. >>> sinjar still sits deserted we the kurdish peshmerga still not allowing residents to return for safety reasons. and as mohammed jamjoom reports, from a camp that many of the yazidis who were displaced simply don't want to go back anyway. >> reporter: for carson and his family, all internally displaced yazidis, returning home wouldn't even begin to help. >> translator: if my family isn't there, i don't have the heart to return to sinjar, because my heart is broken. it's like an open wound that salt was pored into. >> reporter: he shows us a picture of his oldest son whom isil kidnapped after storming sinjar in august 2014. his daughter, daughter-in-law, and grandson were also taken. written on every face inside this tent are stories of unrelenting pain, unbearable loss. his sister-in-law had two of her children kidnaps, a 14 year old, and a 3 year old. she has no idea if they are alive or dead. >> translator: how can we go back in we can never go back? i can't sleep a single moment at night thinking of them. >> reporter: at the camp in iraq, many have become accustomed to living

booby trops set up by isil are among the main challenges for the iraqi soldiers. >>> sinjar still sitsted we the kurdish peshmerga still not allowing residents to return for safety reasons. and as mohammed jamjoom reports, from a camp that many of the yazidis who were displaced simply don't want to go back anyway. >> reporter: for carson and his family, all internally displaced yazidis, returning home wouldn't even begin to help. >> translator: if my family isn't there, i don't have the heart to return to sinjar, because my heart is broken. it's like an open wound that salt was pored into. >> reporter: he shows us a picture of his oldest son whom isil kidnapped after storming sinjar in august 2014. his daughter, daughter-in-law, and grandson were also taken. written on every face inside this tent are stories of unrelenting pain, unbearable loss. his sister-in-law had two of her children kidnaps, a 14 year old, and a 3 year old. she has no idea if they are alive or dead. >> translator: how can we go back in we can never go back? i can't sleep a single moment at night thinking of them. >

scared to return to sinjar.et the iraqi yazidis displaced by isil. >>> plus hitler's controversial manifesto is published in germany for the first time since world war ii. ♪ the only way to get better is to challenge yourself, and that's what we're doing at xfinity. we are challenging ourselves to improve every aspect of your experience. and this includes our commitment to being on time. every time. that's why if we're ever late for an appointment, we'll credit your account $20. it's our promise to you. we're doing everything we can to give you the best experience possible. because we should fit into your life. not the other way around. >>> now a reminder of the top stories on al -- al jazeera. the u.n. says 400,000 syrians are under siege, many are dying of starvation in one of the worst-effected areas. >>> belgian investigators have raided anner apartment they believe may have been used as a bomb-making location in the attacks in paris in november. >>> and south korea has resumed its propaganda broadcasts. >>>

his house in sinjar is also destroyed. even if it was still standing, without the rest of his family he would never consider it a home again. >> israel police shot dead a man who reported to be killed during a shootout accused of killing two people in a bar and a taxi driver. >>> a great white shark has died after three days in a japanese aquarium. the three and a half meter male shark was taken to okinawan aquarium after it was accidently caught in an initialing net. sharks need to constantly women to create oxygen and regulate their body temperature, but the shark suddenly sank to the bottom of the tank. you can find more stories that we're following on www.aljazeera.com. headlines in just a sec. homeland and our natural boundary for our people. we use it for life. we use it for livelihood. >> wahleah johns and her uncle, marshall, are from the navajo nation. their community has been here for centuries - and seen the

scared to return to sinjar. those who are too fearful to go home. >>> the economy that is in a state of emergency as prices fall to their lowest level for more than a decade. >>> and defending champion, as he battles the flu. we have details later in sport. >> a reminder of the top stories here on al jazeera. 400,000 syrians are cut off from help under siege. >>> a resort town along the red seacoast, attackers were killed. south korea has resumed prod began d--resumed--propaganda broadcasts to the north. the chinese markets were twice forced to shut down under controversial su sur circuit breaker rule. >> in china red is a lucky color. it shows you that sales are up. 12 months ago the share market was at its highest level. but for now that winning streak is over. the market is in a slump. since june stocks have lost more than 40% of their value. and some small investors are less than happy. >> we don't want to talk about it. we need to go back. >> they blame their problems on foreign speculators as well as a mea

