is not against bashar al-assad. they accept him on the negotiating table. they consider him the leader. >> reporter: bashar al-assad's future has always been an obstacle on the road po peace. many in the opposition believe russia's intervention has changed the military and political balance in favor of president bashar al-assad. recent battle field gains has made the regime stronger and that is why the opposition believes it has little to gain by negotiating. it is one of the reasons why it is pushing for concessions before agreeing to talks. diplomacy has so far seen only failures in this conflict which has become an international regional war by proxy and many people feel their voices have become irrelevant. >> translation: syrians should be the ones to decide their fate, but unfortunately big powers intervened and are imposing their decisions. >> reporter: for now there is a road map, but the warring sides are nowhere close to even discussing a solution >>> why are syrians worried about geneva? >> reporter: many syrians, those who oppose the government, b

the islamic state doesn't really threaten bashar al-assad. hey have almost a tacit understanding to leave each other alone. it is the groups the we would like to support, should support, that are really locked in with bashar al-assad, bearing the brunt of russian air power. they are all in on this, they are all in against us, but we are not doing anything to demonstrate to anyone that we are pushing back. >> great question, senator and i agree with much of what the ambassador said. let me start with syria and go to iraq because syria is isis's center of gravity. what they are doing in iraq is occupying senior land but in syria, it is from syria that they have expanded into those of the elites are described on those maps and it is from c areas they are killing fellow citizens to foment this agreement between muslim and non muslim populations. so cereus tremendous as a center of gravity but it is much much more complex problem. when you talk to leaders, sunni leaders unequivocally they will tell you that iran is their number-1 problem. that is t

that the things that the security council resolution 2254 talk about it will be respected by the bashar al-assad government. we've been five year and the bashar al-assad government doesn't care about the civilians. there is recourse that he is intense ugg fighting-- records that he is intensifying attacks on particular areas. this is why talking about lifting the siege on the areas and releasing the prisoners has to be respected before any negotiations can be started. if the international community cannot help fix from any further starvation, there is no point. this is why they ask what will achieve in geneva if just taking pictures or give the bashar al-assad to speak against the people against the other parties >>> france says it will recognise a palestinian state in a final push for talks for a two-state solution fails. there will be a conference to revive talks between israelis and palestinians. u.s. led efforts to broker peace colonel p appearsd in 2014 largely over borders and settlements. if france recognises a two-state area, it will see that the major majority of the nations have done t

is not against bashar al-assad. they accept him on the negotiating table. the u.s. no longer hides the fact that they consider him the leader. >> reporter: bashar al-assad's future has always been an obstacle on the road to peace. many in the opposition believe russia's intervention has changed the military and political balance in favor of president bashar al-assad. recent battle field gains has made the regime stronger and that is why the opposition believes it has little to gain by negotiating. it is one of the reasons why it is pushing for concessions before agreeing to talks. >> reporter: diplomacy has seen only failure in this complication which has become a regional war by proxy and people feel their voice have become irrelevant. >> translation: syrians should be the ones to decide their fate but big powers inter veer and are imposing their conditions. >> reporte >>> live to our correspondent from there. we have just seen there the reality on the ground for many many syrians but their fate is now being decided in geneva. the opposition have said that they may

the russians seem to indicate they'd favour a transition in government that would ease bashar al-assadthey are saying no, they want him to stay, that's because they made the gains on the battlefield. >> if the peace talks get off the ground, do you think bashar al-assad's representatives would be willing to negotiate an exit strategy. >> they'd be willing to negotiate if their backgrounds tell them they need to do. in other wards, at the negotiations, they have a ceasefire, they'd leave it vague about when he would go, what circumstances, what kind of an election, whether they go to a federal form of government. don't you think bashar al-assad would take advantage of that and ta in power. >> there's no doubt he'd try to. if the russians and iranians basically let him know not to do that. they are concerned about i.s.i.l., the iranians because of i.s.i.l.'s presence in iraq. that is the key. whether that support, he can't stay in. it's costing the russians whose economy is in free fall. a lot of funny that is supporting them. the ally threatened to boycott the talks. russia agrees the s

is not against bashar al-assad. they accept him on the negotiating table. the u.s. no longer hides the fact that they consider him the leader. >> reporter: bashar al-assad's future has always been an obstacle on the road to peace. many believe that the political balances has made the regime stronger. the opposition believes it has little to dpan by negotiating. it is one of the reasons why it is pushing for concessions before agreeing to talks. diplomacy has so far seen only fame urs in this can conflict which has become an international and regional war by proxy. many people feel their voices have become irrelevant. >> translation: syrians should be the one to decide their fate, but unfortunately big powers intervened are imposing their decisions >> reporter: for now there is a war map, but the sides are nowhere near discussing a solution >>> our correspondent live from gaziantep. we got a sense of how desperate the situation is for people there. were are syrians worried about geneva and the possible outcome? >> reporter: those who support the opposition feel that t

