she is a 100 percent of the caliphate. gatorade of them took care of so many as you know, took at al baghdad. and you know what i did i left troops to take the oil. i took a while. the only troops i have are taking the oil. they're protecting the oil. so it's interesting to listen to that because amid the current situation, donald trump took 2 social media acts and he posted that the united states should not implicate itself in the couch that's happening in syria. now of course, west through media is also whitewash. and that you had a screw band if you connect the thoughts that might be for a reason. now it is also important to mention here that there was a move toward normalization of ties with syria. i mean the relief opened its arms to a sideways certainly. and we know that the e u has also a time and time again started saying that we need maybe to rethink the relations with a side. so um, it looks very promising up until now and uh, we will have to wait and see uh, what the next step is going to be. well, depending on sir, is it will keep its boots on the ground in serious sizing, a new

unannounced visit to iraq earlier today, mr blinken met with iraqi prime minister mohammed shiaa al—sudani in baghdadffort to work with a key regional partner to fight extremism. as syria transitions from the asai disc in her —— dictatorship totally democracy, does so in a way that of course protects all of the minorities in syria, that produces an inclusive nonsectarian government and does not become in any way a platform for terrorism. joining me live is bassima alghussein, executive director of the middle east policy council. thanks for being with us on bbc news. we have seen the scenes ofjoy in syria, but it's also a time of great uncertainty. what is the priority as you see enough rebuilding and stabilising syria? that is an excellent question. and for many years, the legitimate economy of syria has been absolutely decimated due to extreme sanctions placed on the country, justifiably, and so what that has meant is that a very robust drug trafficking, black—market economy has really erupted, specifically there's one drug called cap the gun that's really been taking all throughout the entire middl

he's made an unannounced visit to iraq, where he met the prime minister, mohammed al—sudani, in baghdadrs of a revitalised i—s, more than any other country. we are determined to make sore that that does not re—emerge. the united states, and iraq together will have success in taking away what created years ago. and now we can't let it out and we need to make sure that doesn't happen. to make sure that doesn't ha en. ,, to make sure that doesn't happen-— to make sure that doesn't hauen. ,, ,, . . , ., happen. the us secretary of state speaking _ happen. the us secretary of state speaking there. - long distance runners have gathered in antartica to take part in one of the most challenging marathons in the world. held in the union glacier, the antarctic ice marathon is the southern—most athletics event on earth. with the ellsworth mountains as a backdrop, the competitors do laps of the camp, which is situated just 600 miles from the south pole — which has an average wind—chill temperature of minus 20 degrees celsius. rather than than me. you can find out more on our top story by going to th

he made an unannounced visit to iraq today, where he met the prime minister, mohammed al—sudani, in baghdadsaid iraq understood the dangers of a revitalised is more than any other country. and there'll be more on syria shortly on newsnight, over on bbc two, with faisal. the israeli military says it's investigating what happened. israel doesn't allow journalists unrestricted access to gaza. jon donnison has more from jerusalem. already injured in a previous attack, this is doctor saeed jouda speaking last month. reported to be the last orthopaedic surgeon in northern gaza. a grandfather who came out of retirement to help during the war. "save us," it says on the placard. it didn't work. translation: on his way to the hospital to evaluate a patient, one of the tanks fired on doctor saeed directly. unfortunately, he was killed instantly. some witnesses say he was shot by a drone. the israeli military says it's investigating. this is the kamal adwan hospital in northern gaza, where doctorjouda did much of his work. it has few supplies, few doctors, but endless patients. the area injabalia has b

state antony blinken was in baghdad on an unannounced visit to iraq in part of a shuttle diplomacy through syria's neighboring countries to promote stability after bashar al unknown in the equation is the rebel coalition that toppled assad and the interim government they're forming. the shaky trust between the u.s. and that transitional government could hold the key to finding the whereabouts of missing american journalist austin tice. nbc's richard engel filed this report from damascus, syria. >> reporter: american journalist austin tice has been missing in syria since 2012. his family has renewed hope he'll be found now that bashar al assad's dictatorship has been overthrown. a senior rebel leader says they're aware the assad regime arrested tice. we have tried as much as possible to find information about austin and return him to his mother. but we have not reached a result, he said. then a lead. we spoke to saher al ahmed in dubai. he was an activist and citizen journalist arrested for filming anti-regime demonstrations. this is the first time he's showing his face on camera. he told us he was in a prison cell across from tice and last saw him alive i

baghdad. ask yourself today if he was right. and of course he was and the surge did work and it was successful and al qaeda and iraq was largely defeated february 2010, president biden was declaring iraq a great achievement at the obama administration. such an achievement he happened to visit five days ago with political chaos unfolding. he took for granted the stability and the gains that were made in a dark moment and assumed they would perpetuate themselves without understanding how central defeating islamists in iraq was to their narrative and our narrative, are we the paper tiger that osama bin laden said we were? will we retreat from every difficult conflict if we were stuffed up? rre able, to win the wars we fight and that's not a call for endless nationbuilding or fighting every bogeyman on the horizon. it's a recognition that the lesson we should learn from the last 15 years, the lesson we should learn from the rack is resolved works, not that all these middle eastern wars are terrible and not get messed up, nationbuilding at home, that is it. we should, the difficult part is the narrative, in the republican and democrat party

baghdad. ask yourself today if he was right? andd unfortunately of course he was the surge didn't work and that was successful and al qaeda and iraqas largely defeated political progress was happening. by february of 2010 joe biden was a clearing iraq a great achievement of the obama administration for such a greatm achievement he happened to visit again for five days ago with political chaos unfolding. they took for granted the stability and gains made through greedy decisions in a dark moment and assume they would perpetuate themselves without understanding how central defeating islamists in iraq was to their narrative in our and ournarrative are we the papr that osama bin laden said we were we retreat from every difficult conflict if we are stuffed up or are we able to show the resolve of our forefathers and with the wars we fight? best fighting every argument on the horizon it's a recognition the lesson we should learn from the last 15 years the lesson we should learn is resolve it works not all these middle eastern wars are terrible and not get messed up their witless nation built at home fortress america and that is n it. th

hay'at tahrir al-sham tass which is a designated terrorist group by the united states and many of the outside countries what will be the perspective in beirut in. >> in tel aviv? um in baghdad this morning there will be um there will certainly be concerns about the region's wider security at this point. what is your sense of what are you hearing yeah. >> i mean, i'm reminded by the seminal work of the late historian patrick seale, the struggle for syria. and i expect that we will face something of the sorts the syria that used to exist in the 60s and prior, where it was very much an arena for regional competition. these rebel forces are predominantly supported by turkey and so turkey will no doubt emerge as a big winner in all this. but the most direct impact is going to be felt in lebanon, where hezbollah depends on syria for strategic depth. but it's also its lifeline of support from iran. the arms that come through to lebanon and that sustain hezbollah's hegemony over the country. having just suffered a severe blow after a major war with israel this is a significant yet another blow for hezbollah and then israel. uh, they're already news of the israeli military mobilizin