tels in the capitol mogadishu on friday evening, and according to the police car bombs were used and there is still fighting going on. we'll bring you updated information on that story as we get it. but do check out the website, again, the address for that aljazeera.com ♪ [ cheers and applause ] after 54 years, the confederate flag comes down for the last time at the south carolina state capitol grounds. extended again, the nuclear talks with iran will last through the weekend as negotiators try to work through the details. plus fighting to stay in the euro zone. greece debates its latest debt crisis proposal as european leaders split over whether it is

the best deal. ♪ this is al jazeera america, live from new york city. i'm randall pinkston. history made this morning in south carolina. onlookers cheered as the confederate battle flag was taken down at the state capitol. it had been flying over a confederate memorial for 15 years. before that it spent nearly four decades on the capitol dome and now that flag is in a museum. diane eastabrook is at the capitol in columbia. [ cheers and applause ] >> reporter: a cheer erupted from a crowd of about 7,000 when the confederate flag was finally removed from the south carolina state house grounds today. the state patrol honor guard lowered the flag folded it up and it was transported to an area museum. this has really been a whirlwind

week for the people of south carolina. less than two days ago the legislature voted to take town the flag and the governor signed it into law less than a day ago. this has been a very divisive issue here in south carolina, but a lot of people are here relishing the moment. >> diane eastabrook in columbia south carolina. immediately after the flag came down president obama tweeted this: we're joined by a professor of african american history at queens college, and she said the flag will now be in its rightful place. >> as a professional historian,

i don't want to do away with the historic legacy and importance of the civil war and its icons. i think they have a place, but i don't think outside of a national park or battlefield or museum that it should be left to kind of wave in -- in the wind triumphantly, when this was the symbol of a rebellious nation that essentially tore itself apart from the united states of america. >> owens says now that the symbol has been taken down south carolina can move on and talk about real issues. the iran nuclear talks will continue through the weekend in vienna negotiators agreed to extend an interim deal until monday. secretary of state john kerry says there is a limit to american patience but he also says the u.s. and its five negotiating partners will not be

rushed. ali velshi has more from tehran. >> reporter: it is friday in tehran. this is a holy day, a particularly holy day, it is during the holy month of ramadan, and the last friday in ramadan throughout much of the muslim world is a day of protest against what they call the israeli occupation of palestine. hard liners in iran have called for greater demonstrations today. they have called for demonstrations not only against israel but against imperial powers, in which they describe america. the result has not been substantially greater than it would have been, but it is a symbol that the hard liners are concerned that a deal is near. they have opposed a deal with the united states, opposed a deal in which iran gives up anything particularly its nuclear program. negotiators from the government which is a more moderate government, a government elected on the platform of opening up relations to the west are facing this protest from the right and

reformers on the left who say they are not doing enough. today was an effort by hard liners to protest the negotiations in vienna. and it does tell you a little bit about why iranian negotiators are so determined not to come home with a deal they cannot defend. generally speaking we have spoken to a range of people from business worker government officials, most people are determined that they want these sanctions lifted the most important are the banking sanctions which prevent iranians from wiring money overseas. this presents them from buying goods manufactured overseas through the easiest channels while you can get everything even american-made products here, they send to be very expensive. many greek lawmakers today are voicing support for the prime minister's plan to keep the country in the euro zone

now european leaders have to decide if they have satisfied. >> reporter: the process has accelerated in the last few hours since the greeks delivered their latest proposal to the creditors. it is of course the same proposal we have seen on the table for the last two and a half weeks. proposal however, is being seen in a new light. it is post referendum, after the greek no and yet the two sides are still coming back to the table, determined to pass something that will be palatable not only to greek taxpayers, but also to european taxpayers. the reason why this proposal is being brought again, is that the prime minister hopes that he will bring with it a $35 billion euro package of investment from the europe yoon commission. this is three times the amount of the austerity measures and therefore, the prime minister can defend that $12 billion

euros in cuts and new taxes by saying that he will bring in much more new investment that will bring growth to the economy to balance out the recessionary effect of all of the cuts. he also hopes to reschedule the repayment of the greek debt the $360 billion debt over a period of many decades, which will be far longer than the current 16 that is foreseen in the current greek program. the international monetary fund doesn't believe that is long enough. if all of that happens then the major criticisms of austerity will have an addressed. the growth will be there, the debt sustainability will be there. and therefore, the greek prime minister is hoping to bring the prior actions, the painful mart of the package through parliament so that on saturday he can go to his creditors with

that part already passed and legislated, and have a stronger hand in demanding from them the sweeteners that he wants to bring home. many businesses are facing closure in one part because they are either not being paid or they cannot pay their bills. hoda abdel hamid met workers there who are taking control of their own futures. >> reporter: it's a model of self organization. a factory that was doomed if it wasn't for the ingenuity of its workers. and so it went from producing building materials like grout and acrylics to making environmental friendly soaps and cleaning products. >> translator: we were working with a lot of chemicals before, and we wanted to produce something different that is cheap and affordable for the families and people. >> reporter: their products are

