the counteroffensive in iraq. >> there are a variety of contributors to what happened in ramadi. >> as the iraqi government launches a major military operation in anbar province the u.s. is left to explain why isil captured ramadi. a city under siege. >> the defining feature of houston is the small rivers that run through the city and many of them went over their banks. >> record flooding hammers houston, and texas braces for more rainfall and dangerous storms. an american on trial. >> the judiciary is involved.

they believe that the charges against him are very serious. >> "washington post" reporter jason risiani goes to court in iran accused of spying for the u.s. the trial is playing out behind closed doors. the piano man. >> you the pianist have to have a feel of solidarity. >> one of the world's greatest musicians invents a new piano and uses the sound fof music to bridge cultural divides. good evening, and welcome to al jazeera america. i'm antonio mora. >> i'm barbara sar ra. we begin with the counteroftensive in anbar province. today sunni and shia forces launched military attacks against isil around ramadi. it's part of a strategic

campaign to retake the city. >> in syria government forces carried out air strikes against isil targets in and around the city of palmyra. syrian forces claim they killed 140 isis fighters in air strikes. the pentagon today refuses to say how long the operation will take to reclaim ramadi. a spokesman says it will be a tough fight and would not predict a time line. american and iraqi officials say the goal is to quickly reka capture ramadi. >> we have the report from anbar province with a look at the iraqi strategy. >> reporter: they prepare to retake the city which fell more than a week ago. it's likely to be a long operation. there are reports of isil fighters preparing to meet government security forces. they have the backing of shia militia many of which are supported by iran and air

strikes by a coalition of countries led by the united states. the iraqi army is gears up for other operations with the fall of ramadi and isil in control of border crossings from syria to anbar, it's feared isil fighters could push into baghdad. to prevent that happening this man is securing the capital. the town of gurma under 30 kilometers from baghdad is being fortified. >> translator: we're fighting a psychological war. isil has an effective media campaign against us. we've been accused of retreating. we are not. we're backing up the troops here and preparing for the fall of ramadi. >> the forces here are mainly shia militia. they fly awe new flag. each militia has its own identity and all fight under this banner including this sunni fighter group. fortifying baghdad comes with unique challenges. this is the bridge, the last

safe place to cross from anbar province into baghdad. it's likely to see more scenes like this. fears of what comes next are common here. >> translator: as long as we sunnis are marginalized the fight will take a long time. there are sunni forces willing to fight, and i would join that fight if the government accepts us. >> iraqi security forces have opened and closed this bridge at random concerned that isil fighters will enter baghdad disguised as displaced people. it's increasing the tension. there's no doubt iraq has a huge challenge on its hands in securing western anbar province and defeating isil but it's not just within anbar province but also securing baghdad as well. if baghdad falls, isil will have won many say. there are significant challenges including fining homes for people fleeing the vieolence and making sure they get back home eventually.

national security correspondent jamie mcintyre joins us life from the pentagon. does the united states have faith that the iraqis will be successful in this operation sfr let's face it the track record of the iraqi army isn't great. >> reporter: well, you know when it comes to the fall of ramadi there's a lot of blame to be spread around. iraqi forces point to what they say were ineffective u.s.-led air strikes and a lack of support from the shia government in baghdad for the sunni forces in the field. pentagon forcesources tell a slightly different story. they say the iraqi forces squandered a substantial combat advantage in ramadi. pentagon sources say they outnumbered the isil attackers 10 to 1. there were 7,000 iraqi security forces in ramadi plus another 3,000 police and special operations troops and they got in their vehicles and drove off as the 1,000 isil fighters were

advancing. the pentagon says none of those fighters who were in ramadi though were trained and were part of the forces recently trained by the u.s. it was something that the white house was quick to point out. >> we would expect that forces that are augmented by u.s. and coalition trained troops forces that are augmented by local fighters from local sunni tribes, and from the population mobilization force, will be able to improve the performance of the iraqis on the battlefield against isil. >> reporter: so what happened in ramadi? pentagon sources say they believe essentially the iraqi troops there psyched themselves out by a series of events including a surprise ambush on a patrol. these big truck bombs that were set off until the city and then the sandstorms that they falsely would prevent the u.s. from providing air cover. once one of the elite units took

