comes from the town of near damascus. under siege twenty twelve it's one of the towns that has been most affected by the violence. throughout the country syrians have been documenting the day to day were pression by their will. in twenty eleven these videos were the only way to expose to the rest of the world what was happening inside syria the regime had closed its borders to many foreign journalists amateur videos flooded the internet. they've now become precious archives of history like this one filmed in damascus in november twentieth eleven. the secret. in action. no one dare even mention the word. it instills immediate fear. in this police state it's well known when they take people away they disappear. little bit and try hard a lot all. just bend they must go if they must have houses mr cornell can live with us. but i can with the press of can with the press home of his forehead because he thought about an hour less eloquent outages it felt like. going to what madiba. but the mob the me the on the south email us fl

. >> smith: a new u.s. ambassador, robert ford, was just arriving in damascus. >> democracy taking place in a lot of these countries... >> demanding change, they're fed up... >> smith: at the time, it seemed syria's dictator would be next to fall. >> protesters in tahrir square drove hosni mubarak out of power... >> mubarak actually left power in cairo the weekend after i got there. and in my first meeting with bashar al-assad, i asked him point blank, "looks like kind of a difficult time for authoritarian regimes. what kinds of steps are you thinking of to get ahead of the problem?" and he kind of brushed it aside and said, "it'll never happen here." not three weeks after that meeting, the arab spring started in the haria market in damascus. >> the uprising of the syrian people was a secular one. one of its slogans was, "wahed, wahed, wahed." >> smith: one, one, one? >> one, one, one. "we are united." >> this is an uprising of the syrian people against a dictatorship. >> wahed, wahed, wahed! >> smith: within a matter of weeks, tens of thousands more syrians joined the protests. ambassad

embassy in damascus should be empty off and i'm back but i think that presenting your credentials to wash out a lesson is giving credit to somebody who can tough a million syrian lebanese syrian diplomacy has long been complex both nations gained independence from france in the one nine hundred forty s. but it wasn't until two thousand and nine that full diplomatic ties were established embassies were opened and a basters were exchanged that's a part because syria first didn't recognize its smaller neighbor and then in the big one nine hundred seventy s. at the start of what would become lebanon spiff dene year long civil war damascus sent in its army to occupied large sections of lebanese territory but after more than three decades of occupation syria's hold quickly unraveled in two thousand and five and prime minister rafik hariri was killed in a car bombing and assassination some accuse the syrian government of orchestrating . if they want to improve relations they could not do it without the step so we have to wait and see is this ambassador going to be like the previous one you

syrian state media blamed rebel shelling in damascus. the russian ambassador has dismissed criticism of his country's decision to veto a un security council resolution which would have extended an international inquiry into chemical weapons attacks in syria. this is the 10th time moscow has used its veto powers at the united nations in support of its ally since the start of the conflict. the lebanese politician saad hariri, who shocked his country when he resigned as prime minister, says he will return to beirut within days. he's in paris, where he's been holding talks with president macron. mr hariri announced he was standing down while in saudi arabia a fortnight ago, and he hasn't been home since. mr hariri says he'll be in beirut to celebrate lebanon's independence day on wednesday. search teams say they have detected failed satellite calls from a submarine which disappeared three days ago. the sanjuan, which has a crew of 44 on board, last made contact on wednesday. international help in the form of american planes and a british res

across syria kill more than fifty people including civilians in the last remaining rebel stronghold damascus. to this is al jazeera live from london also coming up. thousands more protesters take to the streets in pakistan the government in the military agree not to use force to disperse them. on during his head to the polls to vote for a new president but a change at the top looks unlikely. and displaced by al-shabaab and living in fear i mean the kenyan villages who say they're too scared to return to their homes. first to syria where at least fifty people have been killed in just twenty four hours in government and russian asked rice twenty three people were killed in a syrian air strike in the damascus suburb of eastern ghouta the area has been on a government siege for a full he is and three hundred fifty thousand people on desperate need of age. thirty seven people were killed in russian asterix on a gathering of displaced people indoors or province or displaced activists say fifteen children were among the victims. osama bin job aid has just returned from syria together just across th