camps, and cannot return to sinjar, even though sinjar has been cleared of isil.cannot return because of the devastated infrastructure, but also because in mosul adjacent to sinjar, isil is also in control. it is a dire situation in iraq, and all of the aid workers fear that it's only going to get worse in the near term. >>> now libya's rifl political factions have announced the makeup of a new unity government. the two sides signed a u.n.-backed deal last month. under that agreement a presidential council was formed. it is currently based in tunis and named the government of 32 ministers. hashem ahelbarra has more. >> reporter: the announce of the national unity government in libya is seen as a significant step forward because we're talking about a country that has been struggling to put an end to the political impasse. there have been marathon talks in morocco, which resulted in the formation of the presidential council, the highest authority which is going to lead libya during the transitional period. and now there is a national unity government. this is a gove

but sinjar still sits deserted. but as mohammed jamjoom reports from a camp. ethnic yazidis displaced done want to go back anyway. >> reporter: for this man and his family, returning home wouldn't even begin to help. >> translator: if my family isn't there, i don't have the heart to return to sinjar, because my heart is broken. it's like an open wound hah that salt was pored into. >> reporter: he shows us a picture of his oldest son that isil captured. his daughter, daughter-in-law, and grandson were also taken. written on every face inside of this tent are stories of unrelenting pain, unbearable loss. this woman's sister-in-law has two of her children kidnapped, a 14 year old, and 3 year old. she has no idea if they are alive or dead. >> translator: how can we go back? we can never go back. i can't sleep a single moment at night thinking of them. >> reporter: at the camp in iraq, many have become accustomed to living in a kind of purgatory. children, women, and men, still against the bitter cold, with the knowledge that worsening worth, is nothing compared to

they had come there after isil took over sinjar. now sinjar has been cleared of isil fighters for about three months now, and still, the yazidis idp's cannot return. there's two reasons. one because there is no infrastructure to speak of in sinjar now, and there could be booby traps left behind. but also because mosul is still overtaken by isil fighters and nobody knows when the iraqi government is going to be able to start trying to retake mosul. and in anbar province, for example, there are several parts of anbar which sunni familiar list had left trying to escape, and they are afraid to go back, because they are afraid of being targeted by shiite militias. and in another province there is a city that experienced a lot of reprisal attacks in the past week. there are sunni families that have left and come to other places. they are telling us they are afraid to go back because they are afraid of sectarian violence. you look at these numbers, they are absolutely staggering to behold. 3.2 million people internally displaced in iraq, a

that was right after isis took over the nearby town of sinjar. kurdish forces recaptured sinjar at the end of 20-14 with the support of the us-led air coalition. 3 winter weather is making a difficult journey even tougher for refugees heading to europe. hundreds of migrants and refugees arrived at a temporary camp in in serbia last night. they were battling low temperatures crossed into serbia from macedonia. most of those traveling have left syria in hopes of reaching germany. more than one million people seeking asylum entered germany last year... more than 400- thousand of them were from syria. 3 mexico held an annual religious ceremony -- for their four-legged friends. a large group of pet owners brought their dogs, cats and birds... to the front steps of a catholic church in mexico city yesterday. the ceremonial blessing is an age- old tradition. on january 17th... mexicans celebrate the feast of saint anthony abbott. he's known as the protector of animals. the priest blessed the pets with holy water and prayed for good health. january 17th

his families house in sinjar is also destroyed, but even if it were still standing, without the restmily, he would never consider it a home again. mohammed jamjoom, al jazeera. >>> there is a story we're running today. the police chief of cologne is to resign. police say that a group of around 1,000 men attacked people who were celebrating, and you remember the other news today from that story is that 18 refugees have been questioned, but there has been significant criticisms over the authority's handling of the incident. and in response, we are just hearing the police chief is to resign. >>> in the u.s. state of oregon, an armed group occupying the headquarters of a federal wildlife refuge have rejected the police's bid to end the standoff. the ranchers took control of the site after a dispute on land rights. >> reporter: fourth generation rancher knows his land better than anybody, and he knows the problems too. like so many other ranchers in this part of western america, he says the problem is the federal government's management of the land, which restricts the area his cattle can

