we don't want to ally with assad, but strategically, we're allied with assad. he is a bulwark against the spread of isis today. we're trying to destroy isis. but if america destroyed assad and helped that agenda to come forward, who's gonna take damascus? it's gonna be isis and nusra. (explosions and gunfire) >> smith: the war in syria is now in its fifth year. more than 220,000 are dead. half the country's people have been forced from their homes. and inspectors suspect that assad still possesses sarin gas. he is also weaponizing chlorine. (coughing) (crying) >> the assad regime is still using chlorine gas bombs against syrian civilians. now, chlorine gas is certainly of less lethality than sarin gas, but it is a chemical weapon nonetheless. so you have a regime that's using chlorine gas continuously against the civilian populace without international repercussions. >> i have family members who have been killed, and i have friends who have been killed. it is heartbreaking. i would say, mr. president, that "you are going to go down in history, if you continue l

campaigign to shore p assad's forces.hat the islamic sta group is all but eliminated in syria assad's visit suggests they are working out how to approach un-sponsored peace talks in geneva next week. armyanks to the rusussian syria a has been savaved as a s. much has been done to stababilie ththe situation in s syria. hope that in the near future we will put an end to terrorism in syria. meanwhile, assad's forces are celebrating retaking full control of the last urban area which had been under the control of the islamic state group. the town is now being cleared of mines and explosives while local people are being questioned to make sure they haven't been supporting the jihadists. scene that has become common across the region as islamic state group fighters lose territory. our team in syria have this exclusive report. >> the village was just retaken from the islamic state group by the syrian forces. fighters still litter the streets. upold man is being roughed by a fighter. >> you say you are not part of the islamic stat

determine the outcome of the syrian war turkey which backs syrian rebel groups and president bashar al assad's allies iran and russia are there groups opposed to our side will gather in the saudi capital riyadh it follows a surprise visit to russia on monday for talks with president vladimir putin. the u.n. says more than thirty flights carrying much needed aid into yemen have been cancelled requests for new ones being answered humanitarian staff of been unable to move in or out of yemen's capital sana'a. and its blockade two weeks ago some yemeni boards have reopened to allow in food and fuel but aid groups say that's not enough the un's warning millions of people face starvation if the restrictions and measures. those are your headlines the news continues here now to syria after inside story. facing reality is a piece of machinery goes wrong is there a chain of litigation through which we can bring a legal system to bear getting to the heart of the matter i don't think we needed the ball but some of my producers just did hear their story on talk to how dizzy. this time. as the war in syria r

you should have a president assad knows and he told me during our talks that thanks to the efforts of the russian army syria is saved as a state much has been done to stabilize the situation in syria and i hope in the near future we will put a final stop to fighting terrorism in syria. let's take a look at who controls what in syria right now government forces and their russian allies have had the momentum on the ground for the past year they now control more than fifty percent of territories seen here in red including syria's four largest cities the rebel areas are in green iraqi militia allied to the syrian regime made gains into eisel territory in the east shown here in black and much of the north is in the hands of u.s. backed kurdish forces shown here in yellow those seeking to establish an independent region let's bring in our panel now and we're joined here in doha doha by kabul under rector of policy analysis at the doha institute and i must go we're joined by going to our russian foreign policy specialists in calling this for novaya gazeta welcome all of you thanks very much

let's not forget that there's still opposition to the assad regime in syria just still many people in syria who may be made homeless who have left their country they're living in neighboring states such as lebanon in jordan some of them are hard to go to europe that they don't agree with with what is happy with the rule of rule of bashar assad so yes today is the start of a very long process but i think it's important that some voices the voice of bashar al assad is obviously his voice is taking into consideration as well as the countries that are involved in syria about what is a very strong risk to the longevity of trying to find stability there is the question of the opposition and the many people in syria who showed that they are against bashar assad yeah like you say a lot of reasons to be optimistic after these talks but still a lot of roadblocks in the way isn't that so how difficult will it be to implement what was agreed on today. i think it's very it's going to be very difficult to try to bring all the opposition together it's very it's going to be very difficult to convince

know iran's and russia's support for syria is controversial they are the only reason in our bashar assad is still in power and in syria is because of iran's russia's support and frankly there is no forseeable signs that the other side of this conflict the us turkey the arab states are backing the opposition and iran and russia have been adamant that bashar assad has to stay in power but as islamic state is pushed out of syria the next step of what happens in syria whether bashar assad will have all control in syria or our position will have any any role is the big question and i think russia and iran want to make sure that the shots that bashar assad stays in power commodity from the guardian newspaper in london thank you. to learn is ousted president a car less a pushed about will not return to madrid for questioning on thursday morning to his lawyer in belgium but to push them out may agree to testify from self-imposed exile in brussels where he arrived on monday has been summoned to spain's high court to face charges of rebellion and sedition man who unilaterally proclaimed independen

