them, a 3-year-old boy who is in critical condition. on the other side of the city, a 13-year-old boy was killed when a gunman opened fire in a convenience store. the teen's family obviously is devastated by this needless loss. >> senseless act of violence that occurred today, that he did

not deserve to die at a young age of 13, which he was going to celebrate his 14th birthday next month. >> chicago is struggling with ongoing gang violence last weekend, 47 people were shot. next on "al jazeera america," new troubles fogood morning. officials are investigating the auto maker's air bags. details next. this video: a massive wall of dust cancelled flights out west. details when we come back.

america mobile app, available for your apple and android mobile device. download it now the fastest growing religion

in mexico is the saint of death. >> that's being linked to gruesome crimes. >> reporter: death has attracted this mass of followers in mexico city. saint death, that is. they come to pray at one of the capitol's most violent neighborhoods to ask for her protection and favors. believers say they are drawn to the saint because she doesn't judge them, rich or poor, good or bad. all are equal in death's eyes but in recent years, authorities and the catholic church have linked followers of the white girl as she is known to violence. we went into the market where anything is for sale, even a hired gun. >> we met a believer in santa muerte. he has her likeness edtched on her skin. >> do you pray to her before you go out and kill someone? >> yes, of course.

if i go out to do a job, i pray to her before i leave. i light a candle so that she illuminate did the path for me. >> way, i feel protected and i feel that she is taking care of me. >> the catholic church has gun its own war against santa muerte. they have called in members of the vatican for exorcism. >> a priest is performing many more exorcisms than he did in the past because with the rise. followers, there is an increase in the number of people possessed by the devil. >> in 2012, father kara performed an exorcism on a hit man and killed dozens of people and cut up their bodies. >> he was possessed by the devil. >> back in mexico city, we met ernesto guzman. he used to pray. through repeated exorsisms, he

says he has left her behind. >> when the father finished, i was crying. i felt tired. yes understand why i was crying because i had hardly ever cried before. some exorsisms lead to people vomiting or screaming out in pain. mental health experts say it points to people's psychological and not spiritual problems. on the edge of mexico city stands the largest monument to santa muerte. it's here where vargas preaches every sunday. >> we don't pray to the devil. we pray to the angel of death, and we ask her for a better world, a tomorrow void of darkness and illuminated night. >> devil or saint, she is a menti mexican icon who inspires faith and fear. adam rainy, al jazeera, mexico city. >> another investigation into the safety of general motors vehicles, the national traffic safety administration is looking into complaints that airbags fail in some chevrolet impalas.

they are testing modelses from 2011 through 2009, days after gm announced it's recalling six other models. it has recalled tens of thousands of models fors a variety of safety reasons. fed ex said it plans to fight federal charges connected to online pharmacies. they are accused of shipping drugs to people who do not have valid prescriptions. the company said it would be an invasion of their customer's priva privacy to stop such cleavers. last year ups made $40 million to settle similar charges and vowed to overhaul its procedures. unlocking your cell phone is a step closer to being legal. unlocking allows people to switch carriers and bring their old cell phone with them. on friday, congress unanimously passed this legislation. a week ago, the senate passed the same bill and the president promised to sign it. the bill for byrd from unlocking multiple cell phoneses. more storms are on the way to

arizona. they could involve blinding death clouds. storms yesterday near phoenix kicked up heavy clouds and dust and led to grounding incoming flights at sky harbor airport. the area has been dealing with record high temperatures and pop-up storms all summer. for more, let's turn to our meteorologist, rebecca stevens. the weather in that part of the country really runs the gammet. doesn't it? >> it does. this time of year, it goes from desert into these downpours with the wind out of the southwest. it is typical to see heavy rainfall come in. a lot in mexico arizona utah, nevada. the problem is because it is a dessert, we are going to see the down drafts from the storms push that dust up in the air and then we have those big huge dust storms like phoenix had. good news for phoenix is it looks like you are not going to be in the line ofstorms today. it looks like there is nothing really coming in directly towards you. however, we are still going to see a lot of thunderstorms

pushing up in the higher elevations of arizona into nevada. let's talk dryness we know we have a drought situation in parts of the southwest and the west. but when we look at arizona, it's not really a problem here. well, granted, we are mind when it comes to looking at the departure for normal. when it comes to rainfall, we are anywhere from one to two inches behind for a couple of our cities here, phoenix, for instance, but flagstaff, a higher number of inches below. you are about a little over 5 and a half inches behind when it comes to rainfall. >> could be made up here in the next month. it's amongsoon season. we know we are going to get rein out of the storms. checking in on the drought, see the percentage of the state that is currently in the drought situation in the bright red. compare it to california, extreme drought where they could really use some more mountain snow or some heavier rains. we are going to keep our fingers crossed that that if we do get some element of el n i & o year,

