this is an amalgam of dover the book of course this complete you just want the money europe's forbidden colony episode one on al-jazeera. the on. the u.s. defense secretary denies reports that he is pulling troops out of iraq following a vote in the country's parliament calling for withdrawal meanwhile tears from iran's most powerful leaders as crowds packed the streets of tehran for the funeral of assassinated come under some sort of money. maryanne demasi nandan the watching al-jazeera also coming home forces loyal to the libyan warlord belief i have to say they've seized part of their strategically important city of sirte and the war of red facing firefighters as they try to

tackle the blazes in australia from the. u.s. defense secretary says there has been no decision whatsoever to pull american troops out of iraq it comes after a letter appeared in iraq he needed stating that forces would be repositioning in deference to iraqi sovereignty pentagon officials say it was badly worded and came to light as an era that follows the assassination of the iranian military commander money and a u.s. airstrike in iraq's call for foreign troops to leave that country well john hendren joins us live from washington's appears to be a lot of confusion there pop song clarity from the pentagon it does raises some serious questions about how something like this can happen. it does absolutely we

seem to have one message on the ground and another message here in the u.s. at the pentagon and there's a good reason for that if you talk to people at the pentagon as we did if you look at the bottom of this letter you'll notice that it is not signed at the pentagon we are told that this was a draft this was an incomplete draft and officials at the pentagon call it a poorly worded draft that comes straight from the defense secretary mark esper there and the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff u.s. army general mark milley who also spoke to reporters there they say that letter was never meant to go out that the u.s. does not intend to leave iraq that that is not the position of the u.s. government right now i understand from speaking to sources connected to the military that what is happening is that troops are being repositioned within that region not leaving iraq but being repositioned they're very sensitive about where those troops are because they know they have been targets of rocket attacks so

they're being careful about what they say about where u.s. troops are going but this appears to be a letter that was never intended to get out there somehow made it out into the hands of iraqi officials and the iraqi media and that's why we're talking about it the pentagon says they did not even know that this letter was out there. because we forget that the security situation in iraq has improved it is still somewhat fragile and even just the perception about the americans. and the presence either being depleted all diminished in some way even if it's not a full withdrawal could could hurt american interests in the country. absolutely and it would be it would be a tremendous embarrassment for president trump who just one day earlier said that the u.s. was not leaving iraq that if it did leave iraq it was going to require a iraq to pay billions of dollars for its major airbase at balad and that the u.s.

would levy heavy sanctions against iraq heavier sanctions against iraq than it is currently living against iran so it would be an embarrassment for president trump to have said that and then have one day later u.s. troops withdrawing from the region that seems to be part of the calculus here when the pentagon is now talking to reporters off camera so we can't show that to you but saying with the defense secretary mark esper saying this letter was not supposed to go out it is not the official policy of the u.s. government it would be an embarrassment for the u.s. to have to be chased out president trump has said that he wants to take u.s. troops out of the region and that number has dwindled from some 130000 back in 2003 to 5000 now but this is certainly not the way president drum wants the united states to leave iraq. all right thank you very much with the latest on this story from washington john hendren

meanwhile inside iran huge crowds of back the streets of the capital for the funeral of a some sort of money president by the supreme leader ayatollah ali hominine who has promised for vengeance in ited states for the strike that killed saddam money as as i beg reports from to iran it's provided a show of national unity. a nation in mourning and tears from the supreme leader for iran's top military general assassinated in the u.s. drone strike in iraq many a friend of course in for the money lead the funeral service at the university outside the streets of the capital were packed with the iranians who considered for the money a hero a man who defended his country crowds like this have not been seen since the death of the founder of the republic ayatollah khomeini 30 years ago so the on his daughter addressed the crowds you know it's hard but hardly high i would see anwar

