oh, boy, al jazeera is also says in garza, our highest in that building has come down the other before in human history has the once pristine environment to the arctic even such peril. hello lauren taylor and under the top stories announces era, austria has re entered a full nationwide lockdown. the 1st e you can to do so. at the average daily decks there have tripled in recent weeks. people are only allowed to leave a groceries doctors visits or exercise under simmons reports from vienna. the lockdown is back in austria, or as europe shivers at the onset of a 4th wave of cobit 90. this is salzburg, one of the worst hit places where intensive care units are filling up. last month, the national daily infection rates were around $3000.00 cases per day. they're now

hovering between 14 and 16000 in the capital vienna christmas lights may be on, but like everywhere else, shopping has stopped for all but essential items. stools are closed, people are allowed out for an occasional stroll in this lock down. there's plenty to see, but not to buy. the manager of this restaurant has closed down and is giving his fresh produce away to locals. he's pessimistic. i think everybody has enough of it and question as oh, why again, wasn't there enough time to prepare? we have the looked on now because obviously it's needed not far away. the christmas market, usually bright and busy at this time of the year is a sullen place. the lot down a shuttle to last up to 20 days with a review after 10. although many people fear it could last a lot longer and with the restrictions come,

an even bigger emphasis on the vaccination program. only 66 percent of the population have been vaccinated, leaving one of the biggest proportions of unvaccinated people in europe. so the government will introduce compulsory vaccinations in february it's led to resistance and protest. this woman has just had her 3rd vaccination, a booster jap. yet she says people shouldn't be forced to have vaccinations. we had to angela who made only marketing for his career and, but he didn't explain and they didn't make a good preparation for, for them to, to ensure that everyone will be vaccinated. capitals across europe are watching austria closely as they consider their own restrictions here. the daily number of deaths caused by the corona virus has tripled in recent weeks. this locked down is

a last resort. andrew simmons, i'll just era vienna. hospitals in germany are running out of intensive care beds. chancellor angle america says the restrictions currently in place. a simply not enough, and the health minister is urging more citizens to get vaccinated if you had them entered these. it's been tough probably by the end of this winter. pretty much everyone in germany at a sometimes being said so much cynically, will have been vaccinated, recovered or died. it's true with a highly contagious delta variance. this is very, very like an russian president. alexander lucas shanker says he wants to avoid confrontation with poland, as thousands of migrants remain stuck in limbo. and the border calling on the e. u to take in 2000 migrants warns across as could even lead to war. germany and austria has so far rejected the request and confuses valerie of flying in thousands of migrants and pushing them to cross into the e. u. in retaliation, the sanctions ukrainian troops are conducted military drills as phase of

a possible attack. grow, the head of military intelligence says more than 92000 russian troops of math near the ukraine borders. preparing for an attack, russia has dismissed the suggestion and says it's alarmed that ukraine is building up its own forces. in the us state of georgia, closing arguments are on the way in the aubrey murder trial. 3 white men accused of killing the 25 year old black man. while he was out jogging last year. and wisconsin, police say they will charge a man with intentional homicide. for ca, plowed into a christmas break on sunday, killing 5 people. that 9 year old daryl brooks has been named as the driver of the v. official say, the incident was not a terror attack. there's the top stories that do stay with us. i said last of chaos is coming up next. when you see off to that, oh i

ah, the civil war in syria has now been fought for more than a decade. around half a 1000000 syrians have died and the conflict of more than 12000000 of left the country tens of thousands are held in government prisons within cities, but bought out allison is still president of the said, i don't to see a side as the real cause of the problems in syria with us not i sounds,

determination to remain in power has had global consequences. neighboring countries have been overwhelmed by millions of refugees. other countries have been drawn in to the conflict and new geopolitical dynamics of developed because of russia support for us. but how did this all come bumped before the war aside to developed a reputation over 10 years as a reformer. and this has made his government's actions since 2011. all the more shocking, the best analogy could you see that different? it can do my term. he'd be a good kind of a person. you would wanna have a dinner party going back. i did not see any evidence that a cheryl are sad or could become the premier war criminal of the 21st century. ah ah

