abdulahi border. is a horn of africa security analyst he says striking and shabaab will not stop the group from carrying out further attacks we cannot bomb or our way out of soling the crisis that is right. for quite some time now with on the ground by african union forces from the air the us security forces has been under cush adot hasn't prevented the group from crying out some of these you know. high visibility and high casualty attacks not just inside somalia but also outside in places like kenya political military force so shabaab is fairly weakened but that doesn't mean that these group doesn't have the capacity to inflict the kinds of damages that we've seen the group being capable of doing it inside kenya. has been able to tap into the you know the long ranging marginalization discourse

both you know margin and real they have been able to recruit they have been able to equip they have been able to at tuck the group also publishes an online magazine called a guy named tani which means terrorist. terrorists in which the you know sections of the report of the magazine is dedicated to the kenyans and it's done in this way the language in some of its videos increasingly the group is also using kenyan so kenya has suddenly become an effective cog in the group's propaganda recruitment and elsewhere last a tux all right still ahead on al-jazeera when we come back the runner are in the democratic republic of congo's presidential election calling for nationwide protests against the results. from the cave blue sky of the doha morning. to the fresh autumn breeze in the city

of. aloe the snow is about to finish in afghanistan that you can see the massive white cloud is drifting snow north is taking its snow with it the bottom half to tell half that was the one that brought the sense of across the arabian peninsula to some decent rain in pakistan is heading to northern india as well to the west so that there is more cloud it's probably just cloud which by monday was sweeping across iraq any precipitation for rain is in turkey and snow in the high ground of turkey which i think will make progress still in the high ground turkey moving eastwards well through monday night and by choose dates probably gone so the couple of fine looking days the levant syria iraq and areas south of beirut up to about seventeen degrees so it's slightly warmer as well still cold at night there fairly obviously the temperatures are slowly recovering on the eastern side of society in qatar as well twenty two as a max the winds to the north of it becoming much lighter about turning it to choose

to nothing much in the sky or reacts quite warm twenty five by the time we have in the mozambique channel a proper nurse unnamed cycler and it's named number ten can you believe anyway it's likely to make landfall in central mozambique tshering monday the winds may not be much of a problem but the amount of writing the next two days yes probably very widespread problems. the weather sponsored by cats on race. by major fish every week brings a series of breaking stories and then of course there's donald trump told through the eyes of the welts jannah laced that's right out of script that calls for the annihilation of israel that is not what that phrase means the listening post as we turn the cameras on the media focus on how they were brought on the stories that matter the most embed is a free palestine listening post on al-jazeera. and

again you're watching algeria a reminder of all top stories this hour israeli military has announced and strikes on iranian forces in syria syrian state news says air defenses shot down the targets on sunday israel said it intercepted a rocket in the golan heights. turkish president. says he's ready to take over control of man spoke on the phone to president trump on the u.s. withdrawal for northern syria they agreed on the need for a negotiated settlement and joint action against isis. somalia's government is warning of a major offensive against the group that comes two days after the u.s.

military said it carried out an asteroid killing fifty two inch about fights. up police in athens have used tear gas to prevent angry protesters from entering greece's parliament building tens of thousands of people rallied against the proposed new proposed name change deal with neighboring macedonia johnson ruppel us reports. it took only an hour of peaceful protest before a small group of demonstrators clashed with police detonating fireworks over the heads police responded with volleys of tear gas clearing crowds off the square in front of parliament but most of the thousands of demonstrators here with peaceful including families with young children many had traveled overnight from far flung corners of greece to oppose a government that last week survived a vote of confidence with a razor thin majority one hundred fifty one m.p.'s in the three hundred seat legislature that's majority is likely to pass the message only

a name change deal by the end of the week and i must capture your kid years. to write out one hundred fifty times there is only ball macedonia and it is greek and my kid and i match. my grandfather force in macedonia we cannot allow it to be sold out we are losing our values some people of the shoeing a new order they want to access the sea through the port of cecille any truckie will be the next to go then will lose a chunk of greece to albania. greece is original position was that it would not allow a neighboring state to use the name of its northern region of macedonia a decade ago it agreed to allow use of that name along with an adjective and last year recognized north of macedonia but that country has now ratified the deal and it is now greece's. but the agreement has angered many here because it allows the people of north macedonia to call themselves macedonians rather the north macedonians and recognizes their language as macedonian with the preface agreement

