chief ban ki-moon is speaking. let's listen in. >> thank you for your kind hospitality and generous contributions. your royal highnesses, ladies and gentlemen. i would like to make a statement on my own before opening the floor. after three painful years of conflict and suffering in syria. today is a day of fragile but real hope. for the first time the syrian government and the syrian opposition, countries of the region and wider international community seek a political solution to the death, destruction and displace: that is the reality of lie in syria today. all syrians and all in the region affected by this crisis are looking to you gathered here to end the unspeakable human suffering to save syria's weak social motorcycle aic and meaningful political process. a vision first put forward a year and a half ago in the geneva community and endorsed by the united nations security council. you, the delegates from the syrian government and potential are here for this purpose. you have an emore or less does note and res

secretary general ban ki-moon who made that invitation to iran, ban ki-moon normally doesn't do anything regarding syria without first consulting with the permanent five members of the security council and particularly consulting with the russians and americans because in many ways they are the architect of the whole idea of these peace talks. >> james bays in geneva. >>> the u.s. is threatening sanctions against ukraine if it does not stop ongoing violence there. tensions have been building in the city of kiev for two months. people were injured in vicious street battles. demonstrators fighting police who in return use tear gas. >>> the head of the house intelligence committee said its no coins against that edward snowden ended up in russia. the u.s. spy contractor may have received help from russia and some of the things that snowdon did was beyond his technical capabilities and it was suggested that russia held snowdon steal information. >>> it's been two weeks since chemical spill tainted the water supply in west virginia. robert, on top of the individual lawsuit being brought, i und

ban ki-moon had one of two options. deliver, oriled to he delivered and was under pressure to retract, or alternatively, ban ki-moon got out ahead of himself in the united states and thought he had something he didn't. either way, it is indicative of the troubles and travails to come. >> how is this going to play into the progress that we know was made on iran's nuclear and the easing of sanctions? not at the iranians were publicly invited and disinvited to these talks, how is that going to play out? >> not well, but i suspected to be compartmentalized. the russians, the americans, and iranians -- the three key players. think, is one of the more interesting and nuanced features of this arrangement. barack obama's most important priority is, it seems to me, and the next 18 months is avoiding an israeli unilateral military attack, making an american attack unnecessary, and trying to do what he can to stop iranians from advancing so that they can break out and produce a nuclear weapon. keeping the means focus on the interi

ban ki-moon over the question of tehran's involvement. turkey's prime minister says 2014 will be a turning point in his country's relations with the eu as he arrives in brussels for talks. also coming up over the next hour, we will be getting the latest in sports, news, including the british football associations charging a player for a racially aggravated gesture which is considered to be anti-semitic while celebrating a goal. we will be having a look over the course of the next hour at all that is making the buzz on the internet. first, this afternoon, our top headline this hour, a part on has ripped through a shiite beirut,hood in southern killing at least four people. the latest attack targeting supporters of the militant hezbollah in lebanon. thousands flocked to the neighborhood after the explosion. according to lebanon's official media, it was a suicide arming -- homer in a vehicle behind the attack. for more on the story, we can speak to our correspondent who is in beirut. what do we know about today's attack? can see, the site of

we had ban ki-moon and representatives of both sides as well. is number of speakers making their points. they are given a 7 minute limit, we are told at speechers. >> testy times earlier between ban ki-moon and the syrian foreign minister. >> whel we wait for the translation to come through, i hope to check in with james bays, who i can see on a monitor. a quick word on what we have seen so far? >> we have seen a pretty dramatic exchange and the cas between the two sides. there's a slight translation problem, not provided by al jazeera, but the jagss who are organising all of this. seems to be a problem. it will be interesting of what he'll say. the syrian foreign minister walid al-muallem said there were others in the room who had blood on their hands, spending their pet roe dollars on trying to destroy his country. i think we can now listen to the saudi arabia foreign minister. >> without any conscience or any international laws that prohibit the use of such weaponsment yet the king come of saudi arabia exerted a lot of efforts together with t

one is coming from the secretary general office ban ki-moon. they're falling referendum, causing all to express their dishes without violence. this may be a hope in egypt, but not yet the political solution. the third cynical. color me red soldiers give roses in apreviousation, while that could be considered a war zone. we'll hear from you. we have our live lock www.aljazeera.com. you can tweet us, and there is always the facebook page. >> you can find lots more on what's happening in egypt on our website, www.aljazeera.com, and you can always tweet us or message us on facebook. now more than 30 international media organizations issued a statement calling for the immediate release of five outage journalists. mohamed fahmy and bader mohamm mohammed, and peter gr este are being held outside of cairo. two others have been detained for five months. >>> thailand's government is sticking with february 92 election day despite protesters. it claims supporters are dwindling. meanwhile, gunshots were heard overnight and an attack on anti-government pro t