putin hugging assad. if russia wants to broker a political settlement, but that leaves assad in power and keeps russia in other installations there. >> this is catch 22 that they are dealing with. they don't want assad in power and they made it clear, but how far are they willing to go to remove him. the top priority of the administration is fighting the islamic state and isis in the region. how many resources do they want to put in there on the campaign on the america first foreign policy. let's do less around the world and that has power with voters here. they don't want to be more involved in reasons in the mideast. they call shots. rather than maybe some of the human rights abuses we talked about. >> it will be interesting to see if the administration pushes back on the propaganda and they are the ones who took the fight to russia. they were not bombing the capital, but about protecting assad. it was the u.s. and u.s. allies and i thank the administration for that going unchallenged and something they

syria's opposition relinquish their demand that assad must go as a precondition ahead of talks in geneva. argentina's navy says an explosion was heard near the last known position of a missing submarine is fear grows for the forty four crew. zimbabwe has about to get its first new president in thirty seven years in the next hour or so m.s.n. went on god where will be sworn in as leader is an important moment for the people with expectations running high that he'll be able to turn the country's fortunes around. most and bobbins of any known life under robert mugabe's rule. i think they change. because we have proceedings i think you will be able to change everything. but as for me i wish to. this country i think it was made for me i think. all the same was. i don't think it's a shame because they are people of the same party maybe their policy would be the same but you just see the best but the seventies with the suffering i think is a positive change. i think if that was you. then maybe we can get going to get jobs for me i think in zimbabwe we need a unity government so if this. is the

iranians and the turks to be didn't think he had something more or less nailed down with of course assad going along with it go ahead come on in beirut. well obviously the american you cannot count on them in this because in the beginning they declared the war and and these feeder and those terrorist organization and they didn't fell for any commitment to the opposite they helped these this and that into the last minute and the war and i will come that we know for fact that they have been helping. as a certain route so here you really count what is taking place on the ground on the ground there is a victorious power there emerged from the confrontation again stacia basically the count beheaded by bye bye bye bye syrian by the russian by the rainy and now able to move surgically removed at least militarily from from syria obviously there's a security and of it and there is the big question will the american rock was draw their forces because the government of president bashar al assad declare him as a legal entity so far american do not deal with that issue that mean there actually. they

we heard assad refer to assad as a butcher. and that russia interfered with the election. the points are overwhelming. >> that's absolutely correct, of course any contact between president trump and president putin occurs under the cloud under the recently documented web of context that the trump campaign had with russian government officials and their surrogates. but in the case of syria, what this demonstrates, i think, this phone call, although i don't know the content any more than you do, but coming just a day after president putin met with assad, it shows that russia takes the initiative, keeps the initiative. when it comes to syria. now what the man that president described correctly as a buch r butcher, at the same time, it seems that the trump administration is ready to accept him as the long-term leader of syria, at the time when russia is putting all of its backing behind assad, even blocking any independent investigation of chemical weapons use. >> so, what is this conversation about, you know, commitment to the political process? and constitutional reform in s

going with the message from al—assad, after three hours of meeting al—assad, and putin positioning himselfy together and get political future for syria. that was our moscow correspondent. britain is to lose its seat on the international court ofjustice in the hague for the first time since the un's principal legal body was founded in 19116. the uk's current judge, sir christopher greenwood, was hoping to be elected for a second, nine—year term. but the government withdrew him from the race after un members backed his rival indian candidate. borisjohnson has congratulated him on the appointment. the argentine navy says sounds picked up on sonar equipment did not come from a missing submarine in the south atlantic, as was earlier thought. the vessel — with 44 crew on board — had reported an electrical breakdown before it disappeared five days ago. russell trott reports. still hoping and praying. the naval base, it is fast becoming a shrine to the missing 44 members of the argentinian submarine as family and friends post messages of support to loved ones. the mood is generally good. clearly,

