>> and the importance... >> experiencing it, has changed me completely... >> of the lives that were lost in the desert >> this is the most dangerous part of your trip... >> an emotional finale you can't miss... >> we got be here to tell the story. >> the final journey borderland continues... only on al jazeera america sglaufrnling. this is al jazeera america live from new york city. i am richelle carey. here are today's top stories. iranian troops join the fight against the islamic state in iraq. a sdmrom attic show of support fordiplomat attic show of suppot for israeli strikes intensify as the palestinian president seeks a cease-fire. there are no visible fire worked, but a volcanic eruption is underway.

arch we begin in iraq who aere fight against the islamic state group is widening. hundreds of iranian troops cross into iraq to help kurdish fighters take back a city from the i.s. it's the first report of iranian soldiers directly involved in the situation. jennifer glasse has more from erbil. >> reporter: it was an operation aimed by the iranians, it seems, as protecting their own border essentially because the face where they are fight something 30 kilometers from that frontier. there has been iranian involvement in this fight in the sense of advisors, iranian-backed malitias, security officials who come and go between the two countries but this does, indeed, seem to be the first time that regular troops have been involved. they stayed. they were engaged in the fighting, and they retreated very early this morning, we are told, back across the border.

the peshmerga say they are going to continue their effort to try to retake the town where they are not fighting not justice lammic state fighters but tribunal fighters who have allied themselves with the islamic state group. the iraqi government is participating with helicopter strikes. >> there were multiple bombings across iraq today including in the capitol, baghdad. thirteen people died after a car full of explosives rammed into a milita military. threeplosions in kirkuk killed 18 people. all three car bombs exploded near offices where kurdish forces reside. another explosion happened last month in the kurdish regional capitol of erbil. several people were injured there. >> attack in erbil comes as kurdish forces try to keep the islamic state group from advancing on the city. the fighting is just on the out skirts of the town. >> the islamic state group has

carved out what it is calling a new country from the territories of iraq and syria. this bridge is a dividing line, part of a 1,000 kilometer. we are at the village that is the gateway to erbil, the capitol of the semi autonomous region in northern iraq. the warring sides are not far apart. the peshmerga has taken new ground but despite this gain t won't be easy to win the fight against the islamic state group. even u.s. officials acknowledge that. the kurds say they are fighting for their existence, even the nephew of the president of the kurdish region is on the front line. sir van barzani says they are facing a strong, well-armed and dangerous enemy. on this front, the peshmerga

aren't getting support because the islamic state group is adapting to the new reality. >> group has been using sophisticated repry as well as improvised explosive devices to slow the advance of forces. the peshmerga would welcome more help but it hasn't had a presence in the north since the islamic state group took control of the hartland in june. >> between iraqi forces, military forces, the s, it is necessary because when we made a coordination together, we could respond to them and fighting them better than now. >> reporter: further east, there is cooperation. iraqi forces are helping the kurds recapture the arab towns. this will be a long-term battle. so far, the kurds and the shia-led iraqi army don't have the support of local sunni communities. they need them on board or else this could turn into a war against iraq sunnis instead of a

war against the islamic state group. al jazeera. the islamic state group is holding up 20 western prisoners including journalits and aid workers. officials say the aid workers are italians, just 21 and 20 years old, respectively. the international committee of the red cross say three of its workers were kidnapped last october and are still being held by the group. joining us from washington, d.c. is j. j. green, al jazeera national security contributor. we are learning today that hundreds of iranian troops have crossed the border to help kurdish fighters take back a city from the islamic state group. what is the motivation of the iranian troops? and how does this further complicate the situation? >> reporter: isil is an

existential group, not just to the kurds, stot, not just to the shias in iraq, not just the folks living under their dominance, but it is an existential threat to iran in some regards. iran recognizes just as as the rest of the world is beginning to wake up to this fact that isil is a $2 billion organization. and they are actually holding territory from which they can operate. they actually have income, money coming in. they are paying money out. they are supposedly providing social services. they have sophisticated weapons. they have momentum. they have skilled fighters and, and they've got a plan. so, iran recognizes that this plan is not going to stop at the iranian/iraq border. >> that's the reason why they are involved in it. >> when you describe all of these things, some of these things function going down a checklist you would be able to check off for al-qaeda as well. but not all of them. what is al-qaeda doing now?

