they're over extended in syria. they're weak end internally and economically and politically it has never been so isolated from the west. they will want a political solution at in spoint in the not too distant future >>> is that a reasonable expectation? >> not unreasonable. the west will want a democratic transition in syria. russia doesn't have any confidence that is going to take place. russia would prefer to have a better strong man in syria than bashar al-assad. he was a loser before the russians came in. the russians would like to work with the u.s. on some kind of a transition to a more stable situation, probably involving some kind of strong rule until some democratic transition occurs and russian is not sure that will ever occur >>> the u.s. would love to see a too. >> an end game move is to remove bashar al-assad from power. so long as he continues to be in power the conflict will continue there. >> as long as they continue in power, there will be groups fighting bashar al-assad and the fighting will not s

syria is fighting one of those wars on terror, so-called. >>> on syria's state-controlled media. aleppo and other forces went to areas that are rebel held. carefully taking it. >> the aim is military decisiveness. raising the use over and over again. >> show footbinge by the syrian army. >> they really almost entirely ignored the refugees, it's obvious why. whether there's a battle over territories. that pump or aleppo, this is very much that. it is seen as a nationalist battle territory. they are going aleppo, raising the syria flag. aleppo will return to the home ground. it is what is at stake according to syrian media. this is called an outside power. some media outlets acted as proxies. state funded channels from russia, saudi arabia and qatar have been accused of reflecting patron government stances. and western news channels exposed some of their own dwelling on concern of casualties. beginning that same issue when the plane did the bombing. when the plane did the bombing. then channels like almanar next door in lebanon, beaming their signals and narratives into syria. >> i

isn't about syria, it is about russia. let's take a closer look at what putin's motives might be. russian president vladimir putin feels snubbed by the west, and wants to make russia great again. the war in syria has given him another opportunity to show his country is a world power. the ongoing and -- airstrikes are aimed at securing russian influence in the region with, or without bashar al-assad. hisn does not want to lose country's net -- mediterranean naval base. russia also has agreements with syria to export oil and gas reserves. putin says hitting the opponents is striking a blow against terrorism. terrorist.who is a and the president will achieve one other thing with military action in syria. thousands more civilians are now fleeing further bombardment, as the flood of refugees swell, europe grows ever more divided during is it all part of a grand strategy? alan, here is something i don't really get. before the latest environment -- bombardment, when putin was willing to sit down with talks, people were saying, ru

services inside syria has all but collapsed, hospitals have been hit. the m.s.f. calling on the warring sides to respect these facilities, because targeting them is against international law. that is in idlib. in azaz, the hospital, a school and other locations were also targeted, people were killed. as azaz being close to the turkish border is part of an ongoing battle for a very strategic corner of syria. >> as this fighting escalates inside the country, turkey and russia exchanging this war of words, turkish foreign minister speaking just a short time ago, leveling accusations at russia, what did he have to say? >> well, like i mentioned, this border town of azaz is now a front line really between russia and turkey, turkey making it very clear that this talk about is a red line for yours and we will not allow it to fall. it is controlled by the opposition, opposition groups that are backed by turkey, but the y.p.g., the kurdish armed group is advancing, and it is very close to storming azaz, so the turkish government making it very clear that they will not allo

i couldn't keep them in syria any more. i told my children that the crisis is only temporary and that it will all be over and we can go home soon. i hope they don't blame me for not giving me an education because i'm doing the best that i can. they will have a normal life when they go back to syria. i want them to grow up god willing >>> four farmers are accused of killing two black workers. they were said to be collecting wages but the farmers said they were attacking them. >> reporter: the court proceedings have started. the magistrate is busy inside the court behind me. also behind me various supporters have showed up to show support. this is the economic freedom fighters. they're sporting the farm workers who were killed. the barbed wire was put here to separate people from each other. letter here to support the black workers who were killed and behind them is another mob for the white farmers. people are protesting in various quarters. they're not taking chances. the court is underway. we are expecting it to be adjourn

