illegally also coming up prosecuting alleged torture by the assad regime human rights lawyers finally get their cases heard in germany but will the suspects still believed to be in syria ever be caught. and celebrating in the soccer world cup in russia spain is closer to the knockout round after they beat your brand in a tight battle we'll have that and all the rest of the action. plus simon rattle discussing all of the tall as head conductor of the balloon philharmonic the british maestro charted a new path for the orchestra bringing it up to date of the twenty first century. hello i'm terry march and thanks for joining us. it took all it took was his signature u.s. president all trump has insisted that he was powerless to stop the separation of immigrant families at the country's southern border but he's now issued an executive order to reverse course trump's move means families entering the u.s. illegally will now be tane to gether detained together it's a rare policy retreat for the u.s. president following days of public outrage. you could have a lot of happy people. it was that

foreign powers and now with the backing of russia iran and the lebanese militia hezbollah president assad is seeking to retake control of daraa one of the last remaining rebel held areas there are is in the far southwest of syria and government forces of massed in the region they're shelling and they're dropping barrel bombs and some reports suggest that they're getting support from russia in the air campaign but this was supposed to be a deescalation zone agreed by russia the united states and jordan well that agreements clearly now null and void much to the consternation of neighboring countries the u.s. has reportedly told the syrian rebels not to expect to military support in southern syria so why is there are so sensitive apart from it symbolic significance as a birth race of the revolution the province is considered strategically important it's on the border with jordan and it stretches all the way to these radio golan heights and as we've mentioned the u.s. russia and jordan agreed last year to include darragh as part of full so-called deescalation zones designed to reduce the figh

back to some news now when evidence of alleged torture by the assad regime has emerged from syria butthe international criminal court hasn't been able to act because syria is not a member and russia blocked efforts to have the united nations security council refer the case now there is hope for those seeking justice germany is taking on the case. and he was jailed simply for doing his job he served five years in a syrian prison for his work as a human rights lawyer trying to bring torture charges against officials in assad's regime now he's in berlin collecting testimony from people who say they've been tortured and building a case against the syrian government he's handed it all to the public prosecutor. this is his target jamil hassan leader of the syrian air force secret service germany is now trying to arrest him now bonnie says it's a victory for victims seven years you know the waiting for some hope of some but the care about their suffering and nobody cares now they find this hope and you cannot imagine how. the action of this of the victims or the syrians at all how it's was.

bashar al assad. north korea state news says the syrian president plans to meet with kim in north korea. the timing is unclear. north korea is shaking up the military leadership ahead of the singapore summit. we have alexandra field with more from seoul. this is interesting. what is the dynamic with syria and north korea? >> reporter: look, this is interesting news and it certainly comes as an interesting times. two countries have a history of ons back to the 1960s. k kim jong-un's grandfather met with bashar al assad's father in the '70s. they exchanged messages of support for one another. this is the first face-to-face meeting. admittedly no date has been set. it has been reported by north korean news the meeting would happen. this is theirst time a world leader travels to pyongyang to meet with kim jong-un. certainly we know history of cooperation with the countries. just this past winter the u.n. released a report with alleged evidence of the latest cooperation with north korea and syria on chemic

bashar al assad. what this means for nuclear talks. here's the story of green mountain coffee roasters sumatra reserve. let's go to sumatra. the coffee here is amazing. because the volcanic soil is amazing. so we give farmers like win more plants. to grow more delicious coffee. which helps provide for win's family. all, for a smoother tasting cup of coffee. green mountain coffee roasters. picking the right style takes time. ♪ one picky customer shouldn't take all your time. ♪ that's where office depot can help. our business advisors will set you up with the products and services your business needs. like custom signs, posters, and banners. find us online, on our app or at one of our 1,400 stores nationwide. get your coupon for 20% off services, technology and more at office depot and officedepot.com. man: one, two, here we go! ♪ alive, i'm alive, i'm alive ♪ ♪ i'm alive, i'm alive, i'm alive ♪ ♪ this is what it sounds like ♪ wo-o-oh-ho, i'm alive ♪ ( ♪ ) alive! gives you more vitamins and minerals tha