>> al-qaeda is recognizing and understanding that while they pushed and paved the way for jihadist organizations and interests for 20 years or more, this organization has excelled and superseded essentially their dom najs and prominence. they recognize there may be some opportunities for them in the future. the way that isil is pushing and progressing and moving and acting, it's going to essentially draw attention, not just from iran, not just from syria, not just from turk observing, the u.s., the brits and the froefrnling. it's going toench. it's going to draw attention from the withhold world. they will come down on this organization in iraq or rather al-qaeda recognizes that what it needs to do is to continue to hunker down and focus on its own planni planning and, also, to recognize that they, too, are going to be a bigger target. so they can't be very happy about anything that isil is doing right now. >> you know, you talked about syria, and yesterday, ben roads

said the administration will not be restricted by borders when it comes to dealing with the islamic state. so does that mean u.s. involvement in some way you in syria, although the u.s. clearly has been hesitant to do so even when the president tried to make a case when he talked about basha al assad didn't do anything. now, is this time that the u.s. might be paving the way to in some way become involved in what's happening in syria and, actually, in this case, in some odd way, be on the same side as assad? >> well, the u.s. is never going to say it's on the same side as bashar al-assad. >> but they would be. >> it is time. it is pastime for the u.s. to get engaged and involved military planners have been talking about something for a long time. what it was or what it would be, i am not sure.

i spoke to joint chiefs chairman martin dempsey more than a year ago, and he told me that there were plans being drawn up for possible military i intervention in syria. but their whole goal has been to advi advise, train and assist u.s. allies to go in but as you astutely point out, richelle, the time is now. too many things have happened. too many things on the table. there is too much risk for the homeland to not. so, it looks as though the u.s. is preparing for some type of activity there? >> when you say that the plans are in the works, they have been for a while. what was the tipping point? this awful, brutal beheading of james foley that perhaps got the american audience to pay attention more? what was it? because isis, even before we saw isis, the islamic state. pardon me. before the american public saw that video, they were just as brutal even before we saw that.

>> all too often, unfortunately, public pressure is the tipping point for a lot of administrations and a lot of government figures to take action this has been out there for years. we who cover the national security beat have been watching this group more from the shambles that it was after al r kawai, we recognized and knew then this organization was one day going to be a threat again. the u.s. has known about this. there are people in the intelligence community, the military community, who have done an excellent job keeping tabs on it. but it's all about what the government, the leadership. government wants to do. and they now recognize they don't have the luxury any more of not doing anything. they have to take a strong stance, take some strong steps and some definitive steps in dealing with this organization before it becomes a problem, worse than it is here at home.

>> j. j. green, al jazeera security contributor from washington, d.c. j. j., thanks as always? >> pleasure. >> join us tonight as we take a deeper look inside the islamic state group. we will look at the group's recruiting efforts and exactly who is funding that organization. >> that's tonight in a deeper look at 8:00 p.m. eastern. the fight over eastern ukraine took a diplomatic turn today. angela merkel arrived in kiev. she met with the president, pet two paperwork paperwork. she said that can't happen without better border controls and that russia needs to come to the table. >> i would like to express my gratitude for the meeting. i am glad to be here for the territory integrity and unity of ukraine. i hope we will solve the problem with jaefrm's assistance. we alsogermany's assistance. we also discuss the way peace

has to go to. >> this comes on the heels of an emerge he knency u.n. security sub sill meeting after russian convoys crossed into ukraine without authorization. more than 2w08 ukrainians have died since april, another 5,000 injured scanni . >> we have to bear in mind that the european union has introduced a whole raft of sanctions targeting various different russian industrial and economic and agricultural sector, several travel bans have been put in place when it comes to key diplomats or leading officials within, for instance, the intelligence service. last month, the european union introduced its broadest, most wide-ranging list of sanctions yet deliberately targeting russia's banking sector. considering that germany is russia's largest trading partner within the european union, the aim is, really, to send the clearest signal yet of pro