off, then the other ones followed suit. barbara. >> jamie mcintyre with the latest from the pentagon thank you. dog doug lass olefant joins us tonight from washington, d.c. let's start with why ramadi fell. given what we just heard jamie mcintyre tell us about how iraqi forces held a huge numerical advantage there over isil. >> i think that's probably true. i'm not sure that's terribly relevant. if you have 10,000 forces spread around defending the entire city and 1,000 mass on 500 of your guys at a critical point and break through, it doesn't matter how many people are in the city. it's how many you have at the moment of the fight. i think we need to recognize how clever isil was in this assault. they used these large, massive car bombs. by the way, you can go to their

websites. isil is posting pictures of the bombs. what they did is these are huge tim mcveigh-style bombs. dump trucks full of the same type of ammonium nitrate fertilizer explosives used in oklahoma city. you can see the pictures on their website. turned buildings into these skel tan ruins killing god only knows how many iraqi security forces in each repeated assault. some serious failures of course. go ahead. >> talking about those failures jim, why were iraqi troops not prepared and armed with the weaponry needed to stop those vehicle bombs? is that a failure of the u.s.-led coalition or the iraqi government? >> i think we need to do some digging as to why the anti-tank missiles weren't there. perversely, the kurds have used the anti-tank missiles to kill the car bombs that are a problem in the north. despite the kurds complaining about them not having the

weapons, the kurds had the weapons they needed to destroy car bombs in their fight in the north and the iraqi soldiers in ramadi didn't have them. i don't know if that's the reason whether the iraqi government general doesn't have them whether they didn't get out to ramadi and weren't at the right place. they have to figure it out. you can watch these photos. they watch these bulldozer bombs. there's an armored bulldozer so they could send these car bombs through, and the iraqi army didn't have the weapons to destroy that armored bulldozer. >> now we have a counteroffensive. the iraqi prime minister was very upset of secretary of defense carter's comments about the will of iraqi forces to fight. he now says they will take ramadi back in days. is that at all realistic? >> i think days is probably a stretch. i've been talking to officials all day. i've heard time lines from six weeks to six months. that strikes me as a more realistic time line. look at the upside of what we have going on here. the iraqi army got beat last

weekend. there are no two ways about it. isil had a better weekend than they do and beat the iraqi army. this wasn't like mosul. they didn't throw their uniforms away and cast off their weapons and run all the way to baghdad or irbil. they pulled back in a relatively orderly fashion to a couple kilometers away and regrouped. those forces that retreated from ma raddy are forming the core of the units going back in along with the shia militias and the sunni tribal fighters. there is a force there to go back. >> those shia militias have taken a name the pentagon is upset with. many allegations that they're under the control of iran and one of the top military leaders is quoted as saying president obama hasn't done a damn thing to confront isil. that's a quote. is the u.s. doing enough? >> i think perversely his quote was in response to secretary carter's no will to fight. i think he essentially threw that back at the united states.

look i think the basic strategy of the united states is right. this is the iraqis' fight to fight. they have to beat isil in their own country. we can help them with training weapons, intelligence and air strikes. this may give us an occasion to look and see if they need more in one of those categories. do they need more air strikes? which would involve a less restrifkt of rules of engagement and accepting the possibility of broader civilian casualties. do they need more equipment? do they need to expand the number of trainers? we can look at exactly how much we're doing in each of those categories without changing the basic strategy. >> douglas, always good to have you with us. thanks. >> always good to see you, antonio. a court in austria convicted a teenager to blow up a train station. he was found guilty of planning to join extremist fighters in the middle east. he was sentenced to two years in

juvenile detention. they found plans for the attack on the boy's computer. the teenager could be out of jail in three months because of time served. in the u.s. the city of houston has been hammered by severe flooding. about a foot of rain fell overnight and early tuesday. thousands of homes suffered damage as a result of the floodwaters. mass transit has been shut down and drivers are urged to stay off the roads. officials say at least 13 people are dead and several others are still missing across texas. heidi joins us from wimberley. what is the situation there today? >> reporter: hey, antonio. so the search and rescue mission for the 13 continues today here in wimberley where this disaster really started when a 46-foot tall wall of water came careening down the blanco river over the weekend. it struck against this bridge here taking along with it 72 houses that have been destroyed. you can still see the evidence

