♪ >> president mr. putin had to syria not out of strength but out of weakness because his client, mr. assad was crumbling. >> and kremlin fighter jets take aim at more targets, this time hitting isil. the u.s. reels from another mass shooting, a look at why

there are more here than in other countries, and why switzerland, one of the top countries in gun ownership has a much lower rate of violent crime. thailand's government tries a softer approach in the war against separatists on its border with malaysia. >> the peace efforts from the government are not bad, but when they are talking extremists, there's no confidence of them. >> how jungles of southeast asia are playing into the fights of terrorism. and choosing a successor to ban kim moon, secretary general united nations. why this is one of the hardest glass ceilings for women to crack. ♪ >> good evening, i'm antonio mora. president obama today made a scathing statement on russia's military involvement in syria, saying russian president putin

is trying to prop up the weakening regime and warning russia will get caught in a quagmire. he told reporters the only solution in syria is a political transition, that includes opposition groups. president putin also took some heat from european leaders today. they used a meeting on ukraine to warn him that kremlin air strikes in syria must be aimed at isil. russian defense ministry officials insist that air strikes are not hitting civilian targets and that they did strike 12 isil targets today, but most of the locations, again, were away from isil strongholds in the east. zana holder reports on russia's strategy. >> reporter: the russian defense ministry says it's destroying isil control areas. >> the russian strikes are done after thorough recognizance whether it belongs to terrorist

structures. >> reporter: but on the ground syria tells a ditch story them say that they have been targetig civilians and it's part of preparations to launch a ground counteroffensive to recapture lost territory. >> air strikes cog affect the opposition but not that month. the syrian government has been hitting the north for months but it didn't start the rebel advance. the strikes without ground troops won't be successful, but now there's information of a possible land operation being prepared. >> reporter: looking at the map, the air strikes over the past three days have concentrated on front-line areas that surround president assad's heartland. one target was this area, only recently captured by opposition forces. it had been one of the last government strongholds. it's not only close to lapakia, but also an important hub to sending materials.

further east, the planes in the countryside have been a battleground. here the government has struggled to maintain a grip on a region that leads to the sea. this is a last rebel stronghold between damascus and the west of the country. the kremlin made it very clear, it said the aim of the air strikes is to help the syrian armed forces in their weak spots. the syrian opposition believes that's exactly what the russian military is doing but it's not clear in the air strikes will be able to change the balance of power on the ground, if it is not accompanied by a ground operation. but there are those who believe the west, including the united states is quietly supporting russia's actions. >> washington doesn't want to end the war and the situation is more complicated in fact the west is co-luting -- co-luting with russia. >> they say russia's intervention could give the government an advantage and

they believe that is the objective. to use military force, for diplomatic gains whereby president assad could negotiate a political settlement from a position of strength. al jazeera, beirut. president obama pushed back against russia's claim that it's filling a void left by the united states. he pointed out that the u.s. is leading a 60-nation coalition and russia's is made up of iran and asac. >> good evening, antonio. in the first comments since the dramatic face-off with vladimir putin tess united -- at the unid nations, he's predicting a bad end. with bombs falling on u.s.-backed groups in syria, they are predicting a bad attempt for russia. >> to prop up assad and try to

pacify the population, it's just going to get them stuck in a quagmire. and it won't work. >> friday, mr. obama said putin is acting out of weakness forced to intervene in syria only to save the crumbling regime of russia's long-time ally. >> we reject russia's theory that everybody opposed to assad is a terrorist. >> mr. obama also rejected critics who accuse him of leaving a leadership vacuum in syria to putin to exploit. >> i didn't him after he made that speech in the united nations suddenly the 60-nation coalition that we have start lining up behind him. iran and assad make up mr. putin's coalition at the moment. the rest of the world makes up ours. >> reporter: the president conceded his program to train an equip the moderate syrian