assad is sitting pretty.he has two powerful patrons who are closer to him physically than the united states in iran and russia. >> our defees of isis which was necessary because it was a horrible organization, while they have in large part been defeated on the ground in iraq and syria, the syria problem started with assad and his regime not with ice snis that's right. you have a secular opposition. some of them associated with religious groups. a lot of them are fighting against assad because they are fighting for democracy, not because of any religious doctrine. they are now sort of orphaned, if you like, they don't have a lot of support. a little bit from turkey. but turkey, recognizing the changing dimensions in the middle east, is also beginning to quietly shift its position. knows guys the people who stood up against assad and demanded democracy they are being isolated and left to essentially die in the middle of the bad lands of syria. >> let me ask you about a story that's been flying under the radar b

soon be over that's blood may appear to assess ment made during a meeting with president bashar al assad in the past twenty four hours. google openly vows to deal run to r.t. and sputnik making it harder for them to reach why dorrian says that's despite the fact that tech giant itself previously admitted it found no violations when it investigated artie's popularity on you tube. a day before the u.k. government unveils its latest budget a protest is staged denouncing measures that could plunge nearly half a million people into poverty. a warm welcome you are watching r.t. international broadcasting to you live from the russian capital i'm making arun our top story this hour the kremlin has revealed details of an unannounced meeting between the russian and syrian presidents on monday it took place in the black sea resort of sochi. now this meeting had been kept well under wraps and it was a quick one of the two leaders have plenty of time to talk business the two confirmed that the military operations in syria looks to be coming to an end which would of course be a historical turning poin

assad using starvation.undreds of thousands already killed. >> i'm afraid this is the first phase of taken ongoing gone applicant. one consequence related to it is the destruction of the isis caliphate in what used to be syria and iraq. iran is using the campaign against isis to build up a coalition involving the baghdad government controlled by shiia iraqis and dominated by tehran. the assad regime in syria to form an arc from iran all the way to the immediater rainian. in preparation for what could be the next fight against jordan and the oil-producing monarchies as well is threatening our close ally israel. despite the carnage and the syrian civil war some of which is unquestionably caused by assad's use of chemical weapons. we can now well see the next stage in a conventional or even worse battle that does involve nuclear chemical weapons with iran and the arabs. eric: it's chilling considering what you say that it could potentially happen. the sir aian american counsel says it condemns russia's use of i

assad wants to stay in power. russia wants to keep their foothold and are willing to accept assad to do that and the united states and the rest of the west ought to be, at least i hope they are, and the president's readout would suggest they are, interested in a real political settlement that gives syrians a voice in their own future. >> i've got less than a minute. we know that north korea was also discussed. we know the president was in the region not too long ago. we know they're slapping additional sanctions on in addition to this state sponsor of terrorism list that happened by the administration, you know, yesterday. what do you think this is all really about? is this about -- obviously it's about north korea but is it also about sort of the third party putting a squeeze on financial institutions, say china and other? 30 seconds. >> i do. i really think that's exactly what this is about. the state sponsor of terrorism list is not going to, even if it does result in sanctions, have much of a practical impact.

putin and president assad say that the war is over victory clearly is with president assad what difference does it make that the leaders this agency grouping has resigned. i mean. we don't know yet if this resignation would mean that we are abandoning the geneva trog to the advantage of the sochi or a stand trial and we are abiding by russian rule to set the stage for i mean a political settlement it's no doubt that the fight against die is nearing to an end and the war is practically over and every party is getting ready to go into the negotiation table it's the time now to drop a political settlement now that the syrian opposition and particular ash and see is i mean in front of this china and it has already suffered a lot of divisions and its turn and division the syrian opposition in large i mean we can. understand right and now there are i mean facing this challenge you will because they lost militarily but they have the chance to win diplomatically to have their seats and to make their voice here negotiation table to be part of the political settlement in a way that will i mean. sure

delegation of fifty people to represent them at next week's talks in geneva calls for president bashar assad to go have been renewed but he's stepping down will not be a precondition for negotiations the man accused of planning the two thousand and eight attacks has been released from house arrest how few said walked free from a pakistani court rejected the government's plea to extend his detention by three months say it is found of a banned group has been under house arrest in the horse and january he's expected to lead prayers late on friday a large following in pakistan mostly because of his charitable work. relatives of forty four crewmembers of a missing submarine are accusing the argentinean government of deliberately keeping them in the dark they were emotional scenes at the model plots at naval base after it was revealed that a likely explosion was detected near the last known location of the outer san juan vessel hasn't been found some family members say the government that the crew operate a submarine that was too old to navigate. those are the headlines the news continues on al-ja

