future of household energy. jacob ward al jazeera, maui hawaii. when you get a moment check out our website, aljazeera.com. plenty of updates there for news around the world throughout the day. and do keep it here plenty more to come on al jazeera. ♪ ladies and gentlemen, doing the right thing is the hardest thing to do. >> the south carolina house votes to take down the confederate flag after 13 hours of passionate debate. the governor could sign the bill within hours. another deadline nears in the nuclear talks with iran and major issues remain on the table. will negotiators reach a deal by the end of the week. and the new u.n. report showing the devastating impact there syria's civil war. ♪

this is live from new york city i'm stephanie sy. after more than half a century the confederate flag will soon no longer fly on the grounds of the south carolina state capitol. it was approved overnight after more than 13 hours of debate. the governor is expected to sign it today. diane eastabrook is live in columbia, south carolina. tell us more about the governor's plans. >> reporter: hi, stephanie. we just found out a few minutes ago that the governor plans to sign that legislation here at the state house at 4:00 this afternoon. now earlier today, she called this a new day for south carolina. this comes weeks after protests about a controversial flag that has been flying here at the state house for more than 50

years. the final vote came at about 1:00 am, and followed more than 13 hours of often contentious debate. >> there has been an absolute evidence of a double standard or duel standard shown to me today. >> grace is not something that we earn. grace is something that comes to us unearned. >> reporter: the push to remove the flag followed the killings of nine black church goers last month. south carolina republican representative jenny horn had attended the funeral for one of the victims. in one of the most emotional speeches last night, she said it was time for her colleagues to act. >> and for the widow of senator pinckney and his two young daughters, that would be adding insult to injury! and i will not be a part of it! >> reporter: it has been a striking change in a state where the confederate flag has flown

on or at the capitol for decades. its status protected by law that required supermajoritiesover both houses to take the flag down. now once the governor signs that legislation, the state by law has 24 hours to remove the flag. so we would expect to see the flag come down sometime tomorrow. stephanie? >> such a symbolic day for south carolina diane. where does that specific flag go after it is taken down? >> reporter: we think it's likely to go to a museum here in clup beeia that has a lot of relics from the civil war. we toured that museum the other day, and there are a lot of flags from the civil war, so we expect it will probably go there. >> diane thank you. this morning the deputy commissioner is in charge of the baltimore police department. the mayor fired the commissioner after a spike in violence and murders in the city. the dismissal also followed the

suspicious death of freddie gray. paul beban reports. >> reporter: at a news conference late wednesday afternoon, the mayor thanked the commissioner for its service, and then sent him packing. >> we need a change. this was not an easy decision but it is one that is in the best interest of the people of baltimore. the people of baltimore deserve better. >> reporter: the mayor said an ongoing spike in murders demanded a change in leadership. his firing comes two and a half months after baltimore plunged into violence following the death of freddy gray. after the riots died down arrests plummeted and homicide rates spiked. in may there were a reported 22 suicides. >> this is an all-hands on deck.

all-hands every single resource every single body every single personnel on the streets of baltimore. >> reporter: tuesday night gunmen jumped out of two vans and opened fire near the university of maryland baltimore. but even amid soaring crime, the mayor stood by her commissioner until now. even depending him in the face of criticism from his own force. on tuesday the police department released its own report on the response to the riots following the death of freddie gray and it pointed squarely at police leadership. it reads in part: tensions between the force and the commissioner have been running high ever since the

protests. the charges brought by baltimore's state attorney against six officers only deepened the divisions. some officers reportedly said the charges made them hesitant to make arrests. the mayor said that tuesday's police report had nothing to do with giving bats the boot but nevertheless, it was time for him to go. >> we spoke earlier with the attorney for freddy grey's family. >> he was unable to make the changes in police culture to eliminate the racist bias in law enforcement that has existed since baltimore was established, and he wasn't able to knock down that blue wall of silence that enables this culture to continue with its immoral behavior, and punishes police officers who were good when they tell on

police officers who were bad. >> murphy says it will take a whole lot more than a new commissioner to reform the police department. he wants to see the federal government put its own monitor in place. new york's gov for is giving the attorney general new power to invest days by killings by police officers. as john henry smith reports leaders are hopeful this will rebuild confidence between the police and communities they are in charge of protecting. >> reporter: reacting to criticism that prosecutors are to close to police to hold officers accountable, new york governor andrew cuomo, announced an unusual step. >> the attorney general will be a standing prosecutor to handle any case where a law enforcement officer kills an unarmed civilian, or kills a civilian and there is a question as to

whether or not the civilian is armed and dangerous. >> with the governor's order, new york takes a very important step forward in this process of ensuring that our system of justice does provide equal justice under law. >> reporter: cuomo said a series of police brutality cases in new york and around the country have made the measure necessary. >> this is a crisis. it's a crisis in this state, and it is a cry says nationwide. it is a crisis of confidence in the criminal justice system. [ applause ] >> reporter: on hand were relatives of some of those killed in police encountered, including the mother of this man, an 18 year old shot inside his grandmother's home in 2012. >> we know there is much work to be done to ensure that our children, our family members and new yorkers are not unjustly