opposition has not worked but he vowed to seek out syrians that could pick up the pieces when and if assad is forced out and dismissed called for a u.s. military escalation in syria. >> and we will find ourselves either doing just a little bit and not making a difference and losing credibility that way, or drawing our -- finding ourselves drawn in deeper and deeper into a situation, that we can't -- we can't sustain. >> and antonio talks continue on how to ensure russian and american warplanes don't end up shooting at each other in the skies over syria. this as the president says despite it all, he's willing to work with russia to broker a deal on a post-assad syrian government. antonio? >> mike, mckara in washington. and president obama is not the only one questioning russia's role in syria. there was an exclusive interview with secretary of state john kerry today.

>> russia has been on the ground in syria for many years. russia has people in the air defense systems who have been on the ground. russia has used the port of tartus for many, many years. so this isn't new. it's just at a higher level. but what they have come in to do, they say, is to fight against dash, and we will put that to the test. if they are there to fight and support assad, principally, and that's the reason for this, as i said, i believe it's a very dangerous decision, and it will destroy syria because it will attract more fighters and then unless you have the political solution, it would be very hard to put syria back together again. >> syria's deputy prime minister and foreign minister defended the assad regime at the united nations central assembly today, calling the long war on existential struggle against terror. >> i say syria will continue to fight terrorism in word and in

deed and the syrian arab army is capable of cleansing the country of those terrorists, despite all the sacrifices and high prices paid. >> the deputy prime minister also told the assembly that syria supports the russian air strikes because they are coordinated with the syrian military. the fighting in ewe crepe was the focus of -- ukraine was the focus of a summit in paris, but the war in syria was also discussed. vlad min -- vladimir putin attended. putin did take some eat for the air strikes launched in syria this week. we have more. >> this is the first contact between vladimir putin and western powers since russia began the bombardment of targets within syria. but at the end of the day, the normandy four decided to focus on the ukrainian peace process and the implementation of minsk

2 accord. these were originally sound in belarus earlier on in the year but largely fell by the wayside amid the heightened fighting between the separatists and the ukrainian army. now, though, as the french and the german leaders have suggested, all sides are willing to put some of these 13 points listed in the minsk agreement into practice. they include the withdrawal of heavy weaponry, focusing on reestablishing the border between russia and ukraine and also elections in the parts of eastern ukraine under separatist control. reconciliation, though, is still very much a long way down the road. >> nee barker reporting from paris. while the four leaders were discussing the leaders in ukraine, activists were protesting putin and russia's air strikes in syria. they condemn the military action, saying western countries should not negotiate with russia. we are now joined by nina

crusheva, at the new school. nina always good to have you with us. >> thank you. >> given the anger shop by the ukrainian president, i can only imagine what that meeting must have been like sitting right there next to putin. >> yet, they shook hands before the meeting. they did 9 appropriate diplomatic protocol and i think in this kind of relationship, at this point, the diplomatic protocol is probably more important than anything, because at least they make these steps towards the conversation, and apparently, actually, the conversation was log. it wasn't as long as the original mips being -- minsk. it was only five hours. and as far as the ukrainian party and the other parties, they say it was productive. so putin was not his usual sort of -- >> there seems to be some optimism coming out of this meeting. >> there seems to be not

pessimism coming out of this meeting. >> even iran was talking about lifting sanctions on russia. >> there are steps made, they will make -- they may consider it now they are withdrawing light weapons and there's a conversation about the other weapons. so there's some sort of negotiations going on. >> at the same time, even though there's been this unprecedented calm since the minsk accord which has been violated over and over and over again, the organization for security and corporation in europe, said that they had seen heavy weapons in violation of minsk accord being moved on both sides, the ukrainian and the separatist side. do you think this is the calm before the storm again? >> it could be, but i think putin -- and we have been talking about it for a while, you and i. it has been a few months since putin decided that this war is in the position, the way he wants it to be. >> that he likes this sort of

