al qaeda openly waves its black flags over to iraqi cities with thousands of refugees fleeing the impending bloodbath as the us backed army prepares for a counterattack on the insurgent forces. in syria al-qaeda linked rebels and other opposition groups engaged in bloody infighting the growing divisions among those aiming to topple assad of threatening the forthcoming peace talks in geneva. plus the backing of e.u. leaders dips to an all time low as. a clearance sale of countries assets to patch up budget holes. the security being a major concern at the upcoming winter olympics in sochi we take a look at how the host city is making sure athletes and spectators are protected.

in the past seven days top stories and the latest developments this is the weekly on. thousands of iraqis aflame their homes in anbar province which has turned into a war zone after al qaeda linked militants took control of the two largest cities that the army has yet failed to retake the occupied territories that have been declared an islamic state by the militants as the iraqi military gathers its forces for a decisive assault. looks at what is empowering the extremists in the region. young good luck. with. integrity they run on chaos emboldened by the fighting in syria these al qaeda linked militants overran parts of iraq including the city

of the literature we have said earlier that the syria story will actually go into iraq and this is what we were warning about chaos in neighboring syria deep as the u.s. and its allies threatened the syrian government sending the signal to the rebels to fight on to the detriment of the political outcome islamic schools have now taken over the opposition movement there and have even chased the western backed leader of the free syrian army out of the country so beason asked you the leave it alone because if you kick it they're going to come out and bite you and that's what we did when we invaded iraq you know three and it can bite not just somewhere far in a war zone but here in the u.s. american intelligence and counterterrorism officials now say islamic extremist groups in syria with ties talk to recruiting and training americans who have traveled there to get them to carry out attacks when they return home there are dozens of extremist islamist forces that are operating both inside syria

and over the syrian borders walk has been a breeding ground for extremists since the u.s. says they should now residents of other parts of the country are bracing themselves for the iraqi army's assault as it attempts to drive militants out of seized areas the u.s. is supplying hellfire missiles and other weapons to help the iraqi government in the fight the last thing for me is as more missiles we heard the u.s. government say they decimated al qaeda is needed but the groups that continue their cause expand and what they thrive on best is chaos the u.s. backed chaos to iraq and in syria washington support for armed opposition has benefited extremists in washington i'm going to check on our quiz. the jihadists behind the occupation of fallujah and ramadi are the infamous islamic state of iraq and the levant it's one of the most powerful al qaeda branches estimated to be six thousand strong with its cells threatening the entire region well the organization

was formed by sunni insurgents in april two thousand and four a year after the u.s. launched its invasion of iraq many members of the group are fighting in syria now against the sat and their forces rapidly gaining influence among the radical elements in the devastated nation even lebanon has suffered from the group's activity with it being behind the latest bombing attack in beirut well and gloria he's a former danish intelligence officer who served in iraq believes the country's army won't be able to wipe out these extremist forces in my opinion. has never been on the run it might have been downscaling due to pressure but once this pressure is lifted the organization is back in full force and it uses these. pauses to regain its strength the fighting ability of these of the isis for instance is very strong but very contained to localized battles and one thing the

isis and the rebels has is staring at it they want to continue fighting and the iraqi army really hasn't got a chance to fight these militias. and to or to eradicate them. meanwhile in neighboring syria the strengthening of al qaeda linked groups has led to growing infighting between once allied rebels fierce clashes between rival opposition factions or killed at least seven hundred people this week and almost one hundred of them are believed to be civilians who were executed by militants from the islamic state of iraq and event where the outbreak of a war within the war has prompted some western politicians and others who previously rooted soley for a sense removal to change their stance now here are just some of the latest statements former cia director michael hayden he said that the assad regime is beginning to look like the lesser of all evils the former u.s. ambassador to syria iraq and afghanistan ryan crocker he's agreed that assad is not as bad as the jihadi russia has long been warning of the threat some opposition

groups in syria pose and foreign minister lavrov has welcomed the realisation of this in the west well infighting within the ranks of the syrian rebels is threatening the russia u.s. brokered peace conference that's two in less than two weeks from now the world's top diplomats are in paris at the moment to pressure syria's main opposition group that's a syrian national council into taking part well for more insight on the forthcoming peace conference i'm now joined live by writer and journalist john white. john. we know that really not much progress was made in this first day of talks in paris to persuade the s.n.c. to join those future talks in geneva john kerry those express confidence what do you make of what's going to happen tomorrow in the next round of talks in paris. well you see john kerry has called him and i would describe it more as the aspiration and seemed clear they are saying see very little credibility on the

ground it can deliver nothing on all of the rebel factions and what are so shitty but they're saying see or most of them and we have the faith to other groups so john kerry is very desperate because of events taking place actually in iraq recently a new poll finds for one of the al qaeda hope shoots which is very active in syria . or the islamic state although that kind city our two countries are too cool for a couple of times in iraq one of which was for who just sold the u.s. administration is increasingly desperate to try and cobble together some kind of syrian opposition and we can do business with but the syrian opposition itself the city national council no really only exists say of syria and it only exists. u.s. patronage so this is increasingly it seems like a few process that is about to hit the buffalo's but putting aside the extremists in the fight the opposition is divided isn't the s.n.c.