chairing the opening session was a challenge for ban ki-moon. the syrian foreign minister's speech overran and the u.n. secretary general tried to stop him. >> mr deputy prime minister, i'm sorry to - can you just - i have spoken for 20 minutes. >> you live in new york, i live in syria. i have the right to give the syrian version. here in this forum. >> in his speech walid al-muallem added new complications to the process, saying this talks go to a second stage, it should be held on syrian soil. any deal down in switzerland should be sent to a referendum in syria, a country where no vote is free or fair for more than four decades. >> no one, mr kerry, in the world has the right to give legitimacy or withdraw legitimacy from a president, a government, a constitution or a law. >> anti-government and pro-assad camps chanted and yelled at each other outside the hall. the syrian opposition leader said he was fully committed to the un-led process, but expressed doubts about the sincerity of the government. >> translation: we want to make sure we have

ban ki-moon consults terribly wide lynn. always consults with the five permanent members of the u.n. security county, and particularly on this issue he callalways consults with the u.. and russia. >> just stay there for the moment because we want to get one reaction to the news of iran's invitation. >> it was like shock for all of us. when you are going to have political solution for any crisis for any problem you should invite the people who helped to achieve such goal, not to bring the people who can make this goal could not be achieved. it's very important for all the people to be peacemaker, not deal breaker, as we say. >> anita mcnaught joins me live and she knows all about diplomatic arm twisting because she watched it happen in istanbul. so what's the view now? >> well, they barely made that decision to go to geneva, and the last thing they needed was the joker in the pack being iran. it's a decision that some of the more cosmopaliton. this is place badly on the syrian street. iran is loathed and blamed for much of th

john tret is in iran and ban ki-moon's invitation causing controversy. >> that's putting it mildly. backed by other governments around the world, u.s. including britain and saudi arabia, very unhappy that the secretary-general of the u.n, ban ki-moon, has invited iran to peace talks on wednesday. promised that they will come with a positive attitude, no preconditions but the united states has said look they haven't publicly signed up with the communique of geneva 1 that these talks will create a icial traditional national governmen government -- transitional interim government. here is the u.s. ambassador to the united nations. samantha power. >> as of this morning, iran has still to demonstrate its willingness to explicitly and publiclpubliclypublicly subscrie communique. that is a minimum are are prerequisite to the process. >> he speaks for the the russian administration and he puts the other view. he says teheran and indeed anybody should be invited to the talks. >> translator: we support the principled approach of the u.n. secretary-general, sending invitation of participation

ban ki-moon, of course, in a delicate position, as he's had to withdraw the invitation he sent to theranians just a few days ago, an invitation to attend the syria peace conference. but he had to withdraw that invitation a few hours ago in new york after iran refused, according to the united nations, to accept the principals of geneva one which basically stated that a transition government would be set up in syria. ban ki-moon said that's the reason why the invitation was withdrawn to the iranians, because they would not agree to the principles of geneva one. this coming at a delicate position. he's going into the peace conference in switzerland in a slightly weaker condition after the developments of the last 24 hour. in the last hour we also heard from the russian foreign minister who spoke about the syrian peace conference, and the fact this the invitation to iran had been withdrawn. let's listen to sergei lavrov. >> translation: russia is doing all it can to solve the crisis. tomorrow in switzerland an international conference will start. we are fighting for a dialogue based on a

ban ki-moon withdrew his invitation. >> i have a kind of mixed feelings.e are going to go there and we will try to minimize the suffering of the syrian people. this is the most important thing i think to do. >>> and for the latest on those peace talks we go to james bayes. >> reporter: in the coming hours important preliminary meetings before the full sessions get underway. ban ki-moon un secretary general will be meeting with john kerry and also with his russian counterpart, sergei lavrov. final preparations before the mantra meeting. let me explain what that is. that is an international gathering, more than 40 nations, of course not iron because their invitation was withdrawn, and they are trying to get everybody on the same page saying we support this peace process, negotiations, the idea of a france situational government to take over the running of syria. then those negotiations start here in the building behind him in the un headquarters here in geneva. they start on friday, around the table, two syrian delegations, one representing the syrian govern