that will bring typically el n i & o will have a storm track that will bring in a little more mountain snow into southern california. we look at the satellite. you can see the white in the moisture in the whites and greens and those storms are block. not only in parts of the southwest but also in the upper midwest where we've got severe warnings in place for these storms come until south of the great lakes, even southern indiana. we are going to have a problem with those storms bringing in very large hail, powerful wind gusts. we have potential for tornados, too, as we look into the central midwest. we are going to mon tar that but we are also going to look forward to cool blast of air. this is in part what's causing severe thunderstorms tonight, the cool air out of canada. as that, inc., farther south, we will see storms starting to shift a little farther sound into the southeast and along the

eastern seaboard. temperatures right now, mid-80s. let's look at the hot spots. this is where the humidity plus the heat makes it feel like it's 96 in san antonio, almost 100 is the feel in el paso. it's a very heavy feel to the air in and around texas, oklahoma, and that matter, new mexico. so we will expect temperatures to cool slightly. the good news again, the southwest action we are not going to see the record highs hit like we did earlier this week. >> i did hear you say cool down a little bit. every little bit counts? >> good to hear. thank you so much. scientificvists come up with a new tool to help them predict where the earth will open up. natasha goneime has more on the history of sink holes? >> sink holes fascinate. eight classific sports cars were sentence below ground in february. the national members of the

corpsvette museum has soared. >> jeffrey bush was swallowed as he slept in his home in florida at last year. his body was never found. >> i thank the lord for not taking my daughter and the rest of my family. >> florida is one of the states where sink holes create the most damage. they happen when heavy rain washes through the soil and dissolves soggy soft rock. geologist have been mapping the state to the find out where sink holes have already happened. there is no database showing where sinkholes might open up. >> they are troublesome because they are hard to predict and they give very little signature on the surface. >> researchers at the university of central florida say this mini sinkhole stimulator may lead to an answer. it looks like something thrown together in a garage experiment, half of a 55 gallon with soil, pvc pipes and sensors connected to at that computer. >> it's a cheap budget device,

but it still gives a very good, accurate result. >> that's the beautiful of it. >> researchers say after two years and hundreds of tests, the sinkholes emerging in this simulator show changes in water levels underground are the key signs. they are hoping to develop software to identify sinkholes long before they swallow up property or people in the computer. >> there will be a better more confident way of looking at certain areas and saying, it looks like not only is there a sink hole in the history of this area but also a likely that something is happening right now. >> the researchers hope that one day people won't wake up to these scenes of sinkhole destruction. natasha goneimt florida. >> items we throw away turned into a collection of high-priced contemporary art. on tape, a rare look at some

endangered sea creatures.

>> it's a chilling and draconian sentence... it simply cannot stand. >> this trial was a sham... >> they are truth seekers... >> all they really wanna do is find out what's happening, so they can tell people... >> governments around the world all united to condemn this... >> as you can see, it's still a very much volatile situation...

>> the government is prepared to carry out mass array... >> if you want free press in the new democracy, let the journalists live. he makes tens of millions of dollars turning balloon animals into art. contemporary artist geoff coontz has been calledprovacative. a display of his most comprehensive collection. here is a look: >> reporter: think every day household objects. add light, glass cases and suddenly, vacuum cleaners become art. in 1980, this was one of the very first big works by a man who has taken the art world by storm. >> geoff koons is one of the most important artists in the post-war era. he has broken boundaries in terms of art and popular culture, the market, celebrity.

he has pushed the limits on the envelope of what an artist can be today. >> now, 35 years into a remarkable career, a retrospective of his work takes over all four floors of the top contemporary art venue in the united states. never before has the whitney museum done this for a single artist. that's because there are few as influential as geoff koons who mixes the munday dane with the extraordinary. >> objects and images, they are metaphors for this. they are metaphors for self acceptance and the acceptance of others. so just to accept things as they are, perfect in their own being for what they are as that being. >> it's not without controversy. a version of this aluminum dog that looks like a huge toy made from balloons sold last year for a record $58 million. those prices make koons one of the wealthiest of contemt temporary artists whose expensive work can be seen by

the public. >> bubbles for billionaires are some of the most contemporary art in a generation. geoff koons never fails to generate strong reactions? >> i think the best modern and con temporary artists challenge us, don't just provide decoration for our lives. they ask new questions for their work. sometimes they make us feel uncom40al. >> the age of 59 tkoons says he is planning to produce work like this, challenging, playful, popular, provacative for another 30 years at least. daniel lak, al jazeera, new york. >> dozens of baby sea turtles have hatched and are on the move in the florida keys. a high-def cam captured them. loggerhead sea turtles are among five species threated or endangered. they are cute. >> the next head of the smi smithsonian will break down

whether college is worth the riding cost and discuss how innovation fuels the country. check out our website, aljazeera.com. . >> it has become too expensive. the price tag is so scary to look at. >> cornell university's president says higher education is worths the cost though schools need to be run more efficiently. david skorton weighs in as well on skills training versus traditional education. >> the vast majority of people are making a living doing fine in the country without a very advanced degree. >> the veteran administrator has spoken out nationally on campus suicide