capital damascus. people died in the attack. in the presidential election the center of the votes counted. forty five percent five points ahead of the incumbent president. declaring victory and thirteen people have been killed and injured in. the iraqi capital baghdad. markets in the area has claimed. baghdad had been going through a relative period of calm the last major attack they're. now. charged with conspiring to evade u.s. sanctions against iran will be going on trial in new york this week it has dropped out of sight in the two months leading up to his trial that's prompted turkey's prime minister to suggest that he's reached a plea deal with the u.s. authorities shihab rattansi has moved from washington. president. of turkey has repeatedly trying to get this trial scrapped lobbying then vice president joe biden and twenty sixteen and president trump in september of this year he maintains of this is a politically motivated prosecution intended to discredit and ultimately overthrow his government on behalf of and islamic c

in syria twenty three people were killed in a government to strike in the rebel held in rebel held damascus suburb of east and the area has been under government siege for years and three hundred fifty thousand people there are in desperate need of aid thirty seven people were killed in russian air strikes on a gathering of displaced people in the province monitoring group says fifteen children among the victims his own binge of aid has just returned from syria to go just across the border in turkey. despite a cease fire agreement between iran turkey and russia the violence in syria does not seem to be coming to an end the airstrikes in the hooter district of damascus targeted three different residential areas according to activists on the ground the number of casualties is on the rise they're saying that they're not able to provide help to all of the victims because they have very limited supplies inside. and a number of hospitals have also been targeted in the last few months they say that because of this siege and the assad government has not been allowing any medical aid or medical supp

gamepeople watching the between damascus and walkersville. the winner goes on to the state semifinals. want some inspirational stories for a change? you gotta check out the american dream. saturdays, 1pm, newschannel8 >> and now the toyota sports local toyota dealers. scott: high school football at its finest tonight in montgomery county. forget about game of the week. damascusof the year, hosting walkersville. the swarming hornets have won 39 games in a row ,the lions have won 20 straight. somebody's streak would end tonight. nice run up the middle setting up the field goal attempt. up to the task, splitting the upper rights -- splitting the uprights from 37 yards out. quarterback calling his own number, knock-down inside of the 10 yard line. fromthere, the score. damascus low-scoring defensive battle, advancing to the state semifinals. >> he blocked the safety. caught me, but i'm glad that we capitalized on that drive. >> we are just trying to win another state championship. scott: what a game. congratulations to the hornets. they have won

the violence in syria does not seem to be coming to an end the airstrikes in the hooter district of damascus targeted three different residential areas according to activists on the ground the number of casualties is on the rise they're saying that they are not able to provide help to all of the victims because they have very limited supplies inside. and a number of hospitals have also been targeted in the last few months they say that because of this siege and the assad government has not been allowing any medical aid or medical supplies to come in and they're not able to treat patients as they would in a normal situation this is not the only place where the strikes have taken place there also russian strikes which door in between the resort and this is an area where isis fighters have fled to but it's not just isis fighters who fled into these areas it's also civilians according to activists on the ground most of the people killed here they were your have been civilians so it's another day of violence that we've seen in syria activists had been called a telling us from the ground that in t

and the outskirts of damascus bombarded the assad government has been intensifying its onslaught in the days and hours before talks to to start. assad didn't leave a single corner that hasn't been destroyed if you want to fight it don't target civilians instead take on the armed groups at the front lines god willing they'll teach you a lesson briefing the u.n. security council in new york the man who's supposed to lead the talks on tuesday stefan de mistura condemned the violence he noted that the syrian government had perspire own its travel to geneva but he said they needed to attend naturally we hope and indeed expect that the government will be on its way shortly but to get in i don't break that into a commitment to break them putting when they met in filching that meeting part of intense diplomacy in recent weeks the russians who turned things around on the battlefield for assad are supposed to bring the syrian government to the geneva table and the saudis created a new opposition group ng to go to the talks out are key players like former leader riyadh his job in a figures closer