shop's dissatisfaction with russia's handling of this. as to poroshenko, having angela merkel, europe's most powerful leader in the ukrainian capitol the day before independence day is going to be seen of something as a coup. this as poroshenko and the new leadership are still trying to con sol consolidate power at home and abrought. there are pockets of resistance across the luhansk region where we have spent most of the day and the donetsk region. ukrainian forces are really now trying to tighten the noose on these last pockets of resistance. in other towns that are now free of separatists, the rebuilding process has already begun. but it's a very long road ahead, the financial package offered by germany will go a very long way, but still, much is to be done when it comes to regaining the trust of people here in eastern

ukraine, which is, of course, a very long way from what's going on politically in kiev. . >> nate barker reporting there. palestinian president macquarma mabmous abbas met wet the egyptian president in cairo today and discussed ways to reestablish talks between hamas and israel. >> at the moment, egypt will take care of the negotiations. it's outreach out to the palestinian designation that includes all palestinian faxes, including hamas in order to return to the negotiation table to achieve a long-term cease-fire and to discuss other issues on a negotiation table afterwards. >> at the same time, hamas signed a pledge backing any future palestinian bid to join the international criminal court. the move could expose hamas and israel to war crimes investigations. in the past, hamas has refranld

from joining the courttrained from joining the court. israeli airstrikes destroyed several neighborhoods across the gaza strip today. one toppled a 13-story residential block where residence say 44 families lived. jane ferguson has more on today's fighting from gaza. >> reporter: this is the sabra areas where homes were flattened in the latest barrage of israeli airstrikes. witnesses say the intense attacks destroyed everything here two or missiles hit a house. all of the block has come down. 500 meters, everything was destroyed. there is nothing still standing. people didn't have time to escape. everyone was injured. no one was left. >> it wasn't just the sabra area. dozens of strikes lit up gaza's skies. medical teams struggled to bring the dozens of wounded people to

hospital. we were all sitting at home, so we held our children around us. suddenly blood was gush from my head. i put a piece of cotton on my head and went down stairs to call for an ambulance, and we found many people wounded in the streets. >> israel says rocket sites were targeted. residence say homes, farms and schools are continually being hit. the israeli military says more than 80 rockets were fired from gaza on friday. a 4-year-old israeli boy was killed in the village of naha nahal ohz. the first israeli child to have died in the 6-week long conflict that claimed the lives of more than 500 palestinian children. israel's army said it was launched from a hamas run school sheltering the displaced. with that came more warnings of attacks on residential areas in

gaza. >> we call on all civilians who have ammunition used to fire into israel to leave their houses because we will target these locations in the coming hours. >> hamas released this video which appear to show continued rocket fire toward targets in israel. mosh 2,000 palestinians have been killed in the deposition live populated gaza strip. with the collapse of cease-fire talks, there is little immediate hope of an end to the violence. jane ferguson, al jazeera, gaza. >> marches and rallies across the nation today in new york, thousands demand justice for a man who died as police tried to subdue him in a choke hold. in missouri shows support for the police officer who shot michael brown two weeks ago.

thousands of people markche in new york city, starting on the staten island street where eric garner died. a police officer awused a choke hold to restrain him. >> the mood is emotional. it's very angry from time to time. we are just listening to speeches, including by eric garner's family. the ref reverend al sharpton wh organized this gave a fiery speech. it's been peaceful, quite well organized. people marched about a half a kilometer through the center of staten island's small downtown from the spot where eric garner was arrested by police, put a in a choke hold that seemed to result in his death. here, they marched to the front of the district attorney's office where they are calling for the federal government to get involved. there are investigations into the police officers involved and we expect more later this week, possibly criminal charges. i think the reason people want

the federal authorities to be involved is because the same authorities here, the new york authorities, are investigating themselves. they see the federal justice department getting involved might lead to situations like this not arising again. time and again, men of color, african-american men, are shot in this country, and people here in the crowd are saying, not enough is done about it. it shouldn't keep happening. >> that's the message you hear over and over from people this is crowd. >> it's been two weeks since a police officer shot and killed an unarmed teenager in ferguson, missouri. since then, there have been nightly protests demanding justice for michael brown. today, there was a show of support for the officer who shot him. robert ray joins us live from south st. louis. tell us about the tone of this rally. >> reporter: good afternoon, well, i am at a support darrin wilson rally here in st. louis. a couple of hundred people here at one point, people inside this bar here and people outside the