in congress wait we have to work out syria, putin has helped us in syria and he has played both sides successful trying to delay the process. >> is there anything because of what's happened in ukraine and russian sanctions have hurt the russian economy that he might be any more inclined to change his position on ukraine? >> this is syria once rudd russt involved in ukraine, that's the eighth conflict zone. whether it is the crimea or the dundun bas, the westba. dunbas, what's the plan to deal with russia now. >> vice president biden has talked with president petro poroshenko to talk about these imf bailouts, why is that not happening, is there a lot of division inside the ukrainian policpoliceparliament? >> it is a lot of change. >> ukrainiapolls, down in the 2d 30s, ars an yatsenyuk yuck his g likabilities is ricing. >> they have to redo the prosecutors office and all the judges, it is a massive. >> ing i'm very bullish on ukraine, ukraine has a lot of people who are underemployed overeducated and is vastly rich in natural resources. anybody who's investing in ukraine now a country o

those who visited syria and iraq to work with isis don't have a stamp on their passport from syria. they don't have a stamp from iraq. they have a stamp on their passport for turkey. we ought to look at whether we should provide the visa waiver. to those who have visited turkey. we have to look at the european friends and make sure they don't give a new passport to somebody who doesn't like the stamps on their old passport without telling us it did have a stamp from libya or iraq or turkey. i do think we will have to look at this the so waiver idea -- visa waiver idea. as long as they can get a new passport that does not and have visa waiver without letting us know they visited turkey and saudi -- syria or iraq. or libya. i want to focus on the questions. we were serious and world war ii. we had a strategic bombing program designed to destroy the economic capacity of europe. i believe we killed 90,000 french civilians. and then we were welcomed by the french people as liberators. we were serious in the war. we won the war. paides de gaulle never french civil servants and occupied fr

>> turkey targets kurdish fighters inside syria. hello, i'm david foster, also in al jazeera, egypt's president said that he will hand power back to parliament and that no, sir has been restored. >>> now the pope this a country dominated by catholics has done something that non-of his predecessors have managed to do. plus... >> an i'm in florida in the everglades where the burmese python hunt is underway and why they're so eagle for get rid of yet another invasive species. >> any pause of fighting agreed by world powers this week will happen. russia's foreign minister said that the deal is more likely to fail than succeed. global leaders have been meeting for syria's war at the top of the agenda. and they're covering events for us, dominic kane live for us in munich. it is easy to see how there are those on both sides who think this is going a little chance of success when you see how many disagreements there are over the targets that have been picked for attacks by both sides. >> that's right, david, for the past two days, the afte

has urged turkey to halt military strikes on syria. turkey's prime minister has demanded fighters withdraw from its border. >>> and republican presidential hopefuls are currently taking part in a debate in south carolina. the state due to hold a prime minister this week. polls show donald trump and ted cruz the front runners. >>> now more than 25,000 people are hoping to use the crossing to enter egypt from the southern gaza strip this weekend. we have reports on that. >> these palestinians have been waiting patiently to leave the gaza strip for months. some for years. >> we have over 25,000 registered humanitarian cases in the gaza strip. our best estimate, there will be 24,000 people in need of help still suffering. >> this keen imaginer is in need of medical attention. he lost his leg us during the gaza war. >> he needs surgeries and therapy. we've been trying to get help for more than a year. we've been applying for permits and renewing them. >> the economic realities in the strip worsened after that w

and besieged towns in syria remain desperate. these are exclusive pictures obtained by al jazeera from inside madaya where two women died of malnutrition on tuesday. doctors without boarders estimates more than 300 people in madaya are now malnourished. ♪ >>> italy is demanding an investigation into the death of a student in cairo, whose body was found bearing signs of having been tortured. he disappeared on the 25th of january. the italian government has urgently summoned the egyptian ambassador to a meeting to express its concern. >> reporter: on thursday the italian fvm has summoned the egyptian ambassador to italy following the suspicious death of an italian student who has been living in cairo. he disappeared on the 25th of january, the fifth anniversary of the uprising that lead to the depotion of president morsi. his body was found with signs of torture, cigarette butts, of stab wounds, and he must have suffered, it was said, a slow death. they are calling for an investigation calling for it to be fair. the local authori