for 2 ha ha today the philosophy and struggle of my father has made the resistance front into a principled and victorious philosophy. so the money and iran have long supported palestinian groups a senior hamas leader ismail haniyeh paid his respects us we're here to express our heartfelt condolences to the leader of the islamic revolution ayatollah khomeini general solomonic family and the flag bearers of the resistance against the zionist regime and the us the crowds chanted sang and cried the feeling here that this is a moment of change not just for a run but for the entire region but here president donald trump hope that the fascination of boston for the money would result in people coming by and celebration but coming out against the political establishment in iran well the number of mourners here i think is the one so that he was greatly mistaken there were a chance of death to america and an expectation that iran must respond with we should take revenge the feeling that i had to was the digital it's unique i don't have

this feeling towards anyone else in government and that's not my heart there's no one is valuable as the general but we will on some blood with blood residual that whatever since i heard the news i've been crying and it's a weird feeling but at the bottom of our hearts we want revenge revenge revenge but not everyone agrees on what action to take and they are intended political struggles in parliament if roger and before your eyes the best response is to expel us forces from the middle east and make efforts to liberate palestine but the specific response of iran should not be hasty and should be well considered an important body called the assembly of experts condemned the killing of said the money and said silence in the face of assassination would make iran weaker they called upon young people to mobilize and prepared to oust american forces from iraq as the world awaits iran's response the government here will find it hard to ignore the calls for revenge and when it's revenge for a man of course i'm so the money standing it would appear this popular support for

whatever action may follow assad based al-jazeera to run. oh sam avenger of a joins us now live from baghdad and of course this after some while we've been waiting for clarification on a letter that was sent from the u.s. army representative there in iraq speaking of u.s. troop movements and now this word from the pentagon denying that there are any plans for a troop withdrawal from iraq i imagine there is a fair bit of embarrassment perhaps in washington and confusion there in baghdad. absolutely at around $1000.00 g.m.t. just outside of the green zone we started to hear helicopter traffic heavy helicopter traffic which we haven't heard since the death of course until in money on friday night and that indicated something was happening and after that a letter was released by various media outlets and we confirmed with multiple iraqi sources in the government as well as in the military who said this letter was

authentic now it to be is that this was a draft of a letter for coordination purposes and the troop movement which was which was signaled in that letter is only for coordination purposes the u.s. according to the department of defense is not pulling out of iraq it does show the kind of confusion that has existed here in iraq after the assassination of course insulin money every night has been eventful whether it was bin grocott or rocket attacks or some sort of statement from from armed groups it was monday a very busy day for the iraqi government the iraqi prime minister and i spoke to a number of world leaders the qatari of mir leaders from the u.k. britain china and the united states ambassador and the essence of that was that he wanted the world to see that he wants iraq's sovereignty to be respected he wanted the world to see that he wants iraq what is standing behind what he called

a quick withdrawal of foreign troops and that is something we heard from the prime minister's office in the conversation with the u.s. . ambassador as well and those are those are the kind of things that have been discussed but it is going to be a very difficult position that he finds himself in as he is the interim leader of iraq he does not command a majority government he's on his way out and for this to take place this withdrawal rather to take place he needs to make sure that it is this decision by the parliament needs to be enacted into law a decision which will need the majority of the parliament which as we've already seen the divisions of the sunnis and the kurds have not been present in that session so it is going to be a tough few weeks and days ahead for the iraqi government and all that confusion that is being created by such letters is only going to add to the mayhem all right thank you very much from baghdad sonnabend john 8 well now back in the united states the senate majority leader republican mitch mcconnell has an american or

make has to wait for the facts before criticizing president trump's decision to order at least as a nation of course and so money this is what he had to say now it is completely appropriate this decision will generate interest and questions from his body we can and we should learn more about the intelligence and thinking that led to this operation and the plan to defend american personnel and troops in the wake of that unfortunately. talk of political environment some of our colleagues rushed to blame our own government before even knowing of dark rush to split hairs about intelligence before being briefed or and rush down blows from a man is evil while presenting our own program as developing and the united nations has called for maximum restraint from world leaders without