illegally also coming up prosecuting alleged torture by the assad regime human rights lawyers finally get their case heard in germany but will the suspects still believed to be in syria ever be called. and on day seven of the soccer world cup in russia spain joined the first teams to go through to the knockout round with a b. to read in a tight battle we'll have that and the rest of the action. hello i'm terry martin thanks for joining us all it took was his signature u.s. president donald trump had insisted he was powerless to stop the separation of immigrant families at the country's southern border but he has now issued an executive order to reverse course trump's move means that families entering the u.s. illegally will now be tains together it's a rare policy retreat for the u.s. president only days of public outrage. you don't have a lot of happy people. it was that easy president trump effectively reversing a policy that has separated thousands of children from their parents and kept them in conditions critics have called in to maine and even evil. this is trump's new zero tole

to the middle east after visiting jordan she went eleven on may she held talks with prime minister assad ahead eighty now lebanon has the highest number of refugees wild wide in proportion to its population one person in six is a refugee that's according to the un eight cia jordan ranks number to get in proportion to the population one person in fourteen in jordan is a refugee the german chancellor offered support to jordan and lebanon to help their respective governments deal with the economic strain of hosting so many refugees but some lebanese now feel the refugees need to go back home. reus in her bruce has been looking for safety since the beginning of the syrian war fleeing the bombs he arrived five years ago here in lebanon a tailor he found work at a clothing shop and rented a house he began to settle down but now he says local officials are bullion him trying to force him out. and i want i would have not a situation now in lebanon has become really bad for us refugees lebanon is pushing us to go back to syria we had to fill this application out we were asked of the area where we

the rebellion against the assad regime began in dura hundreds took to the streets in protests they were met with snipers tanks and missiles the protests spread throughout the whole country into raw moderate groups still exert influence alongside islamic extremists. this man was one of the first to spray anti assad slogans he took up arms and is still fighting for the revolution even if it may look like a lost cause he won't be giving up his gun. the revolution started seven years ago our wives and children are dead syria has been destroyed how can there be reconciliation only over our dead bodies refugees from the fighting a fleeing into this highly sensitive area bordering israel and jordan. the border to jordan has essentially been closed for the post two years so there's not a way that they immediately can pass into safety in neighboring jordan jordan has already taken a huge amount of of refugees but that's not really an option right now assad wants to take back control of his country after aleppo and eastern ghouta the fear now is the battle for dura will bring get more suffering f

now syrian president bashar al-assad wants his own face to face with kim jong un.m going to visit the dprk and meet kim jong un. jillian: despite claims no indications that any plans have been made. but is it possible that north korea is courting other heads of states while planning a summit with president trump. here now to weigh in is the author of dear, what do you think of the latest news. >> on the one hand this could be platitude and the other thing why is does the u.s. get to be arm's dealer and they don't. all the missile tests are great commercial for products and small state can stand up to u.s. and other nations, this is something that will compensate for. they will dial down missiles an weapon's industries, they will want money or something else in exchange and syria would be one of the customers. rob: two very bad people meeting together. big-time threat to, i think, international law, the two meeting and big threat, i think, to our negotiations here. are we fools to go into this meeting at this point knowing that they will meet, this does seem like ba

anyway and by the way i'm always taken his apologist for bashar assad only doing is telling the truth i'm telling facts period. people who fight wars all fight the with same way he's that he doesn't do anything differently than we do the hell out of people how can the united states use the nuclear bomb on hiroshima did daylight bombing of major cities in germany one thousand forty four cities you know the sent the famous bombings that everyone dreads that just fire storms we just say somebody's house this is war criminal for fighting the war they say he was in a war a real war and by all accounts the casualties were almost the same of both sides if this is an apology that's just that's just people not wanting to believe not wanting to believe their prefer their they're just like letting their personal dislike overcome the reality the point is that it was analyzed important. the brits had it only which is a laboratory we in america respect for those skilled in chemical weapons it was delivered to account was good liver to the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff its name was norman de

