clean >> paz paz a leading sunni fighting group in iraq lays claim to what it's calling a new islamic empire. you're watching al jazeera live from doha. also on the programme, iraq's kurds welcome their biggest boost, while israel's prime minister supports their ipp dependence. the iraq campaign is gaining ground in the south. >> 12 month, three presidents and countless protests, a year of revolution in egypt.

first, the turmoil in iraq in what some sunni rebels call a new era. a group that led much of the fighting in iraq says it's establishing a calafat or islamic empire over areas controlled in syria. imran khan has more from baghdad. >> reporter: in an audio mess scpige a mani -- message and a manifesto on the web, a new line has been drawn. islamic state a new nation. the group says the territories they control are united under the leadership of the new cala if, and will unite areas from aleppo, syria to iraq. the last time a calafat existed was in 1924 and the otto man

empire was in its mime days. the cities have been asked to policemening allegiance. they have not reacted to the other statement. fighting for the town continues. >> this announcement will put pressure on iran and syria. it's designed to get people to rally around the group's cause, but will have a political impact in iraq. on july the 1st, the parliament will discuss the formation of a new government. this announcement will be a test for nouri al-maliki, to see if he has the support to remain in the job. as the crisis goes on the parties are not confident the prime minister has the support. >> translation: i believe that the chances for the counter prime minister to -- current prime minister to run for a third term is low in comparison to other candidates. according to the grand itemry

ali al-sistani it's better to choose the one that gets the consensus and acceptance of partners across the political and sectarian divide. >> sunni politicians have called for the president to go. >> firstly, his policies ended his political life expectation si. his failure is not being up to the task, by not managing state institutions. to be bias and unjust among a different segment of societies. these helped him lose support. >> nouri al-maliki won the popular vote. the most seats, but not enough to form alliances. alliances in order to remain prime minister. with the islamic state upping the stakes, pressure from all sides is mounting.

>> and we are joined from baghdad. tell us about the rabz of the scoouny groups, have they pledged allegiance to the islamic state? >> well, that will be the key moment for how much legitimacy the declaration has. here in iraq we haven't heard the main groups reaction. some of the smaller groups reacted, and have pledged allegiance to the islamic state for calafat. politically this will be important. as i said in my report, the parliament meet on july the 1st, that's when they try to choose a government. the key post, the president and speaker of the house should and need to be fulfilled in the meeting. this is going to add a lot of pressure on prime minister nouri al-maliki. people are wondering how a group like this has begun, has gotten so bold that not only have they

taken up territory, but they've been able to create a new country. the prime minister is under an enormous amount of pressure now. it's likely that the announcement was made before the july 1st meeting for the purpose. to put nouri al-maliki under that pressure. what about what is happening on the grouped right now. what is -- ground right now. what is the latest from the battlefield and efforts from the government and the army to retake towns like tikrit. >> reporter: well tikrit is where the key battle is taking place. so far the iraqi army have brought in reinforcements, about 25km away from the town and are making a battle plan to go into the city. what the sunni rebels told us in tikrit is interest. it's not the islamic state for the i.s.i.l. that is in charge,

it's a bigger rebel group. they are ready to fight. and they have the support of the islamic state of iraq and levant, now called the islamic state. how united are they given this statement. will this mean that knows are people within tikrit, that they are divided because of the announcement. remember they are not fighting for a global jihad, they want change. they are fighting for an idea of a calafat, the two different ideologies at work. both are fighting sued by side. >> thank you very much indeed. >> across the border in syria, the pois free syrian army leadership responded to the announcement of a new calafat. the f.a.a. is prepared to cooperate with the united states and allies to defeat the rebel group calling it's the islamic state. known as the islamic state of

iraq and levant fired shots in the eastern city of iraq in and syria, the key to defeating the offshoot was to strengthen the tribes and the free syrian army fighters. the f.a.a. says they will set up an operation center to combat the fighters, showing them heading to the province, laying near the boarder with iraq. sunnis in iraq have in the responded to the call of - to a call of pledging of allegiance to the armed group. they make up n estimated 25% of iraq, mainly northern and central parts of the country, it's thought around 15% is kiddish. as you can see from the map, they are large areas that are mixed. members of the you'reed kish

