kind to the syrian opposition to the syrian people it's going to be quite forgiving to bashar assad so much so and here's what we've heard today from foreign minister lavrov of this of russia and basically his so would the allies it's basically that the likes of riyadh his job who resigned just two days ago as one of the eight other syrian opposition leaders they call them hardliners suddenly there are hardliners why because they think bashar assad should not be part of the future of syria should not be part of the traditions transitional process so it just few months ago just a few years ago whoever said that i said can be part of the transition process was accused of betraying the cause of the syrian people today anyone who say is this guy who butchered half a million people should not be part of the syria's future it's course of the hard drive in washington does that mean in moscow where do you now than see the position of. the job who has resigned he was a former prime minister in syria so who could fill his shoes if there are shoes to be filled or is it just all just draining away

so that we can syrian people for a stable. in the area. in order to. describe. syria's. political and territorial integrity point. visit to. a knife given information to mr president about these visits and talks on how. in respect of that as going to. meetings turkey iran and russia. continue our successful foods and they will do so and future. as a result. violence in syria has. decreased. united nations support. and relevant conditions. are being developed in order to achieve protection of refugees. i would like to thank mr president for this productive meeting and to get a. series of talks are forming a very helpful tradition between us. and contributing a lot. we would like to continue these. series of meetings without difficulty in a sincere. and. these are very productive and achieving results. achieved very good results i would like to thank mr president for his contribution and we will continue working together in this manner thank you. and the president and members of delegations and their members a place i would like to greet you all with much affection. first

i said out of itself proclaimed capital city with finally under its control the syrian army only have one more pocket of i still territory to delaware the border city of command. is already under attack by iraqi forces if i see a loser book a man. presence in syria would come to an end the syrian army which has suffered major setbacks over the last six years says it's determined to take all the territory it lost including. of the house a couple problems which are still under the control of an opposition groups. well stephanie decker is in the hoke province. in iraq and the continuing find. is hugely significant why because it is the last border point that i still control the border with syria the group made a huge point in their propaganda videos of showing them bold osing down these borders and establishing their so-called state while their territorial gains certainly seem to be at their very and it's also the last sort of areas that they control in this country in iraq there's a small area called to the east of all crime fighting is still ongoing but certainly judging by the that th

today was or the syrian army intends to go to that is the syrian side of the border so certainly in terms of territory it seems that the group's days are numbered all right stephanie decker live for us to hook northern iraq thank you so in the past year and a half i suppose control over land and resources and in syria iraq has been steadily declining but the the fall is been pretty drastic recently so let's look at this map from june of this year eisele was still controlling vast swaths of territory marked in gray cities like rock of mosul indoors or worse still under its control now fast forward to now it's lost all these major cities including rocca the self declared capital of its so-called caliphate and now indoors or in an oil rich region which was crucial for the group's finances a change to haiti is a senior lecturer in middle east politics of bradford university he joins us now via skype from leeds so let's talk about this significance of doris or what what is it about besides the fact that it's the the last place it's almost you know the final straw here but what's the significan

syrian government is trying to mind people in east.

or i said but the syrian regime is. innocent from such and such attacks. and the other one in my opinion it shows how bad the relationship between the two great powers have really become in the recent weeks. i think president putin was expecting president actually to me tam in vietnam last week it did not happen you know because of this investigation is cite the united states about the alleged school. in the us elections last year so. syria has become really the third a moment out of the relationship between the russians and the americans it's not only about syria of course i mean the russians would want very much to protect the syrian regime as i said they have been doing this from the very beginning but on the other hand even when there is a glimmer of hope about. between the two great powers in syria we see that is handled by the bilateral relationship between the two the two countries these kind of u.n. bodies they don't exist in a vacuum there is a reason that they come into existence because different countries re

syrian and iraqi forces push into isis last strongholds. catalonians deposed leader says he will appeal any attempt to extradite him from belgium. the strong he's committed he's smart. president onil tromping ordered recent precedent in picking the next us federal reserve chief and i'm peter simmons with all the sports news of the day as patrice evra has been suspended after kicking a phone in the head during a europa league match all of that story and more later in the program. i saw the armed group whose dramatic rise captured headlines in two thousand and fourteen is staring a defeat in its final strongholds in both iraq and syria. syrian state television says the army and its ally forces have pushed out of the eastern city of doors or it was the group's last remaining syrian stronghold and the capital of an oil rich province border in iraq the military campaign to recapture doors or began in september when the army managed to break a three year long siege on the city and its residents and neighboring iraq the army and shia militia fight