ah ah french t. v. filmed with us at a few months before government troops attack demonstrators in the street in march 2011. here he seemed driving to the opera in damascus with his wife asthma. ah you have to put your seat belts on otherwise, the police itself, you pass, had studied medicine and damascus, and then ophthalmology in london. but when his elder brother basil was killed in a car accident, in 1994 basha returned to syria as heir apparent. actually we'd like to go very much into concert i from french music. of course it was young, of course, very, very old one and nobody can say but from the university,

mary mateo and judah give you both or whatever. you go to my world to the fed up. i. i only drive myself, but it's very unsecure. no, no, no, it is very secure. copy bulletproof can open the window, pick it up when you get it. otherwise you'd be living in it like living in a cage. nobody wants to live in a cage. when i saw its father, hafez died in 2000 mashhad, inherited one of the most notorious and isolated dictatorships in the outer world. ah ah!

in january 2011, the series of uprisings known as the arab spring began. first the chimneys ian president xena al aberdeen. ben ali was toppled, then egyptian president hosni mubarak step, done around this time assa. admit the u. s. ambassador to syria. he was a very nice i asked president martha, are you worried that the winds of change will come here? and he said he was not worried. he said to syrian people strongly supported him, strongly supported his government. ah, just 2 weeks later, there was a large demonstration in damascus. a, in a market called althea, it happened very spontaneously very suddenly,

wasn't planned. and it was immediately filmed by syrians with their cell phone. ah, and we sent a message to washington that night and said it's coming in the fire wood is very dry and it's coming. 3 days later on the 18th of march 2011 young people in the southern city of the rock wrote on their school wall. it's your turn next doctor. their arrest and torture provoked a wave of protest which swept the country. syrian security forces attacked unarmed protesters who were colon for more freedom ah. at the beginning the classes we met with british ambassador french masses of medic

and a mass of those. i felt that i am the ambassadors in our western ambassadors have a concept and that heads that decide the fit in people and that prices that fit and people under abdul respond to the 3rd and people i had a meeting with both anus shobit presidency and i said because of the internet because the satellite, tv eyed people will know the world will know what you do. and if you shoot a lot of people, if you kill a lot of people, every one is going to know every one in syria and every one around the world. and you will be condemned. you have to a mister tactics the us offered to help us. i'd engage in talks with opposition leaders while they thought the was still time. what they would say is yes, we welcome that discussion. can you even help us organize it? we said we would try, but every time we got close to a discussion, ah,

the syrian secret police would move in and break up meetings or arrest people. mm. internally, assad government was divided between those who favor taking a tough line and others who wanted to adopt a more moderate approach. i sat announced he would make a speech on the 30th of march 2011. 0, you feel that this is speech really willing obese will bring solution because we are fried from where reverbs situation will go. and in the 1st months, surely, i went to the bazaar 2 times. oh, i said it must be renew, hey anaconda, is it minnesota? which is at mon assess, even though still by law savvy on it. no,

i should be in nor artillery for cathy delore. sally already said it, the lady was a fee announcement in hell as to lawton law lunesta a bit will mad at death, armine helium noble. quick 20 not for shadow. cannot muscle t august subtly wobbly. men of he can know. yeah, anymore. i don't know enough, lee be like a shot. my thought will be a slot. who will be? i'm in a slot than public up of you. so bad that i don't believe i'd be glad to out of i woulda. saddest you might be men's in an id. why? bill ish, jima led them up. now let him shoot, jack a little em neat than the head ashish. ah! at the head that would equal the little thing is that now you be valuable. i'm at

up in the policy law to heather walton, where the hoodie latina nautical young unknown was al ambia when he, since 871. but when in my office it's, as they put with it is more of them for you, bilson. and it's only the silence and eyes. 3rd believe that the wasp will coming. we are going to the war. wow. for oneself, as i said, man, i thus giddy lad, asian hoodie. it with her while law dictates or how quietly will that then. but that e, deb, hey, i don't understand totally the that to learn azure the toa must villa on the same matter. isla web b. well, let us hate for gonna lab. no, oh you said the seller east london will more than if you any more nor had for corolla. i mean mozilla law who will

