of course syrians can do business here syrians are not generally on successful syrians are ambitious sure a few cause trouble but they don't represent the majority. there are too many rumors about what syrians might have done and how the turks have responded but they're just badmouthing syrians casting them in about. anyone who has dreams and goals can come and make them happen here. what's restaurant like all of his businesses is in the ethane lead district it's one of his down bowls poorest and most densely populated areas out of the heart million inhabitants their local officials say as many of the fifty assyrians like mahmoud many therians have opened up businesses in anything unless the government made it easier for the syrians to set up shop by waiving the restrictions non-citizens normally face but that success is starting to cause an ease among some locals turks. after a while they got used to being here and started opening more and more shops. they've slowly started to establish their own sectors and now they only go to syrian shops. within our community they form their own

almost a i'm stuck on the air no one syrian in. december on al-jazeera we look back at twenty seventeen through the eyes of five families who have been affected by some of the big stories of the year in an increasingly polarized world people in power sheds light on the darkest abuses of authority ten days of comprehensive coverage about nuclear arsenals around the globe and the impact they have on the diplomatic stage a special program dedicated to this year's nobel peace prize laureates i can and their pursuit of a nuclear weapon free world and we look ahead to the big stories that could dominate the headlines in twenty eighteen. december on al-jazeera. in syria thousands have disappeared without a trace. forcibly taken from their family right near the most terrible thing in syria just to be. this has been the invisible weapon of the syrian dictatorship but i thought sometimes i thought it would be better to die than continue to be she really didn't go to. the disappeared of syria but this time on al-jazeera. the antarctic ice she

for years this invisible weapon of the syrian dictatorship. almost four hundred thousand syrians have taken refuge in the city of gaziantep since the outbreak of the fighting. the chaos that ravages their homeland is barely fifty kilometers away. how do you begin to talk about your own government's atrocities when you're still living in fear. those who reveal their identities are a few but they are still determined to overcome the terror instilled by the regime . and. about us. and around me and i look at them and. i want to. be human. to the can in a static. and . long. as. muslim i have a mission and no one can at another lend us and a gun. to. my kids and he. had to look into small nest and deduce of the. little town on the central one in motion. to me just. before. and how many are from the three of us. by blood. pressure and i thank god for number of the crowd because i was going. for them. and they. thought that it was the halo. and i would have. found i. was vulnerable. comes from the town of near damascus. under siege twenty twelve it'

syrian state t.v. says the army and its allies forces have pushed isilon of the eastern city of dead as oh it was isolating syrian stronghold and the capital of an oil rich province bordering iraq. a belgian court could help keep the deposed leader of spain's catalonia region out of jail with an international arrest warrant for colors expected to be issued on friday he missed a summons to a spanish court on thursday because he isn't belgian seeking freedom and safety. america's top diplomat will visit myanmar to discuss the rehang a crisis later this month the pressure is mounting on the white house to impose measures against government for its crackdown on minorities. u.s. president donald trump is named jerome powell as his pick to lead the federal reserve power is a multi-millionaire now serves on the central bank's board he was one of five candidates interviewed for the role including current chair janet yellen finishes in february and fisher has the story it's my pleasure and my honor to announce

we were taken in iraq is going to buy the syrian government. that it is determined to take over every single territory in lost. to the rebels or to the kurdish factions and this is something which is going to create further problems for the international community in the future so you have the syrian army backed by russia you have the s.d.f. backed by the americans imagine both in tangled in a fight over the americans are determined to continue providing significant logistical and military assistance of the s.d.f. in the push i guess what happens next when isis is driven out of. and out of syria. continue to have a significant role now the syrian government says that it is determined to claim its. tutorial independence in the near future and that the syrian army will be the ultimate power all over syria a sentiment not shared by different opposition groups but particularly the s.d.f. which hopes to be able to create a state of its own in areas like iraq. and also northern part of syria so this is definitely going to be a delicate situation now