if we should have a president assad knows and he told me during our talks that thanks to the efforts of the russian army syria is saved as a state much has been done to stabilize the situation in syria and i hope in the near future we will put a final stop to fighting terrorism in syria which publicly for the family we just had a meeting with president vladimir putin and i passed greetings and gratitude to him and to the people of russia for the efforts which russia put in saving our country i particularly emphasized the role of the russian armed forces and the sacrifices you have made to reach this goal thanks to your efforts and the efforts of our allies many syrians could return to their homes and i would like to express gratitude to you for what you have done on behalf of all the syrian people judges that the highest court in the philippines have been hearing petitions filed against the government's crackdown on drug dealers the weather service of victims what the court to decide whether president were to go to tertius campaign which is led to thousands of deaths is constitutiona

the syrian president bashar al assad makes a flying visit to russia thanking vladimir putin for his in his words saving his country. america's asian allies welcome donald trump's move to put north korea back on the terrorism blacklist. now meanwhile treatment of its range of people has been likened to apartheid in a report by amnesty international the organization spent two years investigating. the cause of the current range of crisis which has forced hundreds of thousands of refugees to flee across the border to bangladesh the report says that miramar has been seconded gating range of people in a quote an open air prison by confining them to their villages it adds that me a moral authority is a guilty of being openly racist towards the river insurance's rakhine state where a military crackdown has been going on is a crime scene ranger living in meum are also denied citizenship on the basis of their ethnicity many of them are deleted from official records making it almost impossible for those who fled the violence to return home now and a nice start is amnesty international senior dire

it remains unclear whether assad would agree to step down, something the u.s. had once demanded. on monday, putin greeted the syrian leader warmly at a bilateral meeting. assad, in turn, praised russia's military support for saving his regime. >> ( translated ): today, after more than two years, the results on the ground are obvious for everyone, and this is due to the russian air support of the syrian arab army in countering and fighting terrorism. on behalf of the syrian people, i would like to thank and salute you, and every officer. >> woodruff: since russia's intervention in 2015, the syrian government has regained control over broad swaths of the country. in the northeast, kurdish fighters backed by the u.s. have taken territory from the islamic state. isis still holds areas in the southeast, although greatly reduced, and rebel groups have been pushed from all but a few pockets. the united states was not included in today's sochi summit, and has been largely quiet on the russian-led talks. putin did phone mr. trump yesterday, and they spoke for more than

as one of the hardliners because he wanted bashar assad out he didn't want bashar al assad to be part of the future of syria is this new opposition that you're talking about that's going to be meeting in riyadh on the same page as far as whether or not assad should stay in power. this is missing isn't all compared with some of the people who are going to attend it would be up to but there is a lot of missed information by the media trying to show that those people are going to give in to pressure to staying in power this is wrong this is not going to happen nobody will accept bishop said we all all the opposition want to shout as an to go except of course this most complete home which is not a position at all they want as at the state they want them to stay if they want them to stay why they don't go and live in syria what should they be on the side of the opposition they should be on the side of jeffery and the negotiations on this side of the delegation of pressure i said well since saudis have accepted perhaps the pressure only talks we were rushing and invited them out of position

ok assad many thanks for that assad hushing in islamabad let's catch up now at some of the other stories making news around the world united nations planes of arrived in yemen carrying humanitarian aid workers and desperately needed polio vaccines for the saudi led coalition that's blockading the poults is still refusing to let ships talk with wheat and other medical supplies about seven million people face famine in yemen at the moment that survival depends on international assistance. the libyan coast guard has intercepted more than six hundred migrants bound for europe most of them including women and children from sub-saharan africa the un's international organization for migration says more than thirty three thousand by currents have died in the mediterranean trying to reach europe since the year two thousand and six. and officials in georgia said at least eleven people have died in a fire at a luxury hotel on the black sea coast and for the twenty one were injured in the blaze and more than one hundred evacuated from the hotel and casino facilities in the to me or the archies don't

very divided and how to approach the closure of this conflict in syria we still hear this lingering assad must go i worry about that the political will on the west i think that putin wouldn't have come out with the iranians and the turks to be didn't think he had something more or less nailed down and with of course assad going along with it go ahead come on in beirut. well obviously the american you cannot count on them in this because in the beginning they declared the war and and these feeder and those terrorist organization and they didn't fail to follow any commitment of the opposite they helped these this and that into the last minute and the war and i will come that we know for fact that they have been helping. a certain route so here you really count what is taking place on the ground on the ground there is a victorious power there emerged from the confrontation again stacia basically the count beheaded by bye bye bye bye syrian by the russian by the rainy and now able to move surgically removed at least militarily from from syria obviously there's a security and of it and there i