. where the north macedonia. and at the same time we give their rights to the citizens of these states. is the word macedonia for the citizen if he nationality if you. give the long words this is called identity. and we devote wong's walford to one of the states of the area that i. must dhoni and i didn't the agreement is a bitter pill for most greeks some have decided to swallow it but many have not these demonstrations have reverted to the original hard line position and they want prime minister alexis tsipras to declare a referendum is unlikely to take that route he knows the deal is unpopular but vows to push it through parliament with his one vote majority by the end of the jump al-jazeera happens. a riot police in sudan have fired tear gas to break up the

latest protest against the president security forces were deployed to a student demonstration in the capital two rallies calling for the end of ahmed bashir thirty year rule were also held in the city of on demand watch groups say at least fifty people have been killed since protests began a month ago over the rising cost of bread president bashir is blaming his opponents for inciting protests. today i learned some young men wanted to express themselves in protest following but there were some infiltrators and separate service who took the opportunity to put their way they are the ones who are burning and destroying public properties they are the ones who are infiltrating these protests to kill demonstrators the african union says it's postponed a high level visit to the democratic republic of congo a comes as opposition leader martin for you lou challenges a final ruling from the top court declaring his rival felix just a k.t.

the winner of the presidential election i mean the miller has more from kinshasa. the highest court in the democratic republic of congo announcing the next president felix. the. constitutional court judges dismissed an appeal by his rival martin for you who alleged widespread vote rigging on polling day last month for you accused me of making a power sharing deal with the outgoing president joseph kabila both deny that by you lose refusing to accept the court's ruling and is urging everyone to reject. this i consider myself the only legitimate president of the democratic republic of congo i call on the congolese people not to recognize someone who would take on that role in legitimately nor to a by orders coming from him. well for you know call for peaceful protests the streets of the capital kinshasa appeared as they would on any other sunday calm and

quiet. unlike the celebrate two scenes by security supporters that greeted the final ruling by the constitutional court some of service say despite the allegations of vote rigging the promise of a new face in the presidency may be enough to allow for a smooth handover of power. and that it's both a victory and loss for congo's opposition should understand our concerns joseph wield power when he leaves office is behind this is behind the decision but. just secured the rule during a disturbing if you can cut its relationship with god but. it. is the finish is still there despite the allegations and denials of murky deals to get elected just a kid is due to be sworn in on choose daim there's been

a mixed reaction from the international community the southern african development community has welcomed the results appealing for everyone to accept the court's ruling while the european and african union say that serious concerns about the final result what they have to say may be of little importance for many congolese who want to separating change from their new leader to meet them alone al-jazeera kinshasa. senegal's constitutional court has released a list of five candidates allowed to run in next month's presidential election macky sall is running for a second term but the two main opposition leaders have been banned from taking part nicolas hawke is in the capital dhaka. the decisions taken by the constitutional court behind me or usually a formality and go unnoticed but this year missing on her list of candidates for this upcoming presidential elections are two heavyweights the opposition the son of

the former president of senegal karim ward and the popular mayor of the car khalifa sol now they've both been sentenced to prison time for corruption charges one was freed and amnesty the other is still in prison but both were hoping to run in this election and this has paved the way for outsiders to take the limelight notably with my. songkhla was very popular on social media and among young people he's taken to the stage criticizing mike saying that he's using the courts to clamp down on the opposition there's been a chorus of condemnation and reaction from not just politicians but also remembers of civil society questioning whether this can be a real free and fair election when two of the main opposition figures are not taking part in the race there is a lack of trust of opposition and even a large majority of citizens towards was the electoral management pretty much all

sort of security force east as it be. in general in shutting peace and security is one of the most stable democracies on the continent organizing free and fair elections for the last fifty nine years in prison like the star says that this one will be no exception but with this decision from the constitutional court certainly sets the tone for this election that will take place in just a month's time a senior u.s. republican senator says he'll urge president trump to meet the leaders of pakistan and afghanistan so they can come up with a plan to end afghanistan's war lindsey graham made the comments in islamabad kamau hyder has more. the rejected by the u.s. senator lindsey graham comes at a time when the special representative for peace and reconciliation and i would run a stand. has just left islamabad he was hoping to meet the afghan taliban head and

up august on the capital however the afghan taliban walking out of the orthodox saying that peace and reconciliation would only. if the americans were willing to give a timeline for withdrawal it must be on the story that the senator. who wants the president's all for u.s. forces to continue and of running a stand as relevant in syria he has already met the pakistani prime minister. said he agreed with the prime minister brown kron that their relationship with august answered we are strategic one and large are transactional one ear and also praise the august on the efforts to fence the border are done one is done something that the governments are not happy about but he said that he will be recommending to the u.s. president that he should in white or hold the dogs were up against any prime minister and dr archer of ronnie as soon as possible however the oven taliban are continuing to stick to their demand for the red drawl of ford for safety and there are