stalemate. >> he likes the sort of stalemate. >> one of the weapons they say they have got here are the multiple rocket launchers that are devastating. this they call it scorched earth in russia. >> once again, if we are going to look at it and think that everything that is said to be withdrawn is going to be withdrawn, it's not going to happen. we just have to imagine that it's better negative than complete negative. so we will withdraw some. there are going to be more peaceful arrangements, probably elections. >> but elections -- >> they are talking about fake elections. i mean, once again, we are not going to have a picture ever perfection but we may have a picture of better relationship, which will take a really long time but at least that is a start. >> we talked to the presidents of estonia and georgia this week, both former soviet nations and they both also reacted at anger at the whole issue of putin claiming this sphere of influence and they said that they will solidify their relationships with the

west. is that dangerous? if putin keeps seeing all of these countries getting closer to europe and nato, will he get even more nervous? >> well, putin is clever enough to know what he can bite and what he can't. he was able to bite cramea. >> now he's getting involved in syria. >> and now it seems that he knows that there's certain parts of syria that he can make an argument for. >> right. >> and the argument, one of the major arguments they have is that any opposition is going to feed into isis first of all and the legitimate government needs to stay. >> can he afford two wars? >> well, this is russia. with 11 time zones and so much natural resources, you never know what russia can afford. >> what they can do and don't do. >> they don't live on regular money because you can always argue to the nation that the nation is in danger and therefore, all of our money is going to go into it. >> the quick final question, is

putin setting the worldwide agenda? >> he certainly is. started with the sphere of influence. he was able to create coalitions, maybe they are not 30 countries coalition, but there's a coalition. he has european countries on board. he has, you know, egypt is on board, iran is on board, and whatnot. so he's now expanding his reach. so it's not necessarily as much as keep assad and all of that is very important. but also saying to the united states, you are in my stakes are as high. let's see and decide which one is bigger. >> always good to see you. >> thank you. in afghanistan, government forces are still fighting the taliban to solidify of kundus. according to witnesses, afghan fighters are going door to door in the city, trying to find taliban members. the industries are said to be empty. the taliban fighters captured

the city on monday. since then, both sides have claimed to be in control. the new afghan taliban leader tells the associated press the capture of kundus was a symbolic victory. campaigning has started for next year's selection of the new united nations secretary general and the big push is for the u.n. to choose first ever woman to hold the post. a look at the top female candidates would could make history. and hurricane joaquin has battled the caribbean and stranded ships. how the coast guard has come to the rescue.

the u.n. general assembly is wrapping up and the focus will soon change as to who might be the new secretary general. ban kim moon has one more year remaining in the job and we take a look at the possibility of a woman filling the post for the first time. al jazeera's john terret reports. >> as they pack their bags and leave new york, routines descend on the u.n. headquarters. the security council will convene to discuss global hot spots and u.n. bureaucracy will dictate the world body once again. >> there's excitement in the air. this time next year, secretary general ban kim moon will be preparing to stand down, after a decade in the job and an election to find his successor will be in the offing. >> ladies and gentlemen -- >> ban, a south korean is the eighth secretary general.

his predecessor was kofi annan, and kurt veltheim and t regv verlee. 28 member nations have begun campaigning for a woman in the top job. >> there's so much interest at the moment in a woman secretary general that i think there is a good chance this time that it will be a woman that is going to be appointed. >> yvonne turlington who is looking to change the way the secretary generals are elected. it was selected by the five permanent members of the. turlington points out that member states have more power than they think. >> if the permanent five come forward with a candidate that

nobody likes, they can actually say no. five candidates so far recommended by their governments, two are women. >> we have to protect -- >> irina bukovar, and director general of the unesco. >> we understand the needs. >> and vesna pushnik. others include michele batule, the president of chile and the former prime minister the new zealand. while a popular contend, who has not publicly declared interest in becoming secretary general. >> is the president of the west african nation of liberia. >> have any of the p.5 members discussed a serious interest in having a female candidate for the next secretary general? >> yes, definitely. france and the united kingdom have both mentioned in the public statements that this

