hers are taking the opportunity to push for their own independent state masoud barzani the leader of the kurdish regional government told the b.b.c. quote everything that's happened recently shows that it's it's the right of kurdistan to achieve independence from now on we won't hide that that's our goal it's not me who will decide on independence it's the people barzani says he will hold a referendum on kurdish independence in the coming months with the parliament at a standstill thought i see this bringing down the necks of baghdad and at least twenty four hundred deaths just in the month of june alone many both inside and outside of iraq are worried that the country may be on the brink of collapse a collapse that many say has its roots in the u.s. military's involvement in the region here's artie's marina with more all over the arab world america has left behind its military footprint but i believe america is exceptional in part because we have shown a willingness through the sacrifice of blood and treasure to stand up not only for our own narrow self-interest but for the interest

kurdish leader, masoud barzani said the country is already effectively partitions. barzani made the comments in an interview with the bbc. he said kurds would play a part in a political solution to the fighting. but he said independence is their right. in the past month, kurdish fighters have moved into areas abandoned by iraqi forces. including kirkuk. the city has one of the country's largest oil fields. the kurds have argued with iraqi leaders for years about sharing oil revenues and they have long pushed for an independent state. >>> the u.s. treasury secretary is look toward china and encouraging leaders there to make some changes. ai uchida joins us with that story and more from the business desk. >> a lower yuan keeps exports competitive and spurs growth but hurts american exporters. jack lew will push them to do more. lew was speaking in washington to members of the u.s.-china business council. he said the yuan needs to rise. >> we need to keep making progress getting toward a market-determined exchange race. >> lew will meet with financial officials at the

masoud barzani says the country is already effectively partitioned. barzani made the comments in an interview with the bbc. he says current would play a part in the political solution to the fighting. he said independence is their right. in the past month kurdish fighters have moved into areas abandoned by iraqi forces including kirkuk. the city has one of the country's largest oil fields. kurds have argued with iraqry leaders for years about sharing oil revenues and longed for an independent state. >>> the turkish prime minister is seeking another mandate from the people in a new role. recep tayyip erdogan announced his running for president. next month's vote will be the first time turkish citizens can directly elect their leader. >> translator: i'm not running for president of a party or group. i will be president of the entire turkish republic. no one must doubt that i will be a leader for everyone, regardless of whether they vote for me or not. >> up until now, the president has been appointed by parliament. erdogan announced his candidacy at a m

masoud barzani plans to hold a referendum in the coming months to seek independence. maliki said barzani is trying to take advantage of iraq's confusion. he said a referendum would violate the constitution. maliki is expected to seek another term in office. observers say he's trying to show the iraqi people that he can bring calm to the nation. sunnis and kurds are demanding that maliki step down. they say the preferential treatment he's given to fellow shia muslims help fuel the count country's crisis. >>> nicolas sarkozy denied claims he tried to use his influence to avoid a probe into illegal campaign funding. the former french president is now under a formal investigation. he appeared on a news program to claim innocence. >> translator: i want to say to all those who are listening or watching that i have never betrayed them. and have never committed an act against the republic's principles or the rule of law. >> it was his first public appearance since being released from custody this week. investigators questioned him for hours. they allege he obtained informatio

and their leader masoud barzani announced an independence vote. maliki criticized the kurds in a speech on television. he accused them of exploiting the country's crisis. >>> u.s. vice president joe biden is trying to convince the kurds' leader to consider his push for independence. biden told barzani by phone that u.s. leaders back iraq's leaders in their fight against the militants. iraqi lawmakers are scheduled to convene again on sunday. they'll resume talks aimed at forming a national unity government. >>> former u.s. national security agency contractor edward snowden has applied to extend his stay in russia. his current one-year residence permit is about to expire at the end of july. snowden faces criminal charges in the united states, leaking details -- for leaking details of highly classified government surveillance programs. last year he received a temporary permit to stay in russia as a political refugee. moscow is expected to approve an extension. russian president vladimir putin rejected demands from the u.s. government to hand over sn

