>> and you can find plenty more stories on our website. the address for that is www.aljazeera.com. details of that bomb that has gone off in the thai capital, and so far no one claiming responsibility. plenty more on our website. the address again, www.aljazeera.com. >> a massive explosion rocks thailand's capital. foreigners are among the dead. the white house launch a new initiative to take on heroin, speaking the spike of overdoses as a public health epidemic and not a criminal problem. the faa knows what led to a weekend travel nightmare. an upgrade that actually made

things worse. >> this is al jazeera america. live from new york city. i'm richelle carey. thai police are clearing the scene of an explosion in the capital of bangkok. it happened in the heart of the city just outside of a shrine that is popular with tourists from all over the world. the official death toll is 16. that includes citizens of china and the philippines. more than 80 others have been injured. veronica pedroza has more from bangkok. >> it is a bit quieter. there are emergency vehicles that were swarming the place, they have mostly left, but the area remains secure, cordoned off from the public. this means that major interception has been cut off i

want to bring clarity to the casualty toll to let you know that the national police chief in the last few minutes has said of the official number of deaths is 16, and among them are filipinos and chinese fatalities. local television networks or news hour have been reporting higher death tolls. the official death toll remains at 16. also i wanted to let you know that in the last hour the british embassy has put out a warning to british citizens in the area, telling them to monitor the situation and keeping an eye on news reports.

and the embassy itself monitoring the situation. this is a major tourist destination. people of all nationalities come here. it is a very popular place for people to come and visit. >> veronica pedroza in bangkok. bad weather and thick forests are slowing down search and rescue teams in indonesia. they're trying to reach the wreckage of a plane that went down on sunday. the air service plane disappeared with 54 people on board. there was heavy rain, strong wind and fog in the region when this plane vanished. indonesian authorities say that the plane was carrying $470,000 in government cash for poor families. the reports from jakarta. >> a very difficult rescue operation going on in area where the plane went down. it is very difficult to reach by land, but also from the air.

with helicopters it is very difficult because the weather conditions are very bad in the area. the plane was spotted in a very mountainous area, 2,500 meters high which is covered in dense jungle teams that are going there now by foot have very difficult problems reaching the area. there is an air evacuation plan in place. min planes and helicopters have been looking for the missing plane that went off radar and lost contact on sunday afternoon carrying 54 people but also allegedly a lot of cash, which was meant for poor families in the district. this just shows how remote this area is because in the area there are hardly any banks to transfer this kind of money for government projects.

tomorrow, as soon as there is light, the rescue operations will continue. >> here in the west, two dozen fires are burning across idaho and washington state. the largest along the oregon-idaho border has grown to 288,000 acres. and in central washington the reach fire has destroyed dozens of homes near a resort town. >> we don't have enough resources to put this huge containment line around all this fire. they have to prioritize what is near structures, and that's where they want to get fire lines. >> more than 1600 people have been forced to evacuate the area. two rivers in colorado are back open after a toxic mine spill. the san juan rivers reopened. people warned to not drink untreated water.

iran's supreme leader said that it's country will remain closed to american influence even if a nuclear deal is approved. >> it is not definite whether it will be accepted or rejected, either here nor there. their intentions is to find a way to infiltrate the islamic republic, but we block this way, and we shall block it for good. >> saying that even if the accord gets the okay of iranian and u.s. officials, iran will not full under political, economic or cultural control. parliament will vote on the deal in the coming days. in iran verdict is expected for the trial of "washington post" reporter. he has been in iran prison for more than a year facing espionage charges. the newspaper and his family deny the claims. we were told earlier that the verdict could be harsh.

>> the trial is overseen by a judge who is a hard liner, he's quite radical, and unfortunately in the past he has handed down sentences that were quite long. i'm not expecting this judge to come up with a verdict that would lead to his release. >> the sentence can be appealed. but he faces up to 20 years in prison if victoried. he ha dual american-iranian citizenship. the move to broaden surveillance in places like ukraine, iraq, syria, the south china sea and north africa the pentagon said that it will increase its use of drones for airstrikes.

meanwhile the u.s. said it will remove patriot missiles from turkey. they've been there as part of the nato mission since 2013. the missiles were installed to protect turkey's southern border from any spill over from syria's civil war. officials say that the patriot missiles will be returned to turkey to support its security if needed. the syrian air force has launched new attacks on the outskirts of damascus. more than 100 people were killed and dozens of others wounded. when bombs were dropped on a marketplace in the southern town of douma. the syrian observe store has called it a massacre. douma is regularly targeted by the syrian government 37 the strikes cone aside coincided with the visit of a top u.n. humanitarian affairs leader. >> the plane dropped the bomb in a crowded marketplace. it is an all-too familiar scene

for the people of douma. this town is regularly targeted by syrian government airstrikes, but sunday's attack was the worst yet. civil defense workers and others have gathered at the sight of the explosion to help move the wounded when more air raids hit. more than 100 people were killed and dozens of others were wounded. doctors at the field hospital struggled to help those who survived. many of them were critically injured. according to activists on the ground the victims were civilians. women and children were among them. the syrian observe store for human rights called the attacks an official massacre that was carried out deliberately. syrian state media didn't mention the attack, but a military source was quoted as saying the air force carried out strikes in douma and nearby suburbs that targeted the islam army. a day earlier the group announced a new offensive

against government forces. >> fighting has escalated in recent days. douma has been out of government control for years but the military still control the skies, and civilians more often than not have been targeted. they're at the door steps of got's seat of power. that's why sunday's attacks are being seen as a message to the people of the area. the government will consider them responsible for the actions of the opposition. al jazeera, beirut. >> presidential hopeful defend on iowa, making their pitch to voters at the state fair. but what they're say something not resonating with everyone on the campaign trail.