can also know for sure is that currently there is a lot of pressure on lebanon pressure coming from damascus to normalize fellatio syria and there were discussions last week here on whether eleven and should be the person to reappoint and the best leader to damascus so we definitely know as prime minister has been in a difficult position and there are many divisions in love and on along political and also along religious lines what does horary represent and where does the country go from here. well how did it is with their future movement which is the main representative in terms of parties at this in light. of lebanon and so of course the division in this country has become extremely over the past years the division between this alliance and she has especially when it comes to what should happen inside syria what should happen with syria and one of the main problems of course lebanon is facing his resignation puts and danger the elections that are planned for next year or next year we were planning to have a parliamentary elections here and of course this makes it all very difficult and mak

he is a political analyst and founder of the center of american troops egypt studies in beirut and damascus we have any mackie here is the syria commentator and co-founder of syrian digital media group all right gentlemen cross talk rules in effect that means you can jump in anytime you want and i always appreciate adel let me go to you the best dressed man in television love the bow tie of course adel you know we over the last few days we've seen a. whole series of diplomatic activity trying to bring some kind of closure to this very long and bloody and destructive conflict in syria it's being spearheaded by the russians and the iranians and the turks they've been in consultation with other players in the region including israel and also a telephone call between putin and trump are the pieces falling into place go ahead adele well let's hope so we have. historic context. with russia ruled these two major developments in the region would have not achieved one is the celebrated and now counter version and the iranian. control over the program and second the ending of the war in syria by defe

a political analyst and founder of the center of american troops dietrich studies in beirut and in damascus we have jamie mackie he is the syria commentator and co-founder of syrian digital media group all right gentlemen crosstalk rules in effect that means you can jump in anytime you want and i always appreciate adele let me go to you the best dressed man in television love the bow tie of course adele you know we over the last few days we've seen a. whole series of diplomatic activity trying to bring some kind of closure to this very long and bloody and destructive conflict in syria it's. being spearheaded by the russians and the iranians and the turks they've been in consultation with other players in the region including israel and also a telephone call between putin trump are the pieces falling into place go ahead adele well let's hope so we have. historic context. with the russian rule. to measure developments in the region would have more achieved one is the celebrated and now counter version and the iranian. control over the program and second the ending of the war in syria by defea

i am telling you that you are missing a good one tonight in damascus. jonathan: we'll get highlights later. >> the tree is lit and crowds are into it. this is a great evening to ge out and enjoy. have a good night! running a small business is demanding. and that's why small business owners need more. like internet that's up to the challenge. the gig-speed network from comcast business gives you more. with speeds up to 20 times faster than the average. that means powering more devices, more video conferencing, and more downloads in seconds, not minutes. get fast internet and add phone and tv for only $24.90 more per month. comcast is building america's largest gig-speed network to give small businesses more. call 1-800-501-6000 today. before we start, i just want to say if anyone still doesn't have fios, please stay out of the way so your lag doesn't get us all killed, ben. what's so good about fios anyway? uh. what's so great about a 100% fiber-optic network that makes your gaming system actually work awesomely? hey. did you take out the trash? haha, ga

what a large area, on the eastern edge of damascus, a tract of towns and villages and farmland, home to hundreds of thousands of people, but very much in rebel hands, all through the syrian war. besieged by syrian government forces and their allies. in recent weeks we have seen the government forces step up their pressure on the enclave, carrying outair pressure on the enclave, carrying out air strikes and other attacks and more of the same today, various sources talking about air strikes beginning sunday morning, and heavy artillery fire, looks to be three or four areas within the east that were targeted, and there have been these civilian casualties, part of a pattern we have seen in recent weeks. even allowing for the people who have died or been injured because of our attacks, easy movie if it is under siege, the humanitarian situation must be getting terrifying? it is absolutely dire, this area under siege for a long time but for years it was relatively easy for smugglers to come and go, bringing supplies, trading across the front lines, using a network of tunnels. in the course

