this is al jazeera. hello and welcome to the news hour i'm peter dalby as our global headquarters here in doha coming up continuing coverage of reaction to the assassination of the top iranian commander major general kasim money. his reign of terror is over. donald trump says he acted to stop a war with iran not start one by ordering the airstrike that killed so the money. iran's supreme leader has delivered his condolences to sit in on his family and warned severe revenge awaits those responsible. while iraq's prime minister

fears the fuse of a destructive war has now been leaked. also ahead yet another state of emergency declared in southeastern australia but catastrophic bush fire conditions are back. u.s. president donald trump says his forces acted to stop a war with iran not start one by assassinating major general kassim so the money he added that the u.s. is prepared for any reprisals so the money lead iran's early could forces died in an air strike in baghdad alongside a commander of iraq's popular mobilisation forces the recent attacks on u.s. targets in iraq it looting rocket strikes that killed an american and injured 4 american servicemen very badly. as well as a violent assault on our embassy in baghdad were carried out at the direction of

selami so many made the death of innocent people his sick passion contributing to tears plots as far away as new delhi in london today we remember and honor the victims of solemn a nice many atrocities and we take comfort in knowing that his reign of terror is over solemn a he has been perpetrating acts of terror to destabilize the middle east for the last 20 years what the united states did yesterday should have been done long ago a lot of lives would have been saved just recently solemn 80 led the brutal repression of protesters in iran where more than a 1000 innocent civilians were tortured and killed by their own government we took action last night to stop

a war we did not take action to start a war. earlier iran's supreme leader ayatollah ali khamenei warned of quote severe revenge for in his words the criminals responsible for so the money's killing iranians protested after friday prayers chanting death to america iraq's prime minister says the assassination will quote lights the fuse of a destructive war and as other leaders around the world express concern and condemnation the u.s. has halted all of its people to leave iraq immediately and its military personnel have been put on high alert we begin our coverage now with simona fulton's report from baghdad. heart break in the upper ranks of the iranian military at the official announcement of the death of major general kasim so in money the commander of iran's quds force the revolutionary guard unit responsible for foreign operations so the money was killed in a u.s. drone strike in baghdad. and

a spontaneous outbreak of joy in iraqi cities over the passing of a man many see as the embodiment of iran's meddling here i sure wish i didn't have to listen to me i feel happy about killing solo money the reason is because of his foreign interference in iraq would you accept that our intervening in all the families issues everything has been trees. in the early hours of friday morning shortly after arriving at baghdad international airport a u.s. strike targeted a convoy of silly money and his close ally hondas the deputy head of the iraqi popular mobilization forces an iranian backed part military group other members of the group were also killed for iran's supreme leader ayatollah ali common a stolen money was a trusted confidant a member of his inner circle and he warned there will be revenge the cruelest people on earth assassinated the honorable commander who courageously fought for years against the evils and bandis of the world sulaimani is martyrdom well make

iran more decisive to resist america's expansionism and to defend our values with no doubt iran and other freedom seeking countries in the region will take his revenge. while there is talk of revenge many iranians don't want to see war hero with us support and it will definitely increase violence but i fundamentally disagree with violence and conflict i believe people moving toward peace in negotiation to reach the goals is much better soleimani enjoyed some support when he led the charge to displace eisel from iraq a strong. holds but many iraqis now blame iran for instability and interference in their country and soleimani directly for a violent crackdown on anti-government protests which began in october the us assassinations are the most extreme escalation in tensions between to head on in washington in recent years and many in baghdad fear it will continue to play out on

iraqi soil and if in any state that has she always syria and we condemn this it's unacceptable for something like this to be happening in our country it's a tween america and iran and in the end we will be hurt our situation is already not stable many iraqis oppose iranian and american interventions alike. earlier this week mohandas himself let a crowd of popular mobilization forces supporters as they attacked and besieged the u.s. embassy in baghdad he walked alongside. another senior military leader of the pro iran group who has now called on his followers to take up arms against the american presence iraq's caretaker prime minister abdullah abdullah the to condemn the u.s. strike as a violation of iraq's sovereignty and the rules of engagement of the american presence here he called the death of mohandas an aggression against the iraqi state . parliament is due to hold an emergency session on sunday but analysts say the

government beleaguered and divided after 3 months of anti-government protests will struggle to mount a decisive response iraqi government is very weak for the time being there will be no more statements coming out of the. caretaker prime minister or from the ministry of foreign affairs other than that i don't expect anything from the iraqi government but probably the iraqi parliament will. call for an immediate session and do will discuss the current. americans in iraq agreement and probably they will ask for the department of the american forces from iraq. whether their response to u.s. presence in iraq will be political or military the assassinations have put an end to a precarious balance of power that had dust far accommodated both u.s. and iranian interests in iraq the iraqi capital already a battleground for tensions between the u.s.