talking about convergence, what does that mean beyond a ceasefire in syria. do the arabs and russians agree on what happens next? >> reporter: it's interesting. these diplomats we're talking about are a good many things, issues around the region. there was a lot of diplomatic speak there couched in messages of cooperation appeared converge entity views. really i think for russia the problem at the moment is that as its influence in the middle east increases because of its role in the syrian conflict, it is losing some friends amongst sunni arab states. really what russia needs to do, if it's going to try and salvage those relationships, is try and build a kind of bigger umbrella of views and values and things like that. so we were hearing there from the u.a.e. foreign minister basically saying that stability and security and values like that are things that russia and all of these countries can agree on. lavrov was talking about tackling terrorism as something all these countries can agree on. trying to put away some of the differences about syria and concent

syria seems to have dominated it from the very start. they have concentrated somewhat on ukraine as well. he spent a little bit of time talking about the u.s. commitment to a strong europe. he mentioned that he would - that the united states would like to see brilt an in a strong-- britain in a strong e.u. i'm not sure how that went down, but nonetheless europe figured highly in his speech. ukraine also factored in. he was critical of russian saying that the minsk agreement needs to be implemented fully otherwise sanctions are going to be maintained, robust sanctions are going to be maintained against russia. again, syria seems to be the all consuming topic that has up so much of the time of the delegates as they attend this conference. our correspondent is standing by and will keep us updated on the developments coming out of munich as this conference comes to a close at al jazeera. so remember, don't go away. stay with us here at al jazeera. and psychopaths who try to hijack it. isil is as much islamic as the kkk is christian. stoorgt

in syria. there you can see the live shot of john mckain, the u.s. senator, who has been addressing that security conference that is taking place in munich where we have heard so many of the world leaders talking about the situation in syria. as you know, there was an agreement between the united states, russia and other interested parties with regard to syria to try to get acisation of hostilities. today is the last day of this conference and the conference has been hearing from the former u.n. secretary general because me, of course, is a former special envoy to syria as well, but this time he was talking about africa and he said that africa is a lot better than many believe to be the case. he said the threat of groups like boko haram and al-shabab continue to destabilize the continent. >> we cannot ignore that from the west to the east the flood of jihad is being raised. more than a dozen subsaharan countries are concerned and tens of thousands have already died. boko haram actually killed m

, one is humanitarian access to all those in syria. whoever is presents humanitarian access in madaya and aleppo, they were criminals. and the regime today, when they are talking here, people are eating crass, they don't have water to drink. they are lucky, at least they have some in turkey, jordan and lebanon. those in syria don't have anything to eat or drink. all of us, a statesman of this century, we are responsible for this. now geneva talks unfortunately, despite our efforts, the first phase was not hopeful. why? because when the regime was going to geneva, the aid bombardment was continuing in aleppo, in latakia, against civilians. schools, hospitals. we have to be honest with each other. for the last five years, all the refugees escaped from aid bombard. by the gix regime forces. and dash, a terrorist organization emerged. we had two enemies of humanity. regime and terrorism - we have to be shoulder to shoulder, working against these - those who are committing war crimes. who can explain to me or the people of syria the mentali

>> syria's president despise calls for hostility. and they vow to retake the entire country. >> hello there, i'm felicity barr, and this is al jazeera live from london. coming up, farmers' fury tractor drive their way to greece's parliament in riot against austerity measures. >>> the catholic pope meets the russian orthodox patriarch for the first time i in a millennium. >>> and doctors refuse to treat officers who are accused of attacking their colleagues. hello, syria's president has said his forces will retake the whole country, but he also said negotiations are worth pursuing. bashar al-assad's words come as russian airstrikes reportedly killed 36 people. talks in munich world leaders agree to aim for a halt in hostilities in syria within seven days as well providing humanitarian assistance. but the syrian government and opposition groups have yet to gray. and armed groups like isil an and al nusra front were not included in that deal. russia's prime minister said that the u.s. and arab partners needed to think hard about their a