the violence in syria does not seem to be coming to an end the airstrikes in the hooter district of damascus targeted three different residential areas according to activists on the ground the number of casualties is on the rise they're saying that they are not able to provide help to all of the victims because they have very limited supplies inside. and a number of hospitals have also been targeted in the last few months they say that because of the siege and the assad government has not been allowing any medical aid or medical supplies to come in and they're not able to treat patients as they would in a normal situation this is not the only place where strikes have taken place there also russian strikes which door in between the resort and this is an area where isis fighters have fled to but it's not just isis fighters who fled into these areas it's also civilians according to activists on the ground most of the people killed here they were your have been civilians so it's another day of violence that we've seen in syria activists and we call it telling us from the ground that in the last

embassy in damascus should be empty off and i'm back but i think that presenting it could then should to wash out unless it is giving credit to somebody who can tough a million syrian lebanese syrian diplomacy has long been complex both nations gained independence from france in the one nine hundred forty s. but it wasn't until two thousand and nine that full diplomatic ties were established and the seas were opened and a basters were exchanged that's in part because syria first didn't recognize its smaller neighbor and then in the big one nine hundred seventy s. at the start of what would become lebanon's fifteen year long civil war damascus sent in its army to occupied large sections of lebanese territory but after more than three decades of occupation syria's hold quickly unraveled in two thousand and five and prime minister rafik hariri was killed in a car bombing and assassination some accuse the syrian government of orchestrating . if they want to improve relations they could not do it without the step so we have to wait and see is this ambassador going to be like the previous o

soldiers have a right to be in syria despite damascus as objections the u.n. said that isis basically we can go off to isis and with to take them out but that doesn't mean we just walk away and let isis two point zero pop back around but that remark about the u.n. isn't one hundred percent true the u.s. does not have a u.n. mandate to deploy station troops in syria a u.n. security council resolution only authorized sanctions to be used against eisel such as freezing assets or an arms embargo but nowhere is troop deployment to a sovereign country mention the syrian democratic forces one of the groups who the u.s. backs and who happens to be at odds with damascus have welcomed america's long term plan for syria. they have a strategy for decades to come there will be military economic and political agreements in the long term between the leadership of the movement areas and the us administration so while i feel is on its way out all signs point to the pentagon taking an objective former u.s. diplomat jim jett trysts talked to us about washington's seeming relucta

the two-bedroom apartment damascus convenience store. awaken in the middle of the night in the dark i could remember where i was. the air was hot and sticky, claustrophobic. i ceiling fan barely nudging the air. and next morning she asked me to leave. she was a freelance journalist and didn't want trouble. for the first time i understood something that it managed to evade me all of my life. trouble is a contagious disease. >> first, i just want to say the writing is incredibly beautiful. we don't have that much time left because i want to leave question for all of you. my question is whether you actually want to reveal what happens to ahlam a press leave that to readers to buy a book and find out? >> i will say the rest of the book and the book is also an unraveling, not only of ahlam's disappearance but the political and historical context for how the war did come to syria. and the long-term effect of the recent wars on the region. i think we're getting very, very narrow and poor reporting for the most part. >> confusing reporting i wou

ok dan let me go back to you in damascus ok we've already talked about the russian rainy and turkish initiative here but let's turn it upside down the other side as it were here so do you arabia are they going to go along with this is israel going to go along with this. these are the other obstacles here go ahead danny i completely agree i mean it i mean we could we have to separate the israeli interest from the saudi arabian interests but saudi arabia will continue to have an intransigent star stance towards the crisis in syria as it has done throughout because it's syria for saudi arabia it's an issue of national security and the huge failures in saudi arabia and from policy in syria have actually reflected so negatively on the state that it's now beginning to lash out regionally it's being to lash out in the media if it's even if it's turned a complete you know the arab spring peter if you look at it it will stop in syria if if they are spring managed to get rid of the syrian government this would have continued on until we had a completely new middle east but it was stopped in it