>> a group of student-athletes at northwestern university will not be allowed to unionize. the national labor relations board has dismissed their petition. the athletes claim them employees, a point the board did not dress in its decision, but it did say that allowing these athletes to unionize would upset the balance of competition in the ncaa. there is no way to appeal that ruling. the white house is launching a new initiative in the fight against heroin abuse. the program will partner with public health experts and drug experts so they can better understand the origins of abuse. the goal is to shift from a

punishment based model to treating low level offenders. several republican presidential candidates are holding court with iowans at the state fair today. among them wisconsin governor scott walker. he's touting his own immigration proposal that echos donald trump, that includes building a wall on the u.s.-mexican border. >> people want to at least hear a decisive stance on an issue and donald trump is willing to do that. he's willing to say this is where i stand. no political talk. no trying to gloss over the harshest of his plan. this is where i stand period. that's really resonating with voters. voters are in a mood to elect someone who is not a politician. someone who does not say things that are politically correct but will get things done for the country. that's why don't trump is hitting a core with american

voters. that's why he's at 25% nationally. that speaks to the fact that there is voter dissatisfaction. they're not buying establishment folks who are long-term politicians. they're buying people who have no political experience and who are willing to break the mold to say what they mean and mean what they say. >> there is a growing campaign infrastructure in iowa and new hampshire. berni sanders taking on critics from the black lives matter movement. he said that he does not open activists in that movement an apology. michael shore has more from des moines. >> just as i'm doing right now, berni sanders waited his way past the corn growers and the corn dog vendors here at the iowa state fair. it's a ritual that every republican candidate does in the lead up to the caucuses next

january. while he has attracted the biggest crowd, he has attracted his share of criticism and interpretations. especially from a group called black lives matter. it was formed in the wake of the police shootings of eric garner, michael brown, tamir rice and others. i asked senator sanders how he felt about these criticisms and he told me that it was all about institutional racism. >> and until we create a criminal justice system that is a heck a lot better than the system today, the issue that has to be focused on, it's easier to give speeches. it is harder to do it, i will do it. >> but at least one activist that we met with here des moines senator sanders record is not enough. >> that speech, the alignment, it was a feel-good, feel the burn, whatever you want to categorize it. i don't feel the burn after that. and it's really--it's kind of leaving me to think whether his motives. he's asking for my vote.

he's wanting me to vote for him. but i can't--i want to know the follow up, and i don't feel like there is going to be much of any. i hope so is. >> is that in a nutshell why people have protested him, interrupted him. >> yep. it's because he's giving us these pacifiers. these tidbits of things that are supposed to silence us and hush us. >> black lives matters are making it to the candidates. what remains to see if he has done enough for these activists. >> see michael's full report from iowa tonight at 8:00 eastern. the faa blames a software upgrade for the problems that have left thousands of passengers stranded this weekend. the upgrade was supposed to give air traffic control a new tool.

>> long lines and thousands of passengers stranded at airports this weekend following an automation problem at an air traffic center in virginia. >> the faa blames the problem on a software upgrade at a radar facility. hundreds of flights from canceled and 2,000 delayed with major east coast hubs hit the hardest. >> they said that the screens had gone blank, and they were not able to track the planes coming through that area. >> ticket agents were bombarded with travelers trying to rearrange their plans. >> i've never seen this, and they wouldn't let me check my bags. >> there are a lot of angry people in the line. >> a lot of passengers were not sure how long they would be stuck. >> i'm coming through from maine, and my flight was canceled. they rebooked me and then canceled the flight. >> it makes me feel not safe at the moment. >> the faa assured passengers a technical problem was just that. not the result of the hack attack. >> probably unavoidable given

that it was a computer glitch, but it's still frustrating. >> the malfunction comes just five weeks after a computer problem at united airlines triggered the delay of hundreds of flights. al jazeera. >> for decades the fbi used microscopic hair analysis to convict thousands of criminal defendants but scientists say that type of analysis is wrong and dna can prove it. fault lines investigate the growing scandal. >> what is incredible, and what would surprise me is that hairs on your head are not the same. that there is variation in one individual's hair. >> the hairs on your head are quite different depending on where they're selected. >> dr. milton, the founder the dna lab in pennsylvania. she conducted a test that led to joseph sledges exoneration. >> if you think about the way it

is done on a hair, someone who is deciding what color is that hair. this is very subjective science, and dna is exactly the opposite. you have atcgt. in another sample you have atcgt, and you line them up next to each other there, is no gray area. >> when scientists figured out how to extract dna from hair in the late 1980s, the fbi stopped relying on hair comparison evidence, but by that point the bureau had introduced it at trials for decades. influencing thousands of convictions. >> fault lines airs tonight at 10:00 p.m. eastern, 7:00 pacific. fewer than half the americans have taken a vacation in the last year. why not taking a break can actually drag down cooperate profits.

