the full extent of his legacy. for some he's an undisputed hero for others he is the greatest double agent in history. more details on most of our stories can be found on our website, aljazeera.com. hacked u.s. officials blame china for a major breech of government data. china responds. strong u.s. jobs growth. today's report about may's unemployment numbers indicate the u.s. economy is gaining steam. and the end of anner are, tariq aziz has died. he was the top minister and

spokesman for saddam hussein. ♪ hello, everybody, this is al jazeera america live from new york city. i'm david shuster. the government of china today strongly denied allegations it was involved in a major data breach of u.s. government computers. the hackers stole the personal information of at least 4 million current and former federal workers. it is one of the largest data breaches in u.s. history. and experts believe it could end up touching every u.s. government agency. president obama's press secretary spoke about the news. >> any time we are talking about any kind of activity in cyberspace we're talking about activity that is evolving. and we have seen our anniversary anniversariryies use techniques

and to try to exploit vulnerabilities in our system. >> mike viqueira has more. >> the government is still scrambling to assess the impact of this massive data beach. the human resources department for the entire federal government said it is a breach affecting some 4 million individuals. it keeps check of everything from background checks to job progress. many suspect the chinese, various reports attributing to senior officials saying chinese hackers were behind it. whether that's an official government entity of china, or individuals working in conjunction with the chinese military that remains to be seen. we're awaiting more information from the white house and other sources across washington today. but many are pointing to a similar attack that happened

recently against a private entities there are many parallels between that attack and the one we're seeing against the federal government. chinese officials are scoffing at these accusations, a quote in part are these reports scientific? it is irresponsible and unscientific to always make trumped up presumptions without deep investigation. all of this came to light in april when the office of personnel management was upgrading hits security software protocol protocols, billions of dollars had been spent by the government to do just that. it was just two months ago when they discovered this breach. they also discovered it took place late last year possibly in december so the u.s. government scrambling now to

assess the impact. >> mike viqueira in washington. mike thank you. more documents have now been released from nsa whistleblower edward snowden. the nsa allegedly traced malicious computer activity coming in from abroad. this particular surveillance reportedly began three years ago. in an op-ed in the "new york times," snowden is celebrating his victory now that the government has made new restrictions, he writes: there was some good news today about the u.s. economy, a jobs report released this

morning, showed brood growth last month. patricia sabga is here now to break it down for us. patty there had been talk and concerns about a slowdown in the first quarter. this report suggests that in may things picked up. >> things definitely picked up last month, let's hope that it holds, david. let's take a look at the headline numbers. 280,000 jobs were created last month. that was far above what most economists were expecting, and leaps ahead of the previous average for the year which was below 200,000. the unemployment rate went up but more people were participating in the work force either by working or actively looking for a job. construction and leisure and hospital are feeling good about their summer business. mining was still a weak spot

because depressed oil prices have lead many firms to cut spending and hold off on new projects. >> we know that this is not just about jobs that in order for the economy to truly recover wage growth has got to pick up. what is the latest on that? >> we had a pretty good showing on wages. average hourly wages picked up $0.08 to $24.96 an hour. that's up 2.3% year-over-year not as high as janet yellen would like to see, but it is in the right direction. >> is the bump seen across the board? >> that is the big question. and earlier we spoke with a labor economist, and she reminded us that there's still plenty of working americans who are earning well below the average. >> the people who are picking up the wage gains are the people in the top 20% of the population. so it's great to see the almost $25 an hour wage it's wonderful

to see that but we have seem that are still fighting for $15 an hour. we have people who are still earning the minimum wage which has not been raised in nearly a decade. >> and of course this is a reminder to all of us that wages have stagnated for the last several decades, and average household -- medium household income levels are below where they before the crash, but we hope it's the beginning of a trend. >> yes. thank you, patty. opec is keeping their production high despite crashing prices. they agreed to continue pumping 30 million barrels a day. that decision could send prices even lower. here in vienna there was no suspense at the beginning of the day and no surprise at the engineer of the day.

as widely expected opec's decision was to keep output levels at current levels which means the glut in the marketplace will continue. now what was interesting was that in the press conference it was announced that had been decided upon was for the good of all opec countries, the rich nations and the poor nations. but there has been an under current of tension especially with countries like venezuela. despite the fact that countries like venezuela, angola and other countries had wanted to see a change in the output level, that didn't happen and opec ministers insisted that was for the best. that decision being driven largely by gulf nations like saudi arabia qatar, and the uae, the iran question was put on the back burner for now. they said they are ready to get their oil out in the marketplace again, but that will depend on

if sanctions are actually lifted and that will hinge on what happens in the nuclear deliberations still ongoing. one of the most recognizable deputies of saddam hussein has died in prison in iraq. he had been in jail for years. he had been sentenced to death for his role in a crackdown on shias. imran khan is in baghdad. >> he was convicted for a number of charges, including aiding a lot of merchants. he was a very hated member of the regime and was one more of the more public members. his son has given a statement to al jazeera saying he is very angry that the media were informed before the family were. but i have been .watching a lot of the local media, and there has been almost ignored. there is no eulogy. there will be no day of mourning. he is not that kind of figure here in iraq.