times as rounds of talks of approach then on the ground there's been an effort particularly by the assad government to strengthen their hand with military action just before the talking starts what it's worth noting this is not the same opposition you have a new opposition here despite that the head of that new opposition group inc still says assad must go with once bought the conditions we are here to condition to to negotiate but our goal and then he will she will be that departure of bashar assad from the beginning of transition diplomats have in the past called that the a side note it's a thing that's tied up all the rounds of negotiation here and still it's the key issue key issue one side saying assad must go the other saying no mistake. now again i'm fully back to where the headlines on al-jazeera who are kenyatta has vowed to unites kenya after being sought in for a second term as president inauguration ceremony for our. often violent political upheaval the opposition leader right now has vowed to fight on again skiing outas presidency. today is the one hundred twenty third day s

or at least are not supporting the anti—assad group. because there will be kurds present but they seem to be resolved. but what we heard from putin and assad is an awful lot of processed but not much in the way of processed but not much in the way of politics in terms of how they will solve this particular problem. we have seen a lot of things from the side including de—escalations owns the side including de—escalations owns which seem to be the precursors of the soft partition of syria looming in the background. one wonders in fact whether, as president putin announces his departure for the third time, whether that will be realistic or not it actually mean anything or whether in fact it is just another stage in russia scaling down but still hanging on quite tightly to its searing objectives. isn't part of the problem, when it comes to assad, the weakness of the un security council? if they were speaking with one voice, he would have to go, but continually, whether it comes to the conflict itself whether it is the investigation into che

the obama administration said assad has to go. now they are talking about a future for syria where assad stakes, why the shift? >> in some cases in statements and talking points, the united states is saying the right things, but in practice we have dropped the condition that assad must go. if you look at the events in syria this week right now, it is quite a stark contrast. we see the leaders of turkey and syria and iran meeting to talk about the future of turkey, russia and syria, turkey, russia and iran. and we see the meeting of the opposition groups. nowhere is the united states to be found leading this conversation. >> that's a great point. and josh, just set the stage in terms of whenever president trump and president putin speak, whether in person or over the phone, a lot of issues at stake including russia's meddling. there's a lot that goes with it when he speaks with putin. >> a huge amount and ton of intrigue. probably not a whole lot new on the russian meddling in the election given that the president said he's already

assad regime.s is more distant. isis is more out to the east. as time as gone by, we have seen the russians a bit more active, as i've suggested here, but fundamentally the military defeat of isis was done by american arms with largely kurdish allies in the eastern part of syria. >> let me ask you about north korea now. yesterday the trump administration put north korea on the sponsor list of terrorism. they also announced some new sanctions today. in your view, are these measures meaningful? >> they're all good. they're amping up the pressure. none of these are a step function, all right? we're on a curve here. that's increasing the pressure on the north koreans. i think designating them a state sponsor of terror gives us additional tools for secondary sanctions that we can interfere in the banking system of those who would dare bank with the north korean regime. so, yeah, it's good, but sanctioning are cee slow moving. they're like rust, not an explosion. >> final question, it's been 60 days sinc

iranians and the turks to be didn't think he had something more or less nailed down with of course assad going along with it go ahead come in beirut. well obviously american you cannot count on them in this because in the beginning they declared the war and and these feeder and those terrorist organization and they didn't fell for any commitment of the opposite they helped these these and that into the last minute and the war and i will come that we know for fact that they have been helping. as a certain route so here you really count what is taking place on the ground on the ground there is a victorious power there emerged from the confrontation again stacia basically the count beheaded by bye bye bye bye syrian by the russian by the rainy and now able to move surgically removed at least militarily from from syria obviously there's a security and of it and there is the big question will the american rock was draw their forces because the government of president bashar al assad declare him as a legal entity so far the american do not deal with that issue mean there actually. they don't w

now syria looks like it's going to top the agenda here both countries are supporting bashar al assad in the region and fresh elections what exactly does iran want to see come out of this syria is a contentious issues you know iran and russia have been propping up the charlotte assad's regime in syria some say that it wasn't for iran's a partial support of the columbine so it's the role that's being heley criticize in the west. especially for not supporting somebody like the sap but nevertheless assad has the upper hand in syria now of islamic state at the same time have been ousted from some of the citizen was occupying iraq or health fallen recently by example and the next game is important for iran and russia what happens i was isis the islamic state you know is pushed out of syria and iraq what is the next stage in syria is. going to continue to dominate the country is it going to stand for this bill is position or not russia next month is holding talks in sochi for example to trying to find a diplomatic push but the problem is that iran and russia are one side but in the region f