problems ahead we broke with a u.s. senator about the fact that the engagement has continued for all more steward decades and yet there was no end in sight to dad bloody conflict senator it's been eighteen years since the u.s. launched the attack on the honest on in reprising. and it's cost a trillion dollars and there is no end in sorry to depict that the taliban are much stronger than they were when you first came in so how long did the united states committed to stay in a one historian and they did willing to spend all that money to continue this campaign against the of one taliban thank you that's a really good question as you get that question asked all the time. what did it cost us since not eleven a lot more than a trillion dollars pay now or pay later the good news we're at a point where our military presence is literally ten percent of what it was ten

years ago that most of the fighting is being conducted by the afghan military support from us that we now have a new partner in pakistan that the pakistan military has done things in the last eighteen months we've been hoping for for eighteen years as to time the old saying is you have the watches we have the time to the taliban in case you're listening time is not on your side for generations people in taiwan aunt who aren't feeling so well have avoided going to a doctor and visited a traditional chinese medicine shop instead but that thousands of shops so shut down in the past twenty years cut lopez whole day on explains why. leave chilling dispenses traditional chinese medicine from this herbal store in taiwan natural medicine shops like this one have been used for generations as an

alternative to visiting a doctor but the industry that depends on curing illnesses is designed taiwan's government hasn't issued a new operating license for twenty years. below he says just. this profession in taiwan is on the decline it's become a so-called sunset industry older people have slowly left and younger ones don't have a license it's all very uncertain. the license shortage started in the one nine hundred ninety s. as the government trying to regulate traditional medicine shops government leaders feared combining western and eastern medicine could lead to unforeseen medical emergencies it was hoped train professionals would take jobs in traditional shops but that didn't happen well pay a limited benefits failed to attract young doctors and now more and more shops are closing down a good shrink who knows her dispensary will only remain open while her ailing father in law is alive when he goes so will his operating license.

but then in the chinese medicine shops are forced to close because the second generation cannot legally carry the operating license our livelihood will be in jeopardy but more importantly it will be the end of a taiwanese tradition and cultural icon that it will be a thing of the past it will be difficult for them to emerge again an estimated two hundred taiwanese natural medicine stores shut down every year the total has been cut in half to about eight thousand in the last twenty years. taiwan's approach is a stark contrast to china in hong kong where there has been a push to promote and export traditional medicine mounting concern and anger has led to protests in the capital taipei now the government says it's trying to find a solution with industry leaders but shop owners fear it may be too late and employees such as lead channeling worry that it's not only her livelihood at stake

but also a tradition that's part of thailand's culture. llopis with a gun at his ear so. let's get a round up of our top stories the israeli military has announced as strikes on iranian forces in syria syrian state news is reporting the missiles were shot down on sunday israel intercepted a rocket fired at the golan heights israel says it's have thousands of targets in syria in recent years how a force that has more now from southern israel or in a highly unusual move the israeli military is confirming that strikes have been taking place against targets inside syria as the operation has been going on these removed he is saying that it's striking iranian quds forces targets inside syrian territory and it is warning the syrian armed forces against striking against

israeli military targets or against israeli territory the syrian state media is saying that its forces have fought it what it calls hostile targets over syrian airspace turkish president richard tie a bedouin says his forces are ready to take over control of main beach he spoke on the phone to president charm for on the u.s. withdrawal from northern syria they agreed on the need for a negotiated settlement and joint action against us. somali's government is warning of a major offensive against the group that's two days after the u.s. military said it carried out an asteroid killing fifty two fighters it was launched after the group attack to some mali air base sudan's president omar al bashir remains defiant in the face of continued protests he blamed foreign infiltrators for violence that has killed dozens of people the protests began a month ago over rising living costs and have since widened to call for the end of

bus years thirty year rule. police have stopped protesters from entering greece's parliament buildings tens of thousands rallied in athens they're angry about a proposed name change deal with neighboring macedonia those are the headlines the listening post is next. more than two thousand five hundred leaders from governments businesses and international organizations will meet at the next willed economic forum to discuss the global political and industry trends twenty nine t. . special coverage on al-jazeera. while . not critical for us. because i know. that right. now the. pressure in.