bar. people coming by and honking. you can see the signs here it's a feisty crowd. they are loud. if you look across the street, there is the counter protesters, the people that don't believe in this message here so a lot of different people out here supporting the police officer that allegedly shot michael brown nearly -- a little over two weeks ago. the actual -- there is a website where money is being raised, well over $200,000 has been raised already for officer darren wilson. it looks like this is one of the bigger supporting groups for officer darren wilson. richelle? >> you are saying it's one of the bigger groups. if you have to eyeball it, about how many people would you say were there? was there a bigger group earlier? >> reporter: now there have been groups in the last couple of days doing supportive

demonstrations but this is the largest we have seen but earlier today, we talked to some of the people out here when it wasn't so loud. let's have a listen to what they had to say. >> support him because he is innocent until proven guilty and the media is trying to convict him before he is even tried. >> i am not related to an officer, but i haven't met an officer that i did not like. i appreciate the job they do, and i am here to thank them. >> we are out here to support darren wilson, to get his side of the story out and support the rule of law, which should be which this entire case should be evaluated on the rule of law. >> reporter: there are other protests going on here today in the st. louis area, actually in ferguson, the naacp has about a 200-plus people that took off about 2:00 o'clock central heading down the block to the epi center of whish this has been going on. this is a loud crew in support

of officer darren wilson. >> have we actually heard from officer wilson, yet, any type of statement from him? any statement on his behalf from anybody? >>. >> reporter: no statement from the family, but we have heard from -- a statement today on behalf of him out here today. one woman came out and said to the press and all of the people here that they feel the media is making it about race. we support officer darren wilson. we've got your back. >> that's the message out here richelle. >> robert ray in south st. louis. robert, thank you so much. the you have been rest in ferguson, missouri prompted officials to delay the start of a school year for a week. >> didn't stop some parents to use it as a learning experience.

natasha gname reports. >> 8-year-old jabril hasn't had a chance to wear the outfit he picked out for the first day of a new school year. but for two days this week, he did get the chance to learn more about animals and make new friends at this pop-up school at the ferguson library. >> it was cool. >> it's been dubbed the school of peace. due to the turmoil in ferguson, school was postponed more than a week for the district,'s 15,000 students. >> left families scrambling to make last-minute day care arrangements. jarell's mom says she and her husband had to take days off from work. they were relieved to send him back to class even if it's non-traditional. >> regardless of what's going on right now, you have to teach your children, in the midst of the storm. >> volunteers say they tried to create a sanctuary for fergusonts kids. a counselor devoted hours this

week to talk to those who appear to be struggling with the emotions and fear of almost two weeks of intermittent violence. on monday, a dozen kids lined up to go to school. on friday, as word spread, there were more than 200. >> but i will tell you we are doing something wonderful and imagine cal that we had to turn a child away yesterday because this child's school was in session. they tried to skip their school to come here to go to school. >> earlier this week, jarell joined his parents to protest. when he saw the police lined up, he was initially necessary. he actually had said to me, he says, i wanted to be a policeman, but now, i don't know. are they like scary? so we had him actually take a picture with a policeman and kind of get a feel that they are okay, you know, because he was actually walking past and really, really scared. i was like, you don't have to be scared to uphold the law. >> why would you like to be one? >> you get to the have a lot of

fun. you also help people. >> jarell will beability finally, wear that back to school outfit on monday. his parents have tried to use the unrest on their street as a real-time history and social studies lesson for their son. >> yeah, he learned that first of all, we have to stand up for what we believe in. and nothing is given to you. you have to go after the things that you want in life. so he's learned a great deal. >> natasha gname, al jazeera, ferguson, missouri. >> california lawmakers have passed a bill aimed at preventing a repeat of the tragedy near et cal santa barbara campcus. he killed himself after police asked police to check on him. officers visited him but did not search for weapons. yesterday, the california senate passed a bill requiring police to check gun ownership data basis when they check on potentially dangerous individuals. now, it's up to the governor to either sign or veto that bill.

coming up, russia versus ukraine and the international supporters. the convoluted diplomacy and military aspects of this ongoing strife. >> deep-sea treasures are found three stories underground in mexico city's new aquarium. i am adam raney. coming up, we will tell you about the business behind this new attraction.