regional government welcomed a call for an independent kurd irk state. the first significant figure to call for kurdish ipp dependence is clashing with the u.s. >> we should support international efforts to strengthen jordan and support the kurdish aspiration for ipp dependence. regarding the kurd, they are a fighting people that proved their political commitment and moderation, and deserve political independence. >> jane joins us from ramallah in the occupied west bank. tell us about the significance of the call for a kurdish state, and what the motivations are. well, it's significant coming from the israeli prime minister himself, but it's not entirely new, it's well known that for some time the israelis have been hinting about this. only three days ago the israeli

foreign minister told u.s. secretary of state john kerry that he saw an independentent curdize stap as a foregone conclusion. it's been going on for some time. it's a well-known secret that israeli intelligence had connections and ties with the kurdish officials since the 1950s. there has been cooperation. it's not a formalised friendship, but is one that the israelis feel they can benefit from. only 10 days ago a ship dropped anger, believed to have been carrying kurdish oil. neither side would admit whether israel bought oil from the kurdish officials, but instead it's normal for oil to sometimes change hand, to sometimes be stored off a port, and that was never resolved. the press were covering it intensely. it adds a degree of complexity.

this stance from binyamin netanyahu doesn't come as a surprise, but it's the first time he comes on the record to call for the ipp gepens. >> israel has been worried about the war in syria, the crisis in iraq. how is this playing into the domestic situation? >> they have been worried and have been worried about a spill over. over the last couple of years prime minister binyamin netanyahu has pursued a poll sigh of enforcing the fence along the border in the golan height, the demarcation lines with syria, there has been sentence of rocket fire or missiles lapped in -- landing inside or across the border. it's a concern. binyamin netanyahu's comment last night - he addressed the issue of building a fingerprints along the border betweening the west bank and jordan, and said

this about nine months ago. he said he planned to buffer that border and reinforced that talking about the situation in iraq, and how it could spill over into jordan, and they would intend to build a significant offense or wall along the jordan valley, that has repercussions here, nrt in relation to it -- in relation to with the palestinians. binyamin netanyahu was drawing on the fact that because of that, because of the participation security threat the israelis feel, that they would maintain a military presence in the wayning for the -- west bank for the foreseeable future. the taliban says it now has a foothold in southern afghanistan after a 10 day battle against government forces. they are fighting to push back on assault on police checkpoints and military post, the afghan army wants to prove it can beat the taliban without foreign

help. jennifer glasses reports. >> this is a key province in southern afghanistan. it's been a haven for insurge ents. the center of opium production in afghanistan. it was up this year over last year, and, of course, this is the first summer that afghan forces are totally in the lead in afghanistan, especially in southern afghanistan. they fought the taliban in helmand last year and lost more than 120 forces in a difficult summer-long battle. the fight has been going on more than 10 days, officials are saying 28 people have been killed, 28 afghan forces have been killed. many have fled the area because of the fighting. the taliban assault has been a stanned assault and they have been attacking police outpost, government areas. the afghan military beat them back with a taliban claim. they have a foothold. this is a test of the forces in

southern afghanistan as n.a.t.o. pulls the remaining forces out by the end of 2014, it's a southern province, not far from kandahar, not far from the pakistani border, and many people said there are pakistani links to the ipp urgency. it's difficult to get a clear picture of what is going on. there's no journalists, the afghan military september in reinforcements as it tried to push back the sustained taliban attack. system ahead on al jazeera - how deep divisions and mistrusts between political groups is aggravating the situation in iraq. and remembering the rein of terror, why do some want stalin's name restored to the famous city?

