country is so high and they have oxygen--extra oxygen at the airport in case it's needed. the pope 78 years old. >> major computer problems taking united airlines and the new york stock exchange. grounding flights and stopping trading. and greece miss with its latest plans. and one year after the war in gaza, 100,000 people are still displaced. the slow process of rebuilding.

>> this is al jazeera america live from new york city. i'm bisi onile-ere. we're following two stories involving computer problems effecting thousands of americans. united airlines jets are flying again after technical issues led to a ground stop earlier. and at this hour all trading has temperature rarely stopped at the new york stock exchange because of an parent technical issue. traders say that it has been a bumpy day in general and they've had technical problems even before opening. the department of homeland security said that so far there are no signs of a cyberattack. united airline is blaming a computer problem oh forcing the company to ground all of its planes this morning. lisa stark has more from washington. >> a travel nightmare for united

managers. the airline had to ground all of its planes. it experienced some major computer problem. the airline called it a connectivity issue. whatever you call t it was chaos for those who were depending on flying on united airlines today. initially it effected the main line carrier and it's regional jets. the united express flights. the you needed express flights resume quite quickly but it took an hour and 15 minutes before united as able to fix its computer glitch and start resuming its flights. it will probably take hours for the airline to get its system up and running in any major fashion. in fact, the airline is saying it's waiving any change fees or cancellation fees for passengers who need to change their flights. a big mess for those flying on united. luckily the problem was

resolved, the big computer issue, within an hour. >> lisa stark in washington. patrick tucker technology editor for the website defense one. we asked him if united and stock exchange tech issues could be connected, and if such cases are unique. >> what seems to have happened with the trading on the stock market, it's an anomaly that has happened before in the 2010. there was an incident called the flash crash. that's what it's known as now. it happened in may. it was the result of lots of different high velocity trading algorithms each trying to compete with one another in incredibly small amount of time to outtrade one another. and the result was about 1,000 valuation points on the dow lost in a very short amount of time that lasted about 36 minutes. what happened today with united seems to be very different.

that is the result with the computing system, nothing that would have affected the operation of the planes. but because of different laws and requirements when your reservation system goes down, you are forced to issue a stoppage alert. as a result of that you saw activity from united. it's an issue with the reservation system but made it little possible to bravely make sure that those who were on the "do not fly list" were not boarding thus the stoppage. >> debating whether to remove the confederate battle flag from the state capitol grounds. it was approved in the state senate.

some legislators say the history of the flag should not be forgotten. >> it's historical. it is about our country. it is about the war that knows flags represent. some call it the war between the states. some call it a civil war. growing up it was called the war of northern aggression. >> it needs to get the two thirds vote. governor nicky haley supports taking the flag down and says she'll sign the law. the clock is ticking for greece to solve its debt crisis. european leaders are giving the country until sunday to reach a bail out deal. prime minister alexis tsipras spoke to the parliament asking for fair and just terms. athens requested a three-year loan asking for tax and pension

cuts that could begin next week. john sporopolous has more. >> it's a distress fund that the greeks would like to fund their program for the next two years. it's a new financial aid program because greece has already graduated unsuccessfully from the previous one. that letter was meant to be submitted this morning. it being done in collaboration with greece's creditors. it sets the process in motion of asking for additional financial aid program and agreeing further down the road by sunday on the terms of it. now in this letter they will immediately implement a set of measures which will create a tax reform measures and pension related measures. well that gives you your first clue about what the greek side will be agreeing to.

it sounds as though they'll be agreeing to the package of ussterty measures. some cuts in pension spending and some additional tax revenues that the greek government already agreed to following the proposal by its creditors. this seems to be building on what was on the table and it's also the document that was put to voters on sunday when they delivered the no vote. now the greek side say that they will submit a fuller more co-pre-hensive agenda. we hope by then to see the entire package. >> the coalition fighting isil has reported the killing of a leader of the group. he was hit by a drone strike.