the only real official body that can in effect represent many of those in syria who want to see a sad go. well many of those who want to see that's cool actually satan with assad because of the. as i say the situation on the ground is growing increasingly desperate sunni fundamentalists putting into the country causing mayhem who are intent on telling the country into a killing field so your comment at the top of the package that's assad for all those people is the west of all evil at least with the assad government we have a government that is located in the twenty first century the alternative as it is she mistook it somewhere in the seventh century i don't think there's much to discuss for the mistakes of the high. in the west recognizing the alternative is probably worse than assad himself as you've just said is there a chance then that a sad could actually ride this all through. there's

a huge chance that he will break this all through who is he going to negotiate with who is the government going to negotiate with on january twenty second and is it going to negotiate with an opposition that can deliver on the ground and the answer is not only because commuter agreement and only the strong can compromise in this national council is neither equal to the article strong enough to deliver on any agreements or meet. rebels on the ground soon from the main course of this hour those are clear that we want to negotiate with the syrian government the strongest element within your position doing the very thing on the ground sort of contradictions of our huge community recently and some notable great getting perspective on this thanks very much indeed for joining us live here and right now live from the u.k. . support for the e.u. and some of the worst a stairway to hit european countries has plunged drastically in the past five years

the data comes from a new regional poll the study suggests the tumbling approval rating is linked directly to the budget cuts and economic woes take spain for instance where public support is at a record low oran and which is just successfully exit its bailout program despite that the aftertaste of the easiest era to dictate is still driving the numbers down the euro skeptic u.k. used to top the critics list with only around a third actually back in brussels now it's even lower than that dropping below thirty percent while the rating declined however is not change the belt tightening policies of struggling countries in fact the government's putting some of the most valuable assets up for sale just to stay afloat as to the polls. it's been dubbed that the great european fire sale in a bid for cash these are just some of what's been up for grabs but even funds raised from headline grabbing deals might not be enough like six greek island sold for eight point five million euros an italian island sold for two point nine

million exclusive rights to use the coliseums image on their products for fifteen years twenty five million euros government debt in the euro zone is greater now than it was a year ago and some of the sales have led to public anger and frustration bestselling history and culture there selling beauty things a priceless and they've attached a price tag to it i think that's absolutely reprehensible there's absolutely no guarantee that that privatization will help consumers are told and one of the most surprising items recently put on the market was citizenship for a little over a million euros you get a maltese passport and therefore becoming the e.u. says it a move that's been put on hold as two thirds of the public at opposition leaders cry foul. splitting the same legal gun three s which. meant a huge international damage which was uncalled for because more go to date has

one of the lowest rates of unemployment in the whole european union it's a question of principle over citizenship should not be pulled out on say proponents of privatization see it as a necessity for even nations that are in dire straits but also warned that buy europe at a bargain may not be as much of a jackpot as one might think if i were investor i wouldn't be buying many of these things all of these countries have serious political risks for any kind of foreign investor anybody trying to. flee has to reckon with the possibility that ten twenty years down the line a government is just going to nationalize whatever they whatever they want to nationalize but for what it's worth this. international water makes land the boil. will take a back seat in the future because experts predict as populations rise it will be blue gold the fight will be over. japan becomes

a fertile ground for the foreigners to leave for the army to be ready to go into action if the need arises all the details later in the program. security is being beefed up in sochi the host city of the upcoming winter olympics tens of thousands of police officers have been deployed and access to the area is strictly monitored takes a look at what else is being done to keep the games safe. the twenty second olympic winter games in two thousand and fourteen i wore the to defeat the. i as soon as russia's black sea resort was awarded the game seven years ago. as a question the choice of host city such as close proximity to the volatile caucasus region was they argued a cause for concern. and the recent twin terror attacks in volgograd seven hundred kilometers from sochi every ignited some of those worries organizers