and iran is bracing itself for the aftermath of the biggest escalation yet with both u.s. and iranian backed troops on the ground the country risks being caught in the middle of a military fallout between washington and tehran similar 14 al-jazeera but that. ok 22 hours since eliminate lost his life along with several other people following on from a strike and according to the right says news agency airstrikes targeting iraqi militia or an iraqi militia convoy have been going on in the past hour or so perhaps north of baghdad 6 people have been killed that's the reuters news agency quoting an iraqi army source as strikes have been targeting an iraqi militia convoy north of the capital city back that how far north we don't know how many vehicles involved in the convoy we don't know was the airstrike a military strike or a drone strike perhaps we don't know but that is one report according to the

reuters news agency more on that for you just as soon as we can well in the united states reaction to silly money as assassination is split between the major political parties donald trump's republicans are praising his actions while democrats are questioning why the president did not consult congress before approving the strike heidi jocasta reports from washington. president donald trump try to justify his decision to order the killing of iranian revolutionary guard commander qassam sulaimani by claiming to the money had been planning eminent and sinister attacks on americans in the region we took action last night to stop a war the us president said sulaimani was responsible for the deaths of thousands 'd of american service people over 2 decades salim 80 has been perpetrating acts of terror to destabilize the middle east for the last 20 years what the united states did yesterday should have been done long ago trumps republican allies in congress

agreed or to law this evil man operated without them strike and countless and often have suffered for now his terrorist leadership. i was going to democrats say trump ordered the drone strike that also killed the leader of tehran back iraqi militia groups without consulting congress and warned of serious consequences this is the equivalent of the iranians assassinating the u.s. secretary of defense i do not believe the administration has gamed out. how very badly this could go for the us and our interests this action may well have brought our nation closer to another endless war exactly the kind of endless war the president promised he would not drag us into. iran has promised

retaliation the u.s. state department issued a security alert urging all american citizens to leave iraq immediately despite the secretary of state's claims on u.s. media that americans in the region are now safer after sulaimani his demise while no one is accusing president trump of ordering friday's drone strike for political purposes and does overshadow all political headlines in the u.s. including trump's impending impeachment trial the u.s. senate was to begin this new year by taking on that as their 1st order of business and instead senators are preparing for briefings on the u.s. military strike and whatever response it may bring heidi joe castro al-jazeera washington. and the u.s. president donald trump has been rallying his evangelical christian supporters at an event in miami in florida and the guy is there and the preaching to the converted clearly what's he been saying. well he's really been talking about the things that

evangelicals 10 more about than anything else and not a speck of ocean rights gun control of the right to own a gun as a rights of christians he's really treating as he said to the converted and this is the beginning of presidential. coalition you know all these on jellicoe if he wants to focus on particularly black and hispanic voters in a fall from a very short mention about what happened on friday the drone strike this is going about so make no mistake the presidential race now would fall down pain mode it's important to remember that evangelicals have voted 80. a center for presidential back in 2016 in fact the president is just wrapping up as i speak right now but this is as if the drone strike on friday never really happened we spoke to a few people here they are wholeheartedly behind the president and everything that he does in fact one man completely unprompted came up to me i put his hands on my

shoulder and said donald trump is the president we need and when he was talking a little earlier about the events in the iraqi capital he did clearly stick very closely to what was on the problem so what was on the script and he didn't take questions afterwards. that's true that the tone of what he said here at the very beginning at the speech was almost exactly as it was when he left mar-a lago kind of a subdued tone but he did say to the crowd here we got him which we which made lots of people applaud but that was really only said on that particular subject he then moved on very quickly to the things that evangelicals really care passionately about about supremes court judges didn't lower court judges and all the things that he's achieved over the past couple of years this is a concerted effort on behalf of the president to solidify or to concrete the evangelical support going into an all important presidential election later on this