russian and syrian troops launch an offensive to retake a border city under our control in syria. what is going on on models i love the movie the crisis and no one will help us a desperate plea from hundreds of refugees who say they have been abandoned on mannus island. to the new wave of artisans in hong kong waving modern life and to an ancient craft. an international search and arrest warrant has been issued for deposed catalogue president carlos put him on spanish prosecutors want to investigate him for rebellion and sedition over last month's declaration of independence but the sacked leader is missed two days of court hearings in madrid. and brussels where he intends to challenge any attempt to extradite him to spain but he has also said he's willing to cooperate with belgian authorities elgin has twenty four hours to react to the european arrest warrant several months aides are also being sought so catalans views about all of this the really split over how the deposed president has handled this crisis. she could getting that in india the new i want catalonia to be independe

opposition in syria if that happens if the syrian army moves back by the russians towards. what will be the next step for the americans are they going to abandon that in the region which is the s.d.f. or are they going to try to work out a reconciliation and so you know i think the american are hoping to see a permanent solution to the crisis in syria but the s.d.f. says that it would like to continue its push to create a state of which this is something that would create new political dynamics in the region if the russians and the americans a further trapped into this conflict that could have. consequences to syria and to the region. the developments there joining us from gaza thank you. more than six hundred refugees have made a desperate plea to new zealand's prime minister ahead of her meeting with her australian counterpart for years a new zealand had offered to resettle some of the refugees australia locked in its offshore prison camps and an asylum camp was decommissioned on tuesday but hundreds of refugees there they're refusing to lean they cuz they fear being atta

border and houses one of the biggest syrian refugee communities. crime reports now on a daily struggle facing refugees who fled syria as children. should be at school but mohamed who everyone here to call it is working at a bakery instead his specialty is sweet pastries. the fifteen year old fled to jordan with his siblings and father four years ago. i missed school a lot you're caught up in a bad situation but the alternative back home is worse we got used to it. i'm moved his mother and his oldest brother were killed in the war in jordan the family lived in a refugee camp at first but because they left the camp on their own accord that barely qualified for any aid that is another reason the family depends on his earnings her mood is here at the bakery every time work is on offer. it's barely enough for the apartment the rent electricity water and the rest my sister sometimes works as a hairdresser when we don't work we don't eat but we're surviving. his boss also forced to flee from syria supports him even if her mood it doesn't have a work permi

syrians today but also had the we don't want their war to come to us, many ethnicities and religions side-by-side. the situation among iraqis. there was a split for example the largest between sunni and shia when you have so many families intertwined, when violence erupts it was devastating so a lot of people that were running into syria were intermarried or a lot of the intellectuals, mass targeting of the intellectual cash, research scientists, professors, that sort of thing. to spend time with them, that with my impetus for going to syria. i decided to focus on one neighborhood, about 300,000 refugees lived there. sometimes referred to as little baghdad because it has a similar demographic to baghdad before the war where you had all sects living side-by-side. when people are running from strangers who want to kill them they don't always want to answer questions from strangers like me so i was losing is looking for someone that i could trust to make introductions, open doors and translate for me. i studied classical arabic in university but by no means fluent and wanted someone who

they left as well the syrian arab republic again cools for the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of u.s. forces from the territory of the syrian arab republic this presence is an aggression against syria's sovereignty and independence and will be don't with on this basis and that shouldn't be a problem given that trump himself has said that america's interest in syria is reserved to fighting islamic state we have very little to do with syria other than killing isis so theoretically if i saw only has a couple of months left then so does the u.s. presence in syria right don't hold your breath the u.s. secretary of defense james mattis recently hinted that what the u.s. will need to see before they leave we're going to make sure we set the conditions for a diplomatic solution not just you know find the military part of it and then say good luck all the rest of it we did it for that to support the diplomatic solution the ports and the legitimate government this matter says u.s. soldiers have a right let ice's two point zero pop back around but that remark about the u.s. does not have