president hafez al assad was controlling the syrian army with an iron grip. no one was allowed to act outside the original plan. or free of it nor can. he lived with us he had a bedroom at the command center he slept there and when he woke up he used to salute us and take his place behind the operations desk he was always there in the command center or in his room in the same place or after office in the car. within hours almost a quarter of a million israelis would be mobilized. these reservists were vital support without them the regular forces were facing a huge arab numerical superiority. the syrians had calculated it would take the israeli reserves twenty four hours to reach the goal line. in fact the first times were there by midnight at the end of day one just. fifteen hours after they had been mobilized. this nine hour difference was to prove crucial. essentially once the syrians failed to take it in twenty four hours then at that stage you have the israelis begin to really organize themselves and a syrian victory becomes increasingly less likely as a

north koreans were building a plants for assad several years ago. so there is obviously a relationship. in a way it had me -- assad going there has me scratching my head. >> i don't think it's really substantive. it's more symbolic. obviously hasn't travelled many places. but i don't think at this particular point in time that it's anything more than that. and with all the players that are involved in this, from us to the north koreans to the chinese, to the russians, to the japanese, et cetera, and the south koreans, i think assad is just a bit player. >> admiral mike mullen, thank you so much for your perspective. thanks for joining us tonight. now, on the face of it, it does look like the trump administration is more solicitous of this adversary as it prepares for this summit than america's closest allies, take a listen to some of them. >> the idea that we are somehow national security threat to the united states is quite frankly insulting and unacceptable. >> we are friends and allies aen feel deep angry about this. >> now they are mexico is bou

assad saw the war which he was planning as the war of liberation. sadat on the other hand had been planning for a limited war. to focus the minds of the world superpowers and jumpstart the stalled peace process. i wouldn't use a gun when president said that came to power he met with us in march nineteenth seventy one he told us i just need to get things back on track just give me ten centimeters of land in the east and that will be enough to show what i had. a week into the war sadat's possible target had already been surpassed it seemed a swift victory might be in sight. in the early hours of october the thirteenth he was woken for an urgent meeting. the british ambassador had come with an offer to broker a united nations cease fire resolution the israelis he told sadat were ready to accept the cease fire based on the current positions. sadhaka shade side not some israeli army had been hit hard the israeli army was ready to accept a cease fire it was defeat at that moment a terrible defeat and we were ready to accept that which shows that we've giv

he presented his credentials to assad on may 30, assad said i'm going to visit the dprk.indication as of when. the two countries have a long history which came to light in 2007 when israeli war planes destroyed what they said was a nuclear facility being built by north korea scientists in syria. they confirmed it was a nuclear site. theyccuse north korea making 40 shipments to syria between 2012 and last year breaking a u.n. embargo. kim jong un recently met in pyongyang with russian foreign minister, a key architect of the iran nuclear deal. >> dana: and kim jong un has reportedly shaken up his military leadership. i wonder what you could tell us about those changes? >> all of this is curious when you look at the changes at the top of north korea military days before president trump and kim jong un are slated to meet in singapore. on may 24 north korea made a big show of blowing up tunnels around their nuclear test site. now kim jong un replaced three topilitary commanders with loyalists ahead of the summit. experts say these are loyalists who may be more amenable to mak

>> because we blessed assad as a young icon. name on it. and i said blessing that people got love, i don't want nobody to disrespect my family or my son. >> jimmy: right. >> i have to do what i got to do to protect the family and my son. and, you know, keep the pirates away, you know what i'm saying? >> jimmy: somes a father has to trademark his son's name. >> you got to. [ laughter ] you got to. i mean, you know. >> jimmy: we did that with my son kevin. we've made quite a bit of money. >> well, one thing i got to say, though. i believe in securing the future. securing the future. me as a father, i'm going to make sure me personally that my son is good forever. >> jimmy: he has how many instagram followers? >> he's like at 1.9 million right now. >> jimmy: 1.9 million, yeah. and does he find that fulfilling? does he have a social media manager? >> well, you know -- assad, when he posts his pics, you know, he got his own way of doing his things. i think the latest post was him judging at "the four." or he was just at the beach, yo