of its aftermath everywhere. up there that red fabric looks to be a mattress that was inserted with such force by the waters into the crevice of that bridge it remains there today. right where i am this is a huge tree a cypress tree uprooted. the bark was sheared off by the force of the water. all around this place we find household items, photographs just strewn about. this is where rescuers and workers have been walking every hour with dogs in search of the bodies of those 13 missing. you can see where some of the people may have come from across the bank are the resort-style homes that have been completely lifted off its foundations. right by the bridge is a small shack that looks like it was pushed about 100 feet from where it once stood. in fact, the foundation is still 100 feet away from it. just overriver -- upstream rather is where this family a house containing two families

eight people in that group went missing early sunday morning. very tragically witnesses say they saw that house knocked off of its foundation, thrown into the blanco river and careening back into this bridge where it shattered into pieces. there was one person who was found from that group. a man who was rescued 12 miles downstream from where he started, antonio. very sadly at least three of the other individuals in that group are children under the age of 6. two bodies have been recovered here in hays county but they have not been identified. this is how texas governor greg abbott describes what happens here. >> a witness first hand the devastation of the tsunami-style river rise on the blanco river in wimberley, texas just west of san marcos. the completely devastated area is around there, and caused a significant loss of life.

i have as governor dpee claired disaster declarations from literally the red river to the rio grande where flooding has been taking place across the state. >> reporter: that is 47 texas counties that have been declared disaster zones at this moment. >> incredible pictures and so many families suffering. heidi is in wimberley, texas. thank you. meanwhile, mexico's president is promising to help victims of a tornado that rocked northern mexico. the president toured the mexican city of on monday. hundreds of homes were damaged or destroyed during the twister. >> translator: we will go house to house to see how you've been affected and begin the process of reconstruction. this will not happen overnight.

we will have to clean up most of the homes, remove the rubble and remove many houses and rebuild them. until this happens, there are shelters. twisters are considered rare that far south of tornado alley. this was the first funnel cloud to touch down in northern mexico in over a century. an iranian-american "washington post" reporter goes on trial in terran. >> we talk to his brother about the controversial case and get his thoughts on the chances his brother will get a fair trial. in neighbors afghanistan a full-scale firefight breaks out in an upscale area of kabul.

the u.s. is calling for trans parents see in the controversial case of a "washington post" reporter on trial in iran. he's accused of spying for the u.s., something the white house denies. a trial for the iranian-american got underway in tehran today.

>> details about the charges and evidence are being kept secret. we have more now on the controversy. >> reporter: this is about as much as anyone knows about what happened to jason on tuesday. they announced the start of his trial taking place behind closed doors. >> translator: he was active in iran under the cover of a journalist and was arrested last july. >> reporter: he works for "the washington post." his editor calls the allegations absurd and says iran has an ulterior motive. the ongoing talks over the nuclear program. >> iran says this has to do with jason's cutting. i can only believe, though that the timing suggests a connection that there's a close tie in what the iranians are doing to their belief that this would improve their position at the bargaining table. >> reporter: the obama administration has not linked his case to the negotiations.

>> the nuclear talks are about the nuclear talks. we take the opportunity of being in the same room with the iranians to raise our concerns about american citizens who are detained missing or on trial. >> reporter: iran has not made any evidence public but in a recent trip to the u.s. the foreign minister blamed a low level u.s. operative for the arrest. >> the fact is that there are people that take advantage of the needs of some of people who try to get a visa to come to the united states or get a visa for their wives to come to the united states and make demands that are illegal and dangerous and damaging to the professionalism of a journalist. >> reporter: his brother said he applied for a visa for his wife and asked the u.s. to speed it up because iran could became a dangerous place for journalists. he insists he wasn't asked for anything in return.