of course syrians can do business here syrians are not generally on successful syrians are ambitious sure a few cause trouble but they don't represent the majority. there are too many rumors about what syrians might have done and how the turks have responded but they're just badmouthing syrians casting them in about. anyone who has dreams and goals can come and make them happen here. mom what's restaurant like all of his businesses is in the ethane lead district it's one of his down bowls poorest and most densely populated areas out of the heart a million inhabitants there local officials say as many of the fifty assyrians like mahmoud many therians have opened up businesses in anything less the government made it easier for the syrians to set up shop by waving the restrictions non-citizens normally face. but that success is starting to cause an ease among some locals turks. after a while they got used to being here and started opening more and more shops they've slowly started to establish their own sectors and now they only go to syrian shops but within our community they form thei

after talks in the black sea resort of sochi through china said work had begun towards convening a syrian people congress as one of the first steps towards inclusive dialogue russia and iran major allies of syria's president bashar al assad who made a surprise visit to sochi on monday to take you back some syrian rebel groups lebanon's prime minister saad hariri has addressed thousands of supporters outside his home in beirut. earlier we arrived in lebanon on tuesday for the first time since he announced he would resign in a televised statement in saudi arabia has now agreed to delay his resignation dialogue after a request from the president michel. to planes have landed in yemen's capital sanaa for the first time since the sound in that coalition tightened its blockade sixteen days ago the blockade is prevented aid from being delivered despite increasing pressure from the un and humanitarian groups those are the headlines witness is next. boy. oh that. was. a lot. about was the grad school. was there i was alone no glad to see it but messing you can start. as a. bull in the real. thank

the reporters without borders tried to cancel a press event critical of the syrian request was rejected as being an attack on free speech. for the. past midnight here in the russian capital thanks for joining us. this is our team and. we start with breaking news a congressional committee in the u.s. has just revoked america's accreditation on capitol hill received the following letter informing us of the decision the executive committee of the congressional radio and television correspondents galleries exercises with or easy to withdraw the news credentials of the network this action was taken in response to the registration of the network as a foreign agent please return your credentials to the senate sergeant. i can speak to us correspondent caleb someone who be directly affected by this case to tell us more about the season and what indeed it will mean for reporters in the u.s. . this decision essentially prevents us from doing our work on capitol hill in washington d.c. congressional hearings with both the senate and the u.s. house of representatives take place on capitol hill and y

rebels against the syrian. you led to a number of points robert there and also some contradictions i might add and if it if the international community who will be watching this will be a bit confused about a the definition of military action because the u.s. have been carrying out test strikes in syria and they have done that without the permission of the syrian government and as you mentioned with the u.n. security council backing them so how is that a not military action and also a well i shall let you answer that question first on it is it is it is military action there is no question it's military action and it is technically a violation of international law syria you know syrian government sovereign government. the government in damascus controls to see the u.n. so technically it's a violation however the you know international law is not so force there is no sheriff or judge that will force international law so it's up to other countries too. put counter pressure on the united states if the united states

of syrian sovereignty and the u.n. charter military analysts come out alan explain to us why he thinks the u.s. presence in syria has no legal basis in terms of american intervention in syria it needs legitimate backing by the syrian government and does not have so so as far as international law goes it's a clear violation i think also it's a reflection of u.s. frustration they are more or less locked out of the syrian war as by the u.n. they are within their the public health concerning the poisonous high levels of lead were found in the city's drinking water well i'm open reports from new york. it's been revealed that in certain areas of new york city the water supply is contaminated with the lads now according to two separate investigations one by reuters news agency the other by local officials it appears that the problem could be. just six with dangerous levels of lead in their blood now at this point it's not getting as much gnashing recoveries everybody's responsibility. to it celebrate getting a new thing affec

in barcelona tens of thousands of food among supporters took to the streets also coming up iraqi and syrian forces take back two towns from the so-called islamic state the group has now lost almost all the territory it seized to three years ago. and the maltese journalist killed when a bomb exploded in her car is laid to rest but how close are police to finding out who was behind the murder. welcome to the program i'm marion and stephen it's good to have you with us. belgian authorities are examining an international arrest warrant issued for catalonia as ousted leader carlists to mom and the list sedition and rebellion among the crimes he's alleged to have committed a month he will not be extradited he went to belgium after madrid ousted him from his position as president of the catalan region well meanwhile pushed among supporters have been staging pro independence rallies in barcelona. tens of thousands once again out on the streets of the catalan capital barcelona protesting against the detention of leaders of the independence movement speaking from his refuge in brussels the deposed pr