welcome to our jazeera live from doha i'm martin that is also coming up syrian president assad makes a flying visit to russia thanking vladimir putin for in his words saving his country. meum our is accused of subjecting its rahane jet to what's described as a vicious system of a party. war crimes in afghanistan the international criminal court wants to investigate alleged crimes which could involve the u.s. military. now the man expected to replace robert mugabe as zimbabwean president has reportedly spoken out for the first time since the military takeover a week ago amazon men and gaga has said in a statement that president mugabe should resign immediately and one of gaga has been a long time ally of robert mugabe and was his deputy before he was fired earlier this month the president now faces impeachment by parliament the motion is due to be presented by the rulings on the p.f. party in around an hour from now meanwhile the leader of south africa zambia and tanzania are meeting in angola to talk about the crisis in zimbabwe. the powerful war veterans association has applauded th

sponsored talks there again demand the resignation of president bashar al assad during a conference on the country's future in riyadh but asaad stepping down will not be a precondition for negotiations meanwhile russia is planning to reduce the number of its troops by the end of the year i'm a business betty lee as for the british. conference this is a conference that has been proposed and there is no date for it we haven't been told about its goals we don't know who is the reference of this conference there is no description for it nor a composition for this reason we say we are getting ourselves ready to go to geneva our aims to accomplish the alternative of bashar assad's regime this is our job no less than that and this will take time well that meeting is one of several diplomatic efforts aimed at ending the fighting in syria in the russian city of sochi president vladimir putin has been hosting the leaders of iran and turkey the kremlin wants to see assad support a political solution but it has planned a conference next month to achieve that and observers say it's unlikely assad w

putin and assad has had a meeting.ppened since then. in particular, russia's military intervention in syria on the heart of the syrian government. mr putin says he does wa nt government. mr putin says he does want a political solution to the war. he is also talking about russia's main mi55ion being almost accomplished. heels are added, things to the russian army, syria has been saved as a state. not eve ryo ne has been saved as a state. not everyone would agree with that analysis. assad spent four hours on russian 5oil analysis. assad spent four hours on russian soil and this image has been widely 5hared of them sharing and embrace. vladimir putin almost looking eternal a5 embrace. vladimir putin almost looking eternal as he holds president assad. to analyse this we have ten to two outside source regulars. unfortunately we don't know what is happening in vladimir putin's head. that is the skill that i5 putin's head. that is the skill that is needed and wanted by many people around the world. ru55ia, is needed and wante

bush are al-assad -- bush are al-assad -- russian led parallel talks have now been postponed.imon harding reports. after months of speculation the syrian government will join the official peace talks in geneva. assad's regime will be present for peace talks. the syrian opposition is also in town as all parties gear up for negotiations. the key issue surrounds the departure of assad.. >> he should step down during the transitionon period. it turned out to be our most worried about situation. damascus,ch ally of russia is taking a parallel track in peace talks. setting up discussions beyond the united nations stalled and somewhat unsuccessful effort. damascus has said it will not negotiate with the departure of president assad as a precondition for talks. it is something the opposition may be willing to concede. forof the main issues up didiscussion this week along wih finding a path towards a new constitution and you and let elections. the clearer map of cease-fire arrangement has emerged largely enabled by him on.. -- oman. must begin to stitch the process into concrete result

. >> vladimir putin meeting with syrian president bashar al-assad.ight they be brokering an end to the syrian civil war? how the white house is involved. residents in detroit back in their homes after a massive fire forces them to run for their lives. what caused this inferno. excuse me a minute... hi dad. no. don't try to get up. hi, i'm julie, a right at home caregiver. and if i'd been caring for tom's dad, i would have noticed some dizziness that could lead to balance issues. that's because i'm trained to report any changes in behavior, no matter how small, so tom could have peace of mind. we'll be right there. we have to go. hey, tom. you should try right at home. they're great for us. the right care. right at home. >> julie: evacuation orders now lifted following a massive gas line fire near detroit. this fire broke out monday night on vacant land. eventually burned itself out. the blaze occurred after a gas transmission line ruptured but they're investigating the cause. no injuries have been reported. >> jon: new information now on syria with r

on the conflict in riyadh but assad stepping down will not be a precondition for negotiations i'm a business but. as for the british speech and the sochi conference this is a conference that has been proposed and there is no date for it we haven't been told about its goals we don't know who is the reference of this conference there is no description for it nor a composition for this reason we say we are getting ourselves ready to go to geneva our aims to accomplish the alternative of bashar assad's regime this is our job no less than that and this will take time this son of binge of aid sent this report from the turkish city of gazan top near the syrian border. this was a long two days of deliberations between various factions of the syrian opposition we had independent representatives from the opposition areas we had the syrian national coalition we had the high negotiations council we also had fighters are represented by their people who were there and in riyadh and also the moscow and cairo platforms of the syrian opposition the whole purpose of this to unite the opposition into

