>> announcer: this is al jazeera. ♪ good to have you along, i'm david foster, you are watching the al jazeera news hour. this is some of what we will be studies in detail in the next 60 minutes. isil, the global threat, 60 countries attend a u.s.-lead summit, but a joint effort is far from certain. the iranian ambassador's residence is targeted in yemen. a bomb blast leaves at least one person dead. the trial of kenya's

president hangs in the balance with the international criminal court giving the prosecution one week to get the case together. ♪ and israel will hold early elections in march of next year after the ruling coalition collapses. ♪ rep senttives of some of the world's most powerful nations are meeting in brussel to try to figure out how to defeat always. john kerry is asking for foreign ministers to come up with some kind of coordinated strategy. 12 of those countries, including the u.s. are involved in air strikes against isil in iraq and syria. the u.s. has dropped 942 bombs or missiles in the two countries combined, while the rest of the

coalition forces have dropped 18 bombs. kerry says some they have hurt them significant, but some analysts say ground troops are a must. joining us now from brussels, tim friend. we have seen a statement there the countries that are there, supporting military operations, et cetera, stopping the flow of foreign terrorist fighters, but nothing specific. >> no. the final communique has been released. they believe they are making progress in the fight against isil. they say that isil is now thinking very carefully before it mounts new offensives, but as we have seen, they are noting ending. their assertion here is that isil is being forced towards a moment when it will have to end its operations, but they are

nowhere near making any sort of claim that they have succeeded in doing that. and of course the military perspective is not the only consideration. they have been talking about cutting off funds, stopping further recruitment to isil, and they have been talking about the global threat as it's perceived of isil that you were alluding to in your headline, an introduction, and indeed the iraqi prime minister spoke about that as well. >> [ inaudible ] strong partnership [ inaudible ] support in this fight. the challenge we are facing is not only a [ inaudible ] but a challenge to the whole world. this is the most criminal organization that has committed atrocities in iraq and other

regions, and they will commit other atrocities, so we have to stop them. >> this statement that you alluded to that it is a global campaign. can they point to anything specifically? >> reporter: well, i fear it -- it can't. the leaders here obviously know more than they are saying publicly, and i'm sure if they were able or felt willing to say what they knew, they may well be able to point to specific instances, but superficially at least and judging from their statement -- and they can claim that they are starting to make progress and they described this meeting, the first administerial level at the beginning of the end of the building, and even in that aspect they have a long way to go, because 60 countries, all

with nuanced opinions, and nor that are radically different about how the military aspect should go, and john kerry is obviously deeply -- the u.s. secretary of state -- deeply aware of this issue, and this is how he answered that earlier on. >> our countries differ in geography, history, background, culture. but we all recognize a common threat and darche is a danger, and a threat to the interests and the values of all of us. in opposing these terroristings our diversity is in fact a source of remarkable strength, because it give us the credibility and breadth of reach to move against darche not only in syria, but to counter any

support that exists for it around the world. >> we should be hearing from mr. kerry in a few minutes in person. it had been due to start five or six minutes ago, but as ever, on these occasions these things get put back. we'll be keeping our eyes on that, and bring you john kerry as soon as he appears on that stage. iran's denying reports that it has taken part in u.s.-lead coalition air strikes against isil, but it would not explicitly say that it hadn't conducted its own attacks. >> translator: i stress again that there has been no clang in the policies of the islamic republic of iran regarding fighting extremist groups, and assisting the iraqi government and providing advise in order to fight them. news about cooperation between iran and other countries is imprecise and incorrect.

>> a eventtive also denied any coordination with the iran you know government but says reports of iranian air strikes may well will true. >> we have seen the reports. we have no indication that the reports are not true, that iranian aircraft have conducted air strikes in the last several days against isil targets in eastern iraq. we have no indication that there are not true -- no reason to believe that they are not true, those reports. again, you should consult the iranian government to speak to the activities of their military. >> reporter: thanks for that. that's helpful. [ laughter ] >> reporter: [ inaudible ]? >> iraqi air space. we are not coordinating with, nor are we deaconflikting with iranian military.