we saw many from the yazidi community who have left sinjar when isil took it over last year. they're in camps for the internally displaced. they cannot return to sin center. they cannot return there because of the devastating infrastructure, and because in mosul adjacent to sinjar, isil has a stronghold. then you look at other parts of the country, in diyala province, an area where there was rising sectarian tensions many saying they're afraid to go back because they're afraid of shia militias. all the aid workers fear it is only going to get worse in the near term. >> libya's rifle has announced the make up of a new unity government. under that agreement, the presidential council was formed. it's currently based in tunis and has named in its government 32 ministers. >> the announcement of the government has seen a significant step forward because we're talking about a country that has been struggling to put an end to the political en pass. there have been marathon talks in morocco, which resulted in the formation of the presidential council. and now there is at national unit

much of the town of sinjar is with the peshmergaing forces. has made the leadership confident that the forces can take on the group. >> translation: 2016 will be the year of the big and final victory when i.s.i.l.'s presence in iraq will be terminated. >> reporter: 2015 began with i.s.i.l. taking more areas in iraq and syria. despite the fact that the group has lost control over many places, it still remains active around those areas that it has lost control of. the coalition against i.s.i.l. says that its strategy to target the group's leadership is working in iraq, but with limited intelligence coming out of syria, same results have not been achieved there. the group lost large parts of the area. i.s.i.l. advances in other areas continued through the year. there are now more than 60 countries fighting i.s.i.l. in various coalitions. despite facing a common enemy, many of them have competing interests. the coalition against i.s.i.l. wants to go after strong holds like raqqa in syria and mosul in iraq. not just to defeat the group but also to

they cannot return to sinjar, even though sinjar has been clear, but they cannot return there because of the devastated infrastructure but i.s.i.l. still has a stronghold close by. take for example another province, an area where there was rising tensions in the past week. sunni families began to flee many saying they're afraid to go back because they're afraid to be targeted by shia militias. all of the workers we have spoken to said it is only going to get worse >>> breaking news of reports that three gunmen have attacked a university in north-west pakistan. let's go live to our correspondent. what more details do you have? >> reporter: details that are emerging is that the [indistinct] according to reports and also police forces at least three attackers are said to have entered this university which has, approximately, about 3,000 students. they're saying that they have at least one loud explosion and they can still hear the gunfire. the security forces, particularly the police, a heavy contingent to the area. the situation is still very unclear as to what is going on inside becaus

they cannot return to sinjar. they cannot return there because of the devastated infrastructure, and because in mosul, adjacent to sinjar, isil still has a stronghold. then you look at other parts of the country. you look at the diyala province where there was riding sectarian tensions this past week. sunni families began to flee, many saying that they are afraid to go back. because they'll be targeted by shia militias. >> libya's rival faction create a new unity government. a presidential council was formed. it's basically based in tunis. and we have more from tunis. >> the announcement of the government in libya is seen as a significant step forward because we're talking about a country that has been struggling to put an end to the political en pass. there have been marathon talks in morocco which resulted in the formation of the presidential council. now there is a national unity government. this is a government which is going to take over. they'll have to convince the different fashions to disarm and join the

they fled when isil took over sinjar in august of 2014. it's very cold here. have rendered the roads around and in the camp a muddy nightmare, hard to drive through, even harder to walk through, and one of the bitter, you know, real bitter truths that is the yazidis have to live with is sinjar was taken away from isil control in november, two months ago, and yet these folks can't go back, and one of the reasons they can't go back, security forces won't allow them, because the town that they would go to is completely destroyed. there is no truc truck -- infrastructure. they fear there are booby traps that they would have to face. even though most of these people would like to go home, they are not in a situation where they can do so, and all of the refugees -- well the internally displaced we have spoken to today have told us they would like to go back, and they would like to know when the iraqi army will render it safe enough to turn. >> reporter: the weather is turning at the moment actually. they had snow over the last week, but it has smelled, but you can s

in sinjar there is no infrastructure, because houses and buildings are still razed, because the townstill abandoned. those are some of the complaints you hear from the 3.2 million internally displaced. but in areas cleared of isil fighters there are sunnis that are afraid to go back to their town, because they are afraid of being targeted by sunny militia. and you have had sectarian reprisal attacks all week, and the sunni families fear they are going to have to flee. so it's the civilian population here in iraq that is suffering the most, and this report by the u.n. shows how dire the situation remains, how much worse it's getting. every aid worker that i have spoken with since i got here in the last couple of weeks have said they believe iraq has really been forgotten by the international community that the civilians are taking the worst hit of all, so many have been killed because of the conflict, but also the internally displaced aren't getting the resources they need. it's a terrible situation, and it is only getting worse and there are fears that the government isn't strong eno