attacks on medical facilities and schools in syria. the u.n. envoy staffan de mistura is set to meet syria's foreign minister on tuesday. >>> at least one person has been killed in kampala, kizza besigye was held before being released. >>> where it was decideds he would remain in police custody. his arrest last week has prompted protests across the country. divya gopalan now explains. >> reporter: classes are boycotted, classrooms remain empty. hundreds gather to protest against the arrest of their student leader, on sedition charges. the government allegation antiindian slogans were chanted during a rally. up to three days in detention, his court appearance is overshadowed by scuffles outside the courtroom. journalists and kumar supporters says they wear tacked just after a decision was made to extend his detention. a decision that angered many on campus. >> we are extremely anguished like this. why i are they make a criminal t of him? we'll continue no matter how long it takes. >> there have been warnings from government ministers and right w

take the war in syria for example. it has turned into a full-fledged regional conflict. >> meanwhile in syria, fighting continued. the deal specifies a cessation of hostilities in a week. in munich, jordan's king abdullah urged the international community to come together. >> today, we share interests in a coalition victory in syria and iraq and the end for daesh requires our concentrated and dedicated action. >> the deal has produced cautious optimism, but there is a sense that the cooperative mood may not last. >> the best moment for trying and testing the will of those who have committed themselves yesterday. >> russia's role has been criticized in the conflict. the french defense minister pointed to moscow's airstrikes in support of the syrian regime as a major contributor to instability. >> last night's agreement can permit progress if it leads to a cease-fire. if it leads to general humanitarian access and if it includes an end to the indiscriminate bombing by the syrian regime and by russia. >> meanwhile, syrian

this is one corner of syria. in another corner, activists call the forgetting corner, people are starving and living under fear. >>> the u.s. secretary of state john kerry is describing a catastrophe in syria not seen since world war ii. john kerry has been speaking at a conference in rome about a fighting isil, a conference involving 23 other nations. >> the situation on the ground for the syrian people is unfathomable. we haven't seen away catastrophe like this since world war ii and it's unfolding before our eyes. people in madaya eating leaves and grass or animals of one type or another that they can capture. >> we expect to hear from from john kerry in the next few minutes. diplomats have been meetinging rome to discuss the threat of isil in syria, iraq and libya, the press conference due to start in the next few minutes. we will bring it to you live here. let's bring in hasham in rome. tell us about this coalition against isil in iraq and syria. >> the gathering here in rome is an opportunity for the intern

as in southern syria. manpower shortages, however, will continue to undermine the syrian regime's ability to accomplish strategic battlefield objectives. the opposition has less equipment and firepower and its groups lack unity, they sometimes have competing battlefield interests and fight among themselves. meanwhile, some 250,000 people have been killed as this war has dragged on. the humanitarian situation in syria continues to deteriorate. as of last month there are approximately 4 .4 million syrian refugee and another 6.5 million internally displaced persons which represent one-half of syria's preconflict population. in libya despite the december agreement to form a new government of national accord, establishing authority and security across the country will be difficult at best with hundreds of militia groups operating throughout the country. isil has established its most developed branch outside of syria and libya, in libya, outside of syria and iraq in libya and maintains a presence in tripoli and

presence of isil, both in syria, and iraq. leaving combatants and their international backers fighting on multiple fronts. the british foreign secretary has been briefing the u.k. parliament. there was praise for the extraordinary resill lens of kurdish peshmerga fighters in iraq. but syria, he said is different. >> what we have seen is very distumenting evidence of coordination between the syrian forces, the kurdish forces and the russian air force. >> reporter: for syria kurds, read the ypg, the military wing of a syrian affiliate of the pkk, which turkey and britain regard as a terrorist group. the united nations military support for the ypg is deeply problematic, therefore. but a former leader, says the kurdish loyalty to the west is consistent. >> they are for years fighting not just against isis, but also against al-nusra, because they besieged kobani, they besieged [ inaudible ] and many other kurdish places. rrm one analysts says cooperation between assads forces and the ypg occurs only where both sides happen to be fi

the two tracks are inevitable in syria. first through negotiations and second through fighting terrorism. >> just over the boarder in turkey, is my colleague, zana hoda. she september us this. >> reporter: what the syrian government and itself backer, russia is trying to do is not just change the balance of power on the ground in the favor of the regime. what they are trying to do is weaken the opposition if not wipe it out all together, and it's not a coincidence that we're seeing a large-scale offensive in two provinces simultaneously. the northern province and the southern province, because these two areas are the last remaining strong hold of what is known as the moderate rebels. the rebels that the international community wants to deal with, and who are taking part, really, in the political process. and the syrian foreign minister made it very, very clear, we are not interested in a ceasefire. there will be no let up in the army advance, until we seal both the turkey and the jordanian border. those have been the lifeli