president donald trump also promised to stop supplying arms to syrian kurdish fighters also known as the y p j. the main issue that negatively affects bilateral relations between turkey and the us in addition to the issue of for to the good in is the arms that washington gives to the word p.j. we have recently seen how the american sent armored vehicles to the group the turkish president expressed once again turkey's dismay over the issue during his phone conversation with the american president donald trump was clearly announced that he gave orders not to send any weapons to the white b.g. . russia says it's working together with saudi arabia to unify the syrian opposition the russian foreign minister sergey lavrov was speaking at a meeting with the un special envoy on syria stuff and there was still a who praised the talks as useful syrian opposition groups have agreed to form a fifty member delegation to attend next week's u.n. sponsored talks during a two day conference in riyadh they were new their demand that syrian president bashar al assad should step down assad's resignation

now the syrian army says it's now in control of the eastern city of elbow come off the ice will fight as withdrew the boulder city was one of the last remaining pockets of territory held by iceland's syria the group was pushed out of the iraqi town of him across the border only a few days ago. iraqi fighters allied with the syrian government have been pushing into a book come out from the east this syrian military video appears to show iraqi fighters flying yellow shia militia flags near the city on wednesday the group has been losing ground rapidly since it lost its self-styled capital of the syrian democratic forces in october just look at who controls what in syria at the moment the syrian government now controls the areas in red they're roughly heart of the country iraqi militia allied to the syrian government continue to make gains into ice all territory in the east shown here in black while the yellow area shows u.s. backed kurdish forces pushing further into the resort from the north. salinger vade is following developments from gaza on tap near the turkish syrian border so let

the turkish syrian border. these are syrian iraqi fighters from iran backed shia militias celebrating the defeat devices in amman the city was the last urban stronghold on the syrian side of the self declared islamic state the syrian military claimed victory but with the acknowledgement of help from it spotless the depleted army of president bashar al assad has only been able to make gains with military assistance from russia and iran. units from syrian forces in cooperation with allies liberated the city of albert in the suburb of dare is the last i saw stronghold in the eastern region this is a strategic achievement is also a starting point for the elimination of the remaining terrorist organizations in all the different names throughout the country. i see videos and statements earlier denied the advances and reported fierce fighting but the stronghold its propaganda used to fighters with is gone. reports from the contested there are problems suggest a few pockets of isis fighters remain on either side of the

a crime against humanity amnesty international details the syrian government's arendal stop campaign against civilians. hundreds of a story and politicians have been given three weeks to prove they're not jewel citizens we'll tell you why later in the news hour and croatia and switzerland back their places of the world cup but will this really be able to follow joe we'll have the details and sport. thank you. plus president obama trump has been provoking anger in the philippines ways of meeting asian leaders at the summit. but just as at the gathering and the a say the u.s. president's rhetoric is stoking regional tensions trump spoke at length to his host philippine president for the legal affairs there the white house says human rights issues. and with her his war on drugs were discussed but the for the pain government says they weren't general allen though ball has moved from manila. when he was sworn into office philippines president will be good to talk to says that could she will be cutting ties with the united states but now more than a year later and as chairman of the associ

a crime against humanity that's how amnesty international describes the syrian government's surrender or starve campaign targeting civilians. while leaders gather in manila for the fiftieth meeting of the association of southeast asian nations. efforts to turn them back or hinge or refugees are still streaming into bangladesh. and we begin with breaking news a seven point three magnitude earthquake has struck on the iran iraq border more than a hundred people have been killed a thousand others have been injured the epicenter was in iran thirty kilometers southwest of the iraqi town of shell about us reports. that quiet sunday night in iraq on a run disrupted by violent. quake was centered on the iraq iran border near the iraqi town of. and it was severe seven point three in magnitude and only twenty five kilometers deep. it was very strange suddenly the glasses dropped off the table the fan was shaking we were so afraid we had to run out of the house because our house was old. the u.s. geological survey immediately issued an orange alert saying deaths and damage should be expected the