. >> the road into sinjar town. it's still heavily guarded.o show us what remains of his city. when isis swept through his yazidi homeland where the men, women, and children were rounded up from the villages were driven. we go to the earth defenses circling the town. this was the site of an isis massacre. [ speaking foreign language ]. >> it breaks his heart, he says to leave the bones exposed like this to the elements. but no one has come to investigate, no one has come to document, so they don't want to undermine any findings. this grave is one of the hundreds, he tells us here is where they buried the women and the children. the young boys who refused to accompany isis, who refused to be conscripted as child soldiers. eyewitnesss say that the victims in these graves, more than 130 people had been singled out for transfer to a town. they refused. you can see the cloth ties that bound the victims' hands, both young and old, the prayer beads clutched until the final moments, the bullets fired by the executioners. a refugee camp in northern ira

principally the forces on the ground, in locations that include places like tikrit and bosnia and sinjar and ramadi and syria and along the line north of the city of aleppo in northern syria. and in a number of other locations. we are in fact doing what we set out to do and that is to put increased pressure on the enemy throughout the depth of the battle space. and he is feeling the effects of those efforts. there's no doubt about it. a few days ago, we conducted a strike on a bulk cash storage facility in mosul. it was a good strike. and we estimate that it served to deprive isil of millions of dollars. it was not the first strike on a storage site. we struck several other cash storage sites in recent months and we will continue to go after the enemy's finances. combined with all of the other strikes that we've done on isil's gas and oil production and distribution capabilities, and strikes against his economic infrastructure and the various sources of revenue, you can bet that he is feeling the strain on his checkbook. isil needs those funds to pay their fighters, to recruit new fighte

shut off the supply routes to sinjar. softened the target.with the kurds and special forces, followed by the air force and it was relatively easy to take. that's evidence. >> you also i have agreed with you on the idea of safe zones and you went to the safe zones in jordan and america brould vid some military assistance with other nations, food, water, medicine, sup ploys. >> right. >> and take care of those refugees. but not risk isis infiltrating the population coming her. >> that's what they want. i actually went over there and did something that seems to be pretty radical. just ask the people themselves. rather than come up with these false choices and that's what we seem to like to do. with iran, go to war with them or we accept this asinine deal. but there was another possibility. and there's always another possibility but this is why it's so important for the american people to be informed and to think for themselves. >> apply that to an economy where 94.5 million americans out of work and millions more in poverty in seven years, milli

they cannot return to sinjar. they can't return because of devastating infrastructure, but because in mosul, adjacent to sinjar, i.s.i.l. has a strong hold. you look at other parts of the country. take diyala province, it's an area where there was rising sectarian sanctions. many are saying they are afraid to go back because they are afraid they'll be targeted by shias. all spoke with fear. it will get worse in the near term. >> mohammed jamjoom reporting from baghdad. >> a former iraqi deputy ambassador to the united nations, the founding director of the center for study of middle east indiana university and joins us. good to see you under not so good circumstances today. the numbers are horrifying. 36,000 dead, wounded, the u.n. human rights chief said what he called obscene numbers do not reflect the suffering i.s.i.l. caused in the iraqi people. i am sure you agree. >> i do. unfortunately in the last 10 years the occasions on which i have been asked to appear in the media for happy occurrences have been few an

we've been able to free sinjar, remove terrorist commanders from the battlefield, including nearly a dozen leaders in the past few weeks alone. and we have worked together to to cut off the terrorist supply lines, to hammer their oil facilities, to take away their resources, to deprive daiish of more than 40% of the territory that it once occupied in iraq. daiish has not been able to seize a major town or city since last may. and the coalition is stepping up the pressure even further. we are intensifying air strikes in northern syria, assisting our partners along the border between syria and turkey, and helping to squeeze daiish's remaining strong holds in mosul and we are opening the apperture for further cooperation with others in the region, including russia. meanwhile, we are doing more every day to prevent foreign fighters from joining daiish, and to stop those who do from returning to their home countries and engaging in terrorist activities. we are also doing more to rebut terrorist propaganda, to dry up revenue resources. we have opened a number of facilities on a global basi