in syria and also the need for elections, but when asked about whether it was possible that if bashar al-assad lost those elections whether it would give bashar al-assad any kind of political asylum he says it was not clear if he would lose, and it is too soon to understand whether that would happen >>> taking you back to that breaking story that took place just as we came on air this hour. the explosion in istanbul. we have the very latest pictures. that central square near the mosque has been sealed off after that large explosion. it is a very historic area. the news agency is reporting several people have been injured. as we were hearing from our correspondent, there are ambulances on their way to the scene as we speak. it is a major tourist area in istanbul. it is a populos city. the cause of the explosion is not yet known. it is close to a park that is home to a landmark that people visit. a senior scholar and columnist is with us. we don't know for sure, but what do you think is going on there today? >> not really. i mean, i'm at home and working and i heard an explosion and i'm 4 kilome

anyone who opposes the bashar al-assad regime is a terrorist. the approved list of opposition figures are those who are willing to acquiesce to bashar al-assad's attaining of power. i think this highlights the fundamental facade that is called a peace process. the entire premise of this peace process that is being advanced by the u.s. and russia is based on this faulty assumption that somehow after five years of a near genocidal war they're suddenly going to show around a peace table and kiss and make up. what is being ignored is not just the facts on the grounds, the horrific violence, but we've seen this movie before two years ago in geneva. a similar initiative was started and down under the special services and the two sides showed up at the peace talks. they had nothing in common and nothing to talk about. i suspect that's exactly what's going to happen with this so-called vienna peace process >>> while the diplomacy becomes more can complex games on the grounds. syrian forces have held the last town held by i.s.i.l. in latakia. rob matheson

. >> there is no guarantee things will be respected by the bashar al-assad government. it has been five years and the bashar al-assad government never care about the civilians. this is why it is the article in the security council's resolution which talked about lifting the siege on the besieged areas and releasing all prisoners has to be met, has to be respected before any negotiations can start. we can't negotiate on the life of the syrians if the international community can't help kids who die because of starvation, how they can impose transition on the bashar al-assad government. how can they actually enforce as a government to release children and women. that is contradictory. this is why all the syrians, they ask what will achieve in geneva, if geneva just taking pictures or giving the bashar al-assad to speak against the syrian people, against the opposition >>> france says it will recognise a palestinian state if talks for a two-state solution false. talks between the israelis and palestinians will be brokered again. in france recognise plain state that it would

stood against bashar al-assad. they kept making false promises to the opposition and now their true position is out in the open. the u.s. is not against bashar al-assad. they no longer hide the fact that they consider him the leader. >> reporter: bashar al-assad has always been an obstacle to peace. recent battle field gains has made the regime stronger. that is why the opposition believes it has little to gain by negotiating. it is one of the reasons why it is pushing for concessions before agreeing to talks. diplomacy has so far seen any failures in this conflict which has become an international and regional war by pox ee and many people feel their voices have become irrelevant-- proxies. >> translation: syrians should decide their fate but big powers are intervening >>> syrian state media says 45 people have been killed and 40 injured in three blasts in damascus. syrian authorities say that attack happened in a mainly shia area of the capital. it is unclear who is behind the bombings. a palestinian police office

. >> direction in terror vention help the bashar al-assad regime very much to survive because the regime was collapsed, fully collapsed, and also had them to protect the area through latakia which bashar al-assad bring. >> reporter: the army and its allies have also turned their attention to what is known as the southern front, the army recaptured one of the most important towns there. it lies on the road between damascus and deraa, the birth place of the revolution. south syria is also one of the remaining rebel strong holds and one where the rebels are considered moderate by the international community. further north many of the rebel strong holds around damascus are under siege. this has forced fighters on either abandon their position or agree to truces under negotiated deals. >> sometimes free syria army withdrew from the place and the heavy shelling of the fighters, but it's easy to go back to that place. >> reporter: the army and its allies have made strategic and tactical gains but the war is far from over. the battle for aleppo will be the tipping point. syria's commercial capit

if bashar al-assad goes on to a game plan materializing for post-bashar al-assad state, they wouldn't want to see any radical element. they don't want to see another libya. i think they're concerned for india. the fact that the syrian conflict involves countries which has good relations, they wouldn't want to become an element in that >