syrian army is expanding its military gains in the eastern part of the country government forces have retaken the city of dale saw after months of fighting they are now moving north to secure major oil fields but moving north could lead to clashes between the army and his main rival the syrian democratic forces of the. coalition of kurdish factions and backed by the united states of america. following a series of targeted operations units from our armed forces in cooperation with the allied forces fulfill their mission restoring order and stability to the entire city of the resort after destroying the hideouts of the remnants of the terrorist organization of. these are icily celebrating their control of their saw and iraq in two thousand and fourteen the group launched a spectacular attack sweeping through eastern syria. and city to towns on the border with turkey but isis gains was shortlived its fighters from northern syria following a major campaign by a coalition led by the united states of america and a turkish cross border operation in two thousand and sixteen. and two weeks ago

monument by syrian german artist. is based on a picture of op and buses that provided a makeshift barricades from snipers in aleppo they are peaceful protests from germany's far right groups in. china angela has more from berlin. we're here at the brandenburg gate in berlin a site of major political significance for germany this is where the reunification ceremony happened in one thousand nine hundred but it's now almost overshadowed by these three appended buses it's a piece by the syrian german artist man after how bruni recreating an image of aleppo that went around the world in twenty fifteen the original photo was taken by carol capturing daily life in his neighborhood where a barrier of buses blocked the view of snipers giving some protection to residents there it took men with ropes and pulleys and a threat of gunfire to up at them. here it was cranes that lifted the buses into place in february the art work went on display in dresden that was met by far right protests from the alternative for germany party the

saudi backed alliance and a pro syrian coalition the two of had differences on how to run the country and that's led to the collapse of the government at least three times in two thousand and five two thousand and eleven and twenty thirteen saddle hetty is lebanon's most influential sunni politician and a fierce critic of iran and hezbollah starting in twenty eleven he spent three years in self-imposed exile in saudi arabia and france after a hezbollah led alliance left his government forcing him to resign he returned to lebanon in two thousand and fourteen two years later lebanon's parliament swore in a new cabinet dominated by hezbollah and its allies it was a huge political victory for the iran backed group since the cabinet calls the shots in the country how did he became the prime minister after hezbollah back michel aoun was made the president let's go to. now who is in beirut on the phone for us so. uncertain times ahead it seems for lebanon once again. the lebanon has always had a very fragile ecosystem a very fragile political ecosystem and many fear that some dark days are a

raising syrians are very very experienced football here. really good good good playing good football playing team and. that's just that's how it should be and so we are really looking forward to. the other group a guy has just finished outside moscow could have joined a pool of my points by beating marable but they were held one want to like go from arable good jane position to us are already through and porto remain in a good position to join the one one it finished in turkey for show dorman when and how well madrid failed to win to stay alive their opponents taught them already throw and a win or draw for shakhtar donetsk of i'm not really would put them through at the expense of the italian league leaders finally in the n.b.a. the cleveland cavaliers thrashed the detroit pistons on monday ending their six guy winning streak le bron james scored sixteen of these i take points in the first quarter of the guy the cavs also night eleven for the pointers in the half as well . kevin love had nineteen points on the night and eleven the way down

even less enthusiastic is the syrian opposition group the h n c which says it refuses to discuss the future of syria outside of the un's geneva framework at an opposition conference beginning in the saudi capital riyadh early indications are that groups will keep their insistence asaad must go despite pressure to compromise with his plan for a congress of national dialogue russia seems keen to shape the political future of syria much like its already shapes the conflict if putin successful this will be to the benefits of his ally. and yet again the dreams of the opposition will suffer. al-jazeera. well saudi arabia has been hosting a summit for syrian opposition members in the hope of some sort of breakthrough ahead of the geneva talks later this month al-jazeera has seen a draft communicate from those talks and to some avenge of aid has those details you've seen the first draft of the joint communique coming out of the meeting in riyadh where about one hundred forty members from various syrian opposition groups are meeting to try and put a united voice behind their demands as the ge