forces in syria are consistently looking for ways to increase efficiency. clarisa ward is the first journalist to visit aairfield amid a deepening relationship between the u.s. and its kurdish al allies. she joins us live from erbil with this cnn exclusive. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, christine. as the u.s. ratchets up its military presence inside syria with at least 50 u.s. special forces troops on the ground, it is also exploring military ways to pursue the fight against isis beyond just airstrikes. now, we managed to find this small agricultural airstrip in a remote corner of northeastern syria. when we arrived on the scene, it was clear that works were ongoing. there was a large berm of freshly dug-up earth that was clearly intended to obscure what was going on behind it. but we could see the runway quite clearly. we saw a tractor. we saw workers on the scene,

in syria, mr. chairman, you hit something on the head because what is happening with the russian air strikes is that they're primarily focused on the opposition. and what is happening with opposition forces, we were working with to fight isil, if you look on this map, just to the north of alone peppo, we we working with local opposition forces to move east to fight isil and that was a very sophisticated endeavor. but as the russian air strike campaign has begun particularly north of aleppo, the fighters peeled off the line to fight the regime advance and this is causing us real problems for the counter-isil campaign. we tell the russians this very clearly, you say you are fighting isil but what you are doing is having a very detrimental effect in the fight against isil. >> thank you. i was going to ask you, ambassador, also, in addition to this job as mr. engle pointed out, you helped negotiate the release of the americans being held by iran and last year the families of these americans sat at this

after four brutal years in syria he decided he had finally had enough. so like 4 million of his countrymen this 28-year-old nurse became a refugee and emptied his savings to pay for the long trip north to europe. piling into a rickety boat he crossed the sea from turkey then started to walk. >> there was a chart in the box, i said what happened in my cup, why there is this war? >> reporter: after a month of traveling sleeping in the woods and facing the near constant threat of arrest mubarak finally made it here to sweden. >> it's colder here now? >> yes it's cold but i like cold. >> sweden has emerged as a promised land of sorts or at least a place for those like mubarak can relax and feel normal again. >> when i smile to you and you smile to me, i feel great. i feel i am a human. i feel only i want that. all i want to be is safe. >> reporter: sweden is in the midst of a housing crisis and yet it gives permanent residence to refugees, just like any other swedish resident and of all the eu countries sweden has taken in the largest number of refugees rela

inside syria. the u.s. argues what it is trying to do is expand the work against isil to help eliminate the health of isil, and it is using all diplomatic means to resolve the civil war inside syria. in particular the u.s. is very reluctant to do what such as the turkish president, and the outgoing foreign minister have been suggesting which is a morrow bust military engagement. inside syria. the obama administration has been very reluctant to do that because it is conscious of starting another war in the middle east. now at one point the presidential envoy dealing with the coalition is that the u.s. is very much looking to support other members of the coalition particularly those from airplane countries who want to do more to defeat isil and who want to find a diplomatic solution to the civil war. he was very diplomatic on wednesday that the u.s. wasn't going to essentially take the lead because he stressed this isn't just a fight that concerns the united states. it can turn--it concerns the entir

we need time to rebuild syria but we will start, it will be the beginning of rebuilding syria when we step down assad. it's the only way we can rebuild syria. >> thank you so much for joining us on al jazeera. we wish you and your family the best. thank you. >> thank you, thank you so much. >>> and when we come back a partisan fight to fill that vacancy on the supreme court justice scalia and fall out on the campaign trail. >>> treating addiction that they believe could help save lives. ♪ >> mdma helps with the therapeutic connection. >> exclusive access to the... >> our fears are dancing between us. >> techknows team of experts show you how the miracles of science... >> this is what innovation looks like. >>...can affect and surprise us. >> i feel like we're making an impact. >> awesome. >> techknow, where technology meets humanity. >> only on al jazeera america. welcome back for your world this morning, the death of supreme court justice scalia is leading to contentious debate over who will replace him. >> republicans promising to black the nomination who it may be and the candida