now sold in several european countries. back in august 2012 -- 2011 they had effectively lost their jobs. what happened here is very telling about how things went wrong in greece. the owner of this factory was the mother of the owner of another factory, and things weren't doing very well there, so money from here was injected there, and within weeks from each other, they both shut down. it was a shock for this man. he came to work one morning, only to find the doors locked and management gone. >> translator: of course it was a surprise. we were still working. the boss knew what was happening and she planned and took all of the money and left us without paying us. we are earning less but we don't have bosses anymore. >> reporter: alexis does want to be asked about management

anymore. >> translator: cut this word out of your question. [ laughter ] >> translator: it is a business. and we have to learn. but no one takes a decision alone. we don't have bosses. we are all equals. >> reporter: many factories have shut down in greece since the crisis began. this is the only one still functioning in this area on the outskirts of town. the rest is more or less an industrial waste land. the workers first learned to make soap on the internet. a fresh start that saved their factory from becoming part of the many ruins of modern greece. a medicare fraud scheme in michigan. a doctor sentenced to decades in prison after intentionally misdiagnosing healthy patients for cancer. and new york giving one of the highest honors to the u.s. women's soccer team a ticker take parade through the canyon of hair -- heroins.

a cancer doctor from michigan has been sentenced to 45 years for medicare fraud. lisa stark is live for us in washington. what was dr. fata's reaction to the sentence? >> reporter: well according to nose in the courtroom, he has very little reaction to the actual sentence but he addressed dhoert, talked to the judge, talked to many victims who had come to the courthouse to here what was going to happen to him, and he broke down sobbing, saying he was ashamed of what he had done; that he violated his oath; that he had no idea how he could redeem himself, but asking the judge to allow him to get out of prison

at least before he died so he could redeem himself. the judge wasn't very moved by that as you can imagine. >> you met some of the patients that he dealt with. what are they saying about the sentence? >> reporter: i interviewed a number of patients. tracy believed his lack of care contributed to her husband's death. charles got years of chemotherapy when he should have only had six months. tracy told me she didn't think it was enough. the government asked for 175 years. chuck said you know what i think it will be a life sentence for him so i am satisfied with it. but i will tell you, randall, both had the same reaction to dr. fata's tearful apology. they didn't buy it as tracy said to me no one who did what he did would have any kind of a

conscience. >> so this crime took place over a period of time. any idea lisa how he was able to carry out the proceed seemingly unchecked for so long. >> reporter: he defrauded medicare for years. he billed medicare about $34 million, received about $17 million. that doesn't count what he did to private insurance companies and what patients were paying. essentially he ran a very tight ship and he was very well respected. he had done his original training in lebanon. so patients just trusted him. >> he held himself out as the expert of all experts in this area. he convinced his patients that he was the only person who could

save them. there are so many people that i have talked to who have told them that he called them their miracle patient. of course if you have somebody who doesn't have cancer to begin with and you treat them with chemotherapy and then they no longer have cancer that's not a miracle. >> reporter: that is not a miracle, indeed. and today in court, in fact the judge said that dr. fata gave at least 1200 unnecessary chemo therapy treatments to obviously hundreds of patients. really an astonishing story. >> thank you, lisa stark in washington. former virginia governor lost his appeal to overturn his con -- corruption convention. protesters shut down a main intersection in new orleans today in not far from where an

appeals court heard arguments on whether to lift a ban on the obama immigration efforts. a big parade where tens of thousands of fans lined up in the canyon of heros, and we now see the program is underway at city hall to honor the heros. morgan radford is in the crowd. morgan can you hear me? >> reporter: i can. and i hope you can hear me beyond the drums and the singing, because today is a day for the red, white and blue. there is a huge crowd in front of city hall they are waiting to here from the mayor, the commissioner of united states soccer, and even the u.s.

women's national team coach. there is a lot of excitement in the air. we have face paint, ice cream, a great drum line. it is a big day with electric energy. >> i'm looking at some of the picturesover the confetti it doesn't look like it used to look back in the day. >> i can't see to back in the day, but i can tell you back in the day -- there is confetti here. we see a lot of red, white, and blue, but what is interesting is really what this means to the people in the crowd. a lot of young girls here. they were even chanting we don't want short skirts all we wear is soccer shorts. and they said we are here to see the players because they are an inspiration to us in how they handle themselves on and off the field. and there were also a lot of young boys here who said we're