they saw ban ki-moon speaking. they said, okay.know this is happening, we're following, but we're not very interested in knowing all of the details, because we don't have high expectations. they say the conference comes three years too late. that it will be all talk. even the more optimistic say even if the conference come out with decisions, it's going to be so difficult to implement them such as ceasefires, because there are so many different rebel groups fighting on the ground in syria, especially the ones affiliated with al-qaeda, those are not part of these negotiations, and even if a ceasefire agreement is reached or there is a decision to try to reach a calm, those groups are not going to be part of that, and the people here feel that no one is going to commitment to any such decisions. so the expectations are quite low of though conference, people aren't really following, but they say they do know it is happening. >> thank you. >>> we'll be coming back to the syria story later in this program, and in other news also coming

secretary-general, ban ki-moon, invited iran to attend on wednesday. but the syria coalition says it will not attend unless that is withdrawn. intense negotiations are underway right now and we expect to hear more from the u.n. really any moment now. john terrett is at the u.n. is there any word of when we can hear from ban ki-moon whether in fact, iran is uninvited? >> we know that invitation which caused ban ki-moon such delight yesterday, he was so pleased the have extended that invitation all fell apart. causing him much angst. pretty much uninviting iran is the only action. the 2 talks starting in geneva on tuesday, they won't go if the iranianiranians turn up, and th. saying we can't have them there unless they agree with the communique from geneva 1, to instruct a transitional government that doesn't involve bashar al-assad the current leader of syria. whatever it turns out to be either a press conference or press statement either read by him or one of his spokespeople. samantha power is what she says is the u.s. view of what's going on right no

ban ki-moon over the question of tehran's involvement.

ban ki-moon, will be meeting with john kerry and sergei lavrov.ore than 40 nations, of course not iran because the invitation to them was withdrawn, they are trying to get everyone on the same page. get the international community saying we support this peace process, the idea of a transitional government to take over the running of syria. then those negotiations will start here in the building behind me. the start on friday, around the table to syrian delegations. one representing the syrian government, one representing the syrian opposition. the problem is this, they are supposed to come up with a transitional government with members of both sides. that's the aim of this whole process. the problem is, that on the assad side they say that government must be lead by president assad, and have his key lieutenants, his key security commanders in that government. on the other side, the opposition side, they say that transitional government must not have president assad involved and none of those around him. that's the key strumabling point and what th

and while he was going on in minute 30 or 31, ban ki-moon tried to interrupt him. >> i must finish mypeech. >> but then i will have to give -- >> you live in new york. i live in syria. i have the right to give the syrian version here in this forum. >> yes, of course. i -- >> and del, what the u.s. and the syrian opposition says is that shows the syrian's government intransigeance and unwillingness to understand the level of violence inside of his country, and the international community's anger that the government is continuing to let that violence go on. >> nick thank you very much. >>> while those peace talks got underway they almost didn't happen. iran was invited by the un secretary general and then disinvited within a span of about 24 hours. >> considering all signs, i don't have much hope that this meeting can succeed in fighting terrorism, because some countries sponsoring terrorism are taking part. also it won't succeed in establishing peace and stability, because the countries that created instability are taking part. nevertheless if it helps the syrian people and freedom, it

john, ban ki-moon's visitation n to iran. >> it has broken out in a spat at the united nations here on the east side of manhattan and state department and it's all over an invitation from the secretary general ban ki-moon, who has invited the iranians to the geneva peace talks slated to begin on wednesday. mr. ban saying he has been persuaded that they would participant in a positive manner and will come without pre-conscience. but that has angered the western back council in syria. they're very cross about this. they say, look, tehran is too much of a close ally to the leader of syria, and they have not really signed up to the whole points of these talks, which is to create a transitional government. the news conference has been abruptly canceled but we have heard from the u.s. ambassador to the united nations samantha power. here's what she had to say about the situation as it stands at the moment. >> as of this morning iran still has yet to demonstrate it's willingness to explicitly and publicly subscribe to the full implementation of the geneva communique that is a minimum requirem

chief ban ki-moon. >> well, i spoke to the u.n. representatives early on. they say now they have 80% of the money pledged last year. they are obviously knocking on doors and chasing up the outstanding funds, because it's all very well pledging the money, but the u.n. needs the cash in hand, to buy emergency relief supply, to buy food aid to give to the syrians, a major challenge that the u.s. face, and was touched on by secretary of state john kerry and ban ki-moon is it's difficult to get aid through when the syrian regime is not allowing the aid to get through. there's a lot of besieged towns and cities that the regime is preventing aid from getting through. >> john kerry appealed, accusing the syrian regime of using the civilians as pawns and appealed for them to allow the aid to get through. >> bernard smith, thank you for that, in kuwait city there. >> well, more many syrian refugees financial help will come too late. zeina khodr met some of the syrians in lebanon in need of international help. >> it is a heavy burden for this 14-year-old girl. she is