>> we're joined live from west jerusalem. what more do you know? >> reporter: well, know that according to the israeli police this incident involved the shooting of a palestinian man by an israeli security guard according to israeli medical sources who were at the scene, he was moderately injured. he was shot after he reportedly stabbed two israeli customers in the occupied west bank, and specifically in the commercial and industrial zone there, which was hire palestinians inside the settlement. he was moderately injured and the two israeli customers who were inside the supermarket were also moderately injured, we understand. now according to sources at the supermarket, it's a well-known

supermarket. this palestinian man is not one of the people they hire at the supermarket, and as well the owner of the supermarket said this could happen anywhere. so these are the details that we have right now, and we know there were conflicting reports about this man -- this palestinian man possibly being dead, but we have just confirmed from the israeli medical team that was treating him that he was injured by gunshots and his injury was moderate. >> and we were going to hear from you about the collapse of the israeli government, the -- the soon dissolution of parliament and election coming up next year before this incident, so let's talk about that now. in terms of the climate in israel, every time an election is announced, there is tension, and in the current climate i would imagine that it has increased. >> reporter: correct because

this political crisis within netenyahu's coalition has been going on for a while. if you speak to israelis on the street, if you want to get their opinion on what is happening, they'll say that this -- this early election is unnecessary. you do not need to drag the israeli public to the polls because you couldn't sort out your differences within the coalition. but there are some israelis who are hopeful that early elections could mean electing a coalition government that's more homo genius that agrees that doesn't constantly fight and disagree on policies all the time, because the israelis are saying that we want to be governed and we want matters like security to be basically tended to by the government. we don't want these disagreements to cause disstruck instructions in the way the government is ruling or running

the state. but there are indications according to polls that the new government that would be formed would be a more right-wing government than the one that is cur -- currently serving as a transitional government until the elections. >> thank you very much indeed. in yemen a bomb has gone off near the home of iran's ambassador in the capitol sue that. the official number dead is one. but witnesses say they saw several bodies being pulled out of the rubble. >> reporter: this is the whole created after a blast at the iranian ambassador's residence in sana'a. al-qaeda in the arabian peninsula claimed responsibility. >> translator: the explosion was terrible. it shook the entire neighborhood. most of the houses have broken

windows. >> reporter: government officials say no diplomats are among the victims. >> translator: there were lives lost. two bodies have been removed from the scene. a body of a child, and the body of a man. >> reporter: a source tells al jazeera, the iranian ambassador wasn't at home at the time of the attack. he was only appointed to his post earlier this week. >> the new ambassador is known to have good linking with the houthis who are now in control of sun -- sana'a, >> reporter: one man was killed earlier this year as he tried to fengd off a kidnapping. iran is believed to be backing the houthis. the group seized control of sana'a in september.

it forced the president to form a new government. the houthis have now expanded their strong hold and faced fierce resistance. coming up on the news hour, 20% of china's land is toxic. who is protecting the people? al jazeera investigates. and find out why japan is sending this rocket into space on a six-year mission hunt asteroid. >> rest in peace, my brother. >> tears at the funeral of the australian cricketer, philip hughes. we'll report on that. ♪ in somalia the group

al-shabab has attacked a group. nicole johnston has more. >> reporter: traveling in an armors convoy with your own private security may seem a safer way to get about the streets of mogadishu, but this has become a dangerous city. a suicide vehicle rammed his vehicle into a u.n. convoy. the staff were all unharmed. >> translator: some people died including a security officer, and many others were wounded at the scene of the explosion, and we are still investigating. >> reporter: no one has claimed responsibility for the attack, but when there's trouble here, it's usually the group al shabab behind it. they were forced out of mogadishu three years ago, but still control parts of the countryside. and from time to time they are