time they very seriously want to look at highly qualified women candidates. and i'm also very pleased the campaign is very pleased that many women are now already running for the position of secretary general. >> there's a long way to go, of course. ban steps down at the end of december next year. campaigners hope to have the new s.g. chosen by the fall. raffy is the former secretary general for the parliamentarians for global action. she's a member of the campaign to elect a woman for u.n. secretary general. sasha very good to have you here. >> i can understand how in the early days of the u.n. and the late 1940s and the next couple of decades after that, it was hard to elect a woman, because there were not that many positions but since the 1970s and 1980s, women have held power in major countries, india, israel and margaret thatcher in the united kingdom.

why do you think there's not been a serious female candidate for that job until possibly now? >> well, i think the momentum right now is also coming from the fact that we are beijing plus 20 years. and during those 20 years, several women have come into international organizations to senior levels to heading international organizations within the u.n. family. several of them were just mentioned in your program. so you have now within the next year, at the u.n. itself, as well as women hitting both governments as the head of government, but also as foreign ministers, heads of development agencies, so the pool is just really much larger to choose from. so the argue. that we can't find a qualified person -- >> just makes no sense. >> it doesn't make any sense anymore. >> you have the five members of the security council, where the

only one who has had a leader is the united kingdom. do you think that might influence things. >> true. possibly but i think of the five members, you know, france put up a woman to head the i.m.t. the u.s. put up a woman to head the world food program. and china put. a woman for the world health organization. so they are capable of making the decision to elect a woman. >> do you think the fact that the selection process is not terribly transparent has something to do with the fact that we haven't seen a woman? >> i actually defer from a lot of organizations. i don't think so. i have think women have learned to work the back room as well. and, in fact, you know, the woman who we hope will be made the secretary general will be somebody who knows to how run the front woman and the back room. >> you are not talking about one woman in particular. >> various women, whose names are up. >> what kind of message would that send?

how important would it really be if a woman headed the united nations? >> i think it would be extremely important. this is the top piece in security job in the world, and women have -- -- >> it's it is been described as the most impossible job in the world. >> the job itself, which is in its title. you are the secretary general. at times you are the secretary and at times you have to step in and be the general. women are very good at doing that in our professional and personal lives. i have think it would send a strong message. because this is the top peace and security job in the world. it's the world peacemaker and i do believe that now that you have a pool of women who match all other qualifications, the added qualification of being the conaccept us is builder, being -- consensus builder, being able to lead by consensus would be very important. >> it's been described as the most impossible job in the

world. that's what the person has to do, is keep the world power and the security council happy and keeping the other 190 members of the united nations happy as well. and you think a woman might be able to do a better job than a lot of men? >> i think that this is april additional -- an additional element that a woman would bring to this. most of the u.n. in dealing with women are on the majority of victims. you know, victims of violence, the number of refugees, the majority of women and children, but at the same time, building consensus towards development goals and implementing them, women bring an extra level of ability there, i personally believe. >> in fulfilling those development goals. >> and fulfilling those development goals. >> it will be major. and it's also really going to be the key decision that president obama will be making next year, before he leaves office because this will be at

the head of government. >> right. >> that this decision will be made by the team. >> the mass shooting on an oregon college campus is raising questions about america's gun culture. coming up how the u.s. compares to other countries and why some say a swiss addiction to guns doesn't mean more violence. and hundreds of people are missing after a deadly mud slide in gatt amal a. the de -- guatemala. the desperate search for survivors next. >> techknow's 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.