ban ki-moon is there now.removed a potential stumbling block to the talks on monday when he withdrew an invitation for iran to begin. the talks begin on wednesday, and we'll be going there live in a moment, but first to geneva to james bayes. james you have been talking to some of the many diplomats gathered there. what is the plan? what is the structure for tomorrow? >> reporter: well, i think we know what the plan is. i have been speaking to key leaders in ban ki-moon's team. and i think we know what they are planning to do after the problems they have had with this invitation with iran. they are insisting things are now back on track. in the coming hours, ban ki-moon who has just left here, will have a couple of key meetings ahead of the mantra meeting itself. he is going to have a meeting with the russian foreign min ferster, and secretary of state john kerry. it is then hoped that he will have individual meetings. one with the syrian opposition. one with the syrian government with the two heads of the two

secretary-general ban ki-moon announced he had invited iran. after an outcry from the u.s., saudi arabia, and the syrian opposition, he rescinded the invitation. will the peace talks survive this controversy days before the talks were slated to begin. joining us is p.j. crowley, former secretary of state for public affairs. great to have you on the show. why did ban ki-moon invite iran to the peace talks when iran supported the bashar al-assad regime and rejected the main precondition to the talks, which was a transition involving assad losing power. >> whatever is going to happen in syria will - iran will have the opportunity to shape that. potentially culentively -- constructively, more likely destructively. i think they'd rather have iran in the room, rather than undermine the process fro the outside. why did he extend the invitation? he probably heard a private assurance that understood the principles central to the process. why did he disinvite them, because iran was unwilling to say publicly to what they would say privately. >> after they

secretary-general ban ki-moon has withdrawn his offer.ran began shutting down its 800 number enrichment plants as u.n. inspectors looked on. easing international sanction he and releasing $4.2 billion to iran. studying a video from a militant group threatening attack on next month's winter olympics on sochi, last month's suicide bombings in volgograd killed 31 people. the u.s. offered to send a special envoy to negotiate for the release of kenneth bae. they spoke to officials in pyongyang, he was sentenced to 15 years of hard labor after allegedly trying to overthrow the government. >>> hundreds of thousands of people in west virginia were banned from drinking water for several days after a chemical spill. state and city lawmakers are trying to figure out what steps to take and whether that will include a lawsuit. "real money" is next, david sheufort is ushuster is up next. >>> the income gap between wealthy and poor is now wider than it has ever been, and now it's putting a drag on the u.s. economy. also we will go to west virginia where

the announcement follows un chief ban ki moon substitute aaron to attend the first day of the colts accordingly if that daddy and i waved at the corner of the negotiations is to use them. by dietrich was sent what condition the governing body with the port the sticky powerless. he was one of the easiest to forty minutes as i approached that you are with a tape of steve and chris are key role in all truth. the decision by the syrian national coalition which on some says they finally agreed to take contests and uncertainty around the talks the us is also stipulates that tehran must endorse the twenty twelve to me that communicates eat any serious political transition process if it's to attend. syrian opposition figures had earlier expressed reluctance to go to switzerland to less pissed at the countess of this excluded from any future transitional government. such has recently been quoted as saying he has no intention of quitting. the enlightenment of the footy up up up. within hours of each its new constitution being supported by more than ninety percent of that is on the explain the apparent co

international we were showing un chief ban ki moon the russian foreign minister sergei lavrov and of course the u.s. secretary of state john kerry opening statements but as i understand you accord the main condition for talks is that there be no preconditions and yet john kerry the u.s. secretary of state letting out a precondition that assad house to go. well that's right laurie even though the main agreement for this conference was to be for it to be held without any preconditions first the syrian opposition taking port were saying that they're going to push for president assad to step down and now u.s. secretary of state john kerry said that the syrian president has no future in his country once again despite the fact that washington and moscow they've been organizing this conference they both agreed that no preconditions was sort of the main condition for this whole event to be helt and soon enough towards war here as well they were saying that they are not ready to discuss president assad's future for them the main goal right now is try to achieve some sort of a cease fire we've

he also earned a rebuke from un secretary general ban ki moon. speaking to nome. you have to stick to the open source and is hoping to get on with it its own wanna mess on the regime's position that the rebels and nothing but islamist terrorists and the stakes like any other has the right to stamp amounts the opposition is divided but sold its groups agree that can all be content to any interim government. hmm it. ty allen couldn't be that all syrians are the victims of one single man who refuses to leave office. batsman has forgotten the fact that no political office in the wild is what this month just one single innocent life door with the two sides of the pants. there was little that un secretary general ban ki moon could do it the end of the first day's talks except to appeal to the warring parties to allow humanitarian aid to reach the civilian population there is lol the solution and twenty resolution. there is normally a solution. and why. his creativity wishes and porcelain. we have to prove i did and this is a shoemaker it was he says. to say tonight the