here to support the women's soccer team. i asked one of them if he would be willing to trade in his male soccer jersey for a female one, and he said absolutely. >> this is a significant parade for these women, the first one for them right? >> right. the iconic route they took here is generally called the canyon of heros, but today it's a called the canyon of heroins, and speaking of back in the day this has been happening since 1886 with the statute of liberty, and since then you can think of all of the greats jesse ownens amelia earhart, and the 2012 super bowl victory more recently, but an iconic day. >> morgan radford thank you. we'll see your reports later

today. and after all of the celebrations are over the women of team usa will soon go back to their day jobs as players in the national women's soccer league. and alan schauffler reports the team is hoping their win will help bring in new fans. >> reporter: this is a practice session for the seattle rain one of nine teams in the national women's soccer game. the league is averaging about 4,000 people we are game. but those numbers are skewed by what is happening in portland where they are drawing about 1300 per game. ticket sales have skyrocketed here since the u.s. women's national team won the world cup up in vancouver, bc last sunday. they are averaging about 3,000 a game now, and for the game on saturday they are hoping to pack

these stands and put in more than 5,000. so can that world cup bump be more than a temporary bump? that's a big question moving forward. can this win in vancouver by the national team establish a new baseline of support for, and interest in women's professional soccer? >> yeah it's a huge opportunity for the league. obviously the last month has been all about women's soccer a lot of free publicity for the league and its players. so we're hoping that translates into ticket sales. >> reporter: megan plays for the national rain. i asked her what players in this league have to do to keep interests high to keep up that level of enthusiasm. and she said simply keep winning. the u.s. national team will have another chance next year at the olympics in rio. a good showing there, maybe even another gold medal will certainly generate a lot of support and keep that enthusiasm

high. battling wildfires from above. coming up, the extreme measures some firefighters are taking and not everyone is happy.

the federal head of the office of personnel management has resigned her job. she said it was time to move on and let new leadership take over the agency. this one day after federal officials revealed more than 21 million people found that their personal information was stolen by computer hackers who went after a government server. wildfires in british columbia are growing. an air quality advisory has been issued for residents in washington state. people are heart and lung disease are encouraged to stay in doors. this year's western wildlife season has gotten off to an early start and is expected to last longer than usual.

as joie chen reports there are growing doubts about the effectiveness of traditional strategy. >> reporter: august of 2013, near california's yosemite national park. >> it's getting really close. >> reporter: those big heavies are the largest fixed-wing firefighting aircraft in the world. old dc 10 passengers. during the rim fire help came from 10,000 feet up. but we got a closer look at albuquerque, mexico home base of the world's only firefighting dc 10s. that plane had to be ready to go within a half hour. >> yeah. i have a crew that is already preflighted and we're just

waiting for the call. >> reporter: how does it change the game? >> primarily it is quantity. this is on an order of magnitude four or more times of any other tanker flying. so it gets there with more sooner, and that's a good thing. i have never had an incident commander tell me we got there too soon and we brought too much. >> reporter: what about a home owner? >> they say had that weapon not been available at that time the outcome would have been worse. >> reporter: but after decades of air drops some experts doubt aerial firefighting even works. bill stewart says we should take a closer look at aerial firefighting, to see if they are really worth it. >> when things are really hot there is going to be such an up draft of hot air that it will be very hard for retardant or water

to get to the ground to put out the flames. >> reporter: aerial fights on the rim fire alone cost over $11 million. stewart says not only are there questions about the effectiveness about the tankers but an investment might be better spent on the ground. >> i think there's a real question of when we invest the next $10 million, how much of that is going to go to aerial depression, and how much is going to go to fuels management and ground suppression. >> reporter: in the aftermath of the rim wildfire the forrest service spent $134 million on rehabilitation. bill stewart says his goal isn't to ground the flying firefighters, but to make sure resources are available to

protect against future fires. joie chen, al jazeera. a large new study is being called good news for women who are being treated for depression. the study finds the risk of birth defects from anti-depress sanths are relatively small. this one could help resolve any lingering questions. researcher analyzed the records of more than 20,000 women. the study is published and asked whether women who took antidepressants in the month before getting pregnant or in the first trimester are at greater risk of birth defects. the study looked for five commonly described drugs. >> of the five that were studied three were safe. zoloft was the drug that was

used most frequently in this population and was one that was safe. >> the other drugs found be safe were were these: can >> it's not a huge increase and women should -- should know that even if they are on one of the drugs that was associated with a birth defect it is still a relatively low probability. >> reporter: the study is significant because of the sheer number of americans on antidepressants about one in ten take the most commonly prescribed drugs. >> this is a very reassuring article. it says you can be treated effectively, and keep your baby safe. thanks for joining us. i'm randall pinkston.

the news continues from london. greece unveils its financial reform plan. euro zone ministers will now decide whether it's acceptable. ♪ i'm lauren taylor this is al jazeera live from london. air strikes in yemen just hours before a humanitarian ceasefire is due to kick in. an exclusive incite into south sudan's white army. and lowered for a final time. the confederate flag comes down at south carolina's capitol. ♪