and saudi backed alliance and a pro syrian coalition. to have had differences on how to run the country leading to the collapse of the government at least three times in two thousand and five twenty eleven and twenty thirteen sadly haiti is lebanon's most influential sunni politician and a fierce critic of iran and hezbollah but starting in two thousand and eleven he spent three years in self-imposed exile in saudi arabia and france after a hezbollah led the alliance left his government and 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 back group leader turned to the prime minister's office after hezbollah backed candidate michele our own became president let's go now to. who is in beirut for us so india's what has been the reaction there to this sudden decision by lebanon's prime minister to resign. has a lot of shock at a lot of disbelief we've course but reaching out to as many people as

turkey and arrive and sought she all three leaders looked quare asked to press their off button the syrian conflict has entered a new are expected to be and moscow are really warms and the new elections that i mentioned mr putin tried to convey this message to the leaders of iran and turkey and when it comes to the syrian opposition they are always in close contact with anchor up so the hope is definitely there politics professor syud mohammad marandi told us the idea of a syrian national congress would be a positive move he say yes there are still questions of brigs actually how it would function though. the very fact that for the first time. this process is being moved forward largely without the united states and its allies i think is one reason why it has achieved so much thoughts on the talks as well as the current talks in sochi have. pushed the part of the process a great deal for the force things have shifted and changed of enormously on the ground and hopefully these talks will help pave the way for. the conflict to come to an end but i think that it looks good on paper but it i'm

government and i'm sure that in the wake of what is a quite victorious syrian military in his border and the russians and the iranians the kurds will definitely think twice about keeping some of these areas which will in the future continue to jeopardize the u.s. is its presence within syria i can't see the u.s. having forces in syria for a long time because the if you look at the trajectory of the crisis now and the nature of how the syrian forces were victorious the u.s. really has nothing to leave their troops in for because the majority of terrorism is almost on the way of being defeated and i think the u.s. is just doing this just to save face because we discussed donald trump on it from the syrian military airbase which was you know twenty thirty kilometers away from isis so he's not someone who's fought terrorism successfully within syria and what they're doing at the moment is just literally attempting to show the world that they have some sort of a symbolic presence because after the russians intervened in september two thousand and fifteen they complete the balance of power

backed forces and syrian are celebrating their eyes rock rock. or i like to throw rocks at exactly that. but i mean i'm going to show us all sit around and oppression. hello i'm richard yes bourdin you're at the listening post this week we're examining the media in and around syria starting with spin city the islamic state abandons rocca leaving the story in the hands of international journalists lebanon has more refugees per capita than any other country and the media coverage of them can smack of sensationalism and zina phobia in spain madrid moves against the biggest player on the catalonian airwaves t.v. three and chinese media and a young american all singing from the same song. we begin with the fall of rock of the syrian city captured by islamic state forces more than three years ago rocco was the capital of what i still called its caliph it as such it was the dateline behind some of the most brutal imagery of the syrian war square at the heart of the city was the site of summary executions and beheadings that the group then fed to the wor

did you support the syrian r.p. . thank you. for your oh i don't know about that. will like how did you meet them and we just want to have a good living and the country and to develop. the c n r p leadership has appealed to the international community to intervene but while there has been condemnation from abroad it's a very different international community that saved cambodia from civil war twenty five years ago and set it on the path of democracy many would argue the united states is not the international player it used to be and the investment from china that is changing the skyline of phnom penh tells you it's the chinese that are now the biggest influence here and beijing certainly likes the way prime minister hun sen he's doing things with his emphasis on national security and stability virtues that it approves of the country it calls rather cambodia still ahead on al-jazeera . and australian youth detention centers ordered to close after a shocking revelations of abuse. as we look at how the sons helping this community in the poor cope with a water shortage