active in the capitol. last year al shabab carried out a brazen assault on the u.n. base. the gun battle lasted an hour, while u.n. workers sheltered in the basement. this week the mayhem has been in neighboring kenya as well. gunmen killed 36 non-muslim workers at a quarry. this happened close to an area where a bus was hijacked and 28 people were killed in november. al shabab has claimed responsibility for most of the violence. years ago kenya sent its troops to the african union mission to try to defeat al-shabab in somalia, since then it has become one of the group's major targets. kenya's president is charged with planning the violence that took place in that country after the 2007 presidential election, but now the international criminal court trial against him

could fall apart. the icc has given prosecutors one week to get their case together. katherine soy is is in nairobi and joins us. does this mean he is probably off the hook? >> reporter: we can't really say that, david, that he is probably off of the hook. the prosecution is indeed under immense pressure to continue with the trial, but she said many times before that this case is struggling. we have witnesses who have been withdrawing at unprecedented levels, according to her weird -- words, that she has so many withdrawals, so she is under a lot of pressure, and she said the government also has been refusing to cooperate. the prosecution has asked the government to provide personal documents that they say are crucial in continuing the case, and these include telephone

records, bank statements, also records of his personal wealth. the government has said that it has given the prosecution that all it needs to give now are the international criminal court chamber -- trial chamber said that in this statement that was issued not too long ago, that -- requested the decision that the prosecution indefinite adjournment. the trial [ inaudible ] also rejected the defense request to terminate the proceedings and the prosecution has been given a week to say whether to withdraw the charges or to continue with the trial. she is under a lot of pressure, because she said the case is really struggling, david. >> katherine, thank you very much. a technical failure at europe's largest nuclear power cut in ukraine has caused power cuts in parts of the southeast in this the region # of crimea.

the prime minister insists the accident poses no danger. environmental groups have previously voiced their concerns over the vulnerability of the reactor during the conflict. well, in the east of ukraine, the situation is getting desperate for many as winter arrives and the fighting continues between the military and pro-russia rebels. nearly 350 patients have been left isolated at a hospital not far from the rebel-held cities luhan luhansk? eastern ukraine. they have run out of medication and heating. >> translator: it's really cold at night. we sleep in our clothes because there's no heating, electricity or water either. the u.s. supreme court is considering wlonth to limit or expand job protection for pregnant women. it is to hear a case involving one of the biggest currier

companies in the world, ups. >> reporter: in 2006 when peggy young became pregnant, she asked her employer for help. as a delivery driver she had to lift packages as heavy as 31 kilograms, but when her doctor provided a note to ups restricting young to lifting packages 9 kilos or less. >> they basically told me, go home. >> reporter: young says ups told her she didn't qualify for a temporary assignment. she said she lost medical and pension benefits. she decided to sue the company. she claimed short-term accommodations ups routinely made for injured workers should be extended to pregnant women.

>> we believe what they did was illegal, and violated the clear terms of the pregnancy discrimination act. >> reporter: ups has since changed its policies. in october it sent out a memo, announcing: as of january 1st, the company says it will offer light duty positions not just to injured workers, but also women who are pregnant. this employment attorney welcomes the change, but says a supreme court ruling is still necessary to send a message to other employers who may see previous court rulings in favor of ups as a potential loophole in the law. >> this is happening to women all across the country, and today women make up nearly half the work force, women are

working later into their pregnancies, they are more responsible than ever as a bread winner for their families. >> reporter: young says she wasn't looking for special treatment, just equal treatment, that's why she continues to argue her case. the u.s. supreme court is expected to rule in june. cancer in its many shapes and forms affect people the world over. world health organization's latest figures from 2012, in that year there were 14 million new cases, and 8.2 million died from cancer-related illnesses. that is about 15% of all deaths. by 2035, the number of new cases is expected to rise to 22 million, 30% of cancers, we're told are preventable, these five