say security has been their main priority since day one from the very beginning of the construction phase the state that. made those with months to prepare the special measures to stop them from the screen in all their all materials checking in all the venue. incredible measures of the security to provide this safe environment here with less than a month to go now until the games begin tight security measures are already in place around forty thousand police and security offices are expected to be on patrol for sales of dangerous hunting equipment find for the duration of the games there's also a controlled stretching sixty kilometers along the coast and twenty five kilometers inland and encompassing all venues. in terms of security so it is a special case because this area is it is only there are security details from

a number of countries including the u.k. and u.s. work if you know it's. on those security forces will be coming together to protect places like this is the brand new purpose built train station in the olympic village is going to be one of the main transport hubs during the games moving thousands of spectators with the bulk of the work now complete with all venues and transport networks built and tested sochi. now just waiting for the sporting world to descend. altie sochi all the highlights of the olympic torch relay across russia and beyond a website altie dot com look for the follow the flame section will be back after a virtual break with the story of cooling relations between washington and afghanistan kabul stalls essential negotiations over a security deal off to american soldiers mistaking him for a jihadist that another story after the break.

sixteen percent of imports came from illegal fishing. the european union is ironically taking fish from some of the poorest nations on earth so this is a very serious and very urgent problem that needs immediate international action. on the territorial waters they fish they load the fish on to the ships and leave for europe. to day illegal fishing just taking the bread out of our mouths. right on the sea. first trip. and i think you're.

on a reformist twitter. instrument. could be in the. washington's hope of selling a new security agreement with afghanistan. before presidential elections there is likely to be shouted that's according to america's top negotiator the deal if signed would allow a portion of u.s. troops to remain in the country after the official withdrawal later this year otherwise afghanistan may be left to deal with the taliban on its own relations between washington and kabul have been aggravated recently after american soldiers killed a child mistaking him for a militant or a british talent colonel richard williams says it's now crucial how the afghan government copes with internal problems oh i don't know. i believe that what

we tried to achieve is to set the conditions whereby an afghan government can deal in a nonviolent way with all of the groupings involved in bleeding but. if those conditions are set and it should be here then what we're likely to see. a compromise between what kabul wants and what the taliban wants which will see afghanistan model along over the next period of time perhaps the next ten years but that in itself won't be any great strategic victory if we want to call it that or any great strategic outcome. from one screen to all the line news where we've got the story of radiation spreading even further despite efforts to contain the hazardous leaks reading as if it eight times the japanese government safety standards even at the edges of the contamination zone.

plus tens of thousands of fingerprints of u.k. students are collected in school databases without any consent causing outrage among civil liberty organizations and parents you can learn more about this online . i. want to know your comment on what these policies i dislike you. pleasure to have you with us here on t.v. today i'm wrong researcher. oil and gas conflicts will be superseded by water wars in the future that's the warning from experts as the world's population grows access to clean water

resources is rising in price now let's have a look at this map here these blue dots behind me the places where conflicts over water disputes have broken out since that are hundred fifty s. and these include small protests as well as more serious large scale clashes there's been one hundred seventy eight disputes and the number of such hotspots is rising one example is the tension in the middle east where the struggle for water is a key issue in some ongoing conflicts. as more. the bible tells us that within a short distance from here jesus turned water into wine two thousand years later the great american might be turning the wine back into water bubby caballo has been living in the golan heights for over thirty years each day he attends to his many arden orchards keeping his wine in a cellar that was once a syrian bunker he is proud of the wine he produces but knows that in the absence of water none of this would be possible i don't know usually water isn't working

because it's the second main resource that we have other than the land. needs water and without it you will destroy all the crops and destroy all the farming here you can turn the golan heights into a disaster and it's not just about the golan heights rainwater from its catchment feeds into the river jordan providing a food of israel's water supply the disputed region was seized from syria after the six day war and residents of the golan remember that water was a key issue in the conflict i mean one of the stands here understands the importance of the work that all the water supply of israel because every door was raining here all but one is prone to the security of getting the food we can say that it is a must. expect a prisoner to have all over what the song says it's a worldwide rule that whoever controls the water controls the land but the problem is in some places there's very little water to go around for you have the common

waterfalls shared by several sovereign nations is always the possibility of pressure reaches conflicts that should be manageable was put out of control and examples of possible conflicts are plentiful syria's major water sources travel through turkey and iraq making it vulnerable while jordan is reliant on a river with syria bill today egypt. recently expressed concern of a countries using the upper now to generate electric power in the dry landscape of the middle east is a prize more precious than diamonds in its absence famine and drought are quick to follow but this is a region that very seldom needs an excuse for war and water shortages might just tip the balance here r.t. in the golan heights. some of the world news making headlines right now police in egypt supporters of the else to president mohamed morsi during clashes that karros