year and he thanks very much u.s. president there being sung off the stage to you can't always get what you want but you do get what you need to get correspondent there in florida u.n. chief antonio ted has to live out his initial reactions to a spokesman who tweeted secretary general antonio terrace has consistently advocated for deescalation in the gulf he is deeply concerned with the recent escalation this is a moment in which leaders must exercise maximum restraint the world can also afford another war in the gulf. well that statement was not well received by agnes kalama who reports to the u.n. on extrajudicial executions on twitter she said there is no more pressing time for the un and its leadership to step up the now but this statement does not bode well you have the legal tools and the platform please use them and she included the hash tag world war 3. joins us now from las vegas i guess welcome to the news of

the un's got the tools what do you want them to do with those tools. look as you have well reported since yesterday the situation is extremely serious an extremely grave international law may not be the response. political will is required to move forward but the secretary general has a few tools at his disposal as a 1st and important 20 that you should involve article 999 of the un charter which would allow for the issue to become a priority on the edge and of the security council as well as a on the agenda of the genuine assembly. in my view of the 1st important step should be full of the secretary general to initiate an in-depth inquiry not just on the targeted killing of jenny or sue him and

me yesterday but on a blog called take send on the evidence that preceded the they are clearly a branch of grievances and this coalition into a conflict that must be taken into account for any kind of inquiry a conclusion to have some impact on the current situation i think importantly iraq would stary terry was indeed in my opinion by elites it buys a strike but also by by all their actions before including on. the rain and the. iranian government themselves iraq crude make a specific request to use a secretary janeiro for. an inquiry to be a stablished very quickly so that the fact can be assessed under international law

as yesterday's tragedy is extremely complex and raises very. difficult questions which demand in-depth reflection and we ought to be careful not to exacerbate and the tension by suggesting. you know putting forward in the fast judgment on on the these ships in the past 2 hours we've had the u.s. president giving a pre-prepared statement about the circumstances in the run up in the run up to the decision taken to kill saloon money is there any way that donald trump stands which seems to be he had planned sort of money had plans meets any kind of international legal test by way of justification. i mean the statement itself by donor trunk will never be sufficient to justify the attacks it

does not to mean that the united states do not have sushi shunt events to back up when the deed but the international demand international relief gold justification for the killings are very high because it's not only a question of whether. the us acted unlawfully in central defense which is questionable. it is not only a question of whether there was an international armed conflict and that's so huge issue here you know nobody wants to address it directly but these seas are very much at the heart of the of the conversation are you going to deliver it just to interrupt you there are you going to deliver an awkward message to antonio terrace on this which the u.n. secretary general may not want to hear it occurs to me that what you're actually saying is that the death of so the money and people in his entourage was retaliates

sorry not anticipate saree and that's perhaps something that your boss at the un will not want to hear. well look the statement that we're called i did yesterday and the fact as we knew them seemed to indicate treaty the statement quote i did today by the president this afternoon seems to be empty kitching and t.c. patrie self defense. which is there was imminent threats even though the plans for can get to the action so get the united states i am not in a position to reach an exclusion as to whether or not this is. a justified under international law as in full mission is far to lead this is why i am suggesting that we need an international inquiry in order to get into the details but it's let me and seized upon one more fact it's not only whether self-defense

he's justified because there are also bodies over laws that must be a met by and by as he said jack and international human rights he steal an important body of law and and assists the solo it too is doubtful in my view doubtful that suliman will as. that is killing or was there no food and going to national human rights and he even will doubt that the all the people in his own to ash and people around the car that we're also killed it's extremely doubtful that those killings aware where under international human rights law and it's not because self-defense applies that international human rights does not apply and it's not because international humanitarian law that international human

rights are we not apply so you know this is a complex legal research you hear and we must and ceased on all. by you boys to be take turning to return and that's why i think the secretary jenny or i as a tool to weezer whole grain based edition but not only not only on their own what happened last night but i think to be to iran the impact to d.s. kelly and the inquiry most people don't and that 10 must be taken into account what happened before yesterday's trite ok i was kind of out there in las vegas good song was kind about thank you very much thank you it. was more still to come on the assassination of. this news up of the now we're going to have a look at other top stories for you around the world australian firefighters say

more homes will burn down on saturday but they'll be happy if they can stop any more lives being lost they're dealing with yet more catastrophic conditions in the state of new south wales where another emergency has been declared and also in the state of a torah live now to jessica washington who's in batemans bay on the new south wales south coast jessica over to you. you know this area has already been here is incredibly hard by this bushfire season i mean batemans bay in new south wales and i'm joined now by captain in 8 ken who is coordinating efforts from headquarters here in tell me about the the conditions that crews a facing today on the ground at the moment it's the temperatures increasing will probably get to somewhere between 35 and 40 degrees today. the thrilled if you mean he's coming to get dropped so using version. starts to rise see the conditions will