>> he's committed to fight. it's what he said you know consistently when he saw my mom, when he met with his lawyer. i want to defend myself. i want to let everybody know that i'm innocent. >> reporter: he might have his chance to do that now, but only he and the few people allowed in the courtroom get to judge the strength or weakness of the case being made against him. al jazeera, washington. >> joining us to talk more about the trial is jason's brother ali that you saw in patty's piece in washington, d.c. this evening. thank you for joining us on al jazeera, especially during a difficult time. today was the start of jason's trial. we heard it's a closed trial. how much do you actually know about what's happening in court, and how worried are you that it's happening behind closed doors? >> you know we've been asking repeatedly and publicly for transparency and a public trial so that people can see what the evidence is and see there's no

basis for these charges. unfortunately, we were told only yesterday that it was going to be a closed trial. what that means is neither my mom or jason's wife are there to him to give him moral support. we know that the first part of the trial is a reading of the indictment. the judge does that with jason as well as his lawyer present and a translator. at that point jason has some opportunities to respond i think briefly to some of the items they're talking about. that process took about two hours this morning. during that time my mom and sister-in-law were at the courthouse but they weren't allowed to go in there. at that point they adjourned for the day, and they said that they would set another date for the second day of the trial. >> iran holds at least two other americans and certainly many members of congress among others regard this as iran possibly using the prisoners as bargaining chips in the ongoing

nuclear relations. how worried are you that the two issues, the prisoner issue and nuclear negotiations issue instead of remaining separate could be seen as one? how damaging is that for jason and his case? >> we've always made the case that jason is innocent. he shouldn't be tied to some activities that he had no control over. certainly it's a concern. the negotiations are going on and it's a very complicated situation, but, you know what we do know is that jason is innocent. the process is moving along. the iranians have claimed for ten months that they wanted to move their process along and have a trial. for whatever reason many reasons i'm sure they delayed, delayed, delayed. and now the trial started, and we're hoping that that would move along. what we don't want is to be in a situation where they decide they want to extend the deadline again or potentially they can't

come to an agreement. having jason connected with those things that have nothing to do with his guilt or innocence is just not that hopeful at this point. >> how many contact have you and the rest of your family been able to have with jason since he was detained? from that how do you think he's feeling both physically and mentally? >> personally i haven't spoke to jason since before he was taken that night. since his wife was released after 72 days in prison on bail she's been able to see him intermittently. these days she sees him once or twice a week and they're able to talk on the phone usually for three or four minutes at a time as well. my mother went to iran two weeks ago. she spent a few days meeting the judge and some other folks. at that point they let her see jason for an hour. she also got a quick phone call from him, which she said -- he

looks older. he looks tired. certainly it's been taking a huge toll on him. psychologically it's taking a toll on him. he's been isolated the entire time. what she said is that i think is very important is that he just wants to get the message out. he wants everybody to know that he's innocent. he didn't do anything wrong. these charges have no basis in effect, and just to be clear, the person who we know who has reviewed the case file who is his attorney she's reviewed the entire case file, and she said by iranian law there's no basis in the evidence for the charges that they brought against jason. >> brother of jason held in iran, sir. thank you so much for speaking to us here on al jazeera. >> thanks for having me tonight. al jazeera was also imprisoned by iran in 2009 working as a freelance

journalist and joins us now. good to have you with us. there are so many parallels between your case and his. you were accused of spying and put in that same prison. you had no idea at first what the charges were against you, and you really had no idea why they arrested you. do you have any sense in your case now looking back at it afterwards was therein an ulterior motive on iran's part? >> it's hard to be certain today, because the system is not transparent and i don't know if jason knows exactly why he was arrested either. i have very different theories about my own situation. one is perhaps because president obama had just been inaugurated for the first time in 2009 right before my arrest. he had been calling for better relations with iran. perhaps my captors were linked to hard-line factions opposed to improved relations with america. >> wanted to sabotage that? >> exactly, could have been that. they also got a false confession out of me saying i was a spy.