>> welcome back to al jazeera america. i'm antonio mora. the soccer corporate spoons -- sponsors are pressuring the fifa official to step down. and 9 oregon college shooter. they recovered several of his weapons at the college, including a rifle and five magazines of ammunition. more guns were found in his home. they also say he was wearing body armor. the local sheriff explained again today why he will not publicly identify mercer. >> you will not hear anyone from this law enforcement operation use his name. i continue to believe that those media and community members who publicize his name will only glorify his horrific

actions and eventually this will only serve to inspire future shooters. >> authorities are still looking for a motive in the shooting. and as investigators s. for answers to the massacre in oregon, one revealing study hee lights disturbing patterns shared by many mass shootings and those who carry them out. jacob ward reports. >> in april of 2012, a student came to this university here in oakland, california, and opened fire. he killed seven people with a handgun and it made that event the third largest mass shooting at a university in u.s. history. at least it was that until this new shooting in oregon displaced that record. why does this keep happening here? why is it that we have so many mass shootings in the united states that we actually have a leaderboard for these kinds of events? a new study seeks to answer

that question. >> somebody is outide the -- outside the door. >> it might seem impossible to have any similarities. they have so many shootings to study. they identify mass shootings as a global problem but they are unusually concentrated, he finds here in the united states. even though the u.s. accounts for only 5% of the world's population, we somehow account for 31% of the mass shootings that take place. >> the study identifies three major themes. a hunger for attention and glory, the crushing effects of personal disappointment, and access to guns. the study points out an indigenous american condition that it calls exceptionalism, the idea that you can be great and famous here. it talks about the crushing disappointment that can come from that. it points out, for instance, a study that showed that 81% of high school students believe that they were about to have a great paying job by the age of

25. 59% of them thought that they were going to have a better life financially than their parents did, and here's the amazing one, 26% of them believed that they were soon going to be famous. how could you not be disappointed in a culture hake that? and it's the crushing strain of that disappointment that the study points out that is often common to rampage shooters. >> perhaps in response no that disappointment, the study finds in rampage shooters a twisted hope for some sort of fame through killing. they share with another category of self-destructive murderer, suicide bombers. the final element that the study identifies is, of course, guns. the study found that among 171 nations that it looked at, there's no connection between the rate of actual violence and the rate of mass shootings. countries like mexico, venezuela, and nigeria that have terrible murder rates don't really have any mass shootings. it's access to firearms, 9 study found that truly makes a

difference. in that category, the category is far and away the leader. we have 88.81 guns per person. compare that no yemen, they only have 54.8 guns per 100 people. syria, a country that people are actually trying to escape has only 3.9 guns per 100 people. it doesn't even make the top 100. the study finds in the end we may not be able to do anything about our desire for fame or the frustration of comparing our personal ambitions to our personal achievements. but it does say that the most concrete step we could take is limiting access to guns, but, again, it points out that that may very well be the most politically complicated solution of all. and that is another thing that sets america apart as compared to the rest of the world when it comes to this problem. >> jake ward in oakland, california. switzerland is fourth in the world when it comes to per capita gun ownership with 45.7

guns per every 100 people. dana lewis takes a look at why some say the country is a positive model for an armed public. [ gunfire ] >> 40 minutes outside of zurich, guns are zipped in sports bags or slung over shoulders and carried off like bats to batting practice. steven is here three days a week, squeezing the trigger on targets. in switzerland, they say, gun play is a national addiction, only america, yemen and serbia have more guns per capita. >> you have to shoot. you have to really concentrate and to look, and you have to breathe right. >> over the years, swiss officials have lost track of how many guns are in private hands here. but it's estimated that there are 2 to 3 million guns in the population of 8 million people with relatively low levels of

street games that makes switzerland the model of gun happy countries without the hair-trigger culture that many say exists in america. like most men here at 20, steven did his mandatory army service. he was issued an sg-550 assault rifle, which they gives away to service members when they are finished. at the foot of his bed, in a flimsy antique wardrobe, it's part of his selection of a dozen different rifles. he spends every saturday morning with his wife and kids and then religiously, he's off to the local range to shoot a few rounds. gun ownership is rooted in history here. in the swiss alps above lake lucerne, herman suter is a member of the gun group. suter tells me the swiss can remain neutral little fear of