big bad behaviors greatly increase your chances of getting cancer. smoking is the most. 60% of cases are in low-income nations. these regions account for 70% of the world's cancer deaths. well, caring for people with cancer is in the spotlight in the australian city melbourne. while australia is debating whether to legalize marijuana for medical use, one state has gone ahead with clinical trials. andrew thomas reports. >> reporter: cannabis this man thinks is good for his health. treatment to slow the spread of his cancer comes with its own drawbacks. chemo therapy was making him so

sick, he was losing dangerous amounts of weight. after he took cannabis his nausea disappeared. >> i think i have tried everything. i have. i wouldn't be on this. this is the last square i wanted to be on. i have tried everything. >> reporter: largely because of his campaign, the government of the state of new south whales in australia is considering joining countries that have legalized marijuana for medical reasons. clinical trials are planned. the state premiere has told people not to arrest people using cannabis to treat illnesses.

>> we have four or five parcels going a day. but i can envision that being 500 very quickly. very quickly. it could be a thousand a day. we have a playing of diseases. >> reporter: but cannabis use is controversi controversial. at a triathlon, many of the athletes are sponsored for the race. for getting his medical this man has raised more than $7,000 for a charity supporting young people with cancer. >> if it helps people that are going through this horrible disease, just give it to them. >> reporter: but views amongst those in the crowd are mixed. >> i am against it, because i think there would be too many people looking to get it and possibly use it for the wrong circumstances. snt >> i don't believe in just taking it for no reason, but if it definitely helps the patient, yes. >> reporter: daniel used to be

an athlete. now just walking is hard. cannabis is all that gives him relief. andrew thomas, al jazeera, australia. all right. let's take you to news out of sweden, politicians there have rejected the minority government's budget proposal, that could lead to the collapse of the ruling coalition. the prime minister would then be forced to call snap elections. the country's far right deciding to support the opposition sweden's split electorate has exposed fears of a failing welfare state. jonah hull in stockholm for us right now. those were the bones of the story, the nuts and bolts, if you would like, but my understanding is this is more about immigration and the government's policy on immigration than it is about the

budget. >> reporter: well, immigration, david, certainly has taken front and center stage in this issue. the wider issue of why this political crisis has come about. and that's because the king maker, the balance of power party here in sweden since the election in september, is a far-right anti-immigration party. they want to reduce immigration by 90%. sweden famously takes in more immigrants than any other country. they have blocked the budget proposal as a result. and that puts this new government in a tremendously awkward situation. we can talk more about that, and more in-depth with my guest who is a prominent political comment taitor here. what are the prime minister's

options now? >> well, since he has lost the majority for his budget proposal, he obviously cannot govern without his own budget. so he will probably resign. he could either resign now or wait another three weeks and then call for new elections according to the constitution. >> reporter: this is substantially difficult to say the least, but unusual for a country like sweden to find itself in. essentially the government being held at ransom here by the right-wing party. what do people think of that? >> i think people are terrified because sweden is a very open and generous country, and the attitude has been very positive towards immigrants. and with 13% in the parliament, swedish democrats are actually a minority, and fear for immigration is much, much lower than fear for racism.

>> reporter: and yet 13% of swedes voted for this party in the last election. does that indicate a rising sense of concern about immigration? >> the reason they do get so many votes is that no other party in sweden is near that -- their position. nobody wants to cut down immigration. so to the few people to which this issue is so important that becomes the only party to vote for. >> reporter: the worst political crisis that sweden has ever faced; is that true? >> we have had tragic events in this country, but politically i think this is the worst crisis we have faced for a very long time. and if he resigns after only two months he will be the sort of shortest prime minister since the 1920s. >> reporter: thanks so much for

your incite there. so david in a short while now we'll have a press conference from the prime minister telling us whether he plans to resign immediately off the back of this vote or try to sit it out for the next three weeks and call a snap election on the 29th of december, when he will be allowed to under the constitution. ♪ that was jonah hull reporting from stockholm. the coalition of nations fighting isil say that they have made progress against the group in iraq and syria. foreign ministers are meeting at the nato headquarters in brussels. a statement from the coalition says air strikes are forcing isil fighters to, quote, proceed with caution. israeli police say a palestinian teenager was shot after he stabbed two israelis. the attack was in the occupied