welcome back. a reminder of the top stories on al jazeera. sunni muslim fighters say they are establishing an islamic state across syria and iraq. until now the group is known as islamic state of iraq and levant, and now it wants to be known as the islamic state. the taliban establishes a foothold in afghanistan after a 10-day battle. government forces are fighting to push back a coordinated assault by 800 taliban fighters on police headquarters and checkpoints. india launched satellites from andre pradesh. from singapore, france, canada and germany had satellites sent

into orbit. prime minister narendra modi was there to witness the launch. >> reporter: india's new prime minister narendra modi was on site to wash the launch the -- watch the launch of the rocket carries satellites from a number of countries, france, germany, canada and singapore, having satellites on this, going into orbit, 660km from the earth's surface. this is a successful mission. it's not the first time they have launched foreign satellites. they've launched 40 in the past. the prime minister said in his speech after to the country and his government was so proud of the space programme that it was on the cutting edge of the industry that it was giving western countries like the u.s., russia and other europe - that had space programs a run for their money.

increasingly foreigners are coming here to launch the satellite because it is so cost effective and reliable. the prime minister said that launching the mars mission here cost less than the making of the hood movie "gravity", a start lipping bit of information. and said he would continue support from the government. more on the top story. the fighting in iraq could keep nouri al-maliki from serving a third term. there's much talk about who may replace him. three figures have come to the fore. the first served in 2005 and 2006, and was replaced by nouri al-maliki. and another is a man who played a role in the decision to remove saddam hussein from power. he initiated a purge of sunnis

from government jobs. there is a french educated economist appointed vice president after failing to win support. nouri al-maliki is facing pressure from i say opponents, calling for a parliamentary buoy god. zeina khodr speaks with a roifal from the kiddish north. >> he may be miles away from the battle ground. in his open way, he continues to wam war against his long-time enemy, nouri al-maliki. from a hotel in the kurdish reason, the sunni tribal leader is sending a message, there can be no political consideration in iraq until nouri al-maliki leaves power, and no peace unless a government tags control to carry out reforms. we informed sunni politicians and warned them not to attend a meeting on july 1st, else they'll be considered

traitors, if they do, they'll difficult legitimacy to nouri al-maliki. >> a national salvation deposit has been dismissed by nouri al-maliki. he called for the recently elected parliament to meet an july the 1st. a more inclusive government has been a demand on the united states, and it wants it in place before assisting the iraqi government facing what it calls the militant's threats. >> washington is in a difficult position. the islamic state in iraq and levant may be leading the fight. other groups are taking part, and iraq's sunnis support the rebellion. the u.s. cannot be seen as taking sides. it may be too late. once cooperating with the u.s. to face aliy qaeda.

years later he is reframing until the u.s. reviews policies. >> translation: it needs to review support to the government. some statements are unacceptable, like when they say they'll support the iraqi army, what army. they are not an army, they are nouri al-maliki's militias, the real threat to iraq. >> reporter: the conflict has been in the making for years. forming a government may not be fuf to end the rebellion. it's not the politician, but those on both sides of the divide - they need to make peace if they are to survive. >> and the other stories making headlines around the world. in india dozens of people are buried under the rubble of a building that collapsed on saturday. 17 have been killed, a number of people have been pulled out alive and rescue workers are looking for survivors. officials have been arrested for

ignoring safety procedures. north korea says it will put two detained americans on trial for crimes against the state. u.s. citizens are held by the isolated country. the move is likely to train relations between washington and popping. >> gunmen have carried out deadly attacks on three villages, in one town men on motorcycle s old fire. the death toll is unknown, it's believed to be in the dozens. the attacks took place in chibok. ukraine's president petro porashenko is under pressure from european leaders to extend a sees fire that ends monday nixght fighting -- night. fighting continues despite a truce. the ukraine ministry released these pictures.