invasion precisely because there are so many guns in switzerland. >> their father had guns and the their grandfathers had a gun and the young people, they are know that a gun is in the house and they know exactly what the danger is. >> but it turns out switzerland is not the global model for gun safety many believe it is. in 2001, a man used his army issued rifle to assault a state government meeting. he killed 14 before he killed himself. over the last decade, martin kelias has studied guns and crime here. while street crimes and robberies using guns are very rare, he says guns are involved in 90% of domestic murders and suicides. >> they are used for killing relatives, wives, children and usually these events preceding suicide. >> in recent years, the government has tightened restrictions, handguns are more difficult to acquire and it's virtually impossible to get a permit to carry a handgun, but rifles can be bought with an

i.d. and a criminal check. so what is the key difference between gun use here and gun use in the u.s.? steven sternman's opinion, it's psychological. it's all about keeping a gun for national defense, versus personal protection in america. and in peace time, training to shoot targets, not people. dana lewis, al jazeera, in perlin switzerland. the coast guard has released footage of a rescue during hurricane joaquin. 9 storm tips to -- continues to batter the bahamas where the search for a missing cargo ship is continuing, 33 people were on board, including 28 americans. severe flooding and heavy rain remain a possibility. at least 26 people are dead after a hillside collapsed in guatemala overnight. rescue crews are frantically

digging through the mayor mud, outside of guatemala city, were thousands are missing. 125 homes were buried late thursday night. a growing number of people from southeast asia are heading to the middle east to join a group. and why some went to protest something happening in israel.

at least 14 people have been killed in suicide attacks in northeastern nigeria. four suicide bombers blew themselves. 39 people were also wounded according to military officials. the government says the

attackers were members of the bokaharam. 117 people were killed in a series of attacks in the same city. the growing attack of radical extremism was on the agenda at the meeting of southeast asian nations. an increasing number of people have left asian nations to join isil. some ministers called for a rebranding of islam for a peaceful religion. ongoing conflict in some asian countries may be one reason that so many people are joining extremist groups. one is in southern thailand on the border with malaysia and it's grown increasingly violent on the last 15 years. al jazeera's wayne hay has more from the malaysian state. >> this is the latest army tactic to try to win a long running war against separatist

fighters in southern thailand. they are visiting the house of a suspected bomb maker who is believed to be across the border in malaysia. they arrive with clothing and medicine for his wife, in the hope she can convince him to come home. the trust building exercise is trying to improve the army's reputation. thailand's three southern most provinces have been under martial law for more than ten years which is has allowed the military to act with impunity. they acknowledged that their tactics had to change. >> the understanding of nonviolence has to start with government offices first. office all offices have to understand their roles, responsibilities and scope of power. >> many are skeptical. tauden had been providing food and support to one of the armed groups fighting for independence when he came under scrutiny by the security forces. he and his family have been in the malaysian jungle for 14 years, and while they want to

return home, they still don't trust the army. >> i'm sure if i stayed back in my homeland, i would have trouble sleeping at night. we live here modestly, but it's better to be free from concern about being arrest. >> the separatist groups say that there are tens of thousands of people from southern thailand living in this border area of malaysia who either directly or indirectly support the fight for independence. and most of the groups' leaders also live in this area of malaysia, where they are largely left alone to continue to run their operations. among those hiding in malaysia, this active member of the hard line group believed to be responsible for most of the attacks which have killed thousands in thailand. environment's listened to what the thai army has to say but doesn't think that much will change. >> these efforts from the