>> afghan government officials and members of the taliban have agreed to a second round of talks aimed at ending violence in afghanistan. they finished talks on tuesday in neighboring pakistan. they called the talks an important step to end years of hostility. marathon meetings are ongoing in vienna where diplomats are now focused on friday as the target date for iran's nuclear program. secretary of state john kerry and his iranian counterparts are still there. there are reports today that the israeli army is recommending a partial lift of the gaza block aid. it comes one year after israel began a military campaign against hamas in the strip. >> the war was costly for both sides.

one year later not everyone thinks the war was worth it. >> the war that lasted for 50 days was costly both in terms of human life and in economic impact. the structural damage in gaza is estimated at nearly $8 billion. and israel says the operation cost it $2.5 billion. a year on when the israeli government insisted that the war was justified and successful. >> hamas has suffered the hardest blow since the day it was established. we closely follow events in the south of israel and prepare to respond when required to do so. >> others are not convinced. that all the ambitions of the war were successfully achieved. the left leaning up in here

describe gaza as the forgotten war and assess there have been negligible strategic gains. sporadic rocket fire. lessons have not been learned. victims have been forgotten. it has what is called operation protective edge to stop the rockets being fired into gaza. the second was to destroy gaza's network of tunnels. >> the deep cause of damage. the killing of many innocent civilians. tens of thousands of civilians

lost their homes. they had to find some solution. and until now only a few houses are rebuilt. it's a terrible problem. we don't like it. we don't want it but we have no choice. >> there is deep mistrust on both size sides. it's still participate too soon for an objecttive assessment. >> gas seas infrastructure nearly 90,000 homes were completely destroyed. we have more on why much of the strip was in ruins. >> it hasn't started simply because gaza is under siege. with its borders that it shares with israel, very little

supplies have been allowed in. only 1% of building supplies needed for gaza have been allowed in over the past 12 months. add to that the border they share with egypt is also closed. there are people who lost their homes. i'm here in where thousands of people live in basic shelters. they're basically made out of tin or bits of plastic sheeting. most of the people who live here are small children. and it really just underscores the fact that so many gazaens after this conflict they're living in very very desperate continues.

by every measure it is worse. the poverty has increased. humanitarian need is increased. the only reason to be slightly optimistic is construction will increase over the next several months. >> the need for construction is so acute every time they step out their doors it feels as if the war only ended yesterday. >> thank you. serving in the shadows. >> it fell very, very good. to be myself and be in uniform at the same time. >> the at that time forceps tans by transgender members of the

armed forces. and after fleeing their homeland some iraqi christians are saying they're now being held hostage by the u.s. government.

>> some iraqi christians say they're being held captive by the u.s. government. they came to the u.s. seeking a new life. but as jenter london reports the asylum process has been delayed for months. >> we know there are victims of genocide who have escaped living hell. let's let them reunite with their families. >> 20 iraqis are locked up for four months they sat and waited to go released. >> what we do know is that they're being held much longer

than they should be without a real women. >> the women are an iraqi christian minority group from northern iraq. an activist and spokesman for the community. he's among those calling for their release. >> we're protesting. we're talking to the state department, to the white house and congress, and we're putting pressure to make sure that they release these people. >> seeking political asylum in the united states. here in el cajon, you'll find the second largest population ofcalcal chaldeans. all 20 of the detainees like robert, have family willing to sponsor them. >> it's a very hard situation

for him. he's almost here, but. >> he's almost free but not quite free. >> yes, it's like this. he's a very nice person. >> he's family? >> yes, he's family. his big relinquish is to just come here, live, work, and be happy. >> immigration and customs enforcement declined our request for interview. but according to its own policy they must prove what the government calls credible fear of persecution back home. they must establish their identity demonstrate they are not a flight risk and they present no danger to the community. if those criteria are met they should be released. a statement provided to al jazeera says that the vast majority of foreign nationals arrested by i.c.e. are, in fact, released under supervision while

their cases are pending. >> why it has been so long to be detain: there is a process to allow asylum seekers in to the united states. >> well, it's too long compared to i.c.e.'s standards. if they have ask for political asylum, and they have family to do follow up interviews, they are usually release. ed. these 20 chaldeans are not being released. >> why do you think they're being held. >> we don't know. >> we understand that i.c.e. is not telling you but do you think somebody subversive something sub subversive is going on? >> they continue to sit and