west bank. it is reported that the two israelis are wounded, and the palestinian is in a serious medical condition. judges at the international criminal court have given prosecutors just a week to get their case together against kenya's president. he is charged with planning the violence that followed the 2007 presidential election. more than a million syrian refugees in lebanon are preparing for the prospect of a harsh winter. their preparations have been made even harder by the u.n. world food program, announcing they can no longer provide food assistance to them. jane ferguson went to the valley in lebanon and spoke to some of those refugees. rfrp >> reporter: it's hard to believe life could get tougher for these syrian refugees. but a shortfall in u.n. funding, means all food assistance has

been canceled since december. this woman needs the food. she is a single mother to seven children, and her tiny kitchen is nearly empty. >> translator: we only have god. what can we do? with these new dollars and work here and there, we try to live. i only have the united nations. this is what we live on. >> reporter: many in the valley pick crops for a few dollars a day, but in the winter that work becomes rare. winter is the worst time of the year for syrian refugees living in lebanon. they have lived through a lot of rain in the last couple of months, but soon snow will fall on these children where they live in these makeshift homes. their families say that now they have been told they will have less food to eat over the winter, that just adds to their worries. the u.n. says it warned about a

shortfall in funding in october, and cannot say when it will return. >> we don't know. for now this is hand to mouth operation. we are only -- we declare whenever we have information about whether we have the funding to -- to continue assisting or not. we don't have accurate information or confirmed information about the situation of the funding in january. >> reporter: next month will be the start of another year for these children. in camps where nothing in life is guaranteed, not even the assurance of something to eat. jane ferguson, al jazeera, lebanon. al jazeera continues to demand the release of its three journalists who have now been held in prison in egypt for 340 days. two weeks shy of a year. peter greste, mohammed fahmy, and baher mohamed were jailed on false charges of helping the outlawed muslim brotherhood. nay are appealing against their

convictions. peter greste and mohammed fahmy were sentenced to seven years. boou bah -- baher mohamed given an additional three years for having a spent bullet in his prosense, which he picked up at a protest. we can talk to kathy a long time journalist with the associated press. congratulations, kathy shot by an afghan policeman in april of this year, joining us live now from toronto. good to see you looking in such fine health, kathy. take us through what happened to you. >> it was -- we were in a a police compound. and we were in a police compound

talking to all of the policemen and then we were going to go to the village -- >> kathy, i have to stop you, you'll understand why. i'm going to come back in a minute, because we have john kerry talk about isil. if you don't mind we'll ask you to sit there, and maybe give us some of your thoughts after we listen in to the u.s. secretary of state. >> -- we also acknowledge there is a lot more work left to be done. darche is still perpetuating terrible crimes, but there was a consensus that the momentum, which it had exhibited 2.5 months ago, has been halted; that it has been forced to modify itself tactics, and some of those modifications severely hampering their ability to operate in the way they were certainly; that their hold on

territory has been challenged already, and their finances have been strained, and in almost every media market that exists, and certainly within the region, their message is being denounced, their message of hate is being challenged in public meeting places and mosques across the globe. this clearly represents a multifaceted effort, which is precisely what we designed in the earliest days of suggesting that we would build a coalition, and the coalition would take on darche. while air strikes may capture the headlines, and there have been more than a thousand of them, thus far, this is far more than simply a military coalition, and it will not be successful, we all agree, if it were to rely on military alone,

which it was not. destroying darche is going to require defeating the ideology, the funding, the recruitment, and the devastation that they have been able to inflict on people in the region. and these are the areas that were really the primary focus of today's discussion. during this morning's meeting, we reviewed the progress in each of our five lines of effort, and came together in issuing a joint statement, all countries signing on, that underscores our unity and our firm support for our partners and our absolute determination to succeed. participants noted the gains we have made across all lines of effort. defeating isil in the battlefield, restricting its finances, enacting laws to restrict the flow of foreign