we saw that in sinjar, as well. it is one of their techniques. we also see things like holes in housesor two separate sharing a little space in between. so they can move from house to house undetected. these are the types of defense is that this enemy has in place inside of ramadi. this is why security forces the to be very deliberate, very methodical, and very carefully moved to these neighborhoods. >> i would like to ask to give me the best estimate you have on the size of the isis fighting and syria.s iraq also, is there a distinction to be drawn between the sort of localed isis fighters and forces. those of a may be allied with either paid or share their sympathies. to what extent do you see big operations in ramadi moving forward hoping to peel off those groups? col. steve martin: we estimate there is between 20-30,000 i members of -- members of isil operating inside iraq and syria. there are two flavors, if you will. there are the foreign fighters, the more hard-core and fanatical members of this outfit. recruits. is local in some cases, co

islamic state fighters pulled out of the northern iraqi city of sinjar in november. they gave up the city of ramadi 100 kilometers west of the capital baghdad this week. the group is now showing signs of withdrawing from suburbs of the syrian capital damascus. >>> a massive fire at a highrise hotel in the center of dubai, united arab emirates, has injured at least 16 people. local authorities say the fire started on the 20th floor of the 63-story address hotel. they add that the flames mainly spread on the building's exterior. firefighters are trying to determine the cause of the blaze. >> it happened so quickly. i thought, oh, look, there's a fire. i never in my head could imagine the fire to become so big so quickly. so then i realized that it was dangerous for us to be here, we have to get out. >> the fire started while local residents and tourists were gathering near the hotel to watch an annual new year's fireworks display. the show went on as planned at burj khalifa, the world's tallest building, located near the hotel. >>> worshippers crowded a shrine in centr

they are afraid to go back to sinjar because the town is still did he have today and because mosul which is next door is still overtaken by isil. another example, in anbar province, there are members of the sunni community that are afraid to go back to their hometowns because they will be targeted by shia militias. a very complicated situation on the ground, much more so for the civilian population, something this human report is trying to highlight. >> joining us now is the spokeswoman for the u.n. high commission for human rights. lots to talk in this report. i'd like to focus on the yazidi slaves, the women and children. what are you hearing about them and why is it so difficult to get to them? >> we are hearing that there are about 3,500 people who continue to be enslaved by isil, but predominantly women and children and predominantly from the yazidi community. we have documented really horrible violations committed by isil committed against religious and ethnic minorities and people have been executed for operating the wrong way. children have been abducted and recruited and execute

just about a week and a half ago and we were speaking to members of the aziti and want to return to sinjariberated of i.s.i.l. but they can't, can't for two reasons and one of the reasons is because the area still could be boobie trapped and no infrastructure and the homes are all destroyed and another reason is in mosul right next door i.s.i.l. still has a stronghold and iraqi army has not begun trying to retake mosul and let's take a place like anbar places and there are places close to ramadi cleared of i.s.i.l. fighters in the past few months but a lot of sunni families that are afraid to go back to homes because not just of the devastation that is still there and lack of infrastructure but also they are afraid of rising sectarian tensions and afraid of being targeted by shia malitias and it's a problem that continues in the last week there was a lot of sectarian violence and sunni families that were there were blaming shia malitias for that from an attack by i.s.i.l. earlier in the week and it's a very complicated situation here on the ground, the sectarian tensions continue to rise a

we have been able to free sinjar, remove terrorist command frers the battlefield, including nearly aen leaders in the past few weeks alone. and we have worked together to cut off the terrorist's supply lines, to take away their resources, to deprive daesh of more than 40% of the territory it once occupied in iraq. daeshing has not been able to seize a major town or city since last may. and the coalition is stepping up the pressure even further. we are intensifying air strikes in northern syria, assisting our partners along the border between syria and turkey, and helping to squeeze daesh's remaining strong holds in mosul and raqqa, and we are opening the aperture for further cooperation with others in the region, including russia. meanwhile we are doing more every day to prevent foreign fighters from joining daesh, and to stop those who do from returning to their home countries and engaging in rrorist activities. we are also doing more to rebutter ris propaganda, to try up revenue resources. we have opened a number of facilities on a global basis, one in the emirates, another opening