more than it be in all oh, had the shop. oh my be silly swati. oh, assad's 1st move was to crack down the protesters. ah oh. but this simply spurred on his opponents who themselves began to take up arms. their ranks were bolstered by soldiers deserted the syrian army. soon they received international support. that's easy because they open the war all over the country. i mean, it's much easier to fight the war along your border. but whenever i saw the president, it would say we're going to be here and we're going to fight and we are going to be victorious. we will prevail, no problem, no matter how painful it is. but at the end we will prevent.

ah! by the summer of 2011 simeon government forces had lost control of half the country . media images circulated, showing the wide spread killing of any opposition the world watched. in shock. on serious acids position, weakened and western governments turned against him. mary lou, i have indicated repeatedly that present alice out as lost legitimacy that he needs to step down. rather than drag his country in the civil war, he should move in the direction of the political transition. the view in the white house was asked, sad is essentially finished and he is finished near term. and our concern in the white house is that he may be finished

before the president of the united states says he should be finished. therefore, we need to get the president up to make the statement to be on the right side of history before it happens. ah, this was quite a turnaround for a president who had previously managed to project a very positive image to western leaders. he speaks english. he's a handsome man, wedding suit than the thigh, and therefore one was an official used to come to him before the war. they said to him, well, as you are western educated, he was didn't indicate that he studied in the left for 2 years. and then the west thinks that's why he is good. that's why his flexible,

that's why he's enlightened because he is was denied, means he has like us. you know, it means it would give him the honor to describe him that he is one like us. but he is still in awe. the war caused a massive refugee exodus as hundreds of thousands and then millions of syrians fled the fighting. this increasingly drew eastern european and other western countries into the whole crisis. france became one of the louder voices calling on our side to step done with that. we shall not also play with msd. oh, good bashar data. it would be from papa book. you'd want buffy if could have been thought of you in june 2012. the un organize a conference in june,

attended by the u. s. russia, china and britain. it agreed to set up a transitional body in damascus, involving the government and the opposition. but when you are secretary of state, hillary clinton suggested that aside should 1st step done. russian foreign men so loved off showed concern. it was clear to us by 2012. he would only negotiate under pressure. we hoped we hoped that the russians would apply that pressure. what does he want on the other, you know, like donor debo to go, what i don't traditional putting cheeks with was his show would be, well, that was the soft tea along with did it for him. she measure, let me keep e, her love off. i need to know how to do the inference was that russian president vladimir putin chose to protect aside as syrian leader,

russia had a naval base there, and putin did not support the revolutions of the so called arab spring or the idea that western countries were champions of human rights was there. oh, i see where you put on as of look over mostly shots the washer us of need infection was special marked oil work with new orleans kritisha. think what are you at the new oh sir. but missouri, wells fargo got them, miss fortune is only going to address them this she lived with and she thought they actually knew that my little brother of diplomacy stalled. so western governments led by the us and france, increased their support for the syrian opposition in exile. and its armed wing, the free syrian army. what can we do to accelerate that process? the united states and other governments decided that they would try to coalesce,

the opposition provide it support so that it was strong enough to at a minimum, negotiate a transition in syria. blah, blah, blah, blah, the west port, hundreds of millions of heroes and dollars into weapons and training programs for the soviet position. with this level of support, the opposition succeeded in gaining ground until government forces shown here in red, controlled only a 3rd of the country. by early 2013, i saw it was becoming increasingly isolated. he rarely left the presidential palace

and several former allies defected, only the continued support of russia. iran and the armed lebanese group has bhalla, enabled the government to avoid defeat. with what i've been where'd thein, when i felt that things are very, very difficult. and when i felt that it could be the last see it, i live and because we had only let them lay up, what learn what left it done, said i will learn live and fight and die. and celia newman. ah, well, this strategy began to pay dividends. i thought supporters rallied around him and