it wasn't science at all. >> there's a lot of lives at stake, a lot of innocent people. >> how many are still locked up? >> the integrity of the criminal justice system is at stake, plain and simple. >> "faultlines". >> what do we want? >> al jazeera america's hard-hitting... >> today the will be arrested. >> ground-breaking... >> they're firing canisters of gas at us. >> emmy award-winning, investigative series. >> we have to get out of here.

>> this was the worst civil engineering disaster in the

>> two women could make history by graduating from the elite army ranger school. the recruits face a rigorous training program. even if they succeed there is no guarantee the military brass will let them serve in the same unit unit. jamie mcintyre looks at the

controversy. >> 9 final stages of ranger training and it's impossible to pick out any we will. in a way that's the point. nothing is supposed to be different for female soldiers who aspire to elite average status. there is no women's obstacle course with shorter walls. no barbed wire that is set higher. no lighter loads to shoulder. the army said for women earning the coveted ranger should be just as hard as for men. >> so they can meet the standard. that's how we want to operate as we move forward. >> the outgoing chief of saturate top command center iraq has already indicated the army has no objection to opening up many more combat jobs to women such as field artillery. but integrating women is a front line infantry commando units is

still debated. a debate this class and one more in the fall will help settle. two women out of two dozen made it all the way through the weeks of punishing training, a grueling detail that many male candidates find too challenging. less than 20 years ago this was the stuff of fiction. but just as in the 1997 motion pick "g.i. jane," they're not identifying the female candidates in training. >> unlike demi moore's functional first navy sale, the army's ranger experiment are getting public encouragementment from the top brass. >> the feedback i've got someone how incredibly prepared they are, the effort they've put

forward has been significant. they've impressed all that they've come in contact with. they're clearly motivated and, frankly, that's what we want ought of our soldiers. >> the two pioneering women who persevered may be the first female rangers, but they're likely not the last. the army plans another gender integrated course in november, and by next year will decide whether to open the job to women permanently. jamie mcintyre, al jazeera, the pentagon. >> it's summer, and for many that means vacation. new studies show that americans just don't know when to take time off, and instead many just store away those days. jennifer london reports. >> you may not be surprised to hear that americans are using less vacation time than ever before. in fact, you may be one of those people choosing to log long hours at the office instead of beach. but what may surprise you there is a cost to all that unused vacation time, and it's huge.

according to a travel industry trade group u.s. companies owe their employees the equivalent of $224 billion in time off. that's nearly half the size of the current federal deficit. it's almost as much as the grows domestic product of portugal. and. >> about a third of paid vacation days simply disappear. they can't be ruled over because of use it or lose it company policies. david bowman is a human resource consultant hard at work on a beautiful warm sunday friday morning but looking forward to time off next month. >> why do americans leave so much unused vacation time on the table do you think? >> first of all, they're afraid of back stabbing, gosh, if i take a vacation time, who is going to try to take my job, oh

my gosh, what will happen. they may be up for a promotion, a raise, and they don't want to make it look as though they're lazy or they're not productive or something or other. >> here what is hard for calculate, the human toll. bowman said that america's work centered culture has created a society of burned out worker bees. >> if you don't take some time out, you just--you begin to just kind of float. you don't have that edge, that creative edge that engaged edge. they don't become what we become what we call hr engaged. in other words, they're not interested. they're passion is no longer there. they're effectiveness drops down. >> by comparison, european employees appear to have no qualms about taking advantage of any and all paid time out. workers in france are given 30 vacation days and report using all of them. same goes for employees in

denmark, germany, and spain. >> now in europe it's mandated. here it's not. so companies say, oh, well, it's not something that we really have to do, but for the good of the company, the good of the employee, the good of the employee's family, the company should encourage as much as possible do take the vacation and take it all. >> and with a view like this, who could argue? jennifer london, al jazeera, santa monica, california, not on vacation. >> now if you do have vacation time, the magic kingdom could be an option. it soon will be the pour tall to the star worse universe. disney is building a star worse themed area. boast disneyland and disney world, take a look at those drawings, so you can have an idea of what it will look at. aliens will visit visitors at cantinas. no word on when the new attractions will be opened. thank you for joining us. i'm richelle carey. keep it here on al jazeera

throughout the day. thanks for your time. >> a powerful explosion kills at least 16 and leaves others running for their lives in bangkok. i'm lauren taylor. also, south sudan leader signs a peace deal but the other says he needs more time. more protection for civilians after one of the most dangerous attacks in