get quite dangerous. probably more to the south of us is going to be more affected most of the area to the north of us is fairly well but now so we're going to be we still got some pockets where we were quite concerned about in our area and we're trying to keep. as can time and catch and how dangerous are things on the ground for currys extremely dangerous this is extremely dry and here the winds can be quite violent and they have fought behaviors very very volatile captain thank you so peter as you can imagine it's an incredibly tense situation incredibly dangerous for crews on the ground being advised to be on high alert to leave the area if possible but it's that combination of extreme hate strong winds and low humidity making things incredibly dangerous for this area in new south wales as it got to the stage jessica was difficult for the relevant authorities to rotate people into the firefighting operation because some of those times some of those communities

they don't have a big fire departments are presumably people are coming in from well outside the region that is the case but the other thing to bear in mind is that these a small communities and they are all working together on this firefighting effort but some communities have been hit so hard we know of one not too far from here in the community of mogo where the headquarters actually burnt down in a fire just a few days ago so these are the conditions that crews are facing but the communities all coming together the tight knit communities everyone is working together alongside with the firefighting crews to try and resolve this crisis jessica ok jessica thank you very much. the libyan warlord holly for after his vice is now against a foreign occupier after turkey's parliament agreed to send troops to libya after us forces of laid siege to the capital tripoli since april libya's u.n.

recognized government asked turkey's president wretch up harbored one for support the e.u. the us and arab league all expressing concern about the turkish decision. lots more still to come for you here on the news hour including we'll have more on the assassination of kassam cinema with an in-depth look at his role in spreading iran's influence across the middle east. $100.00 babies dead in one month we look at the reasons behind the unusually high child mortality rate at a public hospital in india plus we've got the most toxic air in the world well it's pretty sad. here just. for. australia sports stars play on with victims of the bushfires in mind.

however the rain has been falling steadily and quite heavily in the east southeast and states of the u.s. district here here's what's bringing that rain is moving east has now or should be the daylight hours on saturday will see just drifting slowly or should still there in florida but this left places to the west so any potential flooding at least the potential has gone is cold and sunny for most other states not particularly cold at minus 3 is a high of minneapolis minus 5 when you pick from much colder not a month ago on the pacific coast latest storm system is winding down towards california it's not particularly cold 8 degrees in seattle 40 in sun for san francisco but it could be better however look at the sunshine elsewhere not a bad bit of january that. moved on to was a caribbean and apart from a few showers we've not got much going on here there is cloud not cloud indicates those showers and it's that obvious streak where you saw that just not just

a frontal system which doris' our physical stance for the yucatan but it's total and it could produce some pretty big sunder storms and clearly an obvious shore breeze out of the gulf of mexico or mexican coast and even come sunday those showers and thunderstorms are still in mexico or guatemala. the un published the most comprehensive study of life on. they found 1000000 species face extinction that's more than 12 percent of known life on. while on track to destroy the much oil infrastructure on which our world had the report identifies the 5 main drivers of this big logical crisis 1st the way we use and abuse our politics resources 75 percent of the land and 2 bags of marine environment have been severely altered by human activity exploitation of species

through over fishing and hunting climate change caused by our greenhouse gas emissions. pollution and finally the have it creaked on local ecosystems by invasive species. reports both to say the decline can be slowed even stopped in some cases but to do that we must transform our relationship with. root. to move. you're watching al-jazeera this is the news our own peter dhabi the top story so far u.s. president donald trump today saying he ordered the killing of the iranian military commander customs for the money to stop a war not to start one he says so the man he was planning imminent attacks on

american diplomats and military personnel. iran's supreme leader ayatollah ali khamenei has vowed quote harsh revenge over the killing of somalia and iraq's prime minister has warned that the act will lights the fuse of a destructive war. and we have breaking developments right now coming to us out of iraq the state television channel there is reporting that new u.s. air strikes of targeted the commander of iran backed iraqi paramilitary group or groups the attack happened near a camp in taji that's just north of baghdad that story still developing we're still working information on that one for you will get more on that just as soon as we can. on hearing the news about customs the money's death the israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu cut short a trip to greece speaking in athens he applauded donald trump's decision to approve the deadly air strike. just as israel has the right of self-defense. you know this