we've been able to free sinjar, remove terrorist commanders from the battlefield, including nearly a dozen leaders in the past few weeks alone. and we have worked together to cut off the terrorist supply lines, to hammer their oil facilities, to take away their resources, to deprive daesh of more than 40 percent of the territory that it once occupied in iraq. daesh has not been able to seize a major town or city since last may. and the coalition is stepping up the pressure even further. we are intensifying airstrikes in northern syria, assisting our partners along the border between syria and turkey, and helping to squeeze daesh's remaining strongholds in mosul and raqqa, and we are opening the aperture for further cooperation with others in the region, including russia. meanwhile, we are doing more every day to prevent foreign fighters from joining daesh and to stop those who do from returning to their home countries and engaging in terrorist activities. we are also doing more to rebut terrorist propaganda, to dry up revenue resources. we have opened a number of facilities on a glob

they haven't been cleared of i.s.i.l., you have towns like sinjar in which the population cannot get returns. it's a complicated situation throughout this country. the government declares to win the battle against i.s.i.l., and the partners in the security situation. the fight is ongoing, they'll retake the areas from i.s.i.l., and they have lost a lot of territory they gained. many don't believe na and are worried about what will happen in the months to come >>> difficult months ahead >>> tunisians are marking five years since the overthrow of the long-time leaders. he was the first ruler to fall in what became known as the arab spring. he fled unable to calm national fury. let's hear from our correspondent in the tunisian capital of tunis, who is explaining the changes that remains. >> in this square five years ago it was the focal point of the pro-democracy movement that spread throughout the country. now they have a government. a parliament and political freedoms, but it's beset by division, instability and the rise of groups affiliated with al qaeda and the states. tunisians wil

fragments of bones and pieces of clothing was discovered on the outskirts of sinjar where yazidi men were reportedly killed in 2014. the remains are believed to belong to 20 men who were captured and killed by isil fighters when they took over the town in northwest iraq. >>> several american citizens have gone missing in the last few days. their identities have not been released. local media said that militias kidnapped three americans and said to be traveling to the city's international airport when they were abducted. >>> morocco has arrested a belgium national. he was detectively linked to the group that carried out deadly attacks in paris on november 13th. we'll bring you more on that as we get it. >>> the head of the u.n. atomic watchdog has arrived for talks with president hassan rouhani. paving the way for sanctions to be lifted. the meeting head of iran's atomic organization. they're expected to discuss the iaea monitoring and verifying of tehran's nuclear program. >>> meanwhile, iran has decided to increase oil production by half million barrels a day. following the lifting

and they can't return to sinjar. though it has been cleared of isil, they continue return there because of the devastation of the infrastructure, but isle still has a stronghold. and then you look at other parts of the country, an area where there was rising sectarian tensions this past week. the sunni families began to flee, and they are trade to go back because they're afraid that they will be started by shia militia. and it's only going to get worse in the long-term. >> president obama is praising australia for its role in the fight against isil. he hosted the prime minister today. and australia is the second largest contributor of troops on the ground after the usa. he visited the troops in kabul and he was proud to work alongside of americans to retake ramadi. >>> global trading today, ended flat with rise of shares in asia, wall street ended up just up, the u.s. trading session was choppy today. and stocks initially shrugged off the slowest reading in china's economic growth in 25 years, but concerns over the p

for high schools to be aware of what happens on college campuses and to be able to identify abuse sinjar relationships and signs of unhealthy situations where they can get help. >> and the students stayed quiet for the beginning of last night's game waiting until the ninth point to cheer. they chose that number because on average every 9 seconds a woman is assaulted or beaten about i a partner in the united states. how a worker died in an accident at the port of tampa friday. officials say 45-year-old joseph lenlend of palmetto got trapped under a huge pile of sulfur. it's not clear how. but crews worked to free a piece of machinery buried by sulfur powder. >> for the first same since it was published, act or sean penn has addressed his interview with el chapo. in an interview with cbs news he discusses joaquin el chapo guzman and what he had hoped the outcome of that meeting would be. penn says the purpose of this article was to start a conversation about the war on drugs. instead media outlets have focused on the meeting itself. >> the things -- here's the things that we know. we know

tikrit, sinjar, those were not taken back by the iraqi military.hose were taken back by the kurds, and those were taken back by shia militia. ramadi was the first time that the iraqi security services took back territory from isis. it was who did the taking that was significant. there are big steps ahead. the next objective will be fallujah. in some ways, it's going to be tougher because the public is much more supportive of isis. charlie: very symbolic. mike: very symbolic to these guys. the real prize is mosul. the real prize is iraq's second-largest city. that is the iraqi headquarters for isis. that will be much harder. it's much larger. there are many, many more isis fighters, in the thousands, as opposed to a couple hundred in ramadi. what you are going to see on the iraq side is some military progress. i think there's going to be a lot less progress on the serious side. the new president, when they walk in the door, they are going to see isis that has lost territory in iraq, still not defeated, but no real progress in syria without a diploma