well in a sense there are those in the syrian opposition who cannot envisage sharing power or. at least having to deal with any part of governance was present our side is there they forget in a sense let's just call them the hawks for a moment they forget that there are quite a few syrians who believe that the government is actually protecting them and actually in fact the the majority of syrians who are currently inside syria fearless such and to convince those at present shouldn't be there is going to be a very huge task and i think that's where practicality comes and that's where the regional powers and the international powers have realized who actually who who originally backed the opposition and still do have realized that it would be very hard to just force a person outside our they've tried everything they could and it didn't happen and to convince the syrians inside syria who happened to be the only ones who are definitely going to for the moment at least definitely going to participate in any upcoming election is going to be very hard so off with those who believe tha

army if a new syrian constitution is drafted on a federal basis and the rights of all syrian parties are reserved this is a two pronged approach it's a warning to the u.s. we can dump you before you dump us and the message to ash sad give us what we want autonomy and we won't need the americans now you need and as a kurd i can say that our people want to build a syria in syria but no force or ethnic group dominating any other group i believe it is in the interests of the kurds as the second largest ethnic group to build the function. federal service with the interests of the kurdish people would be in trying to choose from allowing kurds to participate in parliament and join the army and all the state institutions. a new constitution for syria is on the horizon russia iran and turkey backing the initiative but what the kurds get out of it is still up for debate america the us has never viewed the syrian democratic forces as partners unfortunately the us has only been using them to fight i saw him destroy iraq or i believe the alliance between the us and forces on the ground including

and saudi backed alliance and the pro syrian coalition differences between the two on how to run the country led to the collapse of the government in two thousand and five two thousand and eleven and two thousand and thirteen last year lebanon's parliament swore in a new cabinet dominated by hizbullah and its allies in a major victory for the shiite iran backed side i reread is lebanon's most influential sunni politician and a saudi ally who is a fierce critic of iran and hezbollah the killing of his father refute harry reid by a massive car bomb in two thousand and five was blamed on members of his bala charlotte bellus is more now on such heavy reasons political career. saad hariri had been in office for less than a year the forty seven year old was appointed in twenty sixteen to lead a coalition government which included iran's powerful shia ally hizbullah. stability what i see is. focusing on. the interests of the lebanese citizens. this was horary second turn as prime minister it previously served between two thousand and nine and eleven horary had followed in his father's polit

on monday, putin greeted the syrian leader warmly at a bilateral meeting. assad, in turn, praised russia's military support for saving his regime. >> ( translated ): today, after more than two years, the results on the ground are obvious for everyone, and this is due to the russian air support of the syrian arab army in countering and fighting terrorism. on behalf of the syrian people, i would like to thank and salute you, and every officer. >> woodruff: since russia's intervention in 2015, the syrian government has regained control over broad swaths of the country. in the northeast, kurdish fighters backed by the u.s. have taken territory from the islamic state. isis still holds areas in the southeast, although greatly reduced, and rebel groups have been pushed from all but a few pockets. the united states was not included in today's sochi summit, and has been largely quiet on the russian-led talks. putin did phone mr. trump yesterday, and they spoke for more than an hour. in a readout afterward, the white house said: "both presidents also stressed the imp

war turkey which backs syrian rebel groups and president bashar al assad's allies iran and russia are there groups opposed to our side will gather in the saudi capital riyadh it follows a surprise visit to russia on monday for talks with president vladimir putin. the u.n. says more than thirty flights carrying much needed aid into yemen have been cancelled requests for new ones being answered humanitarian staff of been unable to move in or out of yemen's capital sana'a. and its blockade two weeks ago some yemeni boards have reopened to allow in food and fuel but aid groups say that's not enough the un's warning millions of people face starvation if the restrictions and measures. those are your headlines the news continues here now to syria after inside story. facing reality is a piece of machinery goes wrong is there a chain of litigation through which we can bring a legal system to bear getting to the heart of the matter i don't think we needed the ball but some of my producers just did hear their story on talk to how dizzy. this time. as the war in syria really almost over syria's p