government aren't bad, but when the talking is finished, there's no progress. we still have no confidence in them. >> an and official peace talks have also resumed, but until they see tangible change, many may choose to stay away. wayne hay, al jazeera. to talk about isil and its role in southeast asia we are joined from washington, d.c., by an associate editor at the dip mow -- diplomat. it's very good to have you with us. obviously extremism is not new to southeast asia. we remember the horror in bali about a decade ago. are we seeing a rise in extremist activities and is there a desire to expand connections between these -- what may be regional cells? >> i think when you talk about the threat, the islamic state

presents in southeast asia and from southeast asia, you he to separate it, you know, maybe in three categories, the first is the fighters themselves, and these number, you know, there are a couple of hundred in this sort of group of southeast asian fighters or malaysian fighters that are based actually fighting in the middle east for the islamic state and then you have sympathizers within these southeast asian states in the region, numbering in the thousands and sometimes tens of thousands. and then you also have the problem that southeast asian governments are worried about, about returnees so, people who are fight in the region and might actually return back to the southeast asian countries and spread the word, so to speak. >> and early this week, is i will claimed the -- isil claimed the responsibility for the death of a person in bangladesh. how much of a concern is it that there will be isil attacks

in the region? >> i think it is a concern. you have definitely seen at least a few foiled attacks recently in a number ever southeast asian states. indonesia, ahead of its independence day high schooled one a -- foiled one attack and there are several attacks that the mazian -- malaysian officials said they foiled. and singapore has also recently just a few days ago, actually, arrested two individuals. so there definitely is a concern about attacks in the region among some southeast asian areas. >> singapore next to malaysia and the malaysian prime minister urged that those fighting isil needs to be taken online because of the group's influence in the online sphere. why has isil with so successful in malaysia and other southeastern asian countries in inspiring people to join their cause? >> yeah, i mean, there are several reasons. i think one of them as you

point out has been the fact that isis or isil has been pretty active in terms of their recruiting tactics and some have attracted the youth. i think it's good that you have mentioned the prime minister from malaysia, and the united nations, because that's where they convened actually a youth summit on the radicalization and countering extremism, where facebook and microsoft and some other organizations have been actually talking about some of the tactics to prevent youth from joining these organizations. so that's certainly one front. >> is the response strong enough? we mentioned the association of southeast asian member countries that are having this special meeting to address it. has the regional response been strong enough or does it need to improve? >> well, i mean, the response you hear from several southeast asian governments is that the

response can always be stronger. and, you know, the response has to come not only from national governments but also regionally. just because this threat can spread across very increasingly porous borders. so there definitely can be some strengthening done. but the problem is that countering this threat requires countering in a lot of different stages. so it's deterrence and revention and deradicallization and reintegrating some of these folks back in society. it's a wide ranging set of solutions and it will involve building capacity. many of these southeast asian countries and states are only beginning to deal with some aspects of these problems like how to counter them in social media dealing with cybercrimes. they will require a lot of outside support from the united states and the united kingdom and australia. i think you are seeing some of these things take shape with respect to conferences and some meetings being held as well. >> as it's clearly a growing

challenge around the world. very good to have you with us. thank. >> you hundreds of muslims demonstrated outside the u.s. embassy in malaysia protesting the actions in jerusalem. they called the u.s. to stop supporting israel and denounce the israeli military actions arendt al oxa mosque. and the major sponsors calling for fifa's scandal ridden president, separatist blatter to resign.

>> the president of world soccer's governing body fifa is defying more and more calls to resign. separatist blatter is refusing to quit even after the owner inbev was one of a growing number of sponsors. >> the indictments and extraditions of several fifa executives pushed separatist blatter into agreeing to end his 17-year reign next february. but since the swiss attorney general's announcement that blatter was being investigated himself, for criminal mismanagement and misappropriation, the pressure for him to go has become