is exactly the same right doesn't feel the money is responsible for the deaths of american citizens and many other innocent people he was planning more for took our president broke deserves all the credit for acting swiftly forcefully decisively israel stands with the united states and is just struggle for peace security and self-defense argument well under customs the money's leadership iran's could force has been instrumental in building a network of proxy armed groups across the middle east the string of non-state alliances began with hezbollah in lebanon after the overthrow of saddam hussein iran was able to become a dominant force in iraq or it untrained the paramilitary groups who made up the popular mobilization units iran's provided significant support for syria during its civil war that includes training and intelligence services iran's influence extends to the southern tip of the arabian peninsula where it's accused of backing the who thing is in the war in yemen iran's foreign minister says america's actions hurt

the entire region and appropriate retaliation is imminent. me in happened on the islamic republic of iran holds the right to respond any time and in any manner and it will we will not be involved in america's smear campaigns and their blackmailing we will give a proper response in any manner in time we will as stated by the supreme leader. well from tehran those are jabari explains the significance of custom ceremony and the impact of his loss to iran. in his hometown of cam on in central iran thousands gathered to say goodbye to a man many saw as more than just the head of iran's elite courts force. major general hossam soleimani came into the role more than 20 years ago and had been one of the masterminds of iran's military strategy in the region. whatever anyone else thought about so they money. he was revered and admired by many in the islamic

republic to give us a look like soon as. i heard it on the radio in the taxi this morning i was waiting for the names of those killed when i heard general salim money's name i said oh god he was martyred on with us the former. because. unfortunately it's clear that wherever the u.s. enters it is after domination for its own interests general saloon money was one who stood up gravely especially fighting eisel doesn't motivate you to do or. he was a key figure 100 percent they were targeting him they knew where he was surely a role would leave it on on sort of will do something silly money rarely spoken public but gave this interview in october saying iran's revolutionary guard had expanded what he called islamic resistance to half a 1000000 square kilometers connecting iran through iraq and syria to lebanon the courts force runs iran's foreign military and clandestine operations so they money

delegated iranian diplomats to meet u.s. officials after the $911.00 attacks and they brutally worked together against the taliban but that relationship didn't last long. the u.s. and iran's pirate is aligned once again in the fight against eisel but then evolved beyond the battlefield in april last year the u.s. designated iran's islamic revolutionary guards corps as a terrorist organization but so in many had the full support of his government the supreme leader ayatollah ali khamenei awarded him iran's highest military honor last year muslims all the money had survived many attempts on his life both here in iran and abroad and now his death will likely embolden the groups who support it as iranians mark 3 days of national mourning many here are looking to see what will happen next. al-jazeera tehran. ok let's get more all not aspects of the story that's developing as we speak pretty much in real time precious strikes in iraq north of baghdad al jazeera saw

a silent binge of aid is on the phone in the iraqi capital sama hi there what else do we know peaches who probably heard from your. sources in the popular mobilization forces is that there has been a strike on the road north of baghdad. ruchir coalition pacifically the. non u.s. forces base this is the this is the base that is home to. him and other coalition members. in action leaving there are basically. 3 crew. on that. block who were. killed but there's ready a lot of speculation that the men are. faction are probably a rogue force one of the militia come out. the record of. course were killed

but we're still waiting to get more information as it is just over 2 in the morning there in baghdad the creation of. the people of. osama ok we'll talk very soon i'm sure and meantime thank you ok let's bring in michael preachments he's a fellow at the hudson institute and formally a u.s. intelligence officer and an advisor to iraqi security forces he joins us of washington michael preachin when you were listening to what donald trump was saying because of the justification and telling us the back story is the decision making process is unfolding what were you thinking. well we already we were seeing that intelligence before on different the planning stages of attacks against americans. based on what the president said he also laid out some more warnings for the supreme leader and for asylum on his militias the remaining iraq and that is

that we're going to conduct more strikes if provoked and we're seeing that some nights with the leaders of khatami mom ali being attacked and killed are you sure will and the another leader with what are called new job offer that means that other leaders like our chroma kabhie his cazaly idea lamarre are all wondering if their next and that's the message that i heard from the president today when he was speaking ok are you talking just to be clear and briefly michael preachin to you talking about what's happening right now in real time as you and i having this conversation on this road north of baghdad or is that something else that you're discussing no i'm talking about real time right now what happened south of taji ok it's ok we will drill down into that as and when we know the facts and the speculation as as as and when that becomes more separate we have been talking to agnes kalama she is the united nation's highest most powerful lawyer in effect