investigators found the syrian government was responsible for a chemical attack in concha cool and in april eighty people died many of them were children at the matter go to said james bays now from new york the tenth veto by russia in the u.n. security council on syria and one that ends the council's efforts to hold to account those who use chemical weapons in the country. it was a vote that sparked outrage from the u.s. ambassador and she gave this warning that the u.s. may now work outside the u.n. russia has killed the joint investigative mechanism which has overwhelming support of this council the assad regime should be on clear notice the united states does not accept syria's use of chemical weapons as we did in april we will do it again if we must we will defend the international standard against chemical weapons use there was drama even before the meeting began with ambassador hayley accusing her russian colleague of bad faith by refusing to enter into negotiations for some reason the phones at the russian mission aren't working we have tried to get a call with them and they'v

a crime against humanity amnesty international details the syrian government's. campaign to target civilians and time football bowl champions in danger of missing out on the next world cup tatyana will be here with the details and. lebanon's prime minister says he is free in riyadh and says he'll return home within days i.d.d. has spoken publicly for the first time since unexpectedly announcing his announcing his resignation in saudi arabia more than a week ago saying a hold of a ports from beirut. this is the first time saud how did he makes public remarks since his resignation announcement more than a week ago from the saudi capital riyadh he sought to dispel reports that he had been detained the well being of lebanon's prime minister and his freedom of movement have been open to question in a live interview he denied he was forced to resign and said he is a free man and. i submitted my resignation i know it's not a normal process for a prime minister but i had to take some security measures to return back safe and sound the circumstances behind his decision to

russian and syrian troops launched an attack to retake the last major city on the ice will control in syria. president trump heads for asia a twelve day trip certain to test his diplomatic skills and i'm peter simmons with all your sports news as we brought in james becomes the youngest man in n.b.a. history to reach twenty nine thousand points that are more later this news of. a lone international arrest warrant has been issued for the deposed catalan president colace put him on a spanish prosecutors want to investigate him forward belly and sedition of a last month's declaration of independence but the sack leader has missed two days of court hearings in madrid put him on is in brussels where he intends to challenge any attempt to extradite him to spain but he's also said he. well cooperate with the belgian authorities and they have twenty four hours to respond to the european arrest warrant several of pussy months aides as well are being sought and are simmons reports from the catalan capital barcelona. the judge's action came as crowds protested in barcelona about the jailing orde

hall last night ahead but first negotiators in geneva are waiting for the syrian government delegation to arrive and join the latest round of talks aimed at ending the war opposition delegates met the u.n. special envoy for say serious the funding the steward on tuesday straight to our diplomatic editor james bays in geneva and james how have mysteries meetings with the opposition gone. well i think there are some concerns in the opposition camp about the situation in in part it's because they're facing a great deal of criticism there are many members of the syrian opposition who were involved in the past of the geneva process who now believe the process has been completely compromised that the russians are steering things and that's why they are staying away in fact some more than four hundred thirty prominent members of the opposition have criticized the negotiating team here saying that they don't represent them and even that negotiating team is having some difficulties with stefan de mistura the special envoy they want to focus on the political transition setting up a transitional

backed rebels in the north and east let's take a closer look at who controls what and syria the syrian government holds areas in red which is around half the country iraqi militia allied to the syrian government continue to make gains and to isolate territory in the east shown here in black now the yellow area indicates where the u.s. backed kurdish forces are pushing further into their from the north we're joined again by our senior political analyst bashara this time to talk about syria that statement from the u.s. and russia say reaffirming what they call their commitment to end the fighting we've heard from the kremlin we haven't heard from the u.s. what do you make of it so bizarre. i mean. wait and see right it doesn't sound like a statement that would be opposed by the united states but it would underline the simple fact that if it's true that they agreed that the geneva once again not a stand on geneva is going to be the place where a political solution is going to be found because there is no military solution. then the united states was going to have to be more committed than