will resume damascus the endless distortion of the chemical weapons stored in damascus these weapons were indeed withdrawn and destroyed under the o.p.c. w.'s oversight these are stacked lee reminiscent of the situation around iraq nearly fifteen years ago a united states representatives at the time deliberately misled the international community including the security council in doing so they set the stage for intervention which at least unspeakable tragedy on both iraq and the whole region. russia's president vladimir putin will host the leaders of turkey and iran in sochi next week for talks on syria the trio will discuss finding a political solution to the civil war or some avenge of a report from gaziantep in turkey near the border with syria and a warning you may find some images disturbing. more syrian soldiers and militia fighters from iran backed groups in syria and iraq have arrived and. it's been a week since the syrian government's claim that it took isis last stronghold since then isis has launched dozens of attacks and its fighters hiding in tunnels inside the city mana

in the last twenty four hours we've had multiple attacks in the eastern suburbs of damascus a hooter where more than four hundred thousand people are believed to be besieged united nations have been calling on all parties to allow unhindered access and it's been waiting for the government to try and get aid to these people but haven't been able to which we at the hospitals are very ill equipped and one airstrike an artillery strike happened in the areas they're not able to provide help to the people who have been injured elsewhere in syria in there are the or the death toll from the strike that happened twenty four hours earlier when russia attacked a group of people which was believed to be and i think in fact ended up killing many many civilians. and medical there and local sources there. that that is also going to mount. the first commercial ship carrying food has arrived at the yemeni port of a data after three weeks of a blockade millions of people are at risk from starvation and disease in the country that's ravaged by war the saudi led coalition says the blockade was assault w

syria killed more than fifty people including civilians and the last remaining rebel stronghold near damascus. live from london also coming up. protesters take to the streets for a second day in pakistan calling for the resignation of a government minister. under in his head to the polls to vote for a new president but a change at the top looks unlikely. and creative diplomacy the japanese artists are using their work to try to bridge the deepening divide with north korea . first to syria where at least fifty people have been killed in just twenty four hours in government and russian ass trikes twenty three people were killed in a syrian air strike in the damascus suburb of easton go to the area has been under government siege for four he is a three hundred fifty thousand people are in desperate need of aid. thirty seven people were killed in russian ass trikes on a gathering of displaced people in darryl province a british base activists say fifteen children were among the victims. of a joins us now from gaziantep on the turkey syria border so these airstrikes in eastern in spite of it falli

of syrian government jets continuing their bombing of eastern huta on the outskirts of the capital damascus three people died in the air strikes on tuesday at least nineteen were killed in separate air strikes earlier the rebel area has come under heavy bombardment in the last forty eight hours and the united nations saying the asset government has now agreed to a cease fire in the area on diplomatic and to james bays is in geneva and i asked the u.n. special envoy to syria about that ceasefire for eastern ghouta he sent us this update. here in geneva currently only one of the two sides is represented and that's the opposition delegation the government delayed their trip here they will now be here on wednesday the opposition have been meeting here at their hotel with stefan de mistura the u.n. special envoy and he said he had some good news about the fighting in syria fighting that could derail these talks yet again i was just informed by a do russian then do it today or to people a meeting there day of russians have their proposals to end a government the effects of the eighty five on is d

tough 25 yard one here, the longest damascus wins 42-7. and he practiced that all summer the back flip. he's pretty good. >> yeah, he's good. >> quick note and doug don't go to the wizards game either. you're back luck. mri on his left knee and has been bothering him about his knee so his questionable tomorrow. that's bad news, by the way. >> all right. >>> when you see a deer running through your yard, you may walk outside to get a closer look. but when you see a moose, it's time to get inside. an estimated 1,500 pound moose was caught dodging this traffic outside toronto today. it ran through business parking lots, knocked down a fence in a neighborhood. natural resource officers had hoped to frank wallize or trap it but moose kept on moving. >> so we're hoping to allow it some time to relax. it's not very good -- it's not a good idea to approach that animal. as soon as it gets scared it starts to move. >> not a good idea. that thing is ginormous. the moose was resting or sleeping after a long day on the move. i don't want to know if he