disagreement over syria. we heard from the u.s. secretary of state john kerry that this opportunity was a hinge around which the syrian crisis could turn, and this was an opportunity for both sides all sides to seek peace. then we heard from sergei lavrov, his counter part from russia, that this secession would not succeed. we heard from the french prime minister that they had to stop bombing civilians, then we heard from his russian counterpart that that was not the case and russia had natural interests in syria and had no secret scenarios it was playing out. there is sill a divergent of opinion over syria. >> only a short while after the agreement on syria was reached in this city, the u.s. secretary of state was back in munich for a security conference. although some applications had held deliberationsed a a step forward. others have expressed extreme skepticism. in his address to the conference, john kerry addressed that skepticism by stressing how critical it is to make the secession of hostilities work.

they spoke with great concern about the ongoing humanitarian crisis in syria. in some cases you could argue that there are reasons closer domestic, political reasons why they should be so concerned as well, particularly from the european point of view, i think there is almost explicitly stated quid proquo if you like and if more aid is given to syrians displaced in the country and displaced in neighboring countries primarily of course turkey, lebanon and jordan then the likelihood of them becoming refugees and seeking asylum here in europe is that much less likely. i also think this conference was over shadowed by both by the distressing images and news from syria itself and of course by the break down of talks in geneva yesterday. and when ban ki-moon the u.n. secretary-general spoke at the end he was at pains distress that ultimately yes you can carry on having these humanitarian pledging conferences but the real solution for syria is peace. >> most help the people of syria is not just the food for today but hope for tomorrow. yet the parties to the conflict

at the syria conference, the e.u. will offer serbia fund to get around this, and keep failed refugees here more successfully. how strange while the e.u. is in such a mess, the country that it's so hostile to is turning into such a friend >>> german chance lor mercosur is speaking at a donor conference in london. let's listen in. >> thank you ban ki-moon, and the special envoy stefan de mistura for your work in order to further this development. thank you to everyone who has contributed to this. today we need to make sure that the period of reflection needs to be used in order to improve the humanitarian situation in syria at up to a ceasefire. this is what the people expect in order to promote the political process, and everybody is called upon here, but in particular, the bashar al-assad regime. here and today it is about alleviating the plight and opening pertect ifs for people that are fleeing syria, and also in the neighbouring country, it's meant to be a day of hope for the people. that is why, first of all, i wo

it is much harder for them to get into syria. rocker remains their headquarters and remains whether external plotting networks are established. the collection of arabs and kurds push on and isolate them. that will be ongoing over the coming months. i will skip right to number five. they will remain a tremendous challenge. 10 million people with a politically diverse city and to get a get it right we have to work politically and militarily hand in glove. in iraq last week with abbott figures in baghdad and the kurdish leadership including prime minister barzani and others and establish headquarters on the map here and that is where we are going to pull sunni fighters, iraqi security forces with the risers and commanders to plan the liberation of mosul. this'll be an integrated campaign across multiple lines of effort. it is not going to start on a date certain because of dirty starting. we are cutting off the road access and doing airstrikes in mozilla per day in learning more about what daish is doing. so the liberation campaign

that the bombard maniment of many participants of syria. using that same pretext as they have been in the past and target noni.s.i.l. targets. we have seen video evidence of that in several places recently in azaz and other places. in the leadup to that midnight time thi there was an increase n several areas in and around damascus and in and around aleppo, as informs loyal to bashar al-assad tried oregape or recapture as much ground or as much territory as possible. again people questioned if there was genuine intention to stop the violence why the last gasp had to happen. putting the violence aside there is hope at least among the civilian population particularly in the besieged areas of syria that there would be a lull in violence allowing for much needed aid to reach the areas, that have not seen water food electricity, food for months on end. cessation of hostilities ait has been called and a lot of people will be counting the hour by hour as its goes on hoping that the guns will indeed go silence. >> al jazeera's jamal el shael. joinin

