not as strong as they need to be. >> u.s. president says his country will keep troops in after dan stan to help forces battle the taliban. >> good to have you with us. i am david foster, you are watching al jazeera live from london, also coming up, the syrian army, launch as major offensive north of the city of holmes. the e.u. deal that gives millions of dollars to help

the flow of refugees into europe. where in the u. the race is on to save or cad. >> a major shift in policy in afghanistan, saying that more troops will remain on the ground through 2017. president obama says afghan forces are doing well, but still aren't strong enough. and there are currently 9,800 u.s. troops in after dan stan, and most of those are to be withdrawn. the u.s. expects to keep 5.5000 troops in the country even after obama leaves office in 2017 p. and they will focus as they do now on counter terrorism, and training forces. military leaders have been pushing for more u.s. support especially after taliban fighters captured kunduz city and held it for three days. the security situation well

it is still fragile according to him, and the only way to achieve the full withdrawal is through a lasting peace settlement with the taliban. >> i do not support the idea of end less war. and i have repeatedly argued against marching into open ended military conflicts that do not serve our core security interests. given what is at stake in after dan stan afghanistan, that can partner with us in the preventing the the emergence of future threats and the fact that we have an international coalition, i am firmly con vinceed that we should make this extra effort. >> and al jazeera patty coal haines with us now life from the white house. so there will be a lot of people that say this is hugely embarrassing for barack obama, but in reality, it is just a commander in chief dealing with the reality on the ground, and the reality is that the afghan army can't handle this.

>> and that's exactly what the defense is using here at the white house. they are being very deliberate to say this is an embarrassment, that this isn't disappointing the president saying he isn't disappointed. they expected there would be challenges. i think it is important to point out, the president won two elections on the promise he would bring the troops home. now what they are saying here is look at what happened in iraq, we can't let that happen in after dan stan. still, one of his top aids when was asked basically did you go back on their word, and they are saying they are continuing the policy is proof that it is working. the president really tried to down play what u.s. troop will be doing over there. saying they won't be involved in major combat. but we do know the troops they couldn't take back the city without the help of special forces on the ground. and u.s. war planes in the air. so the president is sending is message, although he promised there would be no combat troops except at the embassy in afghanistan, that

is not going to be the case. there will be 5,500 troops at least in afghanistan, and it will be for the next president to deal with. >> and this is a point, because it is not like the 100,000 that were there, but cook november of 2016, when one republican, one democrat are both trying to get their place in the white house, they will have to deal with public. , and the feeling in america it seems to me is that it was a good job this war appears to be over. >> the american people are tired of this. 42% say going into -- they see it as a mistake. the president is being widely criticized. we are hear having leadership some are saying 5500 will not be enough. the speaker of the house release add statement saying this is the status quo is not plan for success. he said that it is a half measure, and a sign of the president's failed leadership. here, they are defending the

decision. they say look, we made the promise that we would make after dan stan better, they said look, it is much better. and the next president will have an easier task ahead. >> the afghan security forces continue to carry out their security responsibilities. across the country, in the a very challenging security environment. so it is crucial, that we continue to support then. practically, and financially. to per serve the gains we have achieved in the afghanistan, through our joint efforts over many years. israel continues to expand

it's operation. 32 palestinians seven israelis have been killed since the beginning of october. more now on how the security measures are having an impact of people's lives. >> intense security, at entrances to the old city. police ordered palestinians to lift their shirts, some instructed to remove their shoes. but this group waving israeli flags passes through unchecked. the security catch is directly retted to the degree of anxiety among jewish israelis. false alarms about impending attacks have sparked panic a number of locations and there have been several reports of israelis with dark complexions being attacked by fellow uses after they were mistaken for palestinians. >> our security forces work tot, with the members of public who have a wide and lamping understanding of the security issues involved and also are aware of the tense

period we are in. there is definitely not panic. >> but even the misspokesman is wearing a stab vest. >> safety is important for us, walk around with religious man, and therefore have to be careful both being jewish, religious, and a my, i could be targeted. a number of neighborhoods have been sealed off, and all residents having to pass through check points. this barrier, at least an hour of commuting time for those needing to go to work or i don't want, only a hand full of individuals have been involved in the attacks and the dominant emotion here is anger. that so many are being made to pay for the actions of so few. no hamed is a prominent lead err here, and he voices his frustration. >> netanyahu is putting pressure on the palestinian people and the people of

jerusalem. this will create a bigger explosion, it won't calm things down to calm things down you need a political decision. not a security one. the warning the structure humiliation, may threaten the very security israel contends it is designed to enforce. mike hannah al jazeera. >> we are going live in just a moment, pause within the last hour, the israeli prime minister is having his say, claiming he is perfectly open to having a meeting with the palestinian leader. mahmoud a bass a, andrew simmons joining me now, what did he have to say? what coming text was it in when he said he could meet with him. >> well, david, this was effectively a briefing for international media, and the main purpose of the briefing was to reinforce the israeli line that there have been