bashar assad's use of nerve agents against his own people. which is a turkey that was in two thousand and thirteen was a very rich from his point of reactionary force there was very hostile to his his presidency. and of course there was constant conflict conflict it was. one of the gangs and isis later it was a stronghold as we all know now it's bombed and bombed to smithereens the war is awful we americans should maybe be a little more tolerant made to hatred for bashar he had a war it was an awful war and he fought it awfully but so do we everybody does that's the horrible thing about wars and they're not good when it was government funding the white helmets right now that say it's one sided here it's the only can we trust you there's no question there's a look there i'm sure there are some people in the white helmets that were very actually doing what you know trying to save lives but the it's pretty clear now that they're basically the major funding also i think america was indirectly supplying some money certainly the brits were and so c

you have isis and kurdish rebels bashar al-assad is dealing with.he united states helped to eviscerate isis he wants to throw is out of the country. we have done a lot of favors. >> lots of moving parts and pieces inside syria. you have israel, iran forces, hezbollah, russia, the syrian defense forces, many moving parts and pieces and bashar al-assad is looking to take a step up with russia by his side, and it is not going to happen. secretary mattis said he doesn't seem the united states leaving syria until diplomatic efforts are won and we are not there yet. jillian: the pentagon released a statement saying, quote, any interested party and syria should understand attacking us forces or coalition partners will be a bad policy. we are there. nothing has changed. you mentioned bashar al-assad never felt the force of the united states. do you think he should? >> i don't think the us for policy purposes is interested in getting any more involved in syria than they are. we have to thousand troops working with syrian defense forces to fight isis. that is

as assad himself remains in power. we need a strategy that in the name of humanity moves beyond assad to achieve a political solution that will secure a lasting peace among all the parties there. the house has twice passed legislation named after caesar, sponsored by ranking member elliott engel and me to impose sanctions on supporters of syria's assad's regime including sanctions on iran and russia. that's where the bombs come from. this legislation will help cut off funding that fuels assad's war machine and give our diplomats much leverage in the mill process. the caesar bill will support the prosecution of the regime's war criminals. this includes u.s. assistance for cases being tried around the world, many based on evidence in the caesar file, such as the one recently filed by prosecutors in germany. unfortunately, mr. speaker, the senate still has not acted on this critical legislation. it is time to sanction assad. it's time to sanction his backers. it's time to hold war criminals accountable and give justice to

north korean state news saying assad said this. the world no date yes yet set for that meeting but the other big meaning between trump and kim jong-un happen on june 12th. he talked about the need to keep up the strong defenses against north korea at this point going into meeting in order to allow the u.s. diplomats to negotiate from a position of strength. take land to what he said. >> we will recognize the declaration of peace and prosperity against the north korean peninsula and that was announced in april. we can anticipate best a bumpy road to the negotiations. >> reporter: a bumpy road. according to secretary mattis. certainly taking a different tone than president trump and saying everyone is talking nicely and reason to go ahead with this summit. he has tempered expectations what the summit can accomplish and u.s. standing firm it's to denuclearication but the state department is not saying what can go into that deal like that and the president, himself, saying the meeting on june 12th on could be a starting point and one o

a report says that syrian president bashar al assad will immediate with kim in pyongyang. what does this mean for president trump's summit in just nine days. police say the homicides may all be connected. details on that straight ahead. get all the lobster and shrimp you crave, together in so many new ways. there's new cedar plank seafood bake. tender maine lobster and shrimp, cedar roasted to perfection. or new caribbean lobster and shrimp. sweet pineapple salsa on grilled rock lobster, paired with jumbo coconut shrimp. and wait. there's lobster & shrimp overboard! it's a seafood party on a plate. so hurry in. 'cause lobster & shrimp summerfest won't last. i'm all-business when i, travel... even when i travel... for leisure. so i go national, where i can choose any available upgrade in the aisle - without starting any conversations- -or paying any upcharges. what can i say? control suits me. go national. go like a pro. i think, keep going, and make a difference. at some point, we are going to be able to beat als. because life is amazing. so i am hoping for a cure. i want