wait. their former life left behind. their new one out of reach. >> they have confirmed that it will reduce it's ranks by 40,000 soldiers or 8% over the next two years. budget constraints led to the cuts and the civilians employed by the army will be laid off. it's been four years since the pentagon ended don't ask/don't tell. now gay and lesbian service members can serve openly. but as jonathan betz reports there is one group still in the shadows. >> i've been in the military close to 15 years now. i've been transgender my whole life. >> she kept her gender identity hidden for 15 years. she joined the army 15 years ago

enlisting as a man but inside she was a woman. >> you psychiatrist as recently as october said that you were unfit for duty. >> yes. >> how devastating was that? >> mentioning this to anyone, i could lose my job. i want to serve my country. i've been in since i was 17. this is my chosen professional. >> four years after don't ask/don't tell ended the military officially disqualifies anyone who reports psycho-sexual conditions including transsexualism and transvestite transvestitism. but major henry is the first active duty army officer to publicly come forward as transgender, but she is not alone. there is an estimated 15,500

transgender service members in the military. making it the largest employer of transgender people in the u.s. >> transgender people are more than twice as likely to serve in the armed forces than the population. >> the director at spatter at spatter atsparta. she transitioned in 2010. >> you have people who this they come out they could be discharged, lose their pension. >> we were vetoed and told to wear and given authorization to wear the uniform that confirms with our gender identity. it felt good. it felt very very good to be able to actually be myself and be in uniform at the same time. >> and for army major jamie

henry, lifting the ban will finally allow her to be herself too. >> they might be accepting transgender service members. i want my career back. i can be like any other doctor in the military. that is incredible to me. >> jonathan betz. al jazeera washington. >> turning ghostly white. how climate change is changing the color of coral and robbing a major source of food.

>> hawai'i has the highest percentage of solar users in the country. local utility companies are doing all they can to make it difficult to go green. >> when you think about an energy efficient house you probably do not think about a house like this. this is a $14 million mansion. it's on the cliffs of south maui. it has three 3.5 car garage. it has bathroom made of italian

onyx lit from within. and it's all paneled from this pv panel system. hawai'i with it's incredibly high electricity rates and abun don't sunshine has become the front line about the battle about the future of solar. we'll be looking at the coming war over it. >> as you can see jake's report tonight at 8:00 p.m. eastern. nearly half a billion people rely on coral reefs for food. but those vital reefs are under stress from warming waters linked to climate change and scientists worry that could have devastating consequence. sheila mcvicar went to the marshall islands to see the impacts. >> here a dive master on the island. located in the vast pacific ocean between australia and hawai'i, majaro is the most populous of the marshall

islands. the last year they were shocked when they saw at this favorite spot. >> i saw bleaching coral. what happened, the coral turned white? >> very white. >> and normally it should be full of color. >> yes green purple, red. but no,. >> we had a major bleaching event that started in the marshall islands last fall. as warm waters moved into the area around the marshall islands it really stressed the corals and they're in very bad shape.

>> as they begin to explore the reef there are the life live coral inter percented with healthy coral. devoid of life drained of all color, many covered with a thick layer of dull brown algae. others have already begun to collapse and crumble to the sea floor. what is happening in the marshall islands appears to be growing into a global event. >> the bleaching now is along the tropical pacific area along the equator. >> in the months ahead the predict that coral bleaching will be hitting close for home. we're going to see the thermal stress return to go white. we're also seeing here the caribbean, the northern

caribbean areas will likely will be hit. the gulf of mexico, we're looking mostly at a chance of bleaching in cuba, in the bahamas, and in florida. >> scientists say that the state of the earth's coral reefs depends on keeping global warming below 2 degrees celsius. >> russian authorities are out with a warning, be aware the selfie. the interior ministry has launched a public campaign to steer people from danger. nearly a dozen people have died taking selfies this year according to a russian news agency. it warns of taking selfies with animals, rooftops or anywhere with exposeed live wires. thank you for joining us. i'm bisi onile-ere.

the news continues next live from london. >> this is the al jazeera news hour. i'm david foster. good to have you with us. let's look at what the next 60 minutes. chaotic from the world markets as chinese stops tradeing and new york suspended trading because of technical problems.