provocation from palestinians on the whole issue of knifing throughout israel. but he was pressed by journalists about the visit that is expected soon from the u.s. secretary of state to jon kerry. and he did sky that he wanted a meeting that he would like unconditional negotiations. he is been wanting this, but mac mood does not want to have these talks. he reiterated that and made the point from the king from jordan, the issue of possibly being involved in these talks. this is expected to be the line taken by jon kerry, that it could be a good idea to involve the king. he made a reference to the fact that they had had talks a year ago, and they have been quite fruitful. he did also remark that talks in this situation now with this security crisis that

talks could be potentially useful david. >> you see the difficulty is i am sure yo are aware that he is accusing netanyahu of up sitement of stirring up the trouble we are seeing at the moment. >> yes, as i say that was the main purpose of the news conference, evidently from the way it was conducted. they show add series of videos which they said show that the palestinian media, both main stream and social, had been provoke tiff and had incited crimes. then he directly accused once again, not the ever the first time, of incitement, and he then mentions the case who is a 13-year-old, who was one of the attackers in a settlement in occupied east jerusalem on monday. he and another teenager his

cousin the 15-year-old ran into the settlement, and attacked a 13-year-old boy who was on a bicycle and also a woman. now the 13-year-old boy was critically injured and that was the israeli boy, the two of -- the two teenagers ran away, and one was shot the 15-year-old, shot dead as he was running away, the 13-year-old it is unclear what happened to him. it was varied reports about whether he was hit by a car, or a rock, that one of the settlers threw or initially it was a report that he was shot. that boy was on camera, pictures being used all over the world, and indeed by the palestinian media, and macmud said that boy is dead. that is not true. the boy is in the hospital, in jerusalem. and it wasn't reported at the time by main stream media

that the boy has been killed. he was seriously injured. but he is in stable condition. this is what netanyahu had to say. >> the only way we can fight this big lie, all the other lies that are hurling in israel, and spread in the social network and from there to the world is to tell the truth. this is what we will do today. we expect all of our friends, and anyone concerned with the facts and the truth, to look at these facts. to see the truth, and not to draw false symmetry between citizens and those who would stabbed and knife them to death. >> mac mood has accused the israeli prime minister of also incitement in terms of what they are doing in terming of provoking palestinians by the actions

of the security forces and the way her dealing with things. so we are in a situation where they are trading blows and netanyahu is fighting fire with fire. and this business of how some things are reported is now perhaps destructing the main course of events which is how we find a solution to this critical problem to this tragedy, this on going tragedy here in israel. >> indeed. thank you very much. >> syrian army has launched it's anticipated offensive in the northern arms country side. fighting focus on two areas. they are on a road that links the province of holmes and ham ma. now the government wants this to bring in sup lies to the battles that are taking place up north, especially in aleppo, and wants to secure a corridor between the strong holds along the coast, and the capitol, damascus. this report the battle in the

country side has begun. rebel held towns are coming under fire. this is according to an assault between the syrian army on the ground and the russian air force. it is the second offensive of it's kind. it's air force is providing support to it's allies on the ground, as they try to advance into opposition territory put civilians are caught in the middle. >> this is a civilian area, isil is not here, you russian dogs. the whole world should see this. >> activists are reporting fighters as well as civilians are being killinged and injured. tens of thousands of people live there, many of them displaces from fighting elsewhere in the country. and this corner of syria has been surrounded by the army for years the only roads out lead to government controls territories. >> people are afraid, people have left the areas that are being hit, but they can't

leave the country side because the roads are blocks. there's only one rout out and it is under control, and people are afraid they will be arrested if they go there. >> the syrian military says the aim of the offense save to end the presence of what it calls terrorists and restore security and stability. recapturing the country side, would help the government security territory linking the seat of power, to it's popular base. the coastal heart land. >> the opposition is also under atrack on other fronts. in southern areas in the nearby province are battlegrounds. and there are reports of a major ground operation being planned around the northern city of aleppo.

the offensive is linked to a broader military campaign that began two weeks ago when russia started air strikes targeting controlled areas in the west of the country. the government and the allies are on the offensive and for now have stopped advances in the area. the immediate aim is to recapture territory and weaken the opposition. it is also about using force to bring about political concessions. al jazeera, beirut. >> in a moment we will be examining whether e.u. leaders have agreed to a deal with turkey to try to stem the number of refugees coming into europe. and keeping watch amido rising tensions the u.s. on exercise in the the asia pacific.

jazeera.re watchle al president obama has plans to keep u.s. troop troops in afghanistan beyond 2016. delays plans to withdraw completely from the cub. relatively quiet day in israel. no new attacks in jerusalem, as they expand their presence across the city after weeks of unrest between israelis and palestinians. and the syrian army has launched it's anticipated offensive in the northern country side, the fighting focuses on two areas, and.