she doing a sizably long interview on this channel on this program she told me there is no way that the assassination of kassam so the money is legal right. it's it's legal from a u.s. perspective because customs all the money was designated as a terrorist a foreign terrorist organization secrets force that makes him targetable. and any time a terrorist general is in iraq threatening american forces have after having a law to kill an american is a target and yesterday because i'm still a mommy along with the leader of a dozen a terrorist group the top is will law were killed in a drone strike in ited states conducted a legal drone strike against qassam solo monny and i will meet in $100.00 because they were doesn't it are terrorists just like baghdad is it doesn't need a terrorist czar car was a dozen of the terrorist

a 1000100 is in the same category and general qassam solomonic was in the same category ok even if you're right and even if i accept what you say is legally correct nationally in the united states and when it pertains to u.s. citizens operating in the theater of a conflict such as iraq collateral damage other people died that therefore has an aspect of criminal liability to it. there the criminal liability it should actually be custom solomonic directing his militias in iraq to kill unarmed protesters in tahrir square i would like to see this un attorney look at the legality of a major general telling prime minister of double murder to sit in that chair over there all i take over a meeting to tell your military and my militia leaders how to turn off the internet and kill innocent civilians in tahrir square that's one major general custom so the

money did in october my god please illegal that's a terrorist offense do you accept sort of i don't think it's who i am if you're going to ask me on this show no that's fine that's why you're here good to talk to you do you accept however there is something of a disconnect here and the disconnect is this 48 hours ago 56 hours ago a week ago 2 weeks ago the trump line was i'm here to keep americans around the world pertaining to the specifically americans in iraq safe your country then assassinates somebody who's on a par with your defense secretary on the sovereign territory of that dead person's quotes ally if you will and now today your state department tells all americans in iraq you've got to get out and get out immediately direct quote immediately so how does killing still the money make or keep americans safe in iraq. ok so so let's let's clarify some of that language the americans that we're talking about

or americans that are not part of the military and not part of the state department's mission we're talking about entrepreneurs' we're talking about people that are doing business in iraq there's a kidnapping threat and that's something custom so the money is very good at what's another reason customs all the money was doesn't it a terrorist i remember it was custom sell the money the directed case because ali kidnapped 5 americans from karbala in 2007 kidnap him bring him back to tehran in order to trade them for 4 captured are just a could force operatives because they were killing iraqis intimidating politicians and killing americans so the language is is this the president said we're willing to talk to tehran but if you cross this red line this red line was communicated to tehran if you kill an american we're going to do something about it the all mohandas killed an american at the k. one base when his militia could topple law launched a sellable of 30 rockets at an iraqi base in iraq

a sovereign country. hurting iraqi soldiers in adal the mehdi under immense pressure from customs all the money and sort of condemning that terrorist organization without visible law you condemn the united states for defending itself and attacking a base way on the border and all the kayyem were the target of a lot has no business other than sending a recipe just going to interrupt as you say it was ok that's enough that that's a journal of record we get of course we do we appreciate the clarity on that i'm going to stop you there because this argument that is basically what's about ism displays or betrays a lack of nuance not from you but perhaps arguably on the part of the trumpet ministration it's not a binary issue it's got to be more nuanced than that especially if you accept that perhaps the trumpet ministration doesn't understand that the nature of the person who you've killed this man wasn't on a mission he was the mission. yeah he's the the one

guy if you want iraq to be free of iran's malign influence if you want baghdad to have a chance this is the guy you had to target some sort of money you also had to target the most powerful man in custom solo money isn't in iraq and that's hundreds these are the men that iraqi politicians told us government officials and privates we can do what you want to do but we can't because customs full of money and i will media will and us won't let us i've had iraqi politicians tell me i have to shake the hand of this because if i don't i can be disappeared we're going to talk about who these guys are regardless of how trump says something or does something there's a strategy that's in place a strategy that's that's that's solid within the intelligence community and that's a security council state department and department of defense trump is the messenger but the strategy is at that level and it's sound this is the person they

gave iraq back it's freedom if you look at the protesters in tahrir square cheering if you look at all the handshakes and smiles i've received today from iraq ease because customs so money and mohandas is dead and now with the disease reports we haven't verified yet that we talked about earlier with haji ship will be and with hoda kotb being targeted iraqis are happy about iran's hold of iraq is being addressed by a president that may not say it the right way but the strategy is in place ok always a pleasure to get your insight your take thanks for having these going to global events michael pietsch and thank you so much. well the attack in baghdad is a dramatic escalation of the crisis between the u.s. and iran let's look at the timeline of events last friday a rocket attack struck an iraqi military base killing an american contractor the u.s. blamed a pro iranian group called the hezbollah brigades 2 days later the u.s.