ambassador. >> look, assad is russia's man in syria.s has been, he will be until really the last dog dies. so for all the past eight years when you heard barack obama and hillary clinton and john kerry say we and the russians see things basically the same way. we both want to transition assad out of power, it was never true then and not true when you hear the state department say it today. assad is an instrument of russian involvement in the middle east. the defacto alliance they have with iran to redraw the lines of authority and power in the middle east. this is a very dangerous point for the united states, for israel and many of the arab governments. >> bill: it was about a year ago putin said he was getting out of syria. you don't think that. they have a port there now. i think the bigger question for us is post isis in syria, where do we fit in? >> i don't think we have a strategy. i don't think the obama administrations have one and i don't think the president's advisors have given him one. we've seen the kurds pushed back by iraq

found the assad regime responsible for the chemical attack in qana which killed dozens of people the government denied responsibility and russia questions about the attack itself written foreign secretary accused russia for consistently choosing to cover up for assad as the mandate for the un joint investigative mechanism expires the u.s. and russia are presenting rival bids for how to investigate future chemical attacks russia has so far vetoed nine resolutions on syria and more than six years into this war world leaders are still making statements as attacks against civilians continue with impunity some of the job it out of their. robert mugabe is refusing to stand down as president despite being confined to his home by the military delegation from south africa's in the capital harare trying to reach a deal on his future and the country's future it's holding talks with members of the army president mugabe's family and is a new party along with the catholic priest acting as a mediator the military says it wants me to stand down so there can be a smooth and bloodless transition the a

going with the message from al—assad, after three hours of meeting al—assad, and putin positioning himself employees they don't receive the same benefits, such as pensions and holiday pay, as those employed directly. if the case is successful it could affect around 3.3 million outsourced workers in the uk. our legal affairs correspondent clive coleman has been finding out about the case. henry's day starts early, with the first of his two jobs. i woke up at 4am this morning, travelled one hour to southwick and here i am to do my two hours of cleaning. henry is one of many workers who are outsourced, in other words he's employed by a facilities company that then provides his services to another company or organisation. it's 7:30. i'm at the university of london. i'm here to do myjob as a porter. many big organisations outsource, which means instead of employing cleaners, security guards and other often low—paid staff, they pay a facilities company to provide these workers. so while maintaining control over the way people work, and often setting their pay and conditions, they can avoid some

assad the president of azerbaijan's also meeting mr putin and iranian officials in a three way summit between the neighboring countries. where english from society come on a decade on who's out on the radio in the british journalist for the guardian newspaper in london welcome to d w how significant is this meeting between president putin and his iranian counterpart. i mean a this president put in fair visit to iran since president rouhani was elected to office in two thousand and thirteen so iran and russia have an important ally and in the region as you mentioned syria is very important because both of them are very stanch supporters of bashar al assad's regime in syria but also important for iran is the nuclear deal it's very now just last month president trauma in washington he said defied iran's compliance with the deal making it difficult for iran but the other side of this agreement russia included china germany france and england now the u.k. all of them are saying that they want to preserve the deal and continue so firearms you know in the face of trump's opposition it's impo

of course tipped the balance in favor of assad. and in the end of the day as any student of international relations will tell you diplomacy is that reflection of the balance or imbalance of power on the ground and the ground today is controlled by the russians and their syrian client bashar al assad and hence their tone there the content of their conversation and their strategy moving forward is of course one of attempting to take control of the entire diplomatic process how much of that diplomacy has preempted by the meeting of putin and trump on the sidelines of the r.c.n. summit just a week or so ago where america stayed very quiet on the issue of syria analysts suggesting really giving russia a free hand to go forward it's their game now you know it's been. a process of the divil you should since the obama administration decided to take a back seat on the syria crisis not to intervene and so on so forth and then join the political process. but it wasn't exactly with his yes think about it although john kerry remained involved i