>> these young people deserve justice >> anatomy of a protest... >> ...the police look like they're getting ready to come down the street >> with militarized

police departments >> forces their message... >> they're actually firing canisters of gas... >> a fractured community demands answers >> what do we want? >> justice! >> when do we want it? >> now! >> faul lines, al jazeera america's hard hitting... >> there blocking the door... >> ground breaking... >> truth seeking... >> we have to get out of here... award winning investigative documentary series... special episode ferguson: city under siege only on al jazeera america welcome back to "al jazeera america." here is a look at your top stories. iranian-assisted kurdish forces in eastern iraq. huvenz of iranian soldiers crossed into iraq in a joint operation with peshmerga fighters to take back the town of diala from the islamic state. israeli airstrikes continue to pound gaza today. one strike hit a mosque in southern gaza killing five people. another destroyed a 13-story residential complex that witnesses say housed 44 families. scan scan hundreds in t

angela merkel is meeting with ukraine's president trying to work out an end of the fighting and a convoy of trucks has returned to russia. joining me to discuss all of that via skype is jill walsh, a research associate at mit security program in cambridge, massachusetts, this afternoon. jim, angela merkel said this problem with ukraine could be solved if the shean sharp russia border were tightened t sounds so simple. right? the west says that the reason that matters is because the west says that russia is sending weapons across the border to the rebels. but really, it can't be that simple to tighten the border, or is it? >> reporter: did would be simple if all sides agreed to do that. she is right. germany, the united states, when they talk about off ramps for

putin, that's what they are talking about. we need a diplomatic resolution to this. right now, russia doesn't seem to be in the mood for that. as recently as friday, there were nato reports, from nato, not ukraine which is, you know, their information is a little shaky at times but nato said that russians have fired from within ukraine. as long as russia wants to do that, it's not going to agree to abide by any sort of agreement about the border. they will continue to penetrate that border. >> let's talk about the trucks, the heurmanitarian trucks. right? >> what russia says they were the trucks have left. could that be seen as a deescalati deescalation? what do you make of this truck controversy? >> you know, i think -- i don't know if i have a peculiar opinion about this or not. but here it goes. i think this was just sort of a probe by putin to see if he could create a set of circumstances that were to his advantage. and it sort of started -- and,

of course, i am sure it is desperate in the, you know, rebel towns, the government forces are making advances. >> that's what is sort of pushing this to a moment of crisis, is that the ukrainian forces are doing well. so, i am sure there is a humanitarian crisis. i think russia was using the quan voy as a way to see if it could gain an advantage. had the ukrainians attacked that convoy which entered without permission, without the red cross, and ukraine, then that might have given russia a pretext to, you know, take all of those troops on the border and intervene. ukraine wisely chose not to do that. >> let's talk about germany. germany, we started out talking about the suggestions, the nudging that angela merkel was giving. how important is germany's role in all of this? >> i think germany is important. i know we look at this through a u.s. lens but germany is the biggest, most economic clshing lshing prosperous country in europe. it's important for that reason alone. historically, german relations

world war i, world war ii and post g relations with russia has been ant important policy priority. you have someone running the most important country in europe and someone who would like to see this thing resolved because they would like to have good german/russian relations but they can't, obviously, no one is going to tolerate invation. so she is there to try to do some diplomacy. i think it's a good idea. >> german aside, other international efforts aside, who really has the power to end this? and let's not forget there is a humanitarian crisis in crain right now. who has the power to end this? russia or ukraine? >> i think they both do. i like the way you framed that. you are absolutely right. there is a reason to end this. obviously, russia could decide, you know, in a minute to shut off the faucet for arms, tanks, troops that are flowing in to ukraine. but, you know, ukraine has to be able to step up to the plate and do some, too, like try to reach