launched air strikes against the group's military outpost in iraq in syria killing 27 fighters iran backed paramilitary groups in iraq then stormed the u.s. embassy compound in baghdad leading to a 48 hour siege gabriel is on the joins us live now from washington clearly there won't be any reaction yet from the sources there that we usually talk to piece of the donald trump and what he's been saying what your reading of what he's been talking about in the past 2 hours or so. yeah trump is basically was speaking to some evangelical groups just within the last hour or so and he didn't say a whole lot new quite frankly he only spoke for just a very brief couple minutes about the strike and just reaffirmed what he had said previously we did hear from trump's national security adviser robert o'brien who did brief reporters on a phone call and he said that the american military had been tracking sort of money

and that so money arrived in baghdad from damascus when he was pressed on that information he said he simply would not reveal anything more other than that the u.s. had intelligence that sewin money was planning an attack against u.s. interests or u.s. persons and diplomats as we've been hearing throughout the day but this really goes to the question of there are a lot of questions only from journalists from lawmakers as well wanting to know exactly what was the intelligence and what was the supposedly imminent threat that caused administration to take this action that they did and what's hanging over all of this peter is the 2003 war in iraq because as we all know we don't need to go through the history of that but as we all know that was a u.s. invasion into iraq that was based on a false premise of weapons of mass destruction not getting into all that that looms very large here in washington and around the world quite frankly and it still does

and i think that's why you're seeing not only journalists of course like us but also lawmakers really trying to pin down this administration on what was the evidence what is it and what was the imminent threat so far the administration has given little hints but not gone in to great detail on that and what can we make of this troop deployment gabriel. in short the pentagon is worried clearly they're sending the. 18th airborne division one of the one of this most seasoned hardened u.s. army battalions that are deploying out of fort bragg north carolina it gives you a sense that the pentagon and the administration does not know what's coming next from iran while there are many many thousands quite frankly of american military assets already in the region bahrain qatar kuwait just to name a few it's clear that they feel they need more troops there to respond to what

could be coming up next thanks very much ok let's wrap up some of the top stories from around the world for you a shortage of medical equipment at a public hospital in the indian state of russia start as being blamed for the deaths of nearly $1000.00 infants last year and investigation was launched after the death of $100.00 babies last month alone it also revealed hygiene conditions at the hospital was so cool that pigs were living inside the compound. is in call to the hospital where the infant deaths occurred. this mother has just heard of the news of the death of an infant her daughter was just 15 days old but doctors have not yet told her the reason of her baby's death now there are many such families just in the month of december in this hospital in dr hassan in india a 100 infants died and even though the local government has ordered

a quick cleaning operation the hospital is still pretty dirty you can look at that pile of garbage it's just been covered in front of our eyes have a look at this window this is right outside the maternity ward there is that garbage bin we've seen women cleaning the floors still pretty dirty and that garbage bin. very close to where the intensive care units of the ailing infants is now the hospital authorities say that this infants are dying because they already come in a very severe state they're suffering from septicemia pneumonia and to have low birth weight botched commission for child rights protection their officials are also coming and they say that they have with their own eyes to see pigs roaming around they've seen that this number of caregivers are far fewer than those who need care and that life sustaining equipment the ventilators have not been

functioning many of them if not all according to the report. ventilator in this hospital meant for infants are not currently functional now earlier today we saw a truck full of garbage leaving the premises of the hospital but the local government insists that the rate of infant deaths in the state over the years is going down and not increasing. an outbreak of pneumonia is causing alarm in china 44 people have been diagnosed in cases linked to a food markets in the central chinese city of one hand all are being treated in isolation and a further 121 on our observation the outbreak memories of the sars epidemic back in 2002 spain's electoral board has ordered the removal of the president of catalonia as regional government court had already banned joking torah from public office for 18 months he was convicted of failing to remove separatist banners from public buildings during an election 9 catalan leaders have been jailed for their role in

a failed secession bid in 2017 french police have shot dead a knife wielding man after he killed one person and wounded 2 others in southern paris officers say he lunged randomly at several other people in a park they managed to run away the suspect was killed after fleeing to a neighboring suburb he didn't have a serious criminal record but had received psychiatric treatment in the past. the sports news is next one of ac milan's favorite songs returns and makes an immediate impact peter will tell you more.