the lower richard gaisford in europe the listening post here are some of the stories we're covering this week venezuela president maduro begins his second term and the media landscape looks far different than when he began his first the sudanese government faces street protests and turns to an online clampdown that straight out of the strongman playbook the wall street journal hoax and the perils of single source journalism plus had geography and american presidents nothing so becomes their legacy as their passing earlier this month nicolas maduro was sworn in for a second term as venezuela's president the election that got him there was widely condemned as rigged and opposition voices were mostly absent from the airwaves the case against him of doro and his treatment of the media is compelling his critics say that since he first took office in two thousand and thirteen almost one hundred radio and television stations have been censored or shut down as well as thirty

three newspapers another fifty journalists have been prosecuted. we've been following the media story in venezuela for more than a decade now when the duros predecessor and mentor the late hugo chavez came to power he pledged to confront the right wing media outlets that dominated political discourse at the time to democratize the media and give voice to the country's poor however venezuelans now suffer under chronic shortages and not just of food and medicine of information the pendulum has swung the other way and there are signs aplenty that venezuela's bolivarian revolution has lost its way our starting point this week is the capital. this is something soon to be how do you eat their names i don't think at the moment the evolving from close is this if you think this. goes. beyond the movie.

deal you go to see an equal number who don't. say that. but. they. must it's more propaganda than information. it's evidence that they're adhering to the guidelines given by the ministry of communications despite the doubts and the controversies that have arisen. the official line tries to justify the existence of the power reality to the one that venezuelans are living on a daily basis the content to sweeten the order to avoid contradicting official reports that's the reality of journalism and that's why the government exercises extreme control especially in broadcast media. for voices on the state of the news media in

a country that's as polarized as any on the planet the government. official from the human rights commission the academic a specialist on political discourse in venezuela and two journalists plying their trade online partly due to a shortage of paper the election held last may was considered a sham by the un the e.u. and the organization of american states and recognized as legitimate by among others china russia and cuba the two main opposition figures were both disqualified from running voter turnout was the lowest ever the millions fleeing the country are now part of the biggest refugee surge in latin american history chased by chronic shortages and inflation the details of which they cannot count on their government and the media it mostly controls to provide a way to proceed by the primary source of information is the venezuelan government but it doesn't actually inform the no details about inflation or what the g.d.p.

little bit will get on the democrat mean more on the whole sanyal thing i must say me and the lot of our seal intake i meant that. if they see a good economy. carissa we have ignored those essential statistics for years and the state steps in forming and instead produces propaganda and uncertainty rules and rumors becomes clear and almost as many. minutes one as being subjected to unilateral sanctions illegal measures which is not shown by the media they only show the consequences of those sanctions the crisis that's come as a result is a biased account is demonize the country's image which in turn justifies any subsequent action in the scene. venezuela's government does have powerful adversaries starting with

a superpower to the north the takes a disproportionate interest in oil rich country two days after the inauguration the trumpet ministration said it was looking at all the options on how we influence the outcome in venezuela is going to he's sure to drive the nation by policy you know that he out of washington has imposed three sets of economic sanctions on kind of us and they've had an effect they also provide the brutal government with the convenient they're out to get us never to fall back on some long seven if i don't. want to be on in battle i mean we're going to see i mean as long as. the economic crisis and the resulting shortages don't just affect consumers they affect the news industry last month and next year now a newspaper founded in one thousand forty three published its final edition one of the reasons given was a shortage of newsprint. and that's what i remember you go bonus you know as one of

the most important newspapers in venezuela when it was launched it represented a very innovative moment in journalism it opposed hugo chavez's government in the nicolas maduro system and as a consequence it's suffered retaliation to a whole sequence you better than what you have. been losing it's. original estimates for a while it was once one of the most influential newspapers in venezuela with a print run of two hundred thousand copies and by the end the decrease dramatically to five to six thousand dollars are made up of very few pages that is going to go out in the. us has a serious problem when it comes to getting certain supplies like paper which is not made here and which we cannot afford to pools so of course the media is going to suffer. a still in circulation but they've moved online that's just the global reality again so it's unfair to suggest that media outlets are being closed down to still there but they're on the internet but. this

journalism isn't widespread venezuela has the worst internet in latin america and it's very difficult for people to use their phones in public like in the u.s. and europe there is too much crime and also websites suffer constant attack we suspect that it's people from the government. there's a context a history to the story of the venezuelan the one hugo chavez was elected in one thousand nine hundred nine the first leftist president in forty years the vast majority of news outlets tilted to the right they were openly hostile to charges is full of aryan revolution in two thousand and two charges was briefly deposed in a coup one that the media didn't just cover they were participants recognized for their efforts by coup leaders. who said they could not have overthrown the democratically elected charges without the help of right wing media outlets like

veni vidi on our street t.v. and global view. the changes to the media landscape that then began under charges have accelerated under nicolas maduro global vision is just one example having backed the coup in two thousand and two under one set of owners it is now. in the hands of. a promo doro businessman countless other media outlets including major newspapers like el universal and the must look to see us have gone the same way what began as a government enforced market correction a defensible response to a media sector that was out of control has since grown into a crackdown. on that which i thought they meant that they were not not when chavez was in office he enjoyed popular support most of the time so repression wasn't so necessary by the time adore it came to power sympathy for the government fell significantly due to the economic situation the