fighters, and countering its toxic ideology. the long-term success of the effort in iraq is key to the success of the coalition, and today we heard directly from iraqi prime minister abadi who's government reached a landmark deal with the kurdistan regional government. the prime minister also provided an update on the fight against darche in iraq and on his broader reform agenda, including an executive order that he just issued to begin important changes in the criminal justice system of iraq. nothing will do more to defeat darche than an iraq that is united and has more representative and effective security forces. now obviously there's a lot more work ahead, but the prime

minister has taken steps to unite the country, including outreach to sunni tribes. he has taken steps to route out corruption, and to reform the iraqi security forces, and to take on the threat that darche represents. i think it's fair to say that all of the foreign ministers ambassadors, representatives who were there today came away impressed by prime minister abadi and by what he has accomplished today, which is the down payment on the road map that he laid out for the future. earlier today, i participated in a meeting on the complex situation in libya. and later i had a discussion at lunch with e.u. high representative, and we talked about all of the key issues in the trans-atlantic agenda,

trade, the translactic trade and investment partnership, the energy security challenges, the opportunities presented by these energy challenges, which really represent game-changing set of possibilities with respect to the movement of liquified natural gas. also alternative and renewable energy possibilities. we also talked about support for ukraine, the middle east, libya, syria, iraq, and the challenge of ebola. and i ended the day just now by attending a meeting of the e.u., u.s. energy council, where we talked about the major possibilities for realignment with respect to energy security, environment issues, climate change, all of the possibilities that the energy agenda provide us in terms of a new marketplace with new job opportunities, new

technologies, enormous kick to the economy, as well as increases in security environment security, energy security, health security, and the economy itself. we reviewed progress in facilitating the reverse gas flows, and the e.u. effort to reach an accord on natural gas supplies with ukraine and russia, which was a very important step. and second we talked about the overall challenge of european energy security, which requires regulatory cooperation, investments in infrastructure, and an intensive commitment to sustainable technology. and finally, we talked about the urgency of further breakthroughs on climate change itself. the e.u. took the important step earlier in the fall of putting out publicly its targets for

2015 at the paris conference. we recently came back, president obama, and myself and our team from a bilateral series of meetings in china, where we were able to agree with china on setting certain kinds of goals. we're continuing that work, not only with china, but with other countries with the hopes of having an impact on the meeting in peru, which i will attend later next week, and which will be the lead-in to a year of important focus on climate change and high hopes for success in paris next december. with the ongoing meetings in peru and what will follow over the course of the next year, and the u.s. president -- president obama's pledge, of a contribution of $3 billion to

the green climate fund, and the u.s.'s early commitments, we believe that we are making clear that the obama administration and the united states are all in on this issue, and committed to try to take steps that are long overdue. we intend to continue to try to build momentum moving into next year, and we believe that not only is there obviously the practical advantage of responding to the events, to the -- to the transformation take place in the climate that is contributing to very severe weather events to major flooding, major fires, major drought to shifts in agriculture and other impacts that have huge costs, but we believe it is

becoming more and more evident that it is cheaper to invest in the new technologies and move to the clean energy economy, and we are going to continue to work for that. so with that i would be pleased to respond to your questions, with respect to any of the topics i touched on. >> reporter: the first question from laura jakes -- >> i'm not asking. >> i'm sorry, michael gordon. >> reporter: on behalf of laura jakes. >> reporter: he is prettier than i am. >> reporter: if -- sir, if iraqi forces are successful with u.s. and allies air support in retaking mosul, and other populated areas, and what could be block-to-block fighting, iraq will likely confront the need for a major reconstruction effort and may face pressing humanitarian needs. what assistance did prime