>> because you were subjected to psychological coercion? >> yes, there was a lot of psychological pressure including isolation and tlelts and nobody knew where i was. i wasn't allowed to tell anyone. my parents didn't know. i made this false confession and they get confessions out of different political prisoners. sometimes they air them they videotape them and air them and want to get propaganda value out of them. another thing they said is a condition of my release would be that i would have to spy for them. there are a lot of different possible reasons, and it's hard to know which one or which ones they were. >> do you think jason has been subjected to psychological coercion as well? >> definitely definitely. especially over this long period of time, but particularly in the first few days and several hours of interrogation when you're cut off from the world and you know he's a journalist and he's been there and is an iranian american and knows the stories of other prisoners in the prison.

many have been tortured and some have died in the prison. you know these stories. maybe they're threatening him for a long time if you don't confess to being a spy. >> you were put in isolation as was he. how rough is that at that prison? >> that is the most difficult part for most political prisoners as it was for me because that is when they put the maximum amount of pressure on you because you have no route to the outside world. if you want to get a phone call if you want to tell somebody where you are and how you are or even share your side of the story like jason is saying now, please tell everyone i'm innocent you have a strong urge to get that message out. you can't because your only route is your interrogators or guards. you don't have books xpt for her the koran. you don't have pad or paper or tv. they're threatening up and it's very difficult because they want to rob you of your dignity and any self-confidence that you have. >> let's hope they find some way of freeing him or getting iran

to free him. >> i hope so. >> thanks. barbara. the russian military began another large scale drill. coming up concerns about russian aggression grow along with the shows of military might. and in the midst of a political crisis thousands of brazilian mayors take on the government fighting against cuts to education and health care.

ifrjts . welcome back. >> coming up in the half hour of international news forensic teams unearth mass graves in a suspected human trafficking camp. protesters throwing rocks go up against police in burundi. one rocket of fired today from the gaza strip into southern israel.

there were no injuries or damage. no one has claimed responsibility for the attack. the united nations says this is the latest violation of the ceasefire that took effect last august. the israeli army reportedly launched air strikes inside gaza early wednesday morning there. libya's internationally recognized prime minister has survived an apparent assassination attempt. according to a spokesman the motorcade came under attack today. one bodyguard was wounded. the prime minister was unharmed. the gunman escaped in several cars. in afghanistan tonight part of an upscale neighborhood in kabul is under siege. heavy gunfire and explosions have echoed through the streets. the focus of the fighting is a hotel popular with foreigners. the firefight comes at a time when civilian deaths in afghanistan are a record high for the first four months of the year. as jennifer glasse tells us fighting has increased since the taliban launched the spring

offensive. >> reporter: there are a number of attacks not only in hellmund province but in kandahar and southern afghanistan and central afghanistan. four attackers tried to mount an assault on the local court and managed to kill two policemen before those four attackers were killed. in northern afghanistan fighting is heavy in boglund province. that fighting is going on for about a month since the taliban launched their spring offensive in late april. this is really a lot of pressure on an afghan security force that is fighting basically on its own. there's a small nato force here helping basically train, advise and assist as well as a small american contingent here 4,000 or 5,000 american forces allowed to engage in counterterrorism missions. that means they can call in air strikes in concert with the afghans, but the afghan security forces don't have the kind of air power that they had when nato was here.

that has proved really a great challenge for this. the taliban are launching larger and more complex attacks across the country not just in the south and east their traditional strongholds where we saw a lot of attacks last year but also in the north where they have been present but not really very aggressive. now they seem to be certainly more confident that they know that the afghan security forces don't have the kind of air cover they used to have when nato was actively working in afghanistan. so it's a very very fierce fighting season. we saw a number of attacks across the country just in the last day or so. afghan forces are working very hard to try and coordinate their efforts to try and minimize very heavy casualties. we're seeing the same thing again today facing a very big challenge in afghanistan as they try and secure the country. >> that was jennifer glasse

reporting from kabul in afghanistan. the u.s. and nato are still at odds with russia over the crisis in ukraine. that was the subject of the talks between president obama and the nato chief at the white house. both men accuse moscow of providing arms cash and personnel to pro-russian separatists in eastern ukraine. they also stressed the need for all parties to respect a largely ignored february ceasefire agreement. nato began one of europe's largest fighter jet exercises today with forces from non-nato states sweden and finland. it includes more than 100 jets and nearly 4,000 troops. nato accused russia of putting civilian flights in danger. russia continues to carry out large scale military exercises. on monday moscow kicked off four days of air defense drills in western siberia. it involved 12,000 soldiers and hundreds of aircraft and anti-aircraft missile systems. defense officials say the focus of the drills is to set up all