have to feels he won't be safe in syria as long as bashar al assad is in power he wants to go to europe but doesn't think he'll get a visa. for now he's forced to stay in lebanon even if that means being evicted and ending up homeless. china wants to become a world leader in electoral mobility e-cards are increasingly popular in the countries local authorities are fast converting their public transport fleets the city of change and sixteen thousand buses are already battery powered. alight hummer instead of the roar of a diesel engine in just three years all of change and sixteen thousand buses have gone to lecture the city's bus drivers have been retrained and there are now five thousand charging points at bus depots. a fully charged bus can travel two hundred kilometers that's about a day's driving. genting you is spearheading the changes woman one song we can charge you a bus in the evening when services have stopped for the day well that's what that's good because electricity costs less in the evening only you mean so the bus company saves money she knew the reasons why electric bus

to connect that's very important next to that are and could possibly be the next place that bashar assad's regime attacks and that is an on golan heights of in part of the golan heights which is disputed between israel and syria these understandings that you mentioned this they seem quite shaky moscow the u.s. and jordan they all agreed to deescalation zone around daraa a year ago now russia is involved in these attacks again why. well the russian side of the regime we've seen russia do the same in all other deescalation zones as well i mean remember what that was a deescalation zone too when we saw the events there the way the un for day and thousands were left stranded thousands have to then date the buses to it lives of russia has been siding with the regime with the machine you see is the look the rebels there are all kind of believe there ought of of the list are which is not factually correct there are people there are rebels who are all. jihadi sort of sick but then there are those with the free syrian army and other groups who are also there and that us with russia says these are t

assad's one thing. if we experience this same kind of green light red line with china or russia as examples or north korea, it could end, you know, much less benignly. somebody like me worries a lot about fine if we want to believe -- people want to believe that a madman theory, which i also have started to think of as the madmen theory, it's really a marking theory. it's madman because it's unpredictable and a totally meddling approach to foreign policy may have some upsides and you will hear this a lot, right, from republicans even in congress that, you know, well, the president is getting us further than we've ever gotten. i them the question is at what cost -- think the question is at what cost and this get all the way back again to allies. more people are getting to 2 percent. i am a huge fan of -- 2%. i am a huge fan of that. what was the cost? was it worth the cost? that kind of constant poking whether it's with allies and their willingness to stick with us or whether it's with adversaries who ar

been president assad's view was that syria and its ability to achieve strategic parity with israel had to be supported by two strong wings a lebanese wing and a palestinian wing that is if syria was to have influence on the political scene it had to become the sole legitimate representative of syria lebanon and the palestinians while lebanon was in the throes of conflict on another front there were moves towards peace. in one thousand nine hundred eighty seven egyptian president anwar sadat a longstanding ally of out of fat made a groundbreaking visit to israel to sue for peace in exchange for land artifact was done but i'd have thought had been making his own peace moves his representative in london cited how many had been promoting the palestinian vision of

agree on well i think they both have a common goal they want iran to go iran is supporting bashar al assad the syrian president at the moment fighting on his side and obviously france is part of the western coalition that it's at sometimes fighting against bashar assad recently everything estrades and both want iran to go however it's a very unlikely that iran will listen to israel and france in this matter. and those in paris thank you. let's take a look now at some of the other stories making news around the world the king of jordan has appointed the country's education minister to be the new prime minister . will form a new government a day after the resignation of his predecessor honey malky made massive protests the king's ordered to as instructed i was asked to review changes in countries tax system and issue that spar with demonstrations. russia's president vladimir putin has told austria's sebastian courts that his country is interested in repairing ties with the a european union but the president has been meeting or about austria in the design his first foreign trip since his reel