killed by police in the first place. >> reporter: one police union leader issued a statement saying, quote: but with public attitudes towards police violence changing quickly. cuomo defended his decision. >> i know that this law, and this executive order will go a long way to doing exactly what we needed to do black, white, rich, poor justice is to be color blind. >> reporter: john henry smith, al jazeera. the greek cabinet is still meeting this morning as it tries to finalize its latest bailout proposal. on wednesday the government revealed it will request a new

three-year bailout program in exchange for what it calls immediate reforms. the e.u. has demanded a final agreement by sunday. the banks are running out of cash. these banks will stay closed until at least monday. there is a sense of optimism in vienna that the u.s. and five other nations will be able to reach a nuclear deal with iran. the next deadline is about 13 hours away at midnight u.s. time. if the administration does not hand congress an agreement by then, the review period will double to 60 days. ali velshi has more. >> reporter: as thursday comes to an end in tehran still no word on a deal for the nuclear negotiations in vienna. however, a good tone of optimism coming out of iranian media. there seems to be some sort of press offensive, when the prime minister said that world powers are closer together than they

have ever been. it was a sentiment echoed by john kerry but that there are political decisions that remain to be made. that means much of the technical stuff has been worked out, but that people have to say yes or no to the deal coming out of tehran. hard liners are stepping up their offensive in iran against such a deal. they are in fact expecting some demonstrations tomorrow friday in iran whether or not there is a deal. there are reports in iranian media that the deadline has been extended to monday -- july 13th that has not been confirmed. it fact it has been denied off of the record by some people in vienna. but lots of journalists coming in here, more people talking about the fact that there may be a deal. there is a sense that this is as close as anybody has ever been to getting a deal in the almost three decades of various sanctions that have been imposed on tehran. there is also a sense that if

the powers negotiating don't take this opportunity they may not get this close again. a painful new measure of the impact of the war in syria. the united nations says more than 4 million have now fled the country. plus putting economic pressure on israel how some americans are using their purchasing power to push a political message. ♪

♪ new numbers from the united nations show the devastating impact of the civil war in syria. more than 4 million have fled the country, and another 7.5 million are displaced inside of syria. >> reporter: 4 million and counting refugees in jordan's camp didn't think the conflict in syria would last this long or force this many people out of

their country. this is one of the camp's old residents. he had this reaction when we told him the number of refugees in the region had reached 4 million. >> translator: this is a disaster. it means the entire population will eventually be displaced. this makes me feel our conflict will drag on for years. >> reporter: from the camp's oldest residents to its newest arrivals. this man had lived in the camp before deciding to survive on his own. but he returned to the camp two months ago. >> translator: i left the camp because my children couldn't survive the sore. ing heat of the summer in a tent. refugees have to pay for a lot of services outside of the camp so i was forced to return. >> reporter: when asked what they want from the international community many here say they

want an end to the carnage in syria. the united nations has called the syrian refugee crisis the worst humanitarian disaster in cent history. almost half of the population have been displaced, including 4 million who have been forced to leave to neighboring countries like jordan and there is no sign of when these refugees will be able to return home. the u.n. says the international community has been generous but the scale is so big that donors are thinking about how the funding can be sustained as the conflict continues. >> already this year people have less access to services. there are agencies having to push back on assistance. it's pushing them back to the camps which are entirely funded by the international community or pushing them even to return to syria. and when you have families telling you, i'm going back because i can't earn aliing

here, and they would prefer to live in a war zone you know how desperate they are. the u.n. says around 80% are living below the poverty line. another 70% are sending their children out to beg and engaging in this degrading or illegal work. many say this is a sign of how desperate people have become. >> daniel is the policy lead on syria for oxfan. thank for being with us. this is the biggest refugee population from a single conflict in a generation. how do you begin to help and feed 4 million people? >> well i think that -- it's worth noting how big this is getting. the -- two years ago when there was 2 million refugees the high

commissioner said the refugee crisis was unparalleled in recent history, so it just gives you an indication of the -- the scale of the crisis and like you say, incredibly difficult for the humanitarian community to cope with that response and i think even more importantly, i think it's difficult for the neighboring countries to cope with that response as well and one of the concerns that we have as an organization is that for too long the generosity of syria's neighbors has been taken for granted, and that generosity is coming to an end at the exact time when aid funding for the aid response is drying up and unfortunately those that are paying the heaviest price of this conflict is the refugees who have fled the conflict inside syria. >> besides the fact that the population of refugees as you note has doubled in the last two

years, what are some of the issues that you are witnessing today in the refugee camps that you weren't, perhaps, a year ago? z >> well i think it's worth noting that most of the refugees are not in refugee camps, they are in host communities. a small fraction are in the camps like the one you were filming. the biggest changes in the last year are the fact that aid is -- is drying up. so if you look at jordan the world food program as of august will stop providing rations to refugees, the services they have provided are increasingly inaccessible to the refugees so from the perspective of a refugee, this is people that have fled extreme levels of violence they have less and