social situation and so repression against the media increases that it was going to remain a woman book. perhaps that's the difference with the past chavez was much more patient despite the fact that the media tried to destroy him and his family and the mother woulda been times when those who run the media should be held to account why because freedom of expression doesn't mean impunity is not just new says it isn't tried in international treaties as well as our own constitution. and i leave those of us. that we are the ones telling the truth like that's what the government says but for the system to work we need media outlets that have no relationship to the government so they can tell us what's really happening and good government needs to be able to take criticism from its citizens their problem is that the reality is very obvious and there is no way to hide it any longer the money that.

we're looking at other media stories that are on our radar this week with one of our producers tarek nuff tarik security services in sudan have been trying to limit coverage of protests that began there last month this past week close to thirty journalists were rounded up all from the same newspaper why would they target the journalists who are working for an outlet called a jedi the which is refused to comply with government censorship the newspaper and others have received almost nightly visits from the security services who harass and dictate what they're allowed to publish geneva has refused to toe the line and it's clearly paying the price the sunday issue of the paper was banned from publication for the third time in a row and more than ten of its editions have been seized since protests began in mid december when its journalists held a sits in outside the headquarters of the national intelligence and security twenty

eight of them including the editor of a chef abdullah these were arrested ok so that's the government trying to control the output of one newspaper what about the online side where censorship can be so much more difficult to enforce so the internet has been thankful to the organization of these protests are brick hashtags like sudan cities revolt have been used to mobilize people then documents and broadcast demonstrations to the world president bush it knows that and he's ordered the internet provider of to block access to proper phones like facebook twitter and what that is very egypt two thousand and eleven the restrictions haven't really what protesters have use virtual private networks the p.m.'s to get around them and videos like this one a security force that's trying to mow down protesters have been shed extensively on mine. oh. moving on so last week

the wall street journal reports that an american conservative activist has been banned from twitter after complaints by some muslim advocacy group but the story turns out to be some kind of hoax yes and a lab or one of the activist laura luma a far right online personality who was suspended from twitter for a slime a phobic comments a pair of internet prank that came up with a plan to see how easy it would be to convince her that shadowy muslim groups were responsible for getting how bad and so they posed to the disgruntled twitter employee and convince women that twitter thi jack dorsey had met with the council on american islamic relations with kat and they had lobbied for her account to be taken down it was a lie but limit lots it up and probably the hoax is wanted to see if she would take the story to an outlet like in for was so they could expose how the right wing media food chain was instead luma went to the wall street journal which published

her account seemingly without any cooperating evidence or proper fact checking bottom line a prank designed to expose the far right media bubble inadvertently revealed from very shoddy journalistic standards and one of the most widely read newspapers in the us ok thanks dark. turning now to had geography the definition of which is a biography that treats its subject with undue reference journalists occasionally serve up obituaries that are reverential the u.s. news media produced a few of them last year first for the former senator and prisoner of war john mccain then for george h.w. bush the country's president from one thousand nine hundred eighty nine to ninety three who died in november bush's obituary suffered from a syndrome that critics call obit omit focusing on attributes and achievements taking up column inches and television airtime while controversial aspects of his record among them alleged war crimes were omitted such obituaries fail news

consumers see enough of them and you'll find that they reveal more about the journalist producing them and the news outlet involved than they do about the deceased the listening posts daniel today now on the white washing of history in real time. when americans watch the news they have a variety of channels to choose from across the political spectrum but in the wake of a political death it can be hard to split the difference he was truly one of a kind on the thirtieth of november two thousand and eighteen george h.w. bush the forty first president of the united states died president bush faced victory and defeat tragedy can triumph with modesty humor and uncommon grace find one a hard one a nice gentleman the want to wall coverage was dominated by tributes that range from the admiring to the sentimental the former president remembered for his sense

of decency his kindness his commitment to others the coverage of. george bush sr it is death really emphasized personal qualities at the expense of policy because lot of folks have been asking what's next for sally. that and even his dog who you know got more coverage than any dog since lassie when as we watched the pictures we wondered aloud is suddenly just as sad as the humans who are missing this man so very much every see did this like you know remarkable report by jenna bush bigger to a grandfather it's my turn to write a love letter. i read one could take it as a sort of like nice family tribute but then why are they employ a good journalist to cover her own family what do you want your legacy to be it has a defective they're deeply to sizing bush and making him you know this kind of like you know generic lovable grandfather you don't really get a sense of you know this man was president he made decisions that literally were