the head of the largest saudi backed syrian opposition group has resigned after nearly two years we had his job in front of the high negotiations committee he his spokesperson and several other officials of ny stepped down ahead of an opposition conference in saudi arabia and a you round of u.n. sponsored talks in geneva a statement from his job did not say why he was quitting the h.n.c. is the main anti-government umbrella which includes political and groups. well let's talk more about this with lena captive who is the head of the middle east and north africa program at the international think tank chatham house you know thanks very much for your company thank you for being with us how much of a problem is it that these members have resigned it is a problem for the image and reputation of the hard negotiations committee here we have a group of key politicians. being the person who was leading the agency people like sahara tassy who was one of the leading activists in the syrian opposition basically saying the agency no longer represents their vision for syria and why does it no longer

the syrian regime don't want me does not want me you mean she didn't. i stood up for all these people. and some certain stages we were with hezbollah. there are many parties who don't want. to constitute something like a safety net when i could study the situation of the security because you know we have been infiltrated. financially things were difficult. i have to make sure that there are no infiltration on. on my neck but. we are talking to the information department branch intelligence branch and we are talking to them. when you talk to me are you telling me. they are certain parties that say you are not free to move as you wish. i hear and the united kingdom was sold out in round free i have complete freedom. but i want then i have my family. i have to look after my family as well. as your family your family is here in saudi. my family. i don't want to see my children to have the same fate like what happened to us i'm not talking about months i'm not talking about. i'm talking about only days and i'll go back to eleven on god willing. there's some

in the turkish syrian border. on this now we're joined by richard whiteley director of the center for political military analysis at the hudson institute and he's joining us via skype from washington d.c. mr watts as always good to have you with us on al-jazeera why do you think we are saying these are new government strikes here now. this is not a new development we've seen a pattern over the past few years in which the syrian government would take advantage of limited ceasefires and some locations in law and order to concentrate on launch offensive and others and as you know as mentioned your package there's been recent clarification and deepening as some of the no fly no did complection and cease fire zones in certain parts of syria but at this this part of the aleppo province is outside that and so the government is free to concentrate its forces there without violating any international agreement but why are they doing it now and why at a time you know at the same time that you have this statement from russia

syrians displaced by the fighting in a hit by a car bomb reported to have killed at least a hundred. and. pushed a month and four other ministers turn themselves into belgian police. in doha with all the sports news including shalane flanagan becomes the fast american woman in forty years to win the new york marathon i'll have more on that story later. on now we begin in lebanon where the leader of the iran backed hezbollah movement says the surprise resignation of prime minister saad hariri on saturday was imposed by saudi arabia harry reid announced he was stepping down from riyadh criticizing iran and saying he feared for his life but not question whether he had actually written the statement himself saying a hunter has the latest from beirut yet again lebanon is on the brink its prime minister has resigned a country not immune to political crises and its people know all too well what instability can bring. we've lived through the civil war and we know a small incident can play or up a situation if it's not resolved and there are no mature minds the country will fall apart and tha

the syrian border. twelve year old drafts a first from cerebral palsy a condition which inhibits her brain's growth the room is dark because there isn't much electricity in eastern glitter this is what she looked like before the siege and before she ran out of medicine her mother used to give her honey milk and other nutritious food but not anymore. and now a month or a half used to be well and was going to school until there was a lack of. my husband can't work and because of the high prices we can't afford much. that's been the case for the last four years after syrian government forces besieged the area which is home to four hundred thousand people this is the most popular dish these days while corn or for large families a contrast with the luxury of salt for those who can afford it. the assad government has allowed in some aid but the u.n. says that is only enough for around ten percent of the besieged people this year the syrian regime approved around a quarter of united nations requests to deliver

we don't have any shelter no tents no cover when we left we didn't take anything the syrian army went after us with airstrikes and now the children sleep there while. there's no water no power no roads just we move a lot for god's sake have some fun with just the clothes that we wear now here in a tent and. the used tents are not just for people from so the but also from hama province in the north around three thousand people in all. many here haven't seen any help from international aid organizations because the front line is close by local aid workers say they are doing what they can but don't have enough provisions and. the villages and towns in the southern countryside of aleppo faced a wave of civilians fleeing towards the east or one thousand seven hundred thirty four families from the south and one thousand three hundred families in the northern countryside of after visiting the random camps in the area we evaluate the humanitarian situation as a disaster people need tends to protect themselves in the freezing winter the united nations says at least one point one million syrian