less from international organizations. they have less ability to access services from neighboring governments, and in many cases they are unable to work so it's either illegal for them to work or they don't have the status to allow them to access employment. so the options are increasingly constrained and limited. i think that has been the major shift over the last year. >> daniel joining us from beirut. thank you. israel's prime minister says the country is working to get back two citizens it says are being held in gaza. authorities say at least one of the two is being held by hamas. the two were apparently taken captive some ten months ago. the israeli government isn't revealing the circumstances behind the capture. a spokesman for hamas always declined to comment. some americans have changed

their minds about israel after seeing the destruction in gaza one year ago. they are now using economic pressure to get israel to change its policies. >> reporter: applying economic pressure tend to israel's occupation of palestinian lands. the core strategy of bds, boycott, divestment and sanctions. ♪ >> reporter: a global citizen-lead movement that has seen a surge in u.s.-based support since last year's gaza war. >> it has grown because of the devastating impact that the gaza war had on palestinian civilians. >> reporter: this month the united church of christ in the united states -- >> i come from a family of

holocaust survivors, and so it is with sadness and pain they urge you to vote yes. >> reporter: -- overwhelmingly adopted a resolution to divest from firms bound to profit from the occupation. >> while our investment may not have the financial impact that might be necessary to change the situation of occupation this is a clear moral voice. >> reporter: one that is reverberating on u.s. college campuses, where groups like students for justice in palestine have helped organize at least 16 successful referendums this year nearly as many as the previous ten years combined. ♪ killing me softly with your bombs ♪ >> reporter: the bds movement also claimed victory in may when

r&b star lauren hill siting her desire not to alienate palestinian or israeli fans cancelled a planned concert in tel-aviv, a decision that followed a social media campaign by bds activists, but the growing strength is also gal van nicing those opposed to it. anti-bds group stand with us says it organized more than 600 represents on 175 north american campuses this year. >> it has been call for supporters of israel on campus to circle the wagons and to get more active. >> reporter: a sir call that includes las vegas billionaire who pledged millions and is raising millions to combat bds on campus. [ applause ] >> lawmakers are also stepping

up efforts. championing a wave of anti-bds legislation, including a provision on the trade promotion authority bill president obama recently signed into law. >> peace. >> when do we want it? >> now! >> reporter: but bds supporters say such moves only legitimate their cause. >> i feels like we're in the third stage of and then in they fight you. boko haram has reportedly offered to release 219 schoolgirls held captive for more than a year but only in exchange for detained leaders. the offer is similar to one made last year and that deal fell through at the last minute. accused of being sexist a new study says google is promoting gender discrimination through how it displays job apps. ♪

♪ [ bell chimes ] an especially welcome round of applause as the new york

stock exchange opened this morning. the market appears to be trading normally one day after computer troubles forced it to shut down for three and a half hours. big questions about how jobs are advertised on google. a new study says the tech giant is promoting discrimination. >> reporter: the profiles all had the basic information, so the only difference was the gender. the study found females were shown fewer ads about high-paying jobs than males. for example, a career coaching site for jobs paying $200,000 or more, were shown to men more than 1800 times, the same ads were shown to women 318 times. that's six times more for men. and when you put it into the larger context of men and women

in the work force, about 5% of fortune 500 ceos are women, and the same is true for fortune 1,000 companies. the authors of the study say it's hard to pinpoint the exact cause of the discrimination, because it includes algorithms websites users, advertisers, and really the way the advertisers target users as well. >> what is google's response? >> a spokeswoman for google said advertisers can choose to target the audience they want to reach, and we have policies that guide the type of interest-based ads that are allowed. she also went on to say that users have the ability to opt out of interest-based ads. >> thank you. parts of northern nevada are trying to clean up this morning after days of heavy rain lead to severe flash flooding. a disaster declaration is now in place in douglas county.

some roads there are still closed. a family of whales gave an alaska an couple a surprise of a lifetime. >> i hear 'em! holy [ censor bleep ]! oh, my god, they are right in front of us. oh my god this is -- [ laughter ] >> the pair were out for a quiet day of fishing when more than a dozen whales popped up to the surface to greet them. the rocked the boat over but thankfully no one was hurt including the whales. this photo of pluto was taken by the new horizon's probe. after a 3 billion mile journey that began nine years ago. thanks for watching. i'm stephanie sy in new york. the news continue live from doha. and you can catch the latest any time on our website, aljazeera.com. take care. ♪

>> announcer: this is al jazeera. ♪ from al jazeera's headquarters in doha this is the news hour. i'm richelle carey. coming up in the next 60 minutes. the family of an israeli man who went missing in gaza pleas for help to free him. a countrien gulfed in unspeakable violence. sow sudan marks four years of dense but there is little to celebrate. the number of syrian refugees now tops 4 million. and pope francis del