he built a firm following among the middle class and the other white and christian minority communities. at the same time, the west also began to lose patience with the syrian opposition. if your own avenue have an opposition strong enough to take on a standing army and i regime with security forces that's backed by russia and iran, then you needed to be powerful in united. and i think one of the challenges we faced was it turned out, the opposition was neither strong nor united self. does it a more deeply pushed through the jockeys at the same proportion. you get down, jonas, you see, did or did it in if you, any people, if you will, because she would that bony us from what i mean them all her sit to and i to push out her with the opposition. however,

certain armed groups began to gain more info than others getting stronger, they had money, they had ammunition, they had food, they could pay salaries to their fighters. a lot of young syrians are joining them . i recommended and i know colleagues at the cia recommended that we helped those more moderate elements, who were on the one hand, competing with the al qaeda affiliate in syria called the nist her front. and on the other hand, were fighting opposite the moderate opposition was therefore forced to fight on 2 fronts. and asada was present the west with a greater challenge and thoughtful thought on the monotony huddled,

subtle. catherine will not. on the 21st of august 2030 syrian government forces used chemical weapons against opposition held areas. hundreds of people were killed, including many children. hasn't had visited troops nearby 20 days before the time. oh, i do show with a lot of numbers with the u. s. it announced a year before the chemical weapons were a red line not to be crossed. any use they said will be met with an american response. france also said it will be prepared to support the us with

a or power. ah. president obama has the military to prepare for quite a significant response. some of the senior syrian officials sent their families out of damascus because they were worried. ah, then you might get more fighting in damascus itself. it would have been physically devastating for ah, for physical assets of the syrian regime, the precision that i know it would have reduced to, to almost 0. the potential for non combat to be killed. a few hours before the planned strikes, obama called a white house crisis meeting. there was a long national security council meeting that was focused. it's fair to say more on

how to go about military response than whether the turning point moment was when the president came to the conclusion that he changed his mind. all sweets pushed on me. i can't pin the whole say, look, good result, bob or? yes, really good. say to play or is almost all those if you see lou, lou for critical food and to tell wife than you know, we're gonna be the only to because took what i wanted to tell me. how could it don't 2 sets of got soup to informally showed him a mo, that bone above completed his own. his major concern is that

the day after and american strike cost, i would still be there and might even use chemical weapons again. so then we have to hit again and maybe this time a bit harder and take out some more air defense. and then again, the logic would be to escalate into a bigger strike. and i think the president's concern was he would not be in control of that decision. it would be awesome. mm mm. most people will never know what's beyond these doors. the deafening silence of 100000 forms. how it feels to touch danger every day. most people will never know what it's like to work with. every breath is fresh with fear is not an option, but we're not most people who's

going to win then match it. ah, it's a tough one. to be honest, i'm happy if they're happy, what the drivers know them and then and they get to make so every one knows exactly what's happening, live and exclusive. that's true. so we could just focus on the weight. ah, as hale sat space to deliver your vision, it was since i was a little boy in india. my dream was to make body would fence. so finally i was going to do it one man's quest to realize a lifelong ambition. the studio chose was of my own village and it's das permission going behind the lens as got him saying, brings his personal story to life. al jazeera correspondent, my own private bollywood. what's most important to me is

talking to people understanding what they're going through here at al jazeera. we believe every one has a story worth hearing. ah, they're like hello lauren taylor in under the top stories on how to 0. austria has become the 1st country in western europe to reimpose, a national current of virus lockdown. since vaccines were rolled out, australia can only leave the home for essential shopping or exercise over the next 10 days. infections a surging all across the continent with new restrictions for the unvaccinated announced in both the vacuum and the czech republic. hospitals in germany are running out of intensive care beds. and the health minister has issued this warning for people who haven't yet had the job. if you had them in the visas been to us probably by the end of this winter, pretty much everyone in germany at some.