out politically and be inclusive of those pro-russian cities and regions in the east. so ukraine is not off the hook here it has to do stuff. but at the end of the day, it's russia that's sending stuff into crain and there is not going to be an agreement until russia decides that. here is, sort of, i think their choices route now so far this diplomatically. nato said about instration. they could go all-in. i don't think they want to do that but i think what the rebels against the wall here, up against it, they are probably going to continue to feed this conflict and try to buy time. >> wow stark choices. >> that's why we call on you, jim walsh from cambridge, massachusetts. thank you, jim. the ivory coast has sealed the western bordered in an effort to protect people from west africa's massive ebola

outbreak. it has killed over a thousand people. meanwhile, hard-hit sierra leone passed a law inputting prison time for anyone caught hiding an e bobbola person. they say it contributed to the gross under estimation defendant current crisis. the world health organization says more than 26 people have been infected in and nearly 1500 killed in the country outbreak. hit hardest, linebiera with more than a thousand cases and. sierra leone has stein 900 infections and 400 deaths. guinea has 600 cases and 400 dead. in the nigeria, 16 people have contracted the virus. five have died. meanwhile, chinese health officials are testing emergency response procedures for the disease. authoriti authorities conducted an exercise scenario involving a hypothetical patient suffering from a fever after returning from africa. the multi-agency response, an

isolation drill, took roughly a half hour from start to finish. united nations aids workers are sounding the alarm over a pending famine in somalia, 3 years there, nearly al quarter of a million people died of malnutrition and starvation. no 00,000 children under the age of 5 are acutely malnourished. this report from southern somalia where 3 million people need help. >> reporter: in drought-stricken soth earn somalia, a familiar feeling of anxiety is setting in, in the population. the livestock already started dying. sources of water dry up. people hearsay they are fearing for their lives. >> i doubt if we can go on living about this. we could escape but i don't know where to go. the drought is everywhere. >> the condition worsens across the day. across this region, thousands are on the move.

they are joining camp for displaced people like this one just 40 kilometers from the kenyan border, just one of a few places where aid can reach with ease. mala kali is one of the new arrivals. >> reporter: i saw conflict and hunger. people were being killed for no reason. we were left to our own means, and we are getting no help from outside. >> reporter: nowhere has this conflict affected more than the town of hadu. for years, it was controlled by al shack obvious fighte-- al-sa fighters. the fighters didn't go far. now, people are suffering from a complete blockade enforced by the armed group. at combination of drought, conflict and high food prices caused by the al-shabaab blockade is pushing the people of this town to the very brink. there is a shortage of almost everything here there is little

activity at the main market. most of the stalls remain closed. the few traders say business is bad. whatever little aid the government has received remains stuck in warehouses in far away mogadishu. ailed workers are discussing whether to declare a familiarain or not. somalia's minister has been visiting the drought-hit areas. >> if we don't act swiftly now, things will deteriorate where people will be dying as well. >> the action by the humanitarian community in removing the block aids on many towns is what he is hoping for. sponding only when a family is declared, , /* haz proven costly

in the past. sult earn somalia. >> thousands of people took to the streets of yemen protesting higher fuel prices. demonstrators gathered in the capital city yesterday. the government raised gas prices last month by lifting fuel subsidies. they are calling for national leaders to resign. the government says the high price was necessary to reduce the country's budget deficit. fightners libya have taken control of the capitol's international airport. rival malitias have been fighting for control room of that airport. fighters from the libya dawn malisha took the airport today. there has been heavy fighting for the past 10 days. anti-government demonstrators have been rallying against a libyan government request for u.n. military assistance against the rebel forces. dominic caine reports. >> reporter: a mass demonstration against foreign intervention. set in the thousands to announce their government's request for outside military assistance.