naming any countries the sector general and tell you the terrorist said tensions were at their highest level in this century. i've been following the recent rise in global tensions with great concern i mean constant contact with living officials around the world and my message is simple and clear stop escalation exist size mexico restraint restart dialogue re new international corporation let us not forget the terrible human suffering caused by war. well what can or as the united nations and joins us now now have been calls from iraq for u.n. security council condemnation of the strikes in g.d.s. we've obtained a copy of the letter that was sent to the president of the security council and the secretary general from iraq it says that the any military operation on iraqi soil

without the consent of the iraqi government and without prior coordination is considered as a provocative hostile act that violates the charter of the united nations the letter asked the security council to condemn the conducted air strikes and assassination which contravene the with the human rights obligations of the united states so iraq seeking some kind of action by the u.n. security council but this is very unlikely clearly the security council is like on so many other issues deeply divided on this particular fact we've heard from the russian ambassador stating bluntly that there is no likelihood of any statement out of the u.n. security council on this ongoing crisis that has been his general concern in the international community about there being a larger conflict playing out possibly between iran and the united states how is

that being reflected there at the u.n. . well it's strange because it's not on the agenda formally but it is something that's being discussed all the time and obviously there are deep concerns in the corridors of the united nations about this we heard from the chinese ambassador for example who stated very clearly his belief that the u.s. says violated basic norms of international relations the sentiment very much the same is echoed by the russian ambassador so there's deep concern here and awareness that this will have a massive impact on the global order we heard earlier from the secretary general there of who is speaking in very broad sweeping terms but the basic issue that it confronts all the diplomats here is the inability of the u.n. security council to get some kind of unity in place to be able to discuss the matter in formal session at the moment it is something being talked about in

between meetings on other issues it's something being talked about by diplomats in their offices but it is not something being formally discussed in the united nations security council and this is obviously something that concerns many diplomats but also one would argue reflects very badly on a u.n. security council that once again is found wanting in a moment of global crisis all right thanks very much mike hanna at the u.n. the head of nato has warned iran against further violence in provocations after an urgent meeting held in brussels the alliance has put on hold an anti eisel training mission in iraq since solomon is death. nato is prepared to continue our training and capacity building when the situation permits we remain strongly committed to the fight against international terrorism. after the meeting today at the united states also briefed on the regional situation following recent attacks on coalition

forces in iraq on the strike against generals for the money. for years all our allies have expressed concern about 2 wrongs do you stabilizing activities in the middle east region. we agreed iran must never acquire a nuclear weapon we shared concern about iran's missile tests. with al jazeera live from london much more still to bring you. the covering the protests across india after a loss for attacks. on women. and thousands are rallying in liberia's capital monrovia with lawns of the town and george will.

hell i would still go some place and places the shabby rain into the southeast of australia nowhere near as much as we may but every little helps i'd like to think and you can see the area clad head just between the melbourne and sydney fast south of new south wales in with a chance of catching want to see shad there is the victoria more so i thought the more this generate dry for the time maybe some of the shows i will just not so well little further north woods up the great dividing range pushing up towards queensland for queensland itself we've got the showers just looking there just around the coast of france is up towards the cape york peninsula that behind me just around the pilbara just pushing down towards port hedland this is where tropical cyclone blake he's showing it's had and this is where we do have some flooding right i'll make its way into central parts of the way as we go on into the middle to the latter part of the week with of course some flooding but made weight

they'll be some showers once again few and far between but they are there over towards the southeast and side of the country further north and north of the crisis to asia here we've got some very wet weather just piling outs of china easing over towards yellow sea into the korean peninsula it will mean some wet weather pushing its way towards japan over the next day and turning warmer. but. it is murder when you throw a fire bomb into someone's home and mishit you know massive you know. that's not insignificant in numbers that insignificant ideologically that is significant even as a crime against down very significant by dictating the government and the fucked up policy down shall not can possibly radicalize the theories on al-jazeera.