intense. coca-cola, one of the organization's biggest and oldest backers said in a statement that blatter must resign immediately, because, quote, every day that passes the image and the reputation of fifa continues to tarnish. coca-cola's demand was quickly followed by similar statements from sponsors mcdonald's, visa, and anheuser busch. >> there's only one more step, and that is to threaten to withdraw their sponsorship completely. and we are really talking about mega threats here. >> but in zurich, blatter's lawyers issued a firm rejection of the call. they said that blatter's resignation would not be good. last the u.s. attorney general who filed first criminal charges again the fivea officials said she expected others to follow. >> i'm grateful for the significant cooperation and the

substantial evidence that we have received from all borders. based upon that cooperation, we do anticipate pursuing additional charges against individuals and entities. >> blatter has said he will leave following an orderly succession, but the favorite to take his place is suspected of receiving what the swiss prosecutor called a disloyal payment of $2 million from blatter. platini defended the payment and said he will stay in the race. they have urged retired german football president to be named as the temporary successor for blatter. a look at how news outlets. the u.k.'s independence says the west thought putin would do the right thing and now syria is about to experience chaos on a whole new level. the editorial stresses that the kremlin's effort to keep

president assad in power will make deconfliction hard to achieve and that russia's actions will delay the actions. vladimir putin may find himself unseated. putin's efforts in syria are an effort to make him look like a bigger global player and to take attention off eastern ukraine but it also points out that russia cannot economically handle two wars at the same time and that its people may turn against putin. finally the economist has this editorial cartoon. it shows president obama and president putin each on top of a tank a sign below them says middle east. and in the cartoon, putin is taking you americans have been stuck in this endless, hopeless quagmire for decades. now it's russia's turn. in tonight's off the radar story. as al jazeera's tanya page explains they are using a board

game in school to learn about sexual abuse and how to prevent it. >> each roll of the dice, designed to educate young people with domestic violence and sexual abuse. it's called the life board. >> so it says make the symbol for a rape awareness campaign. >> it's welcome developed by the tears foundation which helps victims of rape with the support of the south african government, it will soon be available in schools across the country. the group with the best answer wins a point. >> most people like playing games so i think they are going to learn more from it if it's in a game. >> it doesn't matter if you've got a wrong or right answer. we just give each other, like, advice or new information about saying no to this. >> the issue is important in a country with high levels of violent crime. almost every week there's another horror story of a child or baby being raped. that's why this woman will never leave her 18-year-old disabled daughter home alone.

>> it's very difficult to raise a special child. i can't go and look for work at all. i can't be away from her in case she is raped. >> it's a fear shared by many parents here. the scale of the problem is huge. unicef says that in sub-saharan african countries one in three girls and one in five boys suffer some form of sexual violence by the time they turn 18. but a lot of that goes unreported. kids who are in trouble can call child line. >> we can assist you with counseling. >> the most of the 300,000 people who called last year just needed advice, but 16,000 calls were serious enough to be referred to police. police officers also watch over students playing life board. they are here to explain the law and spot any students whose reactions may indicate they are victims of abuse. time is running out to educate the students in their formative years. >> hopefully molding and shaping and challenging some of the attitudes of the youth today is going to create a bit

of a safer environment for tomorrow. >> whether they are rapping, drawing or talking about it, the results are the same. an easy, fun conversation about a very serious topic. tanya page, al jazeera, johannesburg. 69 vatican says pope francis' controversial meeting should not be considered as a show of support for her position. the poach did not discuss the detail of mrs. davis' case. davis' lawyer had initially claimed meeting ended in a hug and a note of encouragement. pope francis also met with a gay couple during his visit to washington. 9 pope, who used to be a teacher, greeted a former student and his partner at the vatican embassy. the couple attended the private meeting along with several other people, a day before the kim davis meeting. that's it for this edition of al jazeera american news i'm

antonio mora in new york. thanks for watching. i will be back with more news in an hour. america tonight is up next. >> on america tonight, shooting lessons. >> is that andy warhol right there? >> yes. >> a typical andy, john lenin, yoko ohno party of that period, where all of their different artists come together at some place. >> a glimpse into the real lives of stars we hardly knew. captured by a rare paster -- master and