>> through reports coming out of buts sell which is appear to suggest that the european union reach as deal with turkey to stop the number of refugees trying to get into europe. $3.4 billion in h support to turkey, and in return they have been asked to increase incentives to syrians to stay in turkey, 600,000 people have reached europe already this year, with many says they simply can't cope with the numbers. >> turkey gets money and then with that money they try to make conditions better for the syrians? what is it supposed to do. >> according to the wording of this agreement, it is a preliminary agreement, and words essentially need to be ratified by all 28 member states.

within this wording it suggests that turkey needs to provide greater incentives which should be interpreted of improving the living conditions of people arriving from the likes of syria. but also, helping with greater integration as well. giving them the comforts they need to feel that they can belong and stay in turkey rather than just immediately passing through the country, in the direction of the european union what is important to add to this deal, is the fact that turkey looks as if it may see these restrictions only turkish citizens relaxed as well, which could have massive implications for as many as 75 million people who would be able to now travel within the european union, much more freely than ever before. it is a real sign of the kind of pressures and strains that the european union is under that now it is willing to agree to a deal like this

something ha a year ago, the french would have been completely against. and it looks like now that turkey has gained greater leverage that aren before. >> . >> yeah, it seems to me initially a little bit too easy. but i think it is important to add, that this is about $2.5 billion more than the e.u. has initially suggested earlier on in the week. the european commission drew up a plan on tuesday, which didn't have as far as i am aware any mention of a real answer as well. on that document, it did say

that turkey would need to improve the way it polices it's borders on lane and sea, and work more closely with the earthquake at the present time boarder agency, as well as seen greater cooperation between the eu and turkey. but if this agreement is indeed true, and the way we have heard it to be, then it could well signify a real difference in relations between turkey and the european union. as i said, the the e.u. are looking now at turkey. >> identify as new suspects. they believe they are involved in -- they work with

the libyan authorities to interview the suspects in tripoli. any person convinced of the attack, who died in 2012. al jazeera journalist is released from an egyptian jail last hospital, brought back to doha headquarters. >> egypt president along with mohammad fahmy, they were originally sentenced to between seven and ten years in prison and spent more than 400 days behind bars. al jazeera journalist whose were sentenced in the their absence were pardons. al jazeera refutes all the charges and continues to demand that the sentences be overturns. call for press freedom around the world. thank you so much but we need to continue i hope one day we will be able to celebrate the

freedom of every journalist all over the world. we will continue, we will continue that because we are not only journalists we are advocates of press freedom. >> china is going to be hosting an informal meeting for what is known as the association of south asian nations and it will happen amido the rising territory tensions in p the south china sea there are reports that a boat was rammed by a chinese vessel and the u.s. is inkroosing it's presence in the region. >> two world powers flexes their muscles over islands in the south china sea. recent vessels show rewilledding on reefs. the construction includes what the u.s. suspects will be the latest of three airfields on reefs which is u.s. says are in international waters.

in a disputing area, is adding to existing tension. >> of course, it will add to the tensions in the area. and of course, a lot of -- are looking at this very carefully, and then we hope that they will not make a new spill of tension. >> china is militarizing the reefs also claimed by taiwan, vietnam, malaysia, and the philippines. u.s. armed forces have increased their presence in the asia pacific region, and intensified navy exercises like this one, off the coast of indonesian. >> the navy is committed to helping provide security to southeast asia, the waters sur under aring these countries it is part of the rebalance to asia pacific. >> during the exercise, 600

marines and sailors took part in several large beach assaults. >> the united states exercises like these are seen as a show of force. >> many around the region hope the two super powers will be able to control themselves. >> . >> this kind of thing happens. and they are -- still and control each other's warships to avoided the clash. >> southeast nations hope to speed up about a so called code of conduct. it aims to regulate freedom of navigation at sea, and overflying rights to contribute to peace in the south china sea. but it may be too late, with u.s. plans to test the waters

and carry out it's freedom of navigation exercise very soon. al jazeera. >> more nuclear powers is being switched back on in japan, a second reactor has been restarted. reconnected to the national grid. dozens of reactors had to be closed down when an earthquake and tsunami triggered a melt down at the fukushima plant. ordered to record almost 2.5 million cars in the new year. the watchdog isrd oared checks on vehicles fitted with software designs to beat emission tests. they first uncovered in the united states is why billions of dollars of the value of the german company. lovely pictures coming up. here high definition dramatickic changes in the

distinctionive giant. it is ordered what it is called the red spot. great big thing in the middle of the atmosphere. taker a look here, as we zoom in, you can see that they were were captured be i the hubble telescope. there's the red spot. captures over a ten hour period. it looks tiny, us cann't it. it is the most powerful storm in the solar system. and it is more than 16,000-kilometers across, and apparently it is shrinking. it is now half the size that it was 100 years ago. and it is not clear why. so there you have it, 16,000-kilometers across and when you think about the size of the earth, that makes jupiter look pretty big. okay. all the earthly news you can want if you go to aljazeera.com. we have our correspondents updating by the hour on what is happening in the the

occupied west bank in gaza, and in jerusalem. particularly with the troubles of the taking place there with the number of deaths that have been. we have reported in the last hour, that the israeli prime minister says he is prepared to meet palestinian president. >> troop withdrawal where afghanistan delayed. a major reversal, as the taliban presents new security threats. a meeting of the mind, european leaders gather with a very full agenda, and germany order as recall of nearly 2.2 million cars but growing scandal over emissions.