un secretary general ban ki moon told donors. it was unfair that the burden fall entirely on syria's neighbors. will contain more grim. the phrase a hot issue. routine. it's interesting. despite it. what this means you have now ordered that the boy who is to share. does he mean what the competition curious neighbors pretty generous. he had assorted guarantee. and that reward must come quickly given the extent of the humanitarian disaster in syria. everyday there are explosions fire fights and that's the war has claimed over a hundred thousand victims and that violence has driven four and a half million syrians from their homes to an a half million have crossed over to bordering states. so money is desperately needed here in iraq and in syria's other neighboring countries. they need tents food and medicine to support the syrian refugees. a political solution to serious civil war remains elusive. one ki moon is optimistic that peace talks scheduled for next week in geneva will proceed but the reality is that the syrian national cou

as you are saying that a ban ki moon was on the via saying that's not just the people of syria will be walking every move they didn't moan for. as they begin than negotiations the first time since the syrian government and the rebels in syria have met face to face to discuss the reuse of it to somebody conflicts that is a breakthrough the events in that respect. but it is also do something with a woe is coming together to lean towards the excess assets to bring peace back to syria. do we have hit something in the region are faulty foreign ministers from around the wont of wool supporting the peace prospects. despite the fact that said frankly expectations for any kind of breakthrough up to them and they are all pushing that point they are saying and that to managing expectations saying there will be no overnight success it and the tolls will continue the timetable for this morning has a cool thing to do this you are saying that time came in. but the other big hits its own site will be the u s secretary of state but don't carry the russian foreign minister said a ufo and the chinese for

will attend the talks without any precondition based on an invitation by un secretary-general ban ki moon now for his part on the moon says he was given assurance by the foreign minister mohammad beer that the. iranian delegation respects the un's positions on the syrian civil war saudi arabian officials argue that iran should not be allowed to participate in the talks since its troops are on the ground helping syrian president bashar all all sides meanwhile assad has announced intentions to run for reelection later this year or this could be yet another hitch in a very sensitive negotiation process that is currently under way while negotiators attempt to broker peace talks european supporters say that the syrian opposition so called jihadi one a b s or heading to the country to take up arms an estimated eleven thousand europeans have reportedly headed to syria in order to participate in the fighting artie's sara for more. a young british traveling to syria. and according to one expert the now part of the largest european islamist foreign fighting contingent in recent times to at least el

secretary general's see us blushes by instead taking the credits last blame for inviting tehran and ki moon saying he told the iranian foreign ministry said the series the chemo was that the talks would lead to a transitional governing body in damascus. we're on now insists there are no preconditions for saudi arabia turkey base in opposition that make special rossi's main actor in a conflict on welcome washington going one for their asking the un to un invite tehran. as for assad he points the finger at the saudis and other countries and in his view are called exporting terrorism european born it's going to syria in growing numbers is also becoming an issue the fear of a boomerang effect here in this country the interior minister warning seven hundred french nationals who either are going. are there. come back from syria calling those budding john it's the biggest danger country faces in the coming years and school which brings us back to geneva to. how is the radicalization of the conflict change the equation. ultimately what is the name of those peace talks began to to get underway on we

secretary ban ki-moon has requested south sudan to release those who were planning the coup. what is the government's position? >> in fact, when they talked to the president, his advisers about the prospect of those who attempted the coup should be released or not, the government having listed to the sleigh explanation given by the minister of justice, it was found that it was not easy to release the suspects because the transition constitution of the republic of south sudan if the president come in and release those who are perpetrators of the crime, the president would be violating the constitution. so the government will not touch them to be released without trial. but they agreed that the process will be expedited so that these people are taken and allowed to defend them. >> briefly, if you can. there is so much national pressure to have these detainees released. >> the government, it is unfortunate, does not want to cooperate with south do yo suda. this is unfortunate. we are a sovereign country, and this is the position of the government. the government knows that the a