has only just been given confirmation the syrian government delegation will not arrive until wednesday so let's have a look at how the map of who controls what in syria has changed in the last two years four major urban centers have been the focus of much of the fighting this was syria in november twenty fifth in about a month after russia got involved in the civil war in red regime controlled areas black shows i saw green the syrian opposition and yellow shows kurdish forces and this is syria today a significant increase in regime controlled areas quite a different picture there kurdish forces have expanded their influence anti asset forces of last territory an eyesore has been reduced to an area along the border with iraq over to our diplomatic editor james bays who is in geneva where those talks are taking place so james. where things stand right now particularly since we're getting reports of a possible cease fire in eastern hooter. well we've just been hearing in the last few minutes from stefan de mistura who is the special envoy the united nations are the people who are running

backed kurdish syrian defense force fighters have been advancing from the opposite opposite banks of the euphrates river and have been fighting pockets of feisal resistance and some avenge of a task more from gazi on tap on the turkey syria border. according to the media center of the syrian democratic forces at least one hundred people have been killed in the province of their resort this is the place that has been recently taken by a syrian democratic forces from ice and seem to be going to democratic forces are making progress there are women closer towards the the border between syria and iraq and they say as they have taken these areas in one such area in that there are problems between oil fields i see suicide bombers attacked a number of civilians this was a gathering of people who have now recently fled these areas which are now contested and are now trying to reach towards doors in a very as you know force to say they are in control and are safe from i so it's not just isolate the of the of forces are fighting there has been sporadic clashes between as the forces and syrian

the turkish syrian border so first of all let's start with now confirmed that control is in. all depends on who you are listening to if you listen to the syrian observatory for human rights an opposition group and they say that half of the city is under the control of the syrian government and hezbollah forces who've been trying to retake it syrian state media has been seeing for the last few hours that it's completely under their control but it's not uncommon to hear these earlier claims of victory as these forces move into icy controlled areas we've heard that in mosul be heard that. in their lives or in other places where syrian forces or iraqi forces have moved in and they claim victory before the fight is completely over but it looks like that is if not already very soon going to be out out of his hands and will be the end of ice and in urban areas in syria that doesn't mean that isin fighters would completely be ended in the fight would have completely ended but urban areas would be gone from under its control and the caliphate that it once claimed will be over. all rig

offer is over in the syrian conflict is moving shift whether the same time there are new friends of. the five you have the turkish front you have the iranian front and most will be down the road we will have the israeli front if really the iranians manage to move toward the golan heights so the map is shift industry and the geo political geography is shifting and it's going to make it more challenging for any intervention to make some headway in the process of mediating the conflict just thinking as we see pictures there of president putin with president asad as far as president assad is concerned he's he's won or he's winning at least which makes the prospects of him negotiating. white slim doesn't it and certainly is not going to step aside as they as the opposition would want or the russians claim that they have saved syrian state so this is a very serious claim of influence not only inside syria it's the entire middle east at the same time the syrian military also claims that it has regained ninety percent of the so-called liberated territories so there is a strong russian syrian

is following developments from near the turkish syrian border. is a big province in the city is part of it on the outskirts of aleppo city there are pockets that people fled from aleppo city which are still under rebel control this particular area where this latest campaign by the syrian government is underway is close to the aleppo it live border these are the two provinces and these areas were held by rebels and now syrian forces are pushing towards it it's worth noting that this is an area that is just on the outskirts of the deescalation zone as well so it is perfectly ok and legal for syrian government forces and their russian ally for the barbie the area and push the rebels back and this is what the contention of the syrian opposition has been that they have been saying that the escalation zones rather have been helping to bring down civilian casualties but they're also an excuse for the assad government and its allies to consolidate their control and push rebels back to words these areas where they would if they fire back they would be in