well to help evacuate five hundred starving people from the siege damascus. and dutch prosecutors confirm the vile of bosnian croat war criminal down the course did contain a deadly chemical. european and african leaders have drawn up an emergency evacuation plan for refugees and migrants and during terrible conditions in libyan detention camps between four hundred and seven hundred thousand africans are thought to be trapped in libya it's not clear how the deal will be enforced but most of them are expected to be sent back to their home countries a plan was agreed at a joint e.u. african union summit in ivory coast's it was their. well the theme of this summit was huge but there is no doubt the from the outset it was dominated by the issue of the refugee slave trade in libya and by migration we heard from the host of the summit the president of the ivory coast in the beginning who said that everyone had a collective responsibility to do something when at the end of the summit what leaders decided is that they would try and repatch reate those migrants and re

airstrikes and syrian government attacks in the rebel held region of eastern ghouta near the capital damascus the region has been besieged by the government says twenty thirty causing food and medical shortages. now ireland is in the grip of a political crisis over a police whistleblower scandal is happening at a crucial time as its neighbor the u.k. negotiates breck's it which has huge implications for the irish republic this is where we are at the moment the opposition is demanding the resignation of deputy leader france's fitzgerald who is accused of failing to protect a police officer he was smitten victimized after revealing widespread corruption. prime minister leo varadkar who's standing by his embattled deputy now faces the prospect of a no confidence vote next week by the second largest party fianna follow and that could pull down his minority government and lead to snap elections just as the u.k. e.u. and then to discuss what will happen with british controlled northern ireland and britain leaves the e.u. well earlier we spoke to. bracken who is director of research at dublin city u

it's getting more protective even that how it used to be in damascus because it's mostly people. and you have this. syrian experience damascus experience they moved to berlin here they are taking advantages from learning their culture somehow and taking the best of both. city of the city. to. techno music a lot of things that i was not that much into but like i played basketball in all of those cities this is something that never change. food wherever i go and now i'm starting to mixing it with more plates from all over the world having the advantage of this so this is how it gets always like mixture a mixture. like richness i would say a rich. mixture is richness. that's all for today thanks for joining us we love hearing from you do drop us a line three thousand. more on facebook see you next time like now. you in the next hit the dance floor at the twenty seventeen showmen press pool. we look at this year's must have accessories. find out who is behind this year's food and design concept. check out the scrumptious cuisine on. prices so if you build. your own. thirty minutes. w

and a number of enclaves in central syria including in the capital damascus as the war appears to be winding down each faction is trying to consolidate control of its territories to allow it to stay a claim and any future government well let's get more on this now we're joined by andrew tabler syrian affairs analyst and senior fellow at the washington institute for near east policy and he's joining us via skype from washington d.c. always good to have you with us on al-jazeera so why are we seeing easton go to hit even though it's listed as a deescalation zone where military activity is prohibited under that agreement between iran turkey and russia. question so this is happening the conflict oftentimes when we go to towards negotiations seemingly sealed agreements are not c. old. it's also hard to predict the activities of the regime the interesting thing is the russian involvement and they're one of the sponsors so we have to wait and see but it's not a good sign and it's a bit of deja vu. process it is as you say something that happens before negotiations the syrians there was usua

damascus,ch ally of russia is taking a parallel track in peace talks. setting up discussions beyond the united nations stalled and somewhat unsuccessful effort. damascus has said it will not negotiate with the departure of president assad as a precondition for talks. it is something the opposition may be willing to concede. forof the main issues up didiscussion this week along wih finding a path towards a new constitution and you and let elections. the clearer map of cease-fire arrangement has emerged largely enabled by him on.. -- oman. must begin to stitch the process into concrete results enabling citizens to determine their own future freely. --while the u.s. and france the only legitimate forum for a resolution in syria, russia's next set of parallel talks are going to move ahead early next year. genie: pope francis has given a historic open-air mass to thousands of worshipers in myanmar. the country has been clouded by controversy over what critics say is the popes sidestepping of the persecution of rohingya muslims. 600,000 of them have been forc