life and death for hundreds of thousands of people who i saw very little coverage of what he did politically they were constantly talking about him being you personable having class decency honor integrity caring about his children his grandchildren and they have a place and talking about their loved ones and him but i think we have a responsibility in the media to go beyond that to have an honest assessment of an absolutely critical period of u.s. history we also have to remember the victims of his policy the thousands of people who died in panama who died in iraq who didn't get a chance to write letters to their grandchildren and their great grandchildren when you look at how the american media covered the george h.w. bush and they reflect the kind of outlook that seems to be under siege that is

a country first at nineteen he became the youngest navy bomber pilot in world war two all the memories of george bush's reaching across party lines the fact that he wasn't a hater all that i think accounts for the fact that the coverage was overwhelmingly if not totally. this morning we remember his life and his tremendous legacy when the eulogy the address bush's record they offered a somewhat starry eyed view of his time in the white house what a great man george h.w. bush was and how he guided america in the world through the ending of the cold war how he unified chairman and the president more controversial aspects of bush's legacy were given short shrift his two years as director of the cia were crossed over as with the invasions he launched as commander in chief against saddam hussein's iraq in one nine hundred ninety one just two hours ago allied air forces began an attack on military targets in iraq in kuwait and in panama to overthrow

manuel noriega at the tate or who had previously been on the cia's payroll for the agency was led by bush his history as the head of the cia in cultivating dictatorships in south and central america and its history in the illegal war against panama should very well have been part of the obituaries the other bush does so the only going to be a little bit of the tone when you're going to consider all i'm used to if i mean the so-called gulf war of one thousand nine hundred ninety one was really a different kind of scandal the united states bombed iraq mercilessly started the process of destroying that country there was a so-called highway of death where the americans just must illicitly killed iraqi troops that were in full scale retreat the use depleted uranium in their bombs and produced generations of young children born with cancer if you don't add that into

the legacy of george h.w. bush i don't know who you're talking about i don't think it's surprising that the the analysis of the go forward was muted i think part of what explains the relative quietness was to contrast. between the iraq war. as george h.w. bush foreign wait and what happened with his son what bush did not do the elder was to pursue that war into baghdad there was a sense of restraint the second thing is that the old latin expression to not speak ill of the dead applies just in general to the media the latin saying there more to it and then anything born or the dead say nothing but good has been part of death to get in the west for centuries but does it make sense as a rule of thumb for journalists when they assess the political legacy. honoring a leader in death often means forgetting those who died as a result of that policy and as with all rules it's one that's american news outlets

often break when it's if you actually like to look at the media as a whole this principle we have to respect the dad is very selectively. could only look at. they've been living under this horrible dictator i don't think he will be missed by anybody the american media was like well you know we have to think of his family and what was he like as a grandfather provocative an unpredictable strongman of venezuela has died there was all of this guy was a human rights abuse was very blunt and so there's definitely they get different standard for american leaders as against sort of foreign leaders especially those outside the western world. the glowing unities the george h.w. bush into not a nostalgia that went beyond patriotism and even beyond bush himself. the repetition of words like decency and bipartisan seemed to be as much about the

rather he was not saying i will build a great great wall president trump's open missile ginny's and a phobia i'm lying have outraged mainstream journalists. and these attacks on news networks have turned the media into an enemy that's enough to put down the mike which trumps serving as a constant point of comparison redemption in the media has never been easier to come by for a former american statesman. whether they're there the longer. i'm so excited how do you hear you as excited as i am to be here yeah yeah the reason why george w. bush looks better to a lot of the press is simply a matter of contrast president bush it's always nice to have you here thanks for joining us in the case of donald trump you have somebody who simply has no concept of what truth or false what is. who violates norms who's a bully who's allowed like a punch him in the face. and so george w.

bush looks better by comparison you cannot compare things like that you have to look at them as well for what they've done and that's exactly what the media doesn't do i mean here is a direct walk criminal the man who has destroyed iraq on in the. house built of lies saddam hussein is a threat to america he's a man who said he wouldn't have weapons of mass destruction yet he has them when he eventually dies they're going to say you know he was a beast and he loved his children he was a bipartisan if they bring the illegal war and it calls into question the american religion that the american government acts benevolently around the world the media very much parents views of those in power sadly journalists are a part of the establishment so much in the united states it's hard right after person die to do an honest real evaluation of their record to speak ill of the dead