minister abadi seek with his meetings with you and other partners with reconstruction, humanitarian assistance and additional training and equipment, what is this likely to cost? and is the united states and the international community prepared to meet those needs? how do you plan to proceed? >> well, michael, that's a really good question, and very important to the road ahead. the subject absolutely came up. prime minister abadi himself put the topic of reconstruction on the table, and i'm happy to say that a number of gulf states, which have capacity on their own have engaged in this discussion with prime minister abadi and

the iraqis. i think it's up to them to identify themselves, but we are particularly excited about the prospect of having the region engage in a significant way, across sectarian lines, i might add, in order to be able to address this re - re -- reconstruction notion. so i don't't think this is something where americans or europeans or others have to recoil and say oh my god, we're going to be facing this monumental task of rebuilding yet another place when we have our own challenges. might we have to contribute to it? sure, we ought to as part as our foreign policy and engagement. but already, for instance, saudi arabia has made half a billion dollars available before we even fully engaged in this effort as a sign of good faith in an

effort to try to say to the people of iraq that they could cross the sectarian divide and offer humanitarian assistance. now there are a number of countries in the region that are talking about a further reconstruction fund that would specifically help to rebuild as the country is taken back from the clasp, the unwanted clasp of the terrorists who are controlling significant portion of anbar and other parts of iraq at this moment. so i'm very, very hopeful that that will take place, and it will be a natural outgrowth of this coalition as it meets in the days ahead and as we plan for the road plan. it won't do any good, obviously, if you simply reclaim a town and the folks in that town have worse or less opportunities than they may have had before, and

life is even harder, so part of winning this back -- and this is what we have been saying from day one, is not just the task of the military campaign. it's the campaign that goes on every day thereafter in providing a government that is responsive, inclusive, that is freeing itself from any clutches of corruption that may or may knot exist, that's what we want to see. and that effort is very much part of the planning stage at this early moment. >> the next come will be from [ inaudible ] of bloomberg news. >> reporter: the pentagon said it believes that iran carried out several air strikes in iraq in the past couple of days. were you aware of these strikes? do you welcome such air strikes? do you think they are helpful, or do you think it would be better if iran avoids these actions. also in your opening remarks,

you talked about the importance of having a dialogue about sharing best thoughts. notwithstanding these iranian air strikes, the support has been growing. has the time come for the u.s. to directly coordinate efforts in order to maximize the campaign to degrade and defeat isil? >> first of all, i'm not going to make any announcements or confirm or deny the military action of another country. it's up to the iraqis to do that if it indeed took place. we are obviously flying our missions over iraq, and we coordinate those decisions with the iraqi government, and we rely on the iraqi government government -- de-conflict their

air space. so nothing has changed in our fundamental policy of not coordinating our military activity with iranians. we're not doing that. and with are not -- not only not coordinating militarily right now, but there are no plans at this time to coordinate militarily. i think it's self-evident that if iran is taking on isil, in some particular place, and it's confined to taking on isil, and has an impact, it's going to be a net effect -- is -- is positive. but that's not something that we're coordinating. the iraqis have the overall responsibility for their own ground and air operations, and what choose to do is up to them. >> the next question from [ inaudible ]. >> reporter: i have a couple of questions for you, if you don't mind. in this meeting are there new

commitments regarding the -- the moderate opposition -- syrian moderate opposition in terms of supporting them by equipment, training, on political level. and my second question is about the -- the issue of -- there is no fly zone until now as the turks are asking. but do you see yourself alternatives for the turkish side to protect its border of the country from -- from these borders thousand of foreign fighters enter into syria, sir? >> yeah. well, regarding the issue of new commitments with respect to the syrian opposition, the answer is simply that this meeting was about isis -- about isil, isis, darche. this meeting was not about the