a lot of the tv channels are simply going with regular programming. he is seen as an important historical picture. he was fluent in english, he was a christian. he was very public. he negotiated the iran iraq truce after that war, he negotiated with the americans after 2003. he was a complete loyalist to the president, saddam hussein, even helped him get into power during the queue which lasted about ten days which brought saddam hussein into power. and his legacy hereby in iraq will be swept under the carpet but he is a very important figure because he was one of the people that really tried to stop the american invasion and occupation of iraq and he said the only reason americans want to invade is for two simple reasons, one is israel the other is oil. several men charged with trying to kill pakistani activist malala yousafzai have

been found not guilty. eight of the ten men who were sentenced to long jail sentences back in april have been cleared of all of the charges. it is not clear if those acquitted have been released. in south korea the outbreak of mers has now reached a u.s. air base. a south korean airman has tested positive. he is now at the hospital off of the base and so far is not showing any symptoms. south korean health officials say they have released win patient who had been in the hospital with mers. the death toll from the outbreak now is four. >> reporter: after days of rumors and calls for more transparency, south korean's government reveals one of the hospitals involved in the mers outbreak. it said 30 of the cases confirmed so far were at the st.

mary's hospital outside of soul. the virus spread incredibly quickly here. it could have been through staff or through poor ventilation. it is not known whether the virus has mutated into a more infection version. >> translator: this hospital has recorded a particularly large number of people infected as compared to other hospitals. therefore, we have decided to release the name in order to trace all of the people who have been in the hospital. >> reporter: until now such information has been the subject of crowd sourcing pinpointing locations where infected patients were believed to have been treated. parental pressure has seen more than a thousand schools suspend classes.

>> translator: this weekend will be critical the incubation period for primary and secondary patients ends this weekend. if there is no further infection, we can say we stemmed the tide. >> reporter: late on thursday night, such concerns were heightened wh seoul's mayor announced a doctor who had been exposed to a patient and contracted the virus had been in contact with hundreds of people. he went to two medical symposiums, and a meeting with more than 1500 fellow owners of the apartment complex. the health ministry says the kind of contact at ten dees would have had with the doctor is unlikely to have promoted the transmission of mers but all of those people need to be quarantined. all of this has hit south

korea's tourism industry. >> translator: there has been a big drop in the number of tourists coming in. this would hit more than 50% of our business. if it goes on i might have to consider shutting down. >> reporter: south korea is far from a nation in panic, but this deadly little underdisease is playing on the mind. for now south koreans are hoping that after a slow start, the government has caught up enough to slow and stop the spread of mers. we learned today that a pilot who crashed a germanwings plane into a mountain apparently reached out to dozens of doctors before the crash. investigators say he intentionally downed the plane in march killing all on board.

the search for possible serial killer. there has been another murder in colorado. plus one year later, and one texas town is still dealing with a migrant problem.

you can see some of the damage in colorado as seven tornados swept into different parts of the state last night. destroying or damaging dozens of homes. more severe weather is expected today, including possible flash floods. so far nobody has been hurt. also in colorado police are investigating a possible serial shooter. man was slot to death wednesday in loveland. >> reporter: loveland colorado is a quiet town and as such three shootings in six weeks all within 15 miles of each other is quite unusual. law enforcement is now working

around the clock searching for what they belief is a single gunman. >> there is a neal on the sidewalk, not breathing, he is bleeding uncontrollably. >> reporter: he died on that sidewalk blocks from his colorado home. police say a gunshot killed him, and they fear it was fired by someone who has done this before. >> we don't know if this is related to the other shootings, and we don't know if there is somebody or somebodies that is inflicting these crimes in the community, so there is a tendency for fear. >> reporter: the fear is that a serial shooter may be at large. investigators have already found links between two other unsolved shootings around loveland. on april 22nd corey survived being shot in the neck. >> you don't really think that something like that would happen to you driving home from work.