conflict its troops are fighting alongside the syrian government this is not the first time hezbollah has been asked to do so it's not going to heed this demand now so the political deadlock will continue the political paralysis will continue how do you see is the tops on the politician in lebanon and that is why when he resigned it shook everybody because at the end of the day the sunni community here feels that they've been marginalized that iran's influence is only growing the very fact that he resigned means they're going to be marginalized even further so there was a lot of fears and also there was a lot of anti saudi resentment even in this in the street they felt that saudi arabia was robbing them from their leader so the situation is quite tense his appearance his comments are going to do very little to ease the tensions in fact instead really he looks like a pawn in the rivalry between saudi arabia and iran in the region. and. a guest earlier was saying that this is essentially goes to the heart of a long standing historical lebanese dilemma when it comes to hezbollah and the

the united states is not talking about taking away weapons from the syrian kurds. also turkey is a no military position to intervene and completely eliminate the syrian kurds so it's a setback for the syrian kurds but one that was expected micrograms a pleasure talking to you thank you for your time you're welcome. al-jazeera continues to demand the release of its journalist mahmoud hussein who has been in an egyptian prison for eleven months now and then is accused of broadcasting false news just spread chaos which he and al-jazeera of course strongly deny hussein is also repeatedly complained of mistreatment in jail he was arrested back on december twentieth nearly a year ago now visiting family. the german chancellor angela merkel has spoken out against a return to the polls saying it wouldn't be fair to ask people to vote again germans held their elections back in september and since then talks on a coalition between locals conservative bloc and two smaller parties have collapsed that was last week but she hopes to pull the government together soon after the op

ruling party prepares to impeach robert mugabe as the man who may replace him reportedly speaks out also syrian president bashar al assad to makes a flying visit to russia thanking by the putin for his in his words saving his country also being modest accuse of subjecting its writing to what's described as a vicious system of apartheid and war crimes in afghanistan the international criminal court wants to open an investigation which could expose the u.s. military. countdown to kickoff it's exactly five years to go until the start of the twenty twenty two well for the blockade imposed by its regional neighbors we'll take a look at how that's affecting cattle. good to have a couple here on the news hour we start in africa where the man expected to replace robert mugabe and zimbabwean president has reportedly spoken out for the first time since the military takeover a week ago and. said in a statement that mcgarvie should resign immediately forgot was a longtime ally of mccarthy and his deputy before he was fired earlier this month now the president faces impeachment by parliament the motion is d

sponsored talks they've renewed their demand for the syrian president bashar al assad to resign from a conference on the conflict in riyadh but stepping down will not be a precondition for negotiations with some a binge of aid sent this report from the turkey syria border. after two long days of deliberations between various syrian groups which included the moscow and the cairo platforms the syrian negotiations committee that has been formed now has agreed to code to geneva talks on a united platform they say they've agreed that there should be a future syria without president bashar assad and his clique they also say that there should be representation of women the united nations should put serious efforts into uniting all sides and bringing all sides on to the negotiating table and the violence must come to an end in a late night news conference one of the representatives off this new committee and now has these details saying that they are now united and they can go to geneva with one voice it's a fact now. we have agreed with a group of the components right here in riyadh in addi

well we have plenty more ahead on the new zeland clothing syrian president bashar asad makes a surprise visit to russia. the latest in the search for an argentine submarine that's been missing for nearly a week plus. i'm andy richardson in leigh sales that's all at the exact point where in five years' time the world cup will be kicking off. at least fifty people have been killed a suicide bomb attack at a mosque in nigeria the attack took place during morning prayers in the town of movie in the northeastern state. sponsibility police say the bombing bears the hallmarks of the. nigeria's president home of the hard core the attack very cruel and pledged to secure the state of the us has the latest from the capital of. the attack came as washable as were gathering for early morning prayers movie service been relatively calm since its occupation by boko haram and later they were chased after one month stay in the city so the city it's obvious not far away from the boundary of that border state the epicenter of boko haram insurgency we've seen in the last few weeks or so how but what are the

according to syrian media as well as hezbollah media sources syrian forces have surrounded the border town of become the last remaining stronghold by isis fighters according to sources on the ground this is going to be a tough fight because isis fighters have been coming to this place from all sides not just the iraqi side of the border but from syrian town just far away and there is or. is in the daters or province which is also being fought by s.d.f. forces these are the forces of the kurdish predominantly who are backed by the united states forces on the eastern bank of the euphrates river the town of the loop is on the western bank and it is now being surrounded by syrian forces some reports say that they have started to enter the city but they expect that isis fighters are going to put up stiff resistance in this area it is worth noting that would not mean the andover. isis still has a number of villages and other areas in the dirigible problems and across the border in the problems in iraq that it still controls but it would be the last stronghold in terms of urban settings smal