syrian opposition and -- and the other parts of that struggle. did it come up? does it discussed? yes. did some countries talk about their concerns about the regime? absolutely. but it was not with any sense of division. this was a united group here to deal with the challenge of darche, and while people expressed an opinion regarding the regime, as you saw, there was a completely unified come communique, which understood clearly what brought people here today. in the course of even the communique mentions the opposition, and talks about the continued support for the opposition, a moderate opposition, that is, and that will continue, and everybody

understands who is committed to that, and who has engaged in that direct effort, but there was no specific plus-up with respect to that. on the issue of no-fly zone and so forth, the united states remains extremely engaged in its discussions with turkey. turkey as everybody knows is a nato ally. it is a very important coalition partner. it is an absolute -- you know, it has a border with syria. it has critical impacts because of what is happening in syria, and a deep stake in the outcome of what is going on there. and therefore, we're having a very serious discussion with turkey. vice president biden was just there. he had a long discussion with the president and the prime minister. the prime minister just visited

iraq. there's a lot of discussion going on about the way we will go forward. but it is premature to suggest that at this moment in time that we are close to making a decision or moving forward with any form of safe zone or buffer zone at this moment in time. but we are continuing our discussions with -- with our turkish allies in order to have conversations about how we best bolster security in the region, and deal with the problem of syria. and it is no secret that the united states continues to believe that president assad has lost all legitimacy, that the regime will not be able to find peace in iraq -- in syria -- as long as assad remains in power. there needs to be some kind of transition. we know it's not going to happen

through a military direct possess. so there has to be a political solution. and we're looking still for the way to engage all of the countries in the region in an effort to achieve what was originally laid out in geneva. >> thank you, everyone. well, that was john kerry taking questions at the end of his statement at the nato summit about principally about how to confront isil, islamic state of iraq and the levant. he talked about the momentum for that group slowing, a change of tactics forced on them. that their hold on territories is slipping, and their funding has been hit. and their message of killing has been challenged. we were talking to a long time journalist with the associated press before we went to mr. kerry. kathy thanks for staying with us, because i wanted to talk

about -- kerry talked about how they are degrading isil. whether or not that is a case, what is a problem that they may have to confront is what happens when they believe they have finished with the group and then leave. because you saw that during your reporting in afghanistan and other trouble spots. it's not so much what you do to limit their capabilities at the time, it's what you do afterwards. >> i think that's true, but what you do afterwards is really very much a reflection of what you are doing while you are there as well. so i think it's a long way off where we would even be having to think about what to do after they have defeated isil. i think in the press conference in -- the one thing that struck me was what was not said and for me it's that, you know, did they discuss with some of the middle eastern countries who have been alleged to have funded some

allies or isis itself, money moving through the middle east. i think there were some things that weren't addressed in his speech. i think one of the things in trying to counter the ideology that might be a bit of an error, is the use of sarcasm in a state department video that is trying to discourage new recruits. i think it really would be interpreted by many as arrogance, and that really could make people more angry. so i think there were some things that weren't addressed in the press conference and his talks. i think for what you do afterwards is really much a reflection of how you handle the situation while you are there. >> kathy, you were wounded in afghanistan, your friend and colleague who was withs you was killed in april of this year. since we started talking about

the dangers facing journalists, give us your thoughts on whether intimidation ever works with people in your line of work. >> no, it doesn't. but it has been a brutal, brutal year for journalists. so many of us have been badly injured. nine journalists have been killed so far this year. 176 in jail, the three al jazeera journalists included in that number. local journalists who have so little protection from their own governments, but thankfully we see assistance from organizations like the canadian journalists for free expression -- >> kathy, we thank you for your patience while john kerry was talking, and your patience in allowing me to interrupt. we are ending this news hour. that's it for us from doha with

the news hour team. thanks for watching. ♪

>> new terror threats to international travel. also lebanon says it has the wife of isil's leader in custody. do they have the right person? >> the death penalty case in texas that has republicans and democrats calling for mercy. welcome to consider this, those stories and much more straight ahead. >> britain's sunday express said islamic sleeper cell terrorists would like to blow up five planes before christmas day.