the aviation security measures in new base areas. they would be followed by a larger military exercise in september. we're joined by the lav veeian foreign minister in the studio. thank you so much for joining us here on al jazeera. we've heard about these sort of competing military xer sighses in the nordic countries, and now russia's response. do you think that sometimes other than being this this kind of posturing from both sides could actually escalate the tensions between them? >> actually, i have to say the russian military exercises are not news for us. back in 2009 2013 long before ukrainian crisis started. from that point of view i think what nato has done since last year last april's decision to steep up security in the balancetic states it was the adequate response to a growing russian

military presence already before. seeing an organization of military forces that's the russian territory also. you have the military bases near our borders long before actually the current crisis started. i believe that nato under article 5 means that the difference of its territory of members that have done the right thing. >> you mentioned the baltic states. we sawmill -- saw military xer sighses. there are talks to have nato troops there permanently? >> definitely. i want to see nato troops as long as necessary under the current geopolitical situation. i think we should all understand we're in in situation for quite a long time. persistent, permanent presence is something they should consider. >> key to the nato troops being there permanently is whether

latvia and other countries are under direct threat. do you feel you're under direct threat? >> because we're part of nato. i don't believe we're under imminent military threat however, irng i think that we need the deterrent and the mrens of allied troops. they increased the number of controls of our allied forces. the patrols would provide the necessary deterrent so we wouldn't be talking about the threats. so i believe that what has been done has been the right decision but i also believe that the theory that thinks if they get more escalation than we need to think about increased presence. that's something that certainly we should consider. >> you mentioned article 5 of nato. that's really the cornerstone of the alliance and the attack on one nation is an attack on the whole alliance. how confident are you that if it came to actually nato would come to the rescue for the baltic states?

>> i think that this is what is best for nato first of all, and i think that this is the understanding of all nato members that have been participating in foreign minister's meetings also at the nato summit. ij i think there is understanding that we should understand that there are not baltic states in nato. we are part of nato and that's something that i think all allies starting from the united states and ending with any european ally understand. >> and yet, i mean agreed obviously, they're all members of nato. there was a poll just last year that said that 21% of the americans asked said that actually only 21% would be for a military action to help latvia whereas 56% are up for military action to help the u.k. i know that the principle of nato is that but are you worried that with europe being

under financial pressure the threat of isil that actually when it came to it they wouldn't come to the rescue? >> well i think that we had a pretty good speech by president obama, and he eloquently said that the defense of paris and london and nato and the united states are prepared to defend all capitals all countries equally. you are referring to the poll. i think it was taken at the beginning of the ukrainian crisis and i think that we have seen for instance in germany and other countries and the need to deter. i do believe that when it comes, and i hope it's not the case but when it comes to the article 5 and engagement under article 5, all allies will keep the promises and the actions taken already so far. i think they're good proof of

that. >> as you said it really would be a litmus test for nato for the moment. thank you so much for joining us. china says it is changing its military strategy shifting its focus from defending the coastal waters to projecting naval power in the open seas. the details are in a policy document published by the chinese cabinet today. china also unveiled plans to build two new lighthouses on the spratly islands in the south china sea. the philippines, vietnam, malaysia taiwan and brunei are all fighting with china over ownership of the territory that sits along an important global trade route. they're working to strengthen their economic relationships. today the chinese premier concluded a south american tour. china is chile's top trading partner. on monday the two nations signed a multi-billion dollar currency exchange deal saying they need each other to fully recover from the recession.