anchor: papers focusing on solution tofind a the syrian crisis. saying this iss a big win for the russian president vladimir putin. it was a bold diplomatic move. he brought together or honey from iran and erdogan from turkey to try to draw out a peace plan, a move that sidelined the u.s. and e.u. it is clear the future of a post-were serialized in the hands of moscow, ankara, and tehran. anchor: syria was sidelined from the summit as well. >> the paper is critical of russia, iran, and turkey for searching for a solution in syria without the syrians. all of the regional powers are trying to find a solution and the syrian population is being held hostage in the negotiations . according to this paper, the russian president is pulling the strings. and he supports the syrian president. there is the mystery as to what will happen. the last thing all of these regional powers want and care about is what syrians want and care about and why the revolution happened in the first place six years ago. you can see the tank that represents the regional powers bu

to pave the way for the syrian army to move into the heart of the town. finds itself in a very delicate situation it's sandwiched between two armies vastly superior in number and in. the iraqi army in the south and the syrian army which is moving from the west and trying to lay a siege on the town over a book i say is left with very few options to continue the fight but then this will come with a huge price that is the civilian population which is trapped into the city and there's absolutely no way they can defeat to me is coming from two areas or there's often a. fleeing or escaping come out into a vast desert area to the east the problem with this option is that the desert area is totally exposed the moment they move in convoys they would be intercepted and there would be. come under attack from the russian warplanes which fly over the areas nonstop so this is a delicate situation for i still it's a crucial moment they want to continue the fire they want to hold the world they're still there but they know that if they lose that this is going to be the b

german police arrest six syrian refugees in a series of raids across several cities they are suspected of planning a terror attack on the christmas market will get the latest from our political correspondent. and coming to an end zimbabwe is preparing to usher in a new era with that country's parliament putting to a vote the impeachment of long feared president robert mugabe. great to have you along we begin this broadcast here in germany this country is in political limbo after talks to form a new coalition government collapsed chancellor angela merkel has been in office for twelve years but for the first time. time her future looks uncertain and even ordinary germans are split on what should happen next in a national poll conducted by the german broadcaster a r d fifty seven percent said they were disappointed to see the coalition talks collapse while thirty one percent were pleased when asked what they want to see happen next only twenty nine percent they supported a minority government while more than sixty percent will like to see new elections for anglo-american future fifty eigh

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 defeating terrorism it could have ended in different way the russians the main

was investigating the attack they pointed out that the syrian government was being blamed by the o.p.c. w. officials yet they never actually visited the site of the attack and they were relying on samples from third parties and that there were a lot of problems with the way the o.p.c. w. investigation was being carried out now japan is putting forward a resolution that would extend the investigation for thirty days now we've heard from the russian foreign ministry they have said moscow sees no point in technical extension of the mandate of o.p.c. w on syria without correcting the existing shortcomings it's interesting also to note that yesterday nikki haley claimed that u.s. officials were trying to reach russian officials and that somehow. these calls were not being connected something was wrong with the phones now we've heard a response to those comments from russian's foreign minister sergey lavrov and. the u.s. ambassador to the united nations has claimed that all the recent attempts to reach our representative vasoline happened to discuss a common text or a draft resolution that's

victory in raqqa will worldwide.aesh battles.e been tough many syrians have lost their lives fighting terrorists during these operations. the syrian democratic forces are also to be commended for their determination, and we acknowledge their losses also. after this fighting, the stabilization in raqqa will take some time. the reestablishment of both institutions and the central services is critical to ensure that citizens are able to return and to rebuild their lives. >> thank you, minister. >> could the minister provide the progress in iraq and the contribution of the estrone defense force the capacity of the security task force? >> despite the liberations of places, itther represents the beginning of the ends of the entity that is daeish in iraq. some of these strongholds in the river valley are in difficult terrain and present different tactical problems, from the urban fighting so far experienced in the towns and cities. australia will continue to support iraq insecurity forces so that iraq is able to defeat daesh. we continue to train, advise, ss in airt the i support there are t