secretary general ban ki moon to latvia for a congress on the issue the invite was politely declined. there are around three hundred thousand of us and i'm one of them here's my passport it's an alien passport. when the soviet union collapsed latvia only gay full citizenship to people and their descendants who had lived in the country prior to nine hundred forty when it became a soviet republic that was around fifty two percent of the population everyone else was classed as a non-citizen today one in seven people are considered alien canady is one of those affected he was born in latvia and although his mother is latvian because his father moved to the country after nine hundred forty eight was denied citizenship he eventually went through the process of naturalization when he was twenty two years old how did it make you feel having to go through that process despite the fact is he saying you were born in this country well does your mother loves you. right and that's the same if she does that you feel good and if she doesn't you feel a bit about insulted the process of naturalisation

united nations run pro sarah also made similar comments last month calling on secretary general ban ki moon and the un security council to condemn the ongoing inside mini games to zero while also saying the incitement was directly responsible for the recent round of terror attacks against the jewish state last month including a bus bombing a rocket attack and one sniper shooting despite the attacks israel recently released a third group of palestinian prisoners as part of the u s brokered deal to restart direct peace talks between the israelis and palestinians the move has being deeply unpopular in israel with all the palestinians serving jail time for killing israelis and activities. one more round of twenty six prisoners is planned for release as part of the deal however little progress has seemingly been made in brokering a permanent two state solution the prisoners were praised by the palestinians upon their release with the palestinian authority president mahmoud abbas as calling them heroes the comments prompted netanyahu to respond to that of murderers are not heroes and that while i

major challenges that the un faces, and it was touched on by secretary of state john kerry, and ban ki-moon it is very difficult to get through when the syrian government is not allowing aid through. the regime is preventing a lot of the aid from getting through. and john kerry accused the syri syrian regime as using the citizens as pons. >> reporter: some of the syrians have been met in lebanon and are most in need of international help. >> reporter: it is a heavy burden for this 14-year-old girl. she is trapped. she is a refugee from syria. this shelter in lebanon is all her family has, and they say there is only one way to keep it. >> translator: i am not obliged to marry a 44 year old man. i am crying because of the situation we are in, but i have to do it so that my family can survive. >> reporter: she has agreed to marry the 44-year-old lebanese landlord. she is the tradeoff. the family can no longer pay the $250 monthly rent. in exchange the owner demanded she become his second wife. >> translator: it is a difficult decision. every mother wants to see her daughter secure and marry th

it all goes back to yesterday, sunday when ban ki-moon extended the list to include the iranians, andes up to find out state department is unhappy, britain is unhappy, mainly because iran won't sign up to the main points of these talks. so pressure grew throughout the day to withdraw that invitation to iran. the national opposition in syria will be there in geneva on wednesday looked to pull out, but in the end the united nations said they were disappointed -- ban ki-moon said he was personally disappointed that the iranians did not sign out to the agreement to create a transitional government. before he made that statement, the iranians said look if that's what we would have had had to signed up for, we wouldn't have come anyway. >> has there been reaction to fact that the talks are back on. >> yes. on again off again. there was a written statement today, and we have a full frame graphic to explain to you. i will read it . . . so, you know, at the moment, barring in snafus, and there could be any one of a number of those, we're going to see the regime sitting alongside the opposition

chief bank -- ban-ki moon. >> can you a wrap up in one or two minutes. >> no, i can't promise you. you live in new york, i live in syria. i have the right to give the syrian version here in this forum. >> yes, of course, i do not object to that. >> this is my right. >> for more on the talks i'm joined by al jazeera america correspondent nick schifrin, who is at the talks in montreaux switzerland. good to have you back. this can't be much of a surprise. we knew going in that the u.s. and the syrian opposition felt bashar al-assad had to go, and the syrians say assad had to say. let's listen to what john kerry said. >> there is no way - no way possible in the imagination that the man who has led the brutal response to his own people could regain the legitimacy to govern. one man, and those who supported him can no longer hold an entire nation and a region hostage >> nick, with dim et rickly opposed position, how will they get anywhere? >> there's a lot of people here that say they are not going to get anywhere. what the u.s. officials i'm talking to say is wait a minute, yes, the rhe

. >> it was invited by the european -- the minister, ban ki-moon.ould iran have been at the table? >> absolutely. the problem with this conflict is when your own side is winning, you are not willing to talk. now, bashar al-assad seems to be doing better, and the iranians are more difficult to get and the americans and everyone else do not really have a strategy, but insist that iran has to agree to preconditions. it was a mistake not to invite them. >> thank you. sixth nationsthe rugby is coming up in sports, but we start with tennis. li na reaches the second straight australian open final. old raced to a five- zero lead. a two-love lead in the second. she set up a final matchup. the men's domestic travel team was shattered. the goalkeeper could not stop the free kick. they moved to the left. say -- heading home a corner. >> the men's coach says it is disappointing they could not qualify for the next round. we should have won the game considering the chances we created. we need to be more clinical. that is the club. full of surprises, and that was a