the two tracks are inevitable in syria. first through negotiations and second through fighting terrorism and the two tracks are separate from each other. >> the plan to bring so-called cessation of hostilities is being met with skepticism in syria. zeina khodr has more. >> reporter: rebels understand the need to hold ground on this line. if they are defeated, the government will be one step closer to the city where tens of thousands live. the opposition is trying to prevent its stronghold inside syria's second largest city from being besieged. >> they are killing us but we will remain steadfast. we are still on the front lines. we will liberate every inch of territory they captured. we will not surrender. we are here. >> reporter: within a week the bombardment is supposed to stop. but the agreement is being received with skepticism on the ground. >> translator: i don't think the international community represented by the u.s. and russia is serious about a ceasefire for now. they are postponing the peace talks to give the re

in syria. what are the strategies you have outland. >> we want to get this done and accelerate the campaign. we've proposed a number of ways of accelerating. i'll come to them in a moment. i just want to point out, every time general dunnford and i have come to the president with a request to do more to accelerate the defeat of i.s.i.l, he said yes. >> rose: the president has not been reluctant to increase our effort against i.s.i.s. at all. he has been fully supportive of everything you and general dun dunnford have recommended. >> i ide go further around say he is encouraging us to look for opportunities to do more because our strategy and the right strategy is -- let me take iraq first -- is to enable the iraqi security forms. so that is a process that involves training them, it involves equipping them. and then when they go into battle, helping to make them successful as we did in ray made. that's our overall strategic approach. why is that the strategic approach? because it takes capable,

special envoy to syria. he updated the council on the -- how the geneva talks, why they were put on hold. he told them the background of that, gave them a very frank assessment of what was going on and you really got a sense here at the security council of the deep divisions on one side, russia and their ally syria, on the other side, the u.s., u.k. and france, who clearly all want peace in syria, but have very different opinions on how to reach the peace and also who was responsible for the geneva talks having to be postponed. let's listen to what a few of the diplomats had to say. >> the syrian regime and its allies have made no concession. quite the contrary, on the one hand, the syrian regime claims to discuss peace in geneva and on the other hand, it intensifies its military offensive against position groups with which it is supposed to discuss, and imposes on the city of aleppo an unprecedented torrent of fire. all of this with russia's military support within the framework of a military campaign that

in syria so far as the y.p.g. and the syrian regime, based on the allies, bashar al-assad, trying to destabilize the areas. allowing for y.p.g. to open up. that is something that angered ankara considering that the international community has what is standard when it comes to terrorism, when attacks are taking place in paris, when they find the communities wrapped around the country. they have not received the same amount of support. president recep tayyip erdogan, and others have been passionate saying they expect allies to put their money where their mouth is, the people to consider terrorists. obviously it is to be an ongoing war in syria. as far as turks or anyone is concerned. it's making it more difficult. right now it is russia who patrols the skies over syria. turkey are the perpetrators, who they believe are the perpetrators of the attack. they need to have the conflict in syria, or come to an agreement or a deal that they will be liable for. it is very difficult considering the current relationship betwe

at least who have been displaced within syria or have to move more than 5 million outside of syria who have been displaced. and we do everything possible to make sure they don't need to be away from their home country in the conference here made a significant contribution to this. nevertheless, it does not replace the responsibility of europe. we see the neighboring countries making available, the inhabitants who accommodate a lot of refugees. it is important that your makes a contribution, contribute to the fact that people smugglers and illegality is about a legal way to fight, the reasons for fleeing and for exodus to offer jobs, prospects for the future and keep working toward making sure that europe to meet its other obligations. >> a question from kuwaiti tv. [speaking in native tongue] >> translator: is there a difference on the philosophy i would like to ask i would like to thank all the countries that have applauded what kuwait is done and of course other cohosts. now the position as far as commitment toward brethren, brothers and sisters, now the philosophy of the conference,

they have no relationship with these troops, fighters in syria. they need to get people on the ground, look people in the eye, try to figure out who is worth supporting, who should we drop ammunition to, who is actually effective on the ground and who might not be changing sides >>> when these critics are out there saying we don't know who we're giving the stuff to, these are what these troops do. you talk about 50. is there a likelihood that more will be sent? >> if they're able to find the troops that the u.s. can support and they are having success and the u.s. give them ammunition and help them along and they can find more, the u.s. could very well send in more special operations forces. in the future they could do in syria what they are doing in iraq, partner with those troops on essential raids. right now the u.s. is not at the level of come tort with them in syria as they are in iraq >>> what about the cost. the pentagon says we have spent more than 5.3 billion dollars since the operations began in august of 2014. that comes out to about 11