and no food no medical supplies and no help from outside emergency calls to evacuate sick syrians he's been under siege for years plus. a cozy manhattan apartment that's for people in a great location the only catch you have to take it with you wherever you go and kristen slimmy coming up we'll tell you why some artists are choosing to live here . we start in africa where tens of thousands of people have thrown zimbabwe's capital harare demanding the president step down the state run broadcaster says the country is now free and liberated as crowds stream towards robert mugabe's official residence now the protests were called by the influential war veterans association and mcgarvie is ruling zanu p.f. party it's a dramatic fall from grace for the embattled leader who's been in power for thirty seven years well one of the rallies was held at the zimbabwe grounds in the suburb of highfield it's a symbolic location because it's where mcgarvey gave his first speech after returning from exile in one nine hundred eighty just ahead of the country's independence. we have expressed that god. eve

at least fifteen people were killed in syrian and russian jets bombed.

border we've heard the first comments from the syrian opposition some of what are they saying. well according to dr reviews the former spokesman and an advisor to the high negotiations committee he says when russia talks peace it does war according to the syrian opposition agency group they welcome that these sides have agreed upon their own national interest but according to dr yang here they have ignored the interest of syria and syrians and he went step by step onto the there the commitments that have been made between the united states and russia and if i could go there to read them out to you he says that they refer to syria and they refer to assad's commitment to the geneva convention and he says that's a blatant lie as history in the last five to six years of proven that assad has not been committed to any peace process or any other process at all he further goes on to say that there's been an agreement about elections but what what will be these elections how can they be sure that people living under the syrian regime and under the regime's militias would be able to say

syrian president bashar. to russia. then on to other news now lebanon and the return of prime minister saad her d.d. he has arrived back in beirut two weeks after announcing his shock resignation from saudi arabia expected to attend lebanon's independence day celebrations on wednesday president michel aoun has refused to accept nation believing he was acting. on previous. accusations. that we'll have a day back for the first time really. for the resignation of. the capital. it raises a lot of question. it might get across to wreak really. not true. way or another. so happy to be. back in. definitely. like. there were. over here. but the political currents if you feel their. political crisis. political instability and. people were worried because. at the center of a worth. a read between saudi arabia and one. nation was in saudi arabia against hezbollah hezbollah being an ally of the law being a member of. government they wanted to curb. backfired because the lebanese came together from across the political divide very h

day syrian refugees protesting greece over the heartbreaking wait to be reunited with their families plus. i'm going to be reporting from vietnam where will beat is arriving in the city of dumbing to talk trade and the contrasting policies of china its globalization and united states protectionism. and sport defiant hong kong football fans for china's national anthem we'll have the details coming up later it's for. spain supreme court has ordered catalan his former parliamentary speaker be released on bail following an investigation into her role in last month's independence referendum earlier five other sacked cattle on politicians were released after appearing before a judge they to face charges a rebellion and sedition and other former members of the government and two pro independence leaders remain in custody john hall has been following the case from barcelona. well after a mattress and day of hearings in the supreme court in madrid with the prosecution ardently arguing for karma for cordell the speaker of the now dissolved parliament in catalonia and five of its and p's to be

according to fighters of the syrian democratic forces arrest the year for a number of people had gathered as they took areas from myself fighters and trying to reach safety when i saw a car bomb hit them as they had gathered the numbers have been high because these are people who were trying to reach fifty from the front lines as the a fighters continue their push towards the iraq syria border they say that these people were mostly from areas in the outskirts of the province but they couldn't take the casualties to derail the dinners or city because on it's on the other side or the euphrates river which is under government control now and the syrian democratic forces say they took the injured and the casualties to has occurred which is under their control. it's worth noting that there's been intense fighting between isis fighters and all of the forces who are trying to raise two words the iraq syria border on both sides of the euphrates river on the western side we have the syrian government forces backed by russia for making advances and trying to reach the very important book a mile bor