he contacted his syrian counterpart, who got assad to agree. obama went on network tv to sell the idea to the american public. >> this represents a potentially positive development. we are going to run this to ground. john kerry will be talking to his russian counterpart. we're going to make sure that we see how serious these proposals are. >> and so at the time, it seemed like a flyer. "what on earth are you doing? you're gonna really trust two of the people in the world we trust the least, vladimir putin and bashar al-assad?" but in the end, it worked. it became a diplomatic way out of a terrible situation that he had found himself in, that he had put himself in. >> but what if he had bombed? what if he had bombed and killed, let's say, 100 soldiers and blew up some intelligence centers in damascus? what would that have gotten him? that would've gotten him in the middle of a war. he said he was gonna deal with chemical weapons, which he did. and he did it magnificently. and without killing anybody, he managed to get those chemical weapons out

before coming here a turkish president said that the states not considering a military solution to the syrian crisis should pull their troops out of syria russia u.s. and turkey all have troops on the ground who have been able to talk about that what exactly does that mean did the president mean with turkish foreign minister and he told me that this should only show that political solution is the only possible solution that turkey right now considering for a way out of the syrian crisis to have to say that the minister has been very positive in answering my questions and we even had kind of a personal chart after this interview that i have been doing facebook lives for the future not the sort of. person. you think. everyone was. very evident in here. so it's quite became a reason for a. relative as you remember the relations between russia and turkey.

australia does welcome the reports that syrian democratic forces with the support of the international coalition have retaken the key city of rocca in syria. the international coalition understands that while the majority of [inaudible] has been liberated there are isolated resistance pockets remaining in areas of the city still remain unsafe for civilians to return home. this is important progress and rocca contains to the caliphate and essential to their narrative of legitimacy and success. the actions of [inaudible] in rocca as well as prison syria has been appalling. the use of passion and brutality to rule territories. when local forces came to respond to vicious tactics, murdering civilians attempting to this grape and using the prices of the city. [inaudible] in rocca against their ideology. it's it will discredit them worldwide and [inaudible]. many syrians have lost their lives fighting terrorist are these operations in our thoughts are with their families. the syrian difficult forces are also to be commended for their determination to defeat and we acknowledge their losses al

keyboarder the syrian military video of this syrian military video appears to show iraqi fighters flying yellow military militia flags near the city on wednesday the group has been losing ground rapidly since it lost its self-styled capital rucka to syrian democratic forces in october well here's a look at who controls what right now in syria the syrian government controls the areas in red roughly half of the country iraqi militia allied to the syrian government continues to make gains into eisel territory in the east shown here in black while the yellow area shows u.s. backed kurdish forces pushing further into debt from the north al-jazeera sullivan jabot is following developments from near the turkish syria border he's with us now vive so what is the latest we're hearing from our book on well something. in the last hour or so we've heard the defense ministry spokesman the military spokesman for the syrian government thing that they have taken full control of the city of. this is the last remaining stronghold controlled by isis on the border between syria and iraq according to a monito

the leaders confirmed their assessment of the syrian conflict has and a new stage. of constant fighting is now over and time has called for a new settlement opportunities. much that we. do not scale military actions against terrorist groups in syria are coming to an end i'd like to note that thanks to the efforts of russia iran and turkey we have managed to prevent the dissolution of syria. from being captured by international terrorists and avoid a humanitarian catastrophe. if you want our joint efforts over the last eleven months of how to prepare the ground for a political settlement to the syrian crisis has been our meeting today symbolizes the start of a new stage in this process. the trilateral meeting today has not most importance is the final stage in putting an end to the bloodshed in syria we have achieved success thanks to the union of the rand turkey and russia. so after one and a half hours of talks where also the foreign ministers and the ministers of defense of the three countries were present when the three leaders finally came out to talk to the jou

islamic state stronghold in the country the city of abu kemal is liberated it was confirmed by the syrian army we'll show you in just a moment pictures from the vicinity of the city where syrian and iraqi backed militias joined forces to surround kemal which is situated very close to the border between the two countries. p.p.p. . thank. you very much. the. forces from all countries participated in a joint operation to liberate this city which saw heavy clashes over a number of days in the area parties daniel hawkins has more details. why is this victory so significant well it's one of the very final steps of the end of the self-proclaimed caliphate and an end to the flow of weapons and fighters across the border from iraq into syria now just two years ago islamic state controlled northern the heart of the country now is confined to just some desert areas villages and isolated pockets in syria and iraq now the town was captured by an amalgamation of different forces there was heavy operations proceed in the final attack by the russian air force in the region as well. so let's take a look a