excuse me that strong and global and regional powers russia and iran are both allied to president assad but a russian troop deployment is creating tension between to her and and moscow. explains from beirut. the region straddling lebanon's eastern border is an important supply line for hezbollah syria is the land link to iran for the lebanese armed group russian troops briefly took up positions here the russian military didn't comment but its troops were soon replaced by syrian army soldiers in russia trying. to iran in syria. russian troops. are ready to deploy whatever they want in syria it wasn't the first message russian president vladimir putin told syrian president bashar assad that foreign military forces will leave syria once a robust political process gets underway and avoid later clarified this included iran. days later the russian foreign minister sergei lavrov echoed the same thing and said the syrian army should be the only force deployed along the border with israel iran's initial reaction was that no one can force it to do anything it later said it supported russian effor

it wasn't the first message russian president vladimir putin told syrian president bashar assad that foreign military forces will leave syria once a robust political process gets underway has envoy later clarified this included iran days later the russian foreign minister sergei lavrov echoed the same thing and said the syrian army should be the only force deployed along the border with israel iran's initial reaction was that no one can force it to do anything it later said it supported russian efforts to bring the south of the country under syrian army control and that iranian military advisers are not present in the area. how soon the iranians receive a strong message from israel and with the stepped up air strikes that it's won't tolerate iranian presence in south syria that's why iran withdrew from solving syria the iranians know that engaging in a war with israel in syria is not its benefit. and it's not to russia's benefit either an iranian israeli confrontation with threaten the assad government's hold on power and moscow's achievements it has been a difficult balancing act fo

it's going to hurt our standing everywhere and it's going to embolden russia and assad even more. this is a nightmare for syria -- excuse me -- for israel. syrians who have suffered enough at the hands of assad and russia. it's a nightmare for the kurds. and it really affects our standing in the world. when this meeting happens in july 16, i think, in finland, i hope the president will bring this up if it's not resolved before then. because, mr. president, president trump, if you let putin get away with this, assad get away with this, then good luck everywhere else in the world. we've had eight years of letting bad people get away with bad things. i hope you will bring it up and bring it to an end because our words should matter. thousands of people have been displaced from the homes. hundreds have been killed in violation of an agreement we signed, i think, last year. secondly, the meeting with putin is a good thing. you have to talk to your enemies, your friends, and everybody in between. national security advisor bolton had it right. there are things we can work with russia on

assad seve n years rise up against president assad seven years ago.hen it has been a battleground and now it is being pounded into submission. from there and the ground, russian jets and government soldiers are close to destroying the last major rebel stronghold in southern syria. —— from the air. around half the city is reported to be in government hands and another eight nearby towns fell to the regime on saturday, according to local reports. translation: we have successfully fulfilled our mission in the region. 0ur soldiers' health, ourfaith in victory and our commitment to the president enabled us to win this victory and defeat the terrorist groups in this rugged region. the current offensive has been going on for almost two weeks. the rebels are caught between government forces and the border with jordan, but caught between government forces and the border withjordan, but are refusing to surrender. a bitter battle is taking place around a military airbase. casualties figures are not known but one human rights group estimates that 100 civilians ha

assad's rage was borne of the anger he felt towards his allies in cairo.

syrian president bashar al-assad is with the pyongyang's state-run media.te has been set for the meeting but it is notable of those two countries have been accused of cooperating. >> that's a very good point. thank you for your life report. decr strategt michae starr hawkins and former colorado republican state senator and chairman of the committee to defend the president, and harvey. >> going to start with what's with china. market does seem concerned about it right now. the dow up triple digits. at the same time, nothing was accomplished over the weekend between ourselves and with china. are you worried this is a rough row to hoe? >> it's a pretty complicated situation and it's going to be a rough road going forward. the president will be negotiated for america first in china will do the same. this is not something that will happen overnight and discussions will continue. the market is saying they are giving the president the benefit of the doubt and they are looking forward to seeing what will happen with trade negotiations. >> michael, 50 billion on tar