simultaneously, you saw what the peshmerga were doing in northern iraq, to take back the town of sinjar. you see up in the northeastern part of syria, the activity of the syrian democratic forces. that have continued to push down from north to south. and really placing a lot of pressure on isil's capital, raqqa. we also see a change in techniques in terms of what the enemy's doing on the ground. his ability to counterattack is diminished. d he's much, much less effective in those counterattacks than he would have been several months back. i hope i answered your uestion. questioner: the secretary talked a little bit about the forces on the ground. there's obviously been a lot ore emphasis on -- [inaudible] i was wondering if you could talk about how you foresee the next year and what role your orces will play over time. >> i think special operations forces provide a unique capability in the way we do things. i think that's what you see us trying to leverage there. that said, i would just tell you that special operations forces, u.s. or otherwise, aren't in this by ourselves. we are very

we have seen the news about ramadi and sinjar and baji. and so it is beginning to get better and the power of the air strikes have been significant. >> there is one report that a christian monastery in iraq, 1400 years old, and the longest monastery in iraq has been leveled by isis completely destroyed. is that true? >> well, we can't confirm it yet. we are looking into it to try to determine using some of the ofhead surveillance assets, but if true, it would yet again verify how genuinely savage this group really is. >> because there have been reports that eisis is specifically going after iraqi christians, and thousands have been killed, and hundreds of thousands have been forced to flee. there is legitimate fear, and you are there in baghdad, and that is the long history of christians living peacefully and productively in iraq is coming to an end. how worry should we be about the christian community in iraq? >> wolf, isil doesn't care if you are christian, muslim or r turkkomen or anything, because this is a brutal group that is going a

two other mosques, one of them located in sinjar to the east of there and the other one located to the. just minutes ago before i talked to you iraqi prime minister abadi put on his page on facebook a statement saying that talking about the minister on facebook and said we directed the police to chase the criminals down and those who want to talk about iraqi is what happened in aleppo. >> thank you very much and abraham live from baghdad on a very difficult telephone line as you can hear so apologies for that but of course news of these attacks in the baghdad area on the sunni mosque come of course just 24 hours after saudi arabia cut diplomatic ties with iran following demonstrators setting fire to its embassy in tehran and were protesting against the execution of the policy towards the shia muslim minority and were among 47 men put to death on terrorism offenses and here is gerald tan. >> reporter: the saudi embassy a blaze in tehran. iranians lash out with the cleric and 47 men executed in saudi arabia on terrorism charges. the saudi government says it repeated requests for iran to

right after isis took over the the nearby town of sinjar. kurdish forces recapture the town at the end on have that year with the support of the u.s. led arab coalition. >>> wintry weather making it tough for syrian refugees heading to europe. hundreds battling snow and bitter freezing temperatures, as they make their way in to macedonia. many struggling to carry small kids, and the few things that they own in sachs. refugees are trying to get to the temporary camp in the hope of reaching germany. more than 1 million people, think about that, 1 million people, seeking asylum made tonight to germany last year. >>> federal government is sending help to flynt michigan to aid in the cities water christ. problem started when flynt decided to switch its drinking water source from the flynt river hoping to save money but they failed to treat water properly to prevent metal leaking from old pipes. people complained about the water smell, some even started to get rashes. the flynt changed its source back to the detroit this past october but the probl

so there's been a string of defeats in iraq for isis, to crete, beji, sinjar. those were not taken by by the iraqi military they were taken back by the kurds and the shi'a militia yeah. the first time the iraqi services took back territory from isis. it was the who did the taking that was also significant. now there's big steps ahead, right. i think the next objective will be fallujah. smaller than ramadi because they're much more supportive of isis. >> rose: very symbolic. >> very symbolic to these guys. the real prize is muslims. the real prize is iraq's largest city. that is the iraqi headquarters for isis. that will be much harder. it's much larger. there are many more isis fighters there in the thousands as opposed to just a couple hundred in ramadi. i think what you're going to see on the iraq side is some military progress. i think there's going to be a lot less progress in the syria side. so i think the new president when they walk in the door is going to see an isis that's lost quite a bit of territory in iraq, still not defeated there yet but no real