takes off for the thanksgiving holiday in mar-a-lago after the russian president embraces bashar al assad, his ally in the civil war. >>> i'm andrea mitchell in washington. charlie rose responding to the new report from the "washington post" detailing the accounts of eight women who are accusing rose of sexual misconduct ranging from groping and exposing himself to lewd phone calls. monday night paparazzi caught him returning to his home. >> how are you doing, mr. rose? do you want to say anything to those accusers, the people accusing you of all the wrongdoings? >> they are not wrongdoings. >> in "the post" one says a ritual of young women allegedly being summoned to work as rose's home. one woman said rose allegedly went into the bedroom in his apartment, left the door open, turned on the shower, she says he began to call her name incessantly. she ignored him and continued working. suddenly, he came out of the bathroom and stood over her. she turned her head briefly and saw skin and rose in the towel and jerked back around to avoid the sight. he said, didn't you hear me calling you? a m

donald trump have over putin when it comes to syria and can peace really be achieved with bashar al assad still in power we'll discuss this and more with our guests in a moment but first chalons reports from saatchi in southern russia. the war in syria is nearly over the three presidents meeting in sochi now it's time to rebuild the shattered country of lady may putin thinks a plan he's been pushing for weeks now is gaining momentum. i am satisfied by the fact that the presidents of iran and turkey have supported an initiative to hold an all syrian forum a congress of national dialogue in syria the kremlin driven initiative aims to bring a broad spectrum of syrian government opposition and civil society groups to sochi in early december to plan for the country's future. and join me in congo we have all talked about oppositions all three countries have spoken in favor of convening this congress of national dialogue. but the president has been telling putin he won't accept kurdish groups linked to the p.k. k. being there and turkey's president still seems lukewarm on the idea. of them. let

parts of aleppo province is scooter and the outskirts of damascus bombarded the assad government has been intensifying its own slaughter in the days and hours before talks due to start my fellow in the development of a sudden leave a single corner that hasn't been destroyed if you want to fight it don't target civilians instead take on the armed groups at the front lines god willing they'll teach you a lesson briefing the u.n. security council in new york the man who's supposed to lead the talks on tuesday stefan de mistura condemned the violence he noted that the syrian government had perspire its travel to geneva but he said they needed to attend. naturally we hope and indeed expect that the government will be on its way shortly but to get in i don't break that into men to break them in putting when they met in thought you that meeting part of intense diplomacy in recent weeks the russians who turned things around on the battlefield for assad are supposed to bring the syrian government to the geneva table and the saudis created a new opposition group ing to go to the talks out are

very divided and how to approach the closure of this conflict in syria we still hear this lingering assad must go i worry about that the political will on the west i think that putin wouldn't have come out with the iranians and the turks to be didn't think he had something more or less nailed down and with of course assad going along with it go ahead come on in beirut. well obviously american you cannot count on them in this because in the beginning they declared the war and and the theory and those terrorist organization and they didn't fell for any commitment of the opposite they helped these these and that into the last minute and the war and i will come that we know for fact that they have been helping. certain route so here you count beheaded bye bye bye bye bye syria and by that i from from syria obviously there's a security and of it there is the big call of the call process to continue as it's supposed to so there is a lot of doubt when it comes to america and to really you cannot trust what they say today because he could change the dynamic of his tone but in the and i don't thin

russia is in the area because of assad. paul: assad invitation. >> that's an important distinction.the russian entry way to the middle east to have basis and so forth. there's no bringing syria together as long as assad stays, look at how he has played his cards, he played them well. james mattis once gave a speech that he said the single biggest thing that we could do to check iran's ambitions is to deny them syria as a client state. there are people that know this and, again, the president sounds good notes but the policy so far in iran, we don't have an iran policy in the middle east yet and he's going to find that's going to create a lot of problems down the line. paul: dan, another move recently, the russian's veto mandate of chemical investigation team that was supposed to go in and investigate who is using chemical weapons in syria. the united states very much wanted that to be renewed, russia said, no because, of course, assad didn't want it because he's the guy who has used chemical weapons. >> yeah, and therefore, i think, that the white house really should have been givin

perspire own their flight to geneva because they're angry that the opposition is still saying that assad must go there are some who believe that's not made the main reason why they perspire on their trip it's also being suggested that you mentioned it that onslaught in eastern guta that maybe they want to continue that bombardment for a little longer before they come to the negotiating table potentially with the strength and hand well let's look at the opposition groups i mean how do they feel given that it was just one of week i'll say again that you had president putin and president assad congratulating each other pretty much on on ending effectively the war on the ground and talking about a political solution. the opposition if you speak to them privately they are not happy with the way things played out clearly not militarily because assad definitely has the upper hand because of the help of the russians and the iranians but also diplomatically and we as a result of that have a different grouping coming here they calling themselves the syrian negotiation commission remember that was