they took me to a village called luck that's where i met their leader masoud. they brought me to him and i was standing there exhausted bleeding with dirty and bloody bandages my teeth broken. they took me into a yard there were a lot of people sitting there a lot of people with special one of the mujahideen who used to be an engineer spoke a little russian he told me say hello to these people and i don't know why but i saw one person who looked different from others or there were about thirty to thirty five people there i don't know why i don't know how to explain this but he looked different so i walked straight to this man to greet him first. apostle. and this was a much address it at that point i didn't know it was him. i thought i just thought i should say hello to their leader first and then two others when i approached him they grabbed me and pulled me back the guy who spoke russian asked me why did you go to him first so i said he seems to be the most important person here i just thought of greeting first that's when masood left and told them to let me

and kurdish president masoud barzani has announced the kurds will hold their own vote for independence. the kurds live in a relatively prosperous and stable region in northern iraq built on oil money. their relationship with the central government in baghdad has never been a close one. now they would like to separate all together. today al-maliki said that would be illegal. >> pelley: charlie dag ata is in baghdad tonight it was just ten days ago that maliki told u.s. secretary of state john kerry that he would form a new all inclusive government by now. >> yes, scott, this is essentially a 180 degree turn. it's just about the opposite of what u.s. officials were hoping for or even been promised. now they had repeatedly insisted that any major military support would be dependent on al-maliki at least taking the first steps toward forming a new inclusive government first. >> pelley: charlie dag ata in baghdad, thank you. >> the isis forces attacking the iraqi government have declared their territory a new country under strict islamic law. their leader is becoming, in effect, the new osa

and food which is absolutely necessary masoud security thank you very much for your time here on r.t. international now another military aircraft carrying bodies of those killed in the mh seventeen tragedy has just taken off from the city of harkov and is heading towards the netherlands the malaysian airlines plane came down in eastern ukraine and just over a week ago the bodies are now being transported to a military base for examination and identification it's thought that not all the remains have been found yet and a special international team is being prepared to secure the crash site meanwhile experts working with the flight recorders say the data they contain hasn't been tampered with. or several theories about what could have brought down the malaysian plane have emerged since the disaster now a source in the ukrainian military says anti air defense drills taking place at the time of the crash may be to blame but kiev denies any such exercises ever happened or russia's aviation authority is demanding answers from ukraine about the crash. for the transport urgency of that action

john kerry met the chief of staff masoud rizani.is worrying arabs living in kirkuk. >> those travel from erbil to kirkuk have to cross this checkpoint guarded by the kashmerga and the iraqi police. there are two authorities. it has been this way for years. the balance of power seems to be shifting. >> you always needed an iraqi visa to enter kirkuk outside the region governed by the curs in northern iraq. the iraq police at this checkpoint didn't want to let us through but we managed to enter kirkuk. the kurds have the final say here. >> this oil-rich province has long been disputed territory claimed by baghdad and the kurdish government. now, the curbs no longer feel obliged to answer to a government weakened by the sunni rebel yon. there is obviopposition not jus from the shia-led government. suddenly arabs say they won't accept a divided country. >> we want the government in baghdad to leave power. state institutions should be preserved. the kurds don't have the right to the decide our fate. >> kirkuk has new borders. it's arab d

recent years is when delegations fly in to afghanistan and then you got to ive up that road through masoud circle. they tried to tip my car over there. that rotary there a while back. a bunch of people very upset about something flushing -- down the toilet, something like that. you know, the crowds just went wild. so putting our people out in a remote location is not the safest result for our embassy either. tell me the answer. how do you -- how do you configure this? now, you have to abandon that set design, is that still on the table, when the land is available? >> thank you for the question. let me reply to it quickly. you make a great point. part of the difficulty of the standard embassy design is that it was a largely horizontal solution. so that where land is abundance, where we could be near that property in close proximity to our colleagues to travel back and forth which not only has security but extensive cost implications, it made sense. but in the cities we're required to build in now, not only is it not possible to find those 10 acres, if we were able to find it, it is extraord