it's time for sports has peter. thank you very much victims of australia's bushfires have been on the minds of top tennis players at the new a.t.p. cup tournament taking place in that country the crisis has seen several stars pledge to donate to relief efforts among them the curiosity said he would give $200.00 australian dollars for every ace he hit 20 of them against young men it's true for on friday in a straight sets win a straight one tie against germany 3 nil in brisbane. how to really care about the prized you know i just think you know we've got the ability in the platform to do something like that obviously you know and camber we've got the most toxic air in the world well it's pretty sad. so it's just. thought. hard by the time we all feel like. and the tournament organizers have apologized to

the moldovan team after they played the romanian and from by mistake before they match with belgium. south africa's bowlers had the better of the opening day of the 2nd test against england in cape town the tourists closed on 262 for 9 after choosing to bet on the pope with an unbeaten half century for the tourists the prestigious jack already raves interaction in the middle east for the 1st time on sunday saudi arabia hosts the 42nd edition of the race after 11 years in south america the defending dacor champion is cutters nothing. he spoke to someone about the systolic moment. this is a really. big step you know for the motor sport in the middle east and to have one of the best. race in the motor sport you know and the difficult race you know to have it here in saudi arabia what does it mean for you to defend the title so

close to home and to be the 1st one to win it in the middle east. to defend the title it's not easy because. we need to prepare a lot you know but this year we. all the race will which we compete you know on. our level really very very strong you know we need to understand you know. it's. 12000 kilometer it's not one day out 2 days out 3 days you know it's a 12 days did you have 2nd thoughts about taking part in the rally because of the blockade imposed on qatar by saudi arabia. the politics side you know it's between 2 country it's it's a little. bad situation you know but ok from sports side.

this year if we see. the team of saudi as was competing here in qatar and also the team of. these was competing in saudi you know from a sports side i think it's everything. going very very well in this edition we'll see a new terrain for the drivers what talent does does it pose for all of them we know ducker is a difficult difficult race it's. not easy but we we love you know the. that french are you know how confident are you. winning the race and who do you think will be your biggest challenge where we have a strong confidence i don't have any problem you know we need to respect all the drivers you know if. there is.

also some other drivers. yeah there is. a few names but. i'm the best swedish striker's latin abraham of which are scored his 1st goal in ac milan colors since 2012 ybor him of each scored $28.00 goals in $32.00 games in his last season but the club will be hoping for something similar this time around considering they are 11th in surrey are in the early signs are good the 38 year old helping themselves to a goal and in $90.00 friendly win the rodin say. the miami heat to have got back to winning ways in the n.b.a. after their shock loss to washington earlier in the week the heat were up against the toronto raptors on thursday with a great defensive performance a bio blocked very tamed and then we played 15 points and 14 rebounds of his own in the 8476. heat extending the home record to lead 16 wins and

won. and in the western conference oklahoma city thunder made it 4 wins in a row shea jol just salad xander the store man with 25 points in the victory over senator on your spirit in texas on tuesday night the fun take of this 110-9103. bears it's a comeback. and that's all the sport we have for you for now stay tuned for more again later. lots more news for you as always on the web sites the address as ever you know i know al-jazeera dot com you can get the latest on donald trump's comments on the all the tsunami in the iraqi capital baghdad for us in the midst of world news when we come back on the other side of the break syria.

january on al-jazeera president only trump is that that president in history to be impeached what does this mean for the future of the u.s. leader on the brink of an election before much chilian presidential candidate explores the defeat of left wing political parties a close watch in america a look at how this year's world economic forum to focus on ways to tackle the impact of climate change an expropriation a family links to the sillies regime examines if it's early may now be embracing fascist ideologies most believed gone forever with the general election out of the way breaks it is now certain how moving you can proceed with the transition in the

coming months january on al-jazeera. millions of workers a big in slaved in the british jones of india one i want to waste explores how satellite technology is now helping to set them free on al-jazeera. capturing a moment in time. snapshots of other lives. other stories. providing the clips into someone else's work out the. do the 4. inspiring documentaries from impassioned filmmakers. witness on al-jazeera there are some of the media stories a critical look at the global news media spread across or on al-jazeera government

shut off access to social media. his reign of terror is over donald trump says he acted to stop a war with iran not start one by ordering the airstrike that killed top iranian general custom so the money. iran's supreme leader delivers his condolences to sort of mani's family and warns severe revenge awaits those responsible. well again i'm piece it over you're watching al-jazeera live from doha also coming up yet another state of emerged.