syrian president hafez assad now faced the prospect of fighting alone on the single front . as the twenty third drew to a close the syrians to bow to the inevitable assad would have no choice but to accept the ceasefire times. at the israelis were not done with fighting yet. a key listening post had been captured by syrian paratroopers on the first day of war. with just a few hours left before the cease fire israel's golani brigade attacked. after facing fierce syrian resistance they finally secured their prize. but only after suffering heavy losses. fifty five dead and seventy nine wounded. the ships lived through it was really important for israel to raise the country's flag on the go lonnie brigades flag on top of mount hermon on the last day of the war. and to prevent the syrians from securing any sort of success from this war. on the suez canal front things were no better for the egyptians. these release had the entire egyptian third army besieged on the eastern side of the canal. thirty five thousand soldiers cut off from their supply lines. that may affect them and th

assad's rage was borne of the anger he felt towards his allies in cairo. the egyptians had successfully stormed across the canal on the first day of war. they had quickly established a defensive bridge had ten kilometers deep and repulsed all the israeli armored attacks. but since then they had moved not an inch further east into sinai. the liver ace said the president said kept calling president sadat telling him mr president advance the whole israeli armed forces are in front of us and we are taking aerial strikes by the entire israeli air force there is nothing stopping you from advancing deep into sinai as we agreed but there was no answer. when i took. eight months earlier and to meeting in egypt set out on our side had forged a plan with a common purpose they had agreed to launch a war against israel on two fronts. but now it seemed the two presidents had entirely different concepts of the war they had planned together. as the told me that from the moment of the seizure of power is ambition his dream was to avenge the siege of ninety six to seven whe

assad's rage was born of the anger he felt towards his allies in cairo.

of shields he won't be safe in syria as long as bashar al assad is in power he wants to go to europe but doesn't think you'll get a visa for now he's forced to stay in lebanon even a fact means being evicted and ending up homeless. now german chancellor merkel says syria must be secure before any refugee is sent back and as far as she's concerned the time is not yet right that message from the chancellor comes as fighting has intensified again according to a war monitoring group. b.o.'s said to be from it live in syria's north the syrian observatory for human rights and britain says president bashar al assad's regime has stepped up stepped up airstrikes on rebel held areas the u.n. fears hundreds of thousands of civilians will be caught in the fighting that comes as questions remain over the syrian regime's alleged use of chemical weapons and russia's involvement in the seven year long conflict. still to come on the day a cold war blockade and a daring rescue operation to save a city remembering the berlin airlift. planes dropping essential supplies in west berlin up to thirteen thou

so this is also the problem with having really mixed signals, that assad is one thing. if we experience the same kind of green lights, red lines with china or russia as examples, or north korea, it could end, you know, much less benignly. so somebody like me worries a lot about, fine if people want to believe that a mad man theory, i've always started to think of the mad men theory, because it's unpredictable and totally a marketing mad men approach to foreign policy, may have some up sides. and you will hear this a lot from republicans, even in congress, that, well, the president's pressure strategy is getting us further than we would have gotten otherwise. i think the question is, at what cost? and this gets all the way back again to allies. so we have more people who are getting toward 2%. i'm a huge fan of that. what was the cost? was it worth the cost? was the way we did that worth the cost? how resilient is the system, whether it's the constant poking with allies, or with adversaries who are not going to respond nicely always to those sorts of pokes that are not p

israel and iran these are the big questions whether that these activities that are taking place that assad is now frankly can bet on what's next. is a sensitive sort of reaction sensitive atmosphere in that region in that region and actually in all of middle east the israelis now waiting to see what the americans will do because russian media to see spy out of course this is a violation of the cease fire i russia is striking that all along with us are so if the americans don't do anything as they've said it said that they will not be back in that list then what israel does that's an open question that's a good talking to as ever and show for her in beirut thank you let's take a look now at some of the other stories making news around the world mexico's presidential election campaigns in turmoil the murders of five members of the leftist party leading the polls the five including states assembly account. lopez of and bondo was shot dead in the southern state of the haka i mean down there was a nineteenth counted to be killed during the campaign i'm seeing takes place on sunday. colombia's g