>> translator: the global economic recovery is on a very tortuous and difficult path. the global economic uncertainty continues to affect everyone. both developed economies and developing ones equally face the pressure of the weakened economies. how to confront this pressure and boost the recovery of the global economy is a shared task that all countries face. >> the deal between china and chile lasts for the next three years. china can use their currency to trade directly in south america. a look at the financial crisis for latin america's biggest economy. more than 5,000 mayors from across brazil gathered in the capital, and they want more federal funding and many are calling for the president to be impeached. major budget cuts mean some small towns can't pay their bills. >> translator: the his and hers pajamas in in bag went for $7 to

one lucky bidder. people at this auction in the city in central brazil hope to raise money for social programs for the homeless. a couple of years ago theedz same project might have been covered by the federal government. with cuts announced, getting money from the federal government just got harder. >> it's a routine now. we have different parties during the year. >> reporter: high public spending rising inflation and a looming recession have forced the brazilian president to slash funding $23 billion this year alone. this means 35% less than last year will be available to local governments. some of the harder hit sector will be health and infrastructure. this man had to wait three hours just to get a dog bite examined. >> translator: we are suffering here. we pay taxes, but for what lien?

they have only two doctors. what are they doing with our money? what are they doing to our country? they are destroying our country. >> reporter: public officials feel defeated and with hands tied. >> translator: month after month we see that the federal government cuts seriously damage towns everywhere. >> reporter: this is not the only city feeling the economic news. over 5,000 mayors and other local authorities have gathered here in brazilia to express their concern over what the cuts could mean for their local government. this rally comes one day before a march to system to rousseff's impeachment. although those gathered express their dissatisfaction, other supporters insist the economic measures must be considered over rousseff's two presidential terms. >> translator: it's a general adjustment, not only reaching

the federal government but also states and cities. we need to think on a long-term project. if we have issues this year we will certainly be able to reach our goals next year or the year after before delivering. >> reporter: president rousseff was scheduled to attend the ooevenlt but didn't. in mexico on a mezal visit her absence is the clear stein that no dialogue between the federal and local governments will take place. the recent thaw in diplomatic relations between the u.s. and cuba resulted in a dramatic increase in the number of american visitors to the island. according to a university of havana professor more than 50,000 americans with no ties have visited the country since january. that's up 36% from last year. thousands of americans have flown into cuba before r from other countries to avoid u.s. restriction on tourism in cuba. a tragic discovery in that laz ya.

>> the graves of what might be dozens of migrants and refugeed abandoned. despite the danger to their live political protesters in murandi can't stop their president for running for a a third term.

the u.s. navy has begun surveillance flights over southeast seas. their relaying the positions of suspected migrant boats to local authorities. more than 3,000my grapts have landed in the region just this month. thousands more may be stranded at sea and boats abandoned by captains. authorities in malaysia have begun to search through dozen of newly discovered camps used by human traffickers. >> the camps show evidence that migrants were tortured and killed. florence lui reports now. >> reporter: in hey shallow, unmarked grave a forensics team is carefully trying to unearth

what's buried here. they soon find something. human remains wrapped in what was probably a white cloth now yellowed with dirt and time. >> translator: we're still digging up the graves and exhuming the remains, so we can't tell you how many bodies there are except for the ones we found today. >> reporter: the police suspect there are almost 40 graves in the area. they don't yet know who these people are or how they died. they're likely to be migrants or refugees trafficked into malaysia. about 200 meters from the burial site is a camp. it's inhabitants long gone. authorities say they believe this camp has been abandoned for at least two years. now, much of the structure is already in ruins. it was probably big enough to hold about 200 people. all around the camp there are signing that people lived here. plates crockery basins thrown into a bit. pieces of cloth that may have been curtains and crudely built

cages where they kept the human cargo. to prevent any escape they used barbed wire. the camp is on a hill less than 5 hun00 meters from the thai border. it's one of the 200 human trafficking camps found by the malaysian police over the weekend, less than a month after thai authorities made a similar discovery in their territory. this is where traffickers hold their prisoners while they demand ransom from their families. the majority of refugees had thought to be ruhinja. they escape by sea and are brought over land to thailand and malaysia. thousands are thought to be adrift at sea after police in thailand started to crack down on human trafficking. malaiseysian police at first denied the existence of camps, but now they're investigating what happened. these camps in malaysian may be abandoned, but there's no indication that the human trafficking syndicates have been broken up. florence lui, al jazeera,

malaysia. tomorrow night a voice noticeably missing from the debate over the migrants. nobel peace prize laureate is coming under fierce criticism for being largely silent on their human rights issue. also what the opposition leader turned parliament leader says about her silence and those who attack it. in burundi protesters continue to protest about the president's bid for office. the president is refusing to let go of power. we have the report from burundi's capital where clashes between police and protesters have turned deadly. >> they know this won't protect them fl bullets and tear gas, but protesters in burundi say there's little they can do. so they keep going. and then in a matter of seconds they are dispersed. they haven't gone far. they're waiting for the police