oh. oh. welcome back at our top stories now the u.s. defense secretary mark asked for says the u.s. has no plans to pull out of iraq now this comes after a letter was leaked to iran he needed a saying u.s. forces will be repositioning over the course of the coming days and weeks that has now been rebuked by the pentagon. meanwhile huge crowds packed the streets in tehran for the funeral procession of the iranian general money. and the president has done rouhani held prayers at the proceedings in the iranian capital and then our other top story forces loyal to libyan war who 5 to say they've seized the

strategic coastal city of sirte from the u.n. recognized government. will of course those are the latest developments at the moment in libya where there have been movements around that strategic coastal city of sirte that we were mentioning and of course the city is situated on libya's coast and is the dividing line between have to be a national army and the government of national accord based around 450 kilometers away in tripoli the city's port and military camps in the south was seized and it comes as turkey is preparing to deploy troops to help shore up the government in tripoli bombed up to why it has more from tripoli only advance of huffed us forces . tough those forces have taken control of several parts of the city including the poorest the city center that's also along with the military camps in southern city fighting is still going on until now

according to military sources in the area and they say that they take all what happened after a certain detachment in the city that was belonging to the government forces that changed position just because the our affiliate to their photogenic tribe that tribe of the warlord have to now the city of sirte it is very strategic as it is very close to the oil fields and oil ports in central libya and specially close to the coast we're getting also news from military sources in with the rescinding troops. to repel help those forces attack. us a special representative for venezuela elliott abrams as washington is looking for and looking at additional sanctions to put pressure on the venezuelan government comes after chaotic scenes in the country yesterday as the government of president

nicolas maduro forcibly install its preferred candidate the head of congress on trips blocked opposition politicians including quite over from entering parliament ahead of the vote and he's parra who was recently expelled over corruption allegations has been handed the post going to progress. it's not just that they have prevented the lawmakers from entering the assembly they did not allow the president violated the rights of ovan is really what you saw yesterday is what you've been saying for years the persecution kidnappings wrist and of take over of the assembly. well in all the stories we're following the film mogul harvey weinstein is arrived at a court in new york ahead of his rape and sex assault trial the movie producer has pleaded not guilty to charges of assaulting 2 women including rape and predatory sexual assault if found guilty he could face life in prison the case is just one of several against weinstein after dozens of women accused him of sexual misconduct spanning decades while at the courts in new york he was charged with the sex crime

charges by prosecutors in los angeles. using a walking frame following. in all 8 women came forward to report that they were sexually assaulted by the defendant in los angeles county 3 of those alleged crimes took place outside of the statute of limitations and for that reason we have declined to file charges in those 3 cases we continue to investigate allegations involving 3 other women to determine if additional criminal charges will be filed. well in australia firefighters are taking advantage of cooler temperatures and rain as they continue to battle more than 140 bushfires this plane was prevented from landing to help evacuate thousands of people trapped in the town of 500 kilometers east of melbourne foresees a warning there is no room for complacency with temperatures expected to rise again

by friday federal government says it's willing to pay whatever it takes to help communities recover dedicating one point $4000000000.00 on monday jessica washington is in batemans bay on the new south wales coast she says the cost of the fires is mounting. this part of new south wales is usually so picturesque that it draws thousands of visitors every year but it has been completely transformed by this bushfire season crews have been battling heat wave conditions for days but after days of bad news there's finally a bit of good news cooler conditions and even some rain there's also some good news coming in from the federal government who've just pledged at least $1400000000.00 u.s. dollars to help communities just like this one with their bushfire recovery to die we agreed that we would support the national bush for recovery i can see

by stablish i national bushfire recovery fund which will be administered by that agency led by mr culver the commonwealth is committing an additional an initial $2000000000.00 over the next 2 calendar year starting right now to support all of the efforts of recovery right across the country the bushfire relief fund will focus on roads infrastructure and of course houses some communities have been almost completely destroyed this bushfire season spending for the relief fund hasn't been capped recognizing that australia's longest bushfire merge unsee is also likely to be its most expensive. police in india are investigating how mosques men stormed one of the country's most prestigious universities on sunday protests have been held following the incident netter university in delhi which comes as demonstrations against