clear they want to be part of syria. it makes clear they want to have positive relations with their neighbors. they don't want to interfere in the relations. distances with the pkk. work inl remain a progress. it is something we're going to work on every day. we will continue to work with itself againstct pkk militarism which is killingy dangerous and turkish soldiers and police officers every day. mr. thank you, sir. now mr. sherman of california. representative sherman: i know visa waiver program was mentioned earlier. those who visit libya. it is not a right that we extend europeans. in reducing it. we don't provide the waivers to people from brazil. -- brazil, etling et cetera. a visa waiverave system. those who visited syria and iraq have a stamp on their passport. they don't have a stamp from iraq. they have a stamp on their passport for turkey. we ought to look at whether we should provide the visa waiver. we have to look at the european sure they don't give a new passport to somebody on doesn't like the stamps th

syria's president says his forces will retake all of the country. just hours after an international call for cessation of hostilitieses. >>> doctors protest in egypt after the release of police accused of attacking their colleagues. >>> key testimonies are ruled inadmitable at the international criminal court. >>> and tractors on their way to greece's parliament over protests over more austerity measures. >>> one of the most powerful men in fee foo once upon a time, given the foot by the world governing body. details coming up later in the program. ♪ >>> syria's president says he is confident that his forces will retake the whole of syria, but he has also said that negotiations are worth pursuing. bashar al-assad's words come as word powers discuss the implementation of a cessation of hostilities. despite this diplomacy in germany, the violence continues on the -- ground in syria, russia air strikes are reported to have killed 18 people in homs. 6 people died in air strikes east of damascus, and two more were killed in dara. >> translator: we have

-russia-brokered plan to pause fighting in syria. the council will vote on that resolution very shortly, which is due to begin in less than one our from now. and diplomatic editor james bays is at the united nations in new york. given what he has described an unorthodox briefing, james, he was talking about whether or not the parties who have signed up to this deal will now abide by this deal. >> also talking about how the international community will monitor the deal. there is actually very close to where he's speaking a coordination remember where we see all the reports coming in. he says he'll be making periodic statements about the state of that cessation of hostilities due to come into force in about an hour's time. the purpose of the security council meet something to endorse all of this, and give an extra portion and give it the legitimacy of the u.n. security council, which is effectively the highest court in international law. i think it's worth telling you that behind the scenes there has been a little bit of a dispute goin

there are more than 5 million outside of syria who have been displaced. and we do everything possible to make sure that they don't need to be away from their home country, and the conference here made a significant contribution to this. nevertheless it does not replace the humanitarian responsibility of europe. if we see here what the neighboring countries are making available that are very small in terms of inhabitants who accommodate a lot of refugees, i think it's important that europe makes a contribution. something we were able to demonstrate is that we contribute to the fact that it's not just smugglers, people smugglers and illegality that do business to the detriment of the poor people, but it is about a legal way to fight against the reasons for fleeing and for exodus to offer jobs, to offer prospects for the future, and we will keep working towards making sure that europe can meet its other obligations. >> finally a question from kuwaiti tv. >> translator: now is there any difference on the philosophy [ inaudible ] to be taken in order to help t

we're just hours away from the time for a cessation of hostilities to come into force in syria. it's aim to begin a pause in fighting, and allow humanitarian aid to come in. but the head of one of the most powerful armed groups the al-qaeda-linked al-nusra front has rejected the truce. and there has been no letup in the fighting. the syrian observatory for human rights says the town of duma in damascus province has been targeted in russian air strikes. rescue workers say at least eight people were killed. government forces are also reported to have struck hama. the goal of the plan is to have a two-week cessation of hostilities between the syrian government and the opposition, it specifically excluded isil and other groups designated as terrorists by the u.n. the syrian president says his forces are ready to respect a pause in fighting. and the majority syrian rebel groups have signaled that they will take part. in turkey, which has been shelling the main kurdish militia in syria, said the ceasefire is not binding if it's own security is threatened. >>> well let's speak now to j