to move on. [ gunfire ] >> translator: the police are shooting at us. they are just shooting and shooting. >> they sing and he's running for a third term. >> translator: i don't want him at all. we say no to him. >> reporter: the police seem to know what the protesters are planning. as soon as the riot police arrive people ran away. they announced slowly coming back on the streets. they want to march into the city center but the police are there. it's been a month of back and forth. it seems the protests are spreading beyond the capital. on monday at least one person was shot and killed during a protest in burundi. he won't give up plans to run for a third term against the constitution.

officials say more than 117 degrees. the hot, dry conditions are being made worse by winds blowing in from pakistan. officials say the high temperatures are expected to continue for another two days. it's a piano with a difference. [ music ] >> created by a pioneering musician who is working to make a difference in the world. a volcano erupts in the ga lop goss islands threatening one of the most fragile eco-systems.

>> on hard earned, down but not out, >> i'm in recovery i've been in recovery for 23 years... >> last shot

at a better life... >> this is the one... this is the one... >> we haven't got it yet... >> it's all or nothing... >> i've told walgreen's i quit... >> hard earned pride... hard earned respect... hard earned future... a real look at the american dream hard earned only on al jazeera america >> part of our month long look at working in america. "hard earned". lava is flowing from a volcano in galapagos islands. the explosions have stopped r for now. that's good news for one of the rarest creatures on earth. it's home to the only known pink

land iguanas. now humans live in the affected area. now our global view segment. a look at how news outlets across the world are reacting to various events. the guardian writes under the headline isis victories terrible but not tirm terminal. while isis outsmarts it's enemy, in the end it will destroy the economy in the communities it dominates and won't establish itself as a long-term nation state. the jordan times focuses on gaza under the headline handy solution if the will is there. it refers to a recent world bank report that called gaza a pressure cooker ready to explosion. they say the situation could be resolved if israel allowed them a chance to develop their territory economically and socially which would create an environment for peace and trang wilt. >> they write about the june 7th parliament elections in turkey under the headlines likely to

thwart the power move. it has suffered under his leadership first as mrm and now as president. it says the attempts to make the president seem more powerful will likely backfire. it's controversial at home and abroad. >> his poll numbers drop. he has a high approval rating but he's now down. internationally renowned pianist and conductor can add another line to his musical resume. he's developed his own piano based on one used by a famous composer almost 200 years ago. [ music ] >> reporter: the keys look like they have for hundreds of years, but the sound they produce is slightly different. pianist and composer has played on steinway pine noticepianos all his life but this is the first one

with him name on it. he tried it and he wanted to combine the sound with the power of the modern piano. from the outside it looks like a modern concert grand piano, but inside are where the differences lie. you see how the strings run in straight line rather than an angle, and that creates a much warmer sound closer to what composers would have heard almost #200 years ago. he's considered the world's greatest musician and as a conductor he tries to build bridges through music with his orchestra of palestinian and israeli musicians. he's repeatedly condemned israel's occupation of gaza and the west bank. even when he looks at instruments, he likens his roll as a pianist to sov a political

problem. >> it's each note there for itself. you, the pianist, have to give them a feeling of solidarity. i feel very inspired for that. i'm happy with it. >> reporter: listening to him talk to the instrument's builder, it sounds like there's still some tweaking to do. >> it goes there. can you make it different? >> will it make a difference? >> i think it will. >> reporter: so far this is one of only two in the world, a rare reinvention kept under wraps until he runs his fingers over it later this week in london. al jazeera, london. finally tonight the u.s. has officials returned stolen artifacts worth millions of dollars to italy. they include vases, 1st century

frescos and precious books. they were recovered from american private collectors and museums. that's it for this edition of american news. >> thanks for watching. "america tonight" is up next. see you again in an hour. she's ready to punch above her weight again. what defines you? >> overcoming my obstacles. >> out of control. whose life is it anyway. al jazeera investigating the