parliament believes that it would be the best way to deal with ongoing violence. but on the streets of tripoli, few agreed. the parliament is dead. what i mean is they can't implement their decisions on the ground. on the other side, the rebels can. >> the parliament is sitting in distance to brook, more than 1200 kilometers away, something these protesters criticized. it's a coup against the february 17th revolution. >> in benghazi, too, there were protests, although not on the jail of those in tripoli. the airport that serves benghazi has been closed for weeks because of nearby fighting between rebels and the militia of general halifa haftar. sources told al jazeera the council has taken control of

hastar's air defense t this and fighting close to tripoli airport. on friday, egypt and tunisia cancelled their air routes. a further sign of how bad the situation has become. dominic caine, al jazeera. >> bedlam in bolivia as chairs fly during a political rally. this may elei had nothing to do with differently opinions. it was between the fans of rival soccer clubs. however, they blame each other -- the candidates blame each other's supporters for the dust-up. >> . a no-fly zone around iceland as a volcana threatens. it started eruptingdeal deep

under iceland's glacier. it's calm on the surface but the rum blinz are taking place underground. hundreds have been evacuated in case it leads to flooding. as we just reported, this is happening underground, but can you tell anything yet? >> when you fly over, there isn't much change at all. there have been some reports there has been a little more water around the glacier year, but nothing dramatic at this stage. this is what's known as a sub-glacial eruption. basically that means there has been an eruption underground, that the magma is churning and heading toward the surface. the question is whether there is enough pressure in the magma chamber to burst through the ice, which is hundreds of meters thick. >> and we just want to make sure our viewers understand the video we have been showing is actually file video. >> that's not anything that's happening above ground right now can you tell us more about the

flooding concerns? >> yeah, sure. so the flooding concerns, i mean this is very common in iceland. when magma comes to the surface, obviously very, very quickly, it can melt vast amounts of ice. this is happening on the biggest glacier in ice land. there are fears that when that melt water hits downstream that there could be some people who then are in danger. >> that's why people have been evacuated. i believe probably the pictures you are looking at were from the 2010 eruptioin of a different volcano. no instance, there were huge plumes of fine ash. they traveled very far. it was a major event in terms of air traffic. experts saying the bigger risk from this volcano is, in fact, was the threat of flooding. >> actually, that was what i was going to ask. i know so many people watching want to know: might this affect my air travel like it did in

2010? and apparently, the answer is no? >> well, they really can't rule anything out. when the magma erupts along the fissure, it could be a plume and there is no way of knowing how big that could be until it happens scientists will tell you small eruptions will often come before a bigger eruption. even if this next incidents in thefecti next few days doesn't weight to something bigger, they can't rule out a bigger eruption wouldn't take place. >> it's possible, although i know travelers are crossing their fingers great reporting from ice land. thank you so much. scientists in mexico are trying to figure out what caused a mysterious crack in the middle of the desert, nearly two thibdz of a mile long and more than 25 feet deed. some observers belief an

earthquake which occurred earlier this month could be to blame. others argue it was caused by an underground stream which eroded the ground above it. ahead on al jazeera, why many american schools are unable get their students the benefit of modern technology. also, a sport where robots are the competitors but the winners are the students running the robots. >> and more on "al jazeera america."

. >> there is an effort underway to equip american schools with high-tech teaching schools. mayor snow provides a digital hurdle and providing an economic division a divide digital learning has been called a fix.

they say it can help crowded schools customize lesson plans, improve achievement across the board and give the most disadvantaged child a chance to succeed. the big point here is as teachers are doing this amazing work with a whole class of 30 students, technology in the students' hands supports the teacher in meeting the needs of every single student. >> feedback on digital flash cards to enter accive effects plorations. software programso offer students a chance to learn at their own pace and gain valuable skills that prepare them for today's high-skill, tech-saavy jobs. for more than 70% of school districts across the country, particularly in lower-income areas a cutting edge education is still a distant reality. a recent report card grading states on their digital infrastructure -- that means their access to high-moved broadband and connected devices showed that a majority of states

failed with not a single state scoring an a. according to school officials, there is just one computer for every 12 students. aging and in need of replacement. >> in an age when the world's information is just a click away, it demands that we bring our schools and libraries in the 21st century. >> as part of the effort to mon earn eyes america's schools, last june, president obama announced his connect ed initiative committing $2,000,000,000 in federal funds toward a goal of connecting 99% of american students with high-speed internet over the next five years. however, most experts warn the effort will meet -- need closer to $5,000,000,000, not to mention a whole host of other costs. >> and then you have getting the computers and the actual devices into students' hands and then replacing those, repairing those making sure there is software