but journalism is the first draft of history and it's at those moments that people come to understand their own country and our role in the world and that's why the records of these presidents must be dissected analyzed. the key is not to erase what they've done. one last point on how geography and the politicians who don't even have to die before undergoing their mainstream media make over george w. bush really is the poster boy for that phenomenon a president whose catastrophic decision to go to war in iraq ended up killing and these are conservative estimates hundreds of thousands when he left office in two thousand and eight he looked like he was beyond rehabilitation but ever since the donald trump circus came to washington bush has been benefit. being from some favorable comparisons and getting more and more of the kind of fawning coverage usually reserved for dead presidents we'll leave you now with

a few examples of that and we'll see you next time here at the listening post. yesterday i was president of the united states of america for eight years which is probably enough resume wise but he is also a painter with a new book of stories in our called portraits of courage please welcome the forty third president of the united states george w. bush. i want to ask you this a question that i think is very important me and very important to the country when you were in office and i don't know when the stabber if it happened did you go through the secret files the u.f.o. documents. there's a vice president that be the first thing i did good morning to all of you great to have you here this morning i wish everybody could see how all of you interact when the cameras aren't on because these are true friendships that are among all of you which major job i would think all the harder here you are there portrait test you

have to capture the essence of them first i have to say did you get the portraits right to capture you guys it's a major better looking. people know this but my daughter jenna and your good buddies yes we are and so my attitude is if your good buddy or jenna your good buddy of mine she's a she's a lovely girl thank. god she was on the show and we called you and you answered the phone you actually picked up and talked to us while she was on the yeah and i was actually the president yeah i know.

talking about ivory poachers who have decimated populations of elephants in africa they almost always ship the ivory out of a different country from where it was because that's where you start your search to look in the wrong place this radiocarbon dating method tell us their trade ivory is legal then we have a place we can focus law enforcement on take those out and perhaps the source of the. take no one else is the. explosions over the syrian capital as israel says its targets near damascus syria

says its air defenses shot down most of the missiles. also coming out. syrian troop withdrawal with donald trump and says turkey is ready to take over security in the kurdish town of man beach. somalia says it's planning a major offensive against the u.s. air strikes killed fifty two of the group's flights. in the greek capital tens of thousands protest against the name change deal with macedonia. these are only militaries announced airstrikes on iranian targets in syria a video posted to social media reports to show missiles intercepted near damascus

on sunday israel said it intercepted a rocket fired at the golan heights from syria how a force of reports from southern israel. well in a highly unusual move the israeli military is confirming that strikes have been taking place against targets inside syria as the operation has been going on these removed she is saying that it's striking iranian could forces targets inside syrian territory and it is warning the syrian armed forces against striking against israeli military targets or against israeli territory the syrian state media is saying that its forces have fought in what it calls hostile targets over syrian air space now the immediate background to all this is what took place during the course of sunday there were reports of an israeli strike or strikes in and around damascus again syrian state media saying that it had struck against those strikes as they

came in and then shortly after that there was a report of at least one if not more projectiles being fired from syrian territory towards israeli territory and the reports were that they were ground to ground projectiles surface to surface missiles potentially now that is relatively uncommon what is more common is for syrian anti-aircraft fire to potentially. into towards israeli airspace of yes space over the israeli occupied golan heights and there was speculation that there might well be an israeli response to a potential ground to ground attack the slightly longer look at this in terms of the background is what took place the previous weekend when there was an air strike against targets inside syria on the friday and by the sunday israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu was publicly owning up to that in fact saying that it was a vital military operation and that such efforts may well intensify during that

weekend as well as outgoing military chief of staff got the eyes and caught all but lifting the entire veil of israeli ambiguity on its strikes inside syria over several years now. he was saying that the sabean in a successful operation against iranian targets inside that country and there had been speculation at that time that this lifting of the ambiguity policy may well give the syrians the iranians cause to strike more directly at israel now that israel had owned up exactly and publicly to what it was doing is to in to say whether this is an instance of that but that is the background against which what is going on right now in the early hours of the morning israeli time which appears to be a pretty significant exchange of fire over syrian air space ariel cohen is a senior fellow with the alleged to counsel he says israeli strikes in syria will continue. israel warned for a long time that you will react to the continuous supply of the advanced

iranian weapons specifically smart bombs and missiles to hizbullah the iranian fully own subsidiary in lebanon and despite the fact that israel is as they said hit thousands of targets that process is still continuing. the russians promised israel that they will make sure that the arrangements are moved away from the israeli cities for a line in the golan the russians could not deliver on their promises because if israelis are getting the iranian targets in the damascus airport this is much less than eighty kilometers from the go on and also it means that the russians are not one hundred percent controlling what's going on in lebanon up there is the new chief of staff to hama vivi is just new in the job he is probably changing policies

and they're making very clear that they insist that iran stopped supplying offensive rockets to his ball of the threaten israeli civilians this is all about homeland security of all and defense for israel iran after all is over a thousand kilometers away that theater does not threaten the iranian population it does threaten the israeli population. turkish president richard tire bedouin has spoken by phone with donald trump to discuss the u.s. troop withdrawal from syria the fate of kurdish fighters in syria has strained relations between the two nato allies to one told turkey is ready to take over security in the kurdish controlled syrian town of mandy's according to the turkish government and also told the attack that killed four americans last week was a provocation to influence the u.s.