>> reporter: and on may 18th this 47 year old man was shot twice and killed while riding his bike. police have reached out to county sheriffs and the fbi for help. >> there are enough likenesses to this case that we as an agency immediately reached out to the task force. >> investigators are going to look at ballistics for matches, the sale of weapons, surveillance cameras in and around these shootings, and they are going to look to see if there is any association in the background of the three victims. >> i'm actually really worried and scared to go around even in the daytime. >> i got, you know, two -- two children and a wife and i don't want to be outside playing with my kids, you know or riding bikes or something, down the

sidewalk and somebody come by and shoot me or them. >> reporter: love lank's police chief is asking that the community channel its fear into vigilant action and report anything that might be helpful right away. the fbi is offering a $10,000 reward for information. back to you. john henry smith reporting. fbi agents have raided the central illinois office of former republican congressman aaron shock. former staffers testified about misuse of funds. there is a picture of shock there from the house floor. federal prosecutors are pursuing allegations that shock used campaign money and federal funds for his own personal needs. he resigned from koch in march. texas is facing a new wave of migrants. police near the border found 26

sets of human remains in just the last few months. heidi zhou castro has that story. >> reporter: this highway is the only artery north out of the region. to go further north you have to have papers to get back the check point. so smugglers will drop migrants off just south of here and they walk through this kind of terrain for two to three days. the brooks county sheriff's department continues to find human remains. they were migrants who had gotten lost in the brush. so far this year 27 bodies have been recovered, up from 25 this time last year. that's in spite of border patrol's report of a 30% drop in apprehensions. the sheriff's department says migrants may now be taking

greater risks. risks that expose them to more danger. earlier we saw three young men walking along the highway with their empty water bottles, looking severely deride hide rated they begged us for water. coming up tonight hear more of their story. heidi zhou castro, al jazeera, brooks county texas. >> you can watch heidi's full report from texas tonight at 8:00. coming up an attempt to stop sea lions has failed in oregon and it involved that fiberglass whale. and fighting back against the cleveland curse, some fans in cleveland think their teams may never win a championship again.

a creative attempt to scare away sea lions from the coast of oregon has failed. >> reporter: not exactly your normal day at the boat launch a 32-foot plywood and fiberglass

orca floats off of the trailer and into service, as a marine mammal control tool. the reason for all of this? the california sea lion population here has boomed in recent years. this spring tops 2,000 at the mouth of the columbia river. they have made a mess of the public docks, costing the port nearly $150,000 a year. >> this is not can be a safe place for the sea lions to reside. they were not meant or designed to lounge on docks. >> reporter: there's more than just dock damage. state and federal biologists expect them to eat more salmon putting pressure on endangered stocks. this man saw the pictures and had an idea based on years of

observing orcas and sea lions in the wild. how do they get along? >> they don't. it doesn't take the orca very long to put a sea lion out of misery. >> we have no idea whether it will work or not work. >> reporter: earlier this week his friend and project manager gave us a tour. >> the eyeballs of the whale will be running lights. >> reporter: this crew worked nearly round the clock refurbishing the foe killer whale inside and out. it can blast authentic killer whale chatter, sending a message to the sea lions, we're here fellas and we're hungry. that's the theory anyway. he picked up the phone and cold called the port. >> i told him i had this whale, and he said get it down here immediately. let's try it. >> reporter: to the freshly

painted orca made the 270-mile trip for its maiden voyage. but the sea lions have their supporters. the orca good idea or bad idea? >> it's a better idea than the electric mats. [ laughter ] >> reporter: but you are still not a big fan? >> no i'm not. because i love these animals. >> reporter: after a day's worth of tinkering and sea testing. the orca finally swims in front of a crowd of hundreds. but then catastrophe, it flips, the pilot has to be rescued, and with the sea lions barking and unmoved, the orca is taken in tow. what fans call the cleveland curse continues. the nba team cavaliers made it to overtime with the golden state warriors only to lose.

the last time they won a championship was in 1964 and some fans worry it will never happen again. >> reporter: the city of cleveland takes pride in his medical center its orchestra, and the rock and roll hall of fame but it's sports teams not so much. the cleveland browns did win the presuper bowl nfl championship in 69 but ever since the pro-franchises have come up dry. >> i don't believe in a curse. was there a curse with the red sox? >> no, sir, we just haven't had the right pieces. >> reporter: the most important piece by far, the nba's single most powerful player. an ohio native who defected to miami for several seasons and helped bring them two nba titles

has come back hoping to refeet the feet for his old team. >> he actually went away and came back and now he knows how to lead. >> reporter: the fans also give much credit to david blatt. in his first nba coaching year but some of the cav faithful give themselves a little credit. >> they get motivated when they hear people screaming in the audience. >> reporter: for a city that has bore a big share of america's recent economic woes, many here hope it there will be a renaissance. >> it's going to be amazing. everybody is going to love cleveland once again. >> reporter: judging by the season's statistics the cavaliers go into this series as slight underdogs, but driven by their town's half century-long

thirst for glory. >> that's our report for this hour. i'm david shuster. ♪ ♪ . >> this is al jazeera. hello there. and this is the knew hour. hive from london. coming up. one of osama bin laden's most loyal dies in prison. the same rate, despite calls from the industry. to push prices higher india bans the sale of the hugely popular maggie news after dangerous levels of