a controversial new citizenship will also continue at similar institutions in the south of the country students came out in support of the victims or in the north people's gathered in solidarity with the alleged culprits meanwhile more than 30 people were injured in sunday's attack by assailants armed with sticks and rods and some of them shouting death threats the attack has been blamed on the students' union which is closely linked to the ruling party of prime minister narendra modi. i'm totally shocked. you did. i can end up with a program how did these goons and. you know politics aside elections are side this is india we are not the but not made it public i'm shocked i may not do politics again that's a different thing but what has happened to be is a travesty just a bit of news to bring you from mali a quick update at least 5 soldiers have been killed after a roadside bomb hit an army convoy this happened in turn in the south of the

country mali has been struggling to contain rebel groups who have killed more than 140 soldiers since september police in uganda have detained the musician and political activist bobby wine he was prevented from holding his 1st public campaign event as a presidential hopeful for next year's elections just by the event being authorized police fired tear gas to disperse his supporters as they gathered outside the capital kampala wind has been calling for the retirement of longtime president yoweri most 70. britain's worst ever rapist has been sent to prison after he was convicted of more than 150 offensive reinado sonata a student from indonesia who lived in manchester was found guilty of drugging and assaulting almost 15 men but prosecutors say the true number of victims could be closer to 200 a judge ruled he must serve a minimum of 30 years of his life sentence in jail following convictions in 4 different trials all now to liberia thousands of protesters have

gathered in the capital to rally against the country's western economic crisis they are calling for football a temperament george weah to take decisive action to improve the country's finances liberia ranked as one of the world's poorest countries demonstrators accuse the government of corruption and abusing its power ahmed idris is at the protest in monrovia where people are saying they won't move until the government takes action . all roads leading to this particular recovery toll as they call it have been blocked they're pretty much procedural on the as well as trying organize the. right you see policeman trying to keep order and calm on the streets and at the same time try to block the protesters from accessing. government installations like the office of the president is located at the supreme court and the national

parliament and now this. government. and and the protest but they are not moving because they would like to see. the because all of it for one purpose which ends today we actually don't know what will happen what measures the security process is a productive. thing. for the heads up to the. protesters. the government to take action. by just. improving good governance as well as. in the process of the claim. doesn't require the public now. and also. a lot of the demands but they're not making another public.

response. however the numbers compared to what happened 7 months ago is appointed for many. experts in big numbers to be present. well as on everything right here our web site al jazeera telkom for all the latest news that life streaming there as well. so a recap of our top stories now the u.s. defense secretary says there has been no decision whatsoever to pull american troops out of iraq but it comes after a letter began to speculate in iraqi media stating that forces would be repositioning in deference to iraqi sovereignty esper saying pentagon officials want to find out where the letter came from calls this follows the assassination of iranian military commanders are some sort of money in a u.s. airstrike and iraq's subsequent call for foreign troops to be expelled.

now huge crowds of packed streets in town run for the funeral procession of awesome stolen money the supreme leader ayatollah ali hominine and the president hassan rouhani helped present the proceedings in the iranian capital money was killed in a u.s. drone strike on friday the huge crowds there were crowds that mourn the death and it did also spark some criticism from those who fear that there could be an escalation of tension in the region us and beg is in teheran many commentators have said that they've never seen so many people 30 years since the funeral of the founder of the republic to the home in the people who are carrying that cause the current pictures of course some of the money people chanted and sang and some people even cried now this is the 2nd day of mourning the act of the 3 days of mourning the coffin was then taken to go home and to more route taken to come on we're got some of the money is expected to be. also some reaction from nato

speaking offered emergency meeting about the drone strike sector general against ultimate call for a straight as a deescalation he said nato ally stand behind the united states in the middle east but any conflicts would be in no one's interest. and then are all the top story this hour has been from libya where the warlord honey 5 to says they've seized the strategically important coastal city of sirte from the un recognized government cities situated on libya's coast and is the dividing line between have to libyan national army and the government of national accord based around 450 kilometers away in tripoli it comes as turkey is preparing to deploy troops to help shore up the government in tripoli well those are the headlines this hour that's it for myself from the team here in london but there will be more news coming up from doha in about well less than 30 minutes time do stay with al-jazeera i for now.

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