main universities protesters have been detained and several injured fresh outbreak of violence comes just two days before the vote on a draft constitution of the hope of fifty thousand troops polling stations but fears of more demonstrations by pro activists. bushfire is raging in western australia threatening both lives and properties an emergency warning has been issued for several suburbs officials say fabricates will be able to reach some remote areas urging people to do whatever they can to protect their homes. so they can ease of storage is or to provide food water and medical treatment to the crew of a russian fishing vessel caught up in a weeklong diplomatic spat over the seizure of the trawler the ship with eighty two crewmembers on board was taken by force reports of illegal fishing but with no official explanation from dhaka moscow has called it an act of piracy greenpeace stepped in and sided with senegal provoking russia to accuse the african countries government of acting on

a tip off from the environmental group from russian diplomats are trying to steer the crisis towards a diplomatic solution to allow the crew to walk free. nationalism seems to be on the rise in japan with far right groups protesting against immigration and demanding a reinforced army and. you found out the angry rhetoric is forcing some difficult questions. even if you think it's become a true. vission in japan when some foreign officials are subjected to verbal abuse on this particular occasion japanese nationalists made their feelings known loud and clear to russia's foreign minister china and south korea have also been in their crosshairs one for an island dispute the other for sending too many labor migrants to japan you know the latest protests korean workers were described as cockroaches which needed to be exterminated this man is one of those behind the nationalist wellies in japan he says he'd like to see japan a more closer site. and we've been to open to the world and now foreigners come

here and commit crimes i want us to return to pre-war period where we were closed and self-sufficient despite criticizing the government for its immigration policies the movement could not be feeling more comfortable since twenty twelve when she and so are there was reelected as prime minister such rallies have been on the rise. those are not only foreign nationals and delegations getting this take from japanese nationalists there are locals who have directly suffered from their country for becoming far right these school teachers have been protesting because they lost their jobs for not complying with what they call ultranationalist regulations in schools. should be made as an obligation to listen to the national anthem before classes i told my pupils part of who were not even japanese and it wasn't obligatory to stand up and then i got fired but it's not only about instilling national pride speculation is rife that with all this stronger japan

hype is eager to amend the nine hundred forty seven constitution namely article number nine which braves japan from having any kind of army other than for defense purposes. in the increasingly intertwined world we can ensure the peace of our nation without proactively taking a role in the peace and security of the world why don't we take steps forward on the issue of constitution amendment but not everyone is buying it and more far reaching goal could be reshaping the regional balance of power. there's been talk among high profile politicians including former prime ministers to go public debate on whether japan should have nuclear weapons it never materialized but it's something that the ruling elite has been pondering for years now and non-pacifist japan let alone a nuclear power would send shock waves across the region say experts but for now even with nationalist voices getting louder polls suggest that such ideas are still some way from becoming reality exhibitionist yahtzee reporting from japan. the news

continues now according to sean thomas in just over half an hour from now the meantime after the break a look at illegal industrial fishing in west africa this is our team today. because he doubted states is the big dog the only hyper power and the cultural driving force of globalization it takes a lot of flack i mean hey globalization means the whole world gets hollywood and hot dogs and not the other way around so let's take a break from the negativity and talk about something truly amazing about america and as a guy who lives in moscow i could say that the constitution of the united states is something truly amazing in russia there is constant talk about needing

a new national idea a new ideology or political theory or big changes to the russian constitution and so on and it's hard for people in america understand this but twice. in the twentieth century the system that russians gave their lives for collapsed and the current constitution was written quickly after a period of violence and said collapse not after a glorious victory now you see why people here aren't exactly memorizing amendments and founding fathers quotes here in america there are debates between liberals and conservatives but almost everyone believes the constitution and it is america's greatest strength there is a national idea that is a sacred document with a list of rules as almost universally agreed upon everyone with half a brain on the street but sadly not in congress knows when something is against the constitution or should i say against america near universal belief in the constitution is actually something truly exceptional about america but that's just my opinion.

when it has to do with illegal immigration the immediately send frontex to us see below it is today they control us it all water has as if a new colonization were taking place there experiencing a military called the patient of the oceans when they want to combat drugs in america or asia they find the means to do it and. the people the few bring if they really want to combat illegal fishing when it when they have the means to do it they have the airplanes to photograph the they have the patrols to stop them from fishing in our seas. continue because they are shrinking our country and what is more serious because they are destroying our fishing resources and marine wealth.