troop draw an ounce last month taking a closer look at manage the town near the border with turkey is currently protected by a u.s. backed kurdish y p g fighters who turkey considered terrorists with ties to the kurdistan workers' party the p.k. k. in recent weeks the us and turkey have been at odds over u.s. support for the wife p.g. and what will happen in the region after the american pull out last month why p.g. invited syrian president bashar al assad's forces into the area hoping to prevent a turkish assault or some of the reports from gaziantep on the turkish syrian border. this phone call is essentially a continuation of the strategy between these two countries to try and bridge the divide which is being created after the united states decided to pull out its troops and the u.s. president saying words that were welcomed by turkey since then the us president turkish president number of conversations they have also decided that they will be

carrying out joint operations against isis this is also a part of the agreement because it was with agreed upon by the two sides they want to carry out joint patrols they want to carry out. attacks against isis on the turkish side of the border because on the other syrian side deeper into. the united states is operating with kurdish fight to turkey considered a terrorist organization this area in northern syria is a bone of contention between the two countries because the turkish troops want to take charge of that area and the kurdish fighters who are backed by the united states do not want to give. the fighters to the government rather and these kurdish fighters have been inching towards the government in case. which is created when u.s. forces pull out something which is a result that neither turkey or the united states want this is a conversation between these two presidents where the turkish president shortly

united states president that his country is ready to take over security control and he described the recent attack one of the deadliest on u.s. forces there four americans including two u.s. military servicemen were killed as a provocation and an attempt to derail the u.s. pullout from the area. somalia's government says it is planning a major attack. in the next few days the u.s. military said it carried out an airstrike killing fifty two fighters that was launched hours after the group attacked the somali army base still controls large parts of rule southern and central somalia and continues to carry out attacks in the capital mogadishu and in neighboring kenya says twenty seventeen the u.s. military stepped up air raids against the group in somalia carrying out at least forty seven strikes last year al shabaab is fighting to overthrow the

internationally backed government there are reports now a warning you may find some of the images disturbing the destruction caused by u.s. warplanes targeting al shabaab fighters near the port city of kiss my you. hear bodies and you can slice through not a moment to remind us of the intensity of the strikes they killed what the command center for u.s. forces in africa describes as fifty two militants the somali army says the total is higher. we managed to kill at least seventy five militants after they attacked us and many more were injured we are telling people about victory today the airstrikes came hours after flight. three hundred seventy kilometers southwest of the capital mogadishu. somali commanders say six soldiers were killed in the time and two others died when a booby trapped vehicle blew up as the army bottled for hours took up to the base

u.s. military helicopters were sent to help the pentagon has increased the rate of strikes in somalia and recent tease partly because president donald trump was loosened restrictions on when the u.s. military action against what are described as terrorist targets the number of u.s. forces in somalia increased in the past to use us about fighters who are linked to al qaida retain a strong presence in parts of southern and central somalia they also regularly at talk targets in neighboring kenya after it's and troops to somalia as part of an african union peacekeeping force al-shabaab says it was behind tuesday's hotel a tuck in nairobi we have four gunmen on a suicide bomber killed twenty one people five suspects appeared in court on friday in connection with the toc police say all but one of the five gunmen who carried out the takaka and something that is raising the threat of homegrown terrorism

mohammed all the while jazeera nairobi still ahead when we come back a worsening shortage of fuel in gaza and how it's affecting the health care providers there. hello the snow is about to finish in afghanistan that you can see the massive white cloud it's drifting snow north is taking its snow with it the bottom half to tell ha thought was the one that brought the sense of across the arabian peninsula to some decent rain in pakistan is heading to northern india as well to the west so that there is more cloud it's probably just cloud which by monday was sweeping across iraq any precipitation for rain is in turkey and snow in the high ground of turkey which i think will make progress still in the high ground turkey moving eastwards well through monday night and by choose dates probably gone so the couple

of fine looking days the levant syria iraq and areas such as beirut up to about seventeen degrees so it's slightly warmer as well still cold at night there fairly obviously the temperatures are slowly or.