and apps and you have to train teachers in how to use them. >> if budgets weren't an expert, it is new enough before schools should spend huge sums. >> it's something to watch closely, to what degree is this making a difference and to what degree is it really just shiny gadgets that cost money but maybe don't match make as much difference as a really good teacher. >> siechtists are trying to figure out what to do with a pair of satellites that didn't make it to the right orbit of the the european galileo satellites were launched into space by a russian-built rocket. shortly after the next, the satellites were in a lower orbit than originally planned. now, they are trying to determine if the problem can be fixed. the $7.2 billion galileo satellite program is designed as an alternative. >> asetback, a test rocket from the private space fight company

was deliberately destroyed after launch. the company says an anomoly was started. it was started in 200 two. technology secrets are being traded between the u.s. and china. this is no covert operation but a robotics competition bringing together high schools from both ku countries. a adrienne brown has the story. >> robots are the heavy hitters, a high-tech contest involving high school students from china and the united states but a competition where the emphasis is on partnership. >> it's about growing together and it's something everyone can learn from. >> some of the robots are operator-controlled, others, computer guided. robotic sport in the united states began 20 years ago. the chinese have only been at it since 2012.

national pride was on display. >> for most of the students, it was their first visit to china. >> to bring them here and introduce them to it and get to see their faces when they see something new we can do and they can do possibly in the coming years. >> reporter: both groups had six weeks to build and design their robots, programming them in range of sporting skills. arrest from the contest, the emphasis is on mentoring, ya yan chita said it has reinforced his ambitions as a scientists? >> the robots are pretty interesting. it is stimulating me and our teammates all have an interest in science and technology sglrz relations between china and the united states have been strained with both countries stealing

each other of stealing technology secrets. the focus of this is sharing technology. >> it's great. we have the symbolism of the cooperation between teams and also the cooperation between the united states and chinese groups. international roboticspot is expensive. sponsors and parent/teachers groups in the united states donate money for budgets that can be as high as $120,000. >> probably felt like money well spent today. adrienne brown, al jazeera in chenzen, southern china. >> when we come back, we will show you the magic of mexico's magnificent underground attraction. you are watching ""al jazeera america." "

. >> signsists believe warm

weather and wind have caused creatures to flood beaches from southern california to washington state. they are known as sailor jelly because they have a transparent fin that acts like a sail. menti mexico city has a world-class acsqua a cuellar ia adam rainy reports, profit may not be his main motive. >> reporter: three stories beneath one of mexico city's swankiest neighborhoods, sea life is teaming. 5,000 sea creatures are swimming in these waters representi species around the crowd. the crowds pay about $10 a person. mexico is famous for thousands of kilometers of tropical beaches, many have never been to the sea, let alone down below

its depths. >> a lot of people can't go to the beach and see sea life. it's cool that they now can see that here. >> the a cuellar ium draws a lot of families with young children. >> it's really important to expose kids to this. it's stimulating. >> there is big business underpinning these underground tanks. car loss slim, mexico's richest man, is the aquarium's main sponsor primarily through his emborsa bank. above ground, it is surrounded by several cultural atracks owned in large part by slim. >> it attracted thousands on the opening day and they hope to see more than a million people pass through the doors in the first year alone. across the street from carlos slim's myan museum. slim and other investors hope this latest attraction will continue to bring more people to this space to spend their time

and money. >> the a cuellar ium director said art and culture are big business? >> it's a one-stop, i am going to the a cuellar ium, the other museum. i am going to the theatre. we have a movie theatre hike one stop culturea tour, yeah. >> financial writer eduardo garcia has researched slim for years. he says the sponsorship has more to do with marketing. >> the wrank brand is not very well known in mexico city or outside of mexico city. so they are using a novelty entertainment place in the capitol of the country to put their name there? >> whether or not ta cuellar - the a cuellar you ium be sure to

check out the website, aljazeera.com. do keep it here. thank you for your time. i will see you in about an hour. >> i understand kids learn in different ways. lilly is the head of 3 million educators, a supporter of teacher tenure and an out spoken critic of standardized testing? >> what we are seeing now is absurd. what if is, is looking at this whole human child and saying, all i have to know about this kid is a reading and a math cut score. diu