then, last month, kurdish fighters in the north retook the town of sinjar. but the push for ramadi took seven months. and though the city center fell on monday, soldiers are still removing bombs from the rubble- filled city and searching for up to 700 militants who are believed to be hiding in the area. still, baghdad's ambassador to washington, lukman faily, told us yesterday, it's a milestone. >> retaking ramadi is symbolic, as you were just talking about, and at the same time, strategic. symbolic in the sense that we're telling the world the iraqi army is retaking initiative and that isis will be kicked out of iraq once and for all. >> warner: how long will it take them to clear the city enough so that the tens of thousands who fled, the civilians, will feel comfortable returning? >> it will not be an overnight work, because the booby traps issue. we have learned a great deal in tikrit when we cleansed it, that it took a few weeks just to make sure that some of the places are -- booby traps they have used are tremendous, using car bombs as well. that's an

power in conjunction with the kurdish forces retook sinjar, president obama said hat the islamic state is contained and within hours the paris attacks. so the white house is cautious, y being which is wise. host: your comments and calls to on the strategy to defeat isis. the number to s call for democrats. republicans, 202-748-8001. others, independents, 202-748-8002. send us a tweet as well. c-spanwj. back to your comments. mentioned this about isis and other terrorist around tions spreading the world. where else are you most nterested in the influence of isis taking hold. guest: i'm interest in what's on in the sinai peninsula. not just because of the shipping because one out of every five arabs lives in egypt itself. an incident in july that concerned me and that's when the in a false e call distress call at sea. responded, the frigot was crippled with fire. sea when there's a distress call, any ship nearby that.posed to respond to this is a tactic that will be increasingly in play. it will endanger the u.s. navy. the same time, the alternate to that is when there's a sea, people l

every one of these -- khobani, ramadi, baji, sinjar, they are all destroyed. the question is who is going to pay to rebuild them? they are all basically sunni sites. >> can i say one closing thing about your book? you talk about how leadership applies regardless of what you're doing and you talk about the mistakes you made with cia and the a answer m and being a boy scout leaders there are lessons that you could do that are >> the book goes on sale tomorrow. bob gates, thank you. >>> a high intensity sport is these days but is crossfit combines strength training and gymnast and aerobic fitness. the high intensity exercise attracts men and women and increasingly children. this weekend in miami, athletes as young as 10 competed in crossfit style workouts at the festival. mark strassmann is at a gym in atlanta to show us how the workout's popularity among kids is raising health and safety concerns. >> reporter: good morning. people in this crossfit facility are working up a sweat before day break. experts worry whether crossfit safe. i talked to a couple of kids

every one of these -- khobani,baji, sinjar, they are all destroyed. the question is who is going to pay to rebuild them? they are all basically sunni can i say one closing thing about your book? you talk about how leadership applies regardless of what you're doing and you talk about the mistakes you made with cia boy scout leaders there are lessons that you could do that are common with the e have to go. tomorrow. bob gates, thank you. >>> a high intensity sport is growing popular with the kids >> samantha: still sitting at 6 degrees this downtown cleveland. good morning to you. it feels as if it's below zero and you can see the reduced visibility here. we have snow now in the city of cleveland. in fact, a big chunk of cuyahoga county waking up to snowshowers, and those extend all the way into the primary snowbelt where we've had snow ongoing all morning long. so if you're coming in from the east side, you are going to run into poor road conditions to the west and to the south no ze known as crossfit combines strength training and gymnast and aerobicg

every one of these -- khobani, ramadi, baji, sinjar, they are all destroyed. the question is who is going to pay to rebuild them? they are all basically sunni sites. >> can i say one closing thing about your book? you talk about how leadership applies regardless of what you're doing and you talk about the mistakes you made with cia and the a answer m and being a boy scout leaders there are lessons that you could do that are common with the leadership. >> we have to go. >> the book goes on sale tomorrow. bob gates, thank you. >>> a high intensity sport is these days but is what would you do, if you could choose your ultimate adventure? explore the ocean with a tour guide that's a ton of fun. race like a cheetah at 60 miles per hour. or fly down a waterslide. with choose your adventure, you can explore four parks for less. enjoy any two parks for just $99, then add an additional park or visit for only $10 more. more visits. more savings. >>> workout craze known as crossfit combines strength training and gymnast and aerobic fitness. the high intensity exercise at