secretary-general ban ki- moon has withdrawn an invitation for iran to attend the syria peace talks afterressure from the united states. a spokesperson said iran had reneged on a pledge to support a transitional government in syria, the basis for wednesday's meeting in switzerland. >> a series of meetings and telephone conversations, senior iranian officials assured the irantary-general that supported the goals, the secretary is disappointed by public statements that are not at all consistent with the stated commitment. he continues to urge iran to join the global consensus behind the geneva community. to --that it has remained outside, he is concluded the gathering will dissipate without iran'sl continue with out precipitation. x -- >> ban's move came just one day after he had announced iran's attendance. that prompted demands by the u.s. and saudi arabia for the un to rescind iran's invitation, and threats by the syrian opposition to boycott the talks. the dispute over syria comes as iran and six world powers have begun implementing the agreement that slows the iranian nuclear program i

official ban ki-moon to extend the invitation. they would like to see iran invited. russia very keen to see iran at the table because from russia's point of view they believe that iran and saudi arabia's involvement is vital to provide a regional stability to the conflict. they believe it's far wider than syrian borders. the problem is america wants to see far more from iran that they will abide by what i mentioned before, the geneva communique issued in 2012. the problem is iran were adamant that they were not going to make such explicit undertakings. >> thank you very much for that, paul. you can see those pictures on your screen. they're from moscow. we were expecting the russian and iranian foreign ministers any minute. we'll go back when that gets back under way. >>> the violence in syria has once again spilled over into lebanon. three people have been killed when a car bomb exploded. a group linked to al-qaeda has claimed responsibility for the attack. >>> the trial of four hezbollah members accused of killing a former prime minister is due to resume in the net

chief ban ki-moon invited raen in the last 24 hours to participate in syria peace talks.n though iran has not agreed to the precondition that the talks be based on a transition away from assad. and iran is rearming assad and propping him up with fighters and money. this is a deal breaker for some of the syrian opposition groups, they are threatening to boycott the talks. a lot is in play. john kerry has been working this so hard as you know, nick burns and trying to dissuade ban ki-moon, the u.n. from trying to persuade them to rescind the invitation to iran. should iran be at those talks? >> i think the u.s. is right to ask the following question, will the iranian government support the goal of the united nations which as you said is a transitional government, away from president assad, some new government that might represent all of the people of syria and have a chance of a cease fire and entering this terrible humanitarian catastrophe. the iranians have been on the ground. they have their own security forces fighting on behalf of the syrian government and invited hezb

secretary-general ban ki-moon did offer assistance. european union at large representative has arrived back here in kiev or is expected back in kiev today and he will hold meetings tomorrow. so international assistance is available if at all needed. we have seen across europe, france, germany denmark estonia, criticizing the government for violence earlier in the week. everybody urging dialogue. that's what's happening now, the opposition leaders and the president speaking again. whether the president can offer ahead of an emergency session of parliament, it will be it to parliament on tuesday to hope to try and resolve a lot of the issues the opposition and the millions of people here in ukraine that support them have been demanding. >> jennifer glasse with new developments out of kiev, thank you. >>> the latest revelation of edward snowden suggests that the u.s. is spying on germany. the national security agency spied on have german businesses competing with u.s. firms. snowden says he also believes that u.s. agents want to kill him,

secretary-general ban ki-moon in switzerland where the peace talks will get under way. neighbourhoods in fallujah are becoming ghost towns. militant groups took control of fallujah, and they negotiated with community leaders to allow local police into the city. those talks fell apart, and the rebels kidnapped local clergy men instead. 27 were killed when seven bombs exploded in markets on monday. it's the third week of a standoff between the warring sides. >> the growing unrest in ukraine is escalating into an intense standoff. i want to show you some pictures of kiev. all right, we want to point out this is pretaped. clashes continue as we talk about the situation here, clashes continue monday between riot police officers, and protesters. thousands of demonstrators are rallying in defines much new laws limiting the right to protest. it's escalated into accusations by both sides of the attacks. jennifer glass is in kiev with more on the developing story. >> in terms of movement, not much has changed in 24 hours. this is the front line between this side, the protesters,

unsecretary-general ban ki-moon urged all those to be released who had been planning a coup. what is the government's position? >> if the president come in releasing the perpetrators of the crime, that is punishable, it is treason. the president will be violating the constitution, and the members of the government expressed the fact that they will not accept these guys to be released without, you know, without trial. so they are to go - but they agreed that the process, the legal process should be expedited. these people are taking to the court of law, and they would be allowed to present themselves. if government sanctions could be imposed on the country to put pressure on the detainee. >> we are a sovereign country. the international community understands the position of the government. the government knows the coup happened on the 16th of december. if something of that kind happens, the perpetrators take them to the court of law. i don't understand how the international community understands. >> there is fighting going on in bor. the army has sent in reinforcements to try