the army says at least five soldiers were killed in battles over the past few days, and russia's channel said ukrainian troops shot a cameraman dead in donetsk. >> 5,000 people signed a petition calling for the city of volgograd to be renamed stall ingrad. others say his reign was terrifying and history and must not be honoured. recounting moscow's darkest days on a tour of the city said infamous location, this is the secret headquarters. those taken inside in the '30s, and "40s, 1% were ever seen again. there are no plaques on the walls, joining this walk is a risk. >> translation: if somebody wants to detain us, they can, according to the new law. as an event that is not

sanctioned by the body of executive power. >> translation: i had relatives who suffered during the times. you hardly read about this. the government has down two things, downgraded tv and education. no one knows anything. >> joseph stalin enforced an atmosphere of persecution and distrust. others were arrested on flimsy evidence, tried and sentence. neighbour told on neighbour to save themselves. this man was 19 and a budding actor when sent to the gulag for five years. >> translation: a car pulled up as i came back from glass. they grabbed me and wanted to ask questions before i would be released. they took me to the counterintelligencesterses. they found my diaries in my house. they found something that shouldn't be there. it was a personal diary.

i didn't agitate anyone. >> by 1939 half of the 500 apartments in this block had been sealed. the residents september to the gulag, some of the millions imprisoned or executed in what is seen as a dark passage in history. there's a growing campaign to rehabilitate stalin's imaging, not least in the city that used to hold his name. stohlingrad was renamed volgograd in 1951. 50,000 signed a petition urging vladimir putin to turn the clock back. >> translation: stalin is not personally responsible for any repress, because otherwise that would have been proven in court, that the leader of the u.s. sr was intentionally killing his own people, and would have explained why. no one had proved that yet. >> reporter: vladimir putin, who

ced citied stalin -- credited stan yip with winning the scop , and turning russia into an industrial giant. >>. >> translation: the citizens of the city should hold the referendum and make a joint decision. we'll do what the people decide. >> reporter: for those whose relatives were killed in the pumps, this is an snilt. for them stawell yin is a figure that will never be forgotten or celebrated. australian journalists have delivered a statement and petitions to the egyptian consulate calling for the release of al jazeera journalists peter greste and his colleagues, and wants the egyptian government to overturn the verdict so they cannot we used as a precedent. they are demanding that they operate without harassment intimidation or violence.

the three were sentenced last monday and have been in prison for 184 address. peter greste and mohamed fadel fahmy were given 7 years, baher mohamed was sentenced to 10 years because he had a spent bullet in his possession, which he picked up at the protest. the journalists were accused of aiding the outlawed muslim brotherhood. it's been a year since demonstrators in egypt short mass protests to demand the resignation of mohamed mursi. accusing him of imposing an islamic agenda and threatening democratic reforms. >> reporter: unprecedented in size and scope. this was how the opponents of president mohamed mursi described mass protests staumed to demand his -- staged to demonstrated his resignation. mohamed mursi, at that staunch, had been in office for a year. his secular and liberal rivals

were certain he posed a threat. he was accrued by protesters of granting himself wide-raping powers and -- wide-ranging powers and undermining the judiciary. his group was attacked for floating to establish an islamic state. calls for mohamed mursi's departure were gaining momentum. this member of the campaign said his movement collected 22 million signatures for a petition calling for mohamed mursi to go. egypt's president was defiant. while he offered to make a concession, he remained determined to serve out his term. thousands of his supporters marched in a show of solidarity. opposition leaders joined the crowd in tahrir square, and were talking about the post mohamed mursi era. the army issued a warning to

mohamed mursi, urging him to calm the protest or face intervention. three days later on july the 3rd general abdul fatah al-sisi ended mohamed mursi's presidency in a military coup. the minister of defense wept on the offensive. weeks later he delivered a speech calling on people to protest against the muslim brotherhood. >> translation: i call on all egyptians to take to the streets to give me a mandate and an order. a move his critics said took the country to the brink of civil war. after protests came a forced removal of muslim brotherhood supporters, who had set up permanent camps. then mass arrests of the leaders and their supporters and the youp labelled a -- group labelled a terrorist organisation. a year of turmoil followed.

a reminder you can keep up to date with all the news all the time on the website. we have plenty of features and analysis with the world cup. the website is aljazeera.com.