against the government of syria against the government in damascus you have had i saw you've had some that it dies and you've got other groups that as you said have been supported by the united states that are fighting both i saw and the syrian government it's a very complicated business and this is going to be the real problem of syria because the syrian government is responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people far more than i saw those responsible for how that process goes forward. when iran and the russian federation who are supporting the government in damascus seem uninterested in a political solution that involves the opposition the united states which is which did very little under the obama administration has been doing next to nothing under the trumpet ministration it's a very complicated mess and unfortunately at least in iraq to the extent that i saw this concern once i saw his defeat or have a hope for a peaceful iraq in syria it's use seems to me you simply go on to more violence which is what we're seeing. and it's telling that the statement comes out o

ok dan let me go back to you in damascus ok we've already talked about the russian raney and turkish initiative here but let's turn it upside down the other side as it were here. are they going to go along with this is israel going to go along with this don't think so these are the other obstacles here go ahead danny i completely agree i mean i mean we can we have to separate the israeli interest from the saudi arabian interests but saudi arabia will continue to have an intransigent style stance towards the crisis in syria as it has done throughout because syria for saudi arabia it's an issue of national security and the huge faces in saudi arabia from policy in syria have actually reflected so negatively on the state that it's now beginning to lash out regionally it's being to lash out in the media even. the complete you know the arab spring peter if you look at it it was stopped in syria if if they are bring managed to get rid of the syrian government this would have continued on until we had a completely new middle east but it was stopped in its tracks in syria and that was a way

from local sources from local commanders local media we're still waiting on an official statement from damascus and from the russian foreign ministry will try and get that the day goes on this of course doesn't mean isis is the fee that as an ideology it's not to feel that as a group which can still cause casualties terror attacks both in the middle east and of course in europe as their primary many are asking what comes next now as in northern parts of syria this latest development brings to a head many groups with very different interests the syrian army militias there to the west of the euphrates there as the f. to syria democratic forces there backed by washington a coalition of kurdish arab militias there pushing in from the north and from the east very key area with oil through is located there as well now as we said they've got different interests damascus has said repeatedly assad has said they want to recapture all territory they lost in syria in some areas of the country because of declared autonomy carrying out their own policies their own elections it's unclear how washington's posi

government forces surround the enclave, pressuring the rebels here who fire missiles into nearby damascus. the un says food in this place is so scarce that some people have been reduced to eating animal fodder and even garbage. there have been reports of death by starvation. some of the worst of syria's suffering is endured on these ruined streets. alanjohnston, alan johnston, bbc news. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: we hear from the man who helped mediate robert mugabe's resignation with the military in zimbabwe. president kennedy was shot down, and died almost immediately. the murder ofjohn kennedy is a disaster for the whole free world. he caught the imagination of the world, the first of a new generation of leaders. margaret thatcher is resigning as leader of the conservative party and prime minister. before leaving number 10 to see the queen, she told her cabinet, "it's a funny old world." angela merkel is germany's first woman chancellor, easily securing the majority she needed. attempts to fly a hot—air balloon had to be abandoned after a few minutes, but nobody seemed

and syrian government jets have hit a rebel held parts of aleppo province east and the outskirts of damascus bombarded the assad government has been intensifying its onslaught in the days and hours before talks to to start a lot of assad didn't leave a single corner that hasn't been destroyed if you want to fight it don't target civilians instead take on the armed groups at the front lines god willing they'll teach you a lesson briefing the u.n. security council in new york the man who's supposed to lead the talks on tuesday stefan de mistura condemned the violence he noted that the syrian government had perspire own its travel to geneva but he said they needed to attend naturally we hope and indeed expect that the government will be on its way shortly but to get in i don't break that into a commitment to break that imputing when they met in thought she that meeting part of intense diplomacy in recent weeks the russians who. turned things around on the battlefield for assad supposed to bring the syrian government to the geneva table and the saudis created a new opposition group ing to go to