the country meanwhile the leaders of iran turkey and russia take the chance to try and kick start the syrian peace process and bring to an end almost seven years of conflict plus googled me talking and smart phones even after the use of switched off the location of settings. for the welcome is just gone midnight here in moscow are you watching r.t. international in our top story this hour russia's defense ministry says its air force has successfully carried out a series of surgical strikes against islamic state positions in syria it states that terrorist fighters ammunition death pose and armored vehicles were destroyed in the attacks they are being carried out to support the syrian military in its push to liberate the remaining eisel held villages in the east of the country and with the terror group self-proclaimed caliphate in tatters the leaders of russia iran and key have been meeting to lay the groundwork for syria's post-war future. has been following the talks in. with syria becoming almost completely terrorist free or eyesore free i should say we were all curious what is going to be

government and i'm sure that in the wake of what is a quite victorious syrian military in his border and the russians and the iranians the kurds will definitely think twice about keeping some of these areas which will in the future continue to jeopardize the u.s. is its presence within syria i can't see the u.s. having forces in syria for a long time because. if you look at the trajectory of the crisis now and the nature of how the syrian forces were victorious the u.s. really has nothing to leave their troops in for because the majority of terrorism is almost on the way of being defeated and i think the u.s. is just doing this just to save face because we discussed donald trump on it from the syrian military airbase which was you know twenty thirty kilometers away from isis so he's not someone who fought terrorism successfully within syria and what they're doing at the moment is just literally attempting to show the world that they have some sort of a symbolic presence because after the russians intervened in september two thousand and fifteen they complete the balance of powers on

role in the syrian civil war. hello and welcome across all things considered i'm peter lavelle double cross you would think so if you're a kurd also just how many u.s. troops are in syria and why and the living hell this is the i'm. talking some real news i'm joined by my guest mark slobodan he's an international affairs and security analyst we also have is a political analyst as well as a leading expert at the center for actual politics and of course we have a political analyst with sputnik international. in effect as usual i want to there's so much to talk today. but we can't overlook thomas friedman's article in the new york times so to rebias arab spring at last that's a nice gentleman this article is breathtaking for so many reasons your immediate take away after reading your cursor somebody who'll give for chance. before the second iraq war this is somebody who told the american public about the chemical biological and nuclear weapons programs. progressing with. unbeatable speed in iraq was the result of tha

but as the syrian backs i as the russian backed syrian regime rather recovers territory. supply an expert routes are being restored and their business swinging up again julie can has the story. once a leading exports on a popular stephen f. a foreign visitors. . the fortutunes f seririous arabibic suites he solid s since war erupted in two thousand and eleven. fighting around the country has because hope supplyly routes making local ingredients pods accum by. the sweetest. from severeral different syrian regions of pistachios come from how markets and the butter comes straight arrows or and wreck. and the flowers from her and region. sometimes we have to get alteternatives site butut it's not ththe s. close borders have closer interrupted exports the shot one c cents up to forty tons of candy a month. mostly to canada thehe unitd states europe on the gululf. but with the recent escalation and fight saying that some c conviction is sy they've recovered fifteen percent of their activity. i do are of high dog one of damascus is most famous sweet shops didn't sugar coats why

putin gave donald trump a full update on the talks with syrian president bashar assad mr putin also told mr trump about the upcoming summit with the presidents of iran and turkey. it was these three countries that were behind the so-called astronaut talks in the first place and with the terrorists now almost gone this format could prove to be more crucial than ever. large scale military actions against terrorist groups in syria are coming to an end i'd like to note that thanks to the efforts of russia iran and turkey we have managed to prevent the dissolution of syria stop it from being captured by international terrorists and avoid a humanitarian catastrophe we heard the leaders confirm their assessment the syrian conflict has entered a new stage the era of active fighting is over and time has come for a new settlement opportunities the trilateral meeting today has not most important is the final stage in putting an end to the bloodshed in syria we have achieved success thanks to the union of rand turkey and russia after roughly one and a half hours of talks we finally heard about the n