this escalation of fighting for assad taking the rebel stronghold of down especially important after all this is where the uprisings against his rule began seven years ago. libyan warlord. his forces have taken full control of the city of daraa from rival armed groups people have been celebrating in the streets the local armed groups are denying those reports on a was the last city in eastern libya not under huffed control his self-proclaimed libyan national army is one of the main factions that have competed for power since the two thousand and eleven uprising. and a few moments we will have the weather with everton but still ahead on al-jazeera the u.s. immigration policy tops the agenda as vice president mike pence tours of latin america i will explain why it is economy is in crisis despite government efforts to boost exports and contain rising inflation and sporks will take away this former england enter national is a washington is in washington d.c. details coming up. oh you just told. me the weather sponsored by. hello there we've had some flooding rains in the land of the risi

and jordan last year and so far contain the fighting but the assad government says it will reclaim every inch of syrian territory. and the trumpet ministration has released six and a half million dollars in aid for all the lies ations in syria including the white helmets rescue group about israel and jordan explains it's only a fraction of what washington had originally promised. on thursday the trumpet ministration announced that it would be dispersing six point six million dollars to the syrian white helmets those are the volunteers who have been trying to provide emergency medical care to the people caught in the cross-fire of the little seven year old syrian civil war this money is going to be just first legally to accounts that the white house can access so that they can buy emergency medical equipment and supplies however this is a far cry from the two hundred million dollars which the u.s. had pledged to provide to emergency relief groups earlier this year just before he was fired as secretary of state rex tillerson made the two hundred million dollar pledge any funding conference

we don't recognize assad's of course he has destroyed our cities and. he destroyed syria to staying power we will never recognize. the presence of ukrainian and afghan militias. who should decide the future of the country. the syrian army is massing troops in the area the opposition says thousands of shiite militias are also moving in dar was the focal point of the syrian uprising in two thousand and eleven but in recent years the rebels have been retreating they now control one neighborhood in the city and a few areas on the border with jordan this is a show of force by the real syrian army. for years the f.s.a. was trained by the u.s. europe and gulf countries but that support has diminished over the last two years and assad forces are largely outgunned and outnumbered the tao offensive poses challenges for all the parties the rebels cannot afford another setback after being evicted from a just cause the clothing homes and on the asker's of damascus but of the syrian army's push continues the u.s. may in. the fear and that may trigger a wider ask coll

now there are reports from north korea the syrian president, bashar al-assad, could be paying a visit soon? he could. it was an unexpected announcement that the charlotte visitould be planning a bashargyang -- that al-assad could be planning a visit toyong btw are both internationally isolated. if the meeting does transpire it that kimhe first time hosts a foreign leader on his home grounds. in this opinion piece, the paper jumpes a side of trying to on this to avoid international isolation. next, to the u.k. were the british papers are carrying a sign is story on their front page echo yuka: -- frontpage? that this study found women with early-stage breast cancer could avoid chemotherapy and still have a fighting chance of battling the disease. it's a big deal according to the co-authors of the study. it means that women whose tumors have not spread to the lymph nodes could get a genetic test, option tople determine if chemotherapy is necessary. it could help them avoid a painful, sometimes unnecessary step in the battle against cancer. genie: not to france where "le m reporting that

in syria it wasn't the first message russian president vladimir putin told syrian president bashar assad that foreign military forces will leave syria once a robust political process gets underway has an avoid later clarified this included iran. days later the russian foreign minister sergei lavrov echoed the same thing and said the syrian army should be the only force deployed along the border with israel iran's initial reaction was that no one can force it to do anything it later said it supported russian efforts to bring the south of the country under syrian army control and that iranian military advisers are not present in the area. the iranians receive a strong message from israel had with the stepped up airstrikes that it won't tolerate iranian presence in south syria that's why iran withdrew from solving syria the iranians nor that engaging in a war with israel in syria is not its benefit and it's not to russia's benefit either an iranian israeli confrontation with threaten the assad government's hold on power and moscow's achievements it has been a difficult balancing act for rus