secretary-general ban ki- moon says intense and urgent discussions are underway in this week's peace talks ontario -- on syria. >> the un's chief was dismayed after ron issued a statement on monday rejecting any preconditions for the talks. the main opposition in the syrian national council says it will pull out if they do not cancel the invitation by this evening. >> for more on that we are joined by our middle east expert. this was already said to be an uphill battle, where does this leave the u.n.? >> in a very dangerous situation. it might well be that in the end, the u.n. secretary general would be made responsible for possible failure of the conference. it is a continuation of we have seen in the recent mode -- months and weeks. many specialist did not expect this conference to take place, and it is still in danger two days before it starts. >> if they do get through this, and the conference does take place, the president has been talking about running for election. against a background like that, is there any hope -- any hope of concrete progress? >> he is a lot stronger than

secretary general ben ki-moon took because his offer after pressure from the u.s.from the syrian opposition to skip it altogether. sergey lavrov called the muove mistake. let me bring in former ambassador mark ginsburg, ambassador, good morning. >> good morning. >> what do you make of the back and forth of ban ki-moon? >> guess who's not coming to dinner, it's not iran. this is clearly an indication of how the u.n. secretary general stepped, shall we say, over the cliff with respect to this agreement that he had reached with the iranian foreign minister without adequately consulting with secretary of state kerry or the syrian opposition. look, christine, the real challenge is ultimately can this conference reduce the hum humanitarian suffering inside syria? you can imagine the difficulties reaching any agreement. >> obviously, the goal of these talks, you want to establish a transitional government that both the opposition and government can agree to, but it begs, for example, on the state of the country. i'm going to quote him here, i will not hesitate for a secon

secretary general, ban ki-moon. >> you live in new york. i live in syria.ave the right to give the syrian version here in this forum. >> yes, of course. >> three years of suffering, this isn't right. >> we have to have some constructive and harmonious -- >> i have -- you spoke 25 minutes. please, i need to speak. >> there are many participating here. so we shall not be constructive at this time. >> it is constructive. i promise you, to be constructive. >> wow. all right, lisa laughit at the peace conference joins us live fr from montrose, switzerland. how did this happen? it's usually very diplomatic. that was not. how did that happen? >> reporter: well, suzanne, i've been to countless of these types of conferences and never seen anything like it. and, you know, the u.n. secretary, general ban ki-moon is usually really mild mannered but the syrian foreign minister went on for a half hour, provocative language against the united states, syrian opposition, against every -- basically every member at the table. and he said, listen, you're not being constructive

secretary-general ban ki-moon arriving.g in anbar province and fallujah, so familiar to americans and american marines in particular. he spoke afterward, ban ki-moon, of the need for social cohesion and cohesive dialogue. a message perhaps for the man he just met with, prime minister al maliki who's government stands to alien nate sunnis, despite promising america and others he was all for power sharing and reconciliation. and tribal leaders say that while, yes al qaeda-linked fighters are in their provinces and towns and cities, the root cause of the sunni rebellion is really years of disaffection, of being cut out of the political and decision-making system. one piece of promising news, mr. al maliki who was threatening to move his troops into fallujah to clear out al qaeda linked elements has backtracked, saying he won't go in any time soon with the troops and will leave it for the tribes to sort out, in his words, for as long as it takes. if he had gone in, sunnis were promising a fight that would have gone well beyond

secretary-general bank ki moon says iran needs to be part of the negotiations. >> monday marks day one of iran's historic agreement. u.n. inspectors will begin work n iran's enrichment. the current deal will expire in six months. in commoning the united states in europe will ease sanctions and release $4 billion in frozen assets. some iranians are expressions optimism about the new deal. >> they put us under such pressure that by a little thing such as this, they become hopeful. we are hopeful for the future. if the agreement is not implemented simultaneously by both sides, it will be suspended. if the other side does not fulfil its commitments iran is ready to resume enriching uranium to 20%. >> sanctions will be lifted on oil, gold and automotive imports, airplane parts and medicine. the u.s. is threatening sanctions against the ukraine if they don't stop the violence. the backlash comes as new riots erupted after ukraine passed laws panning protests. as jennifer class reports, dozens were hurt in clashes with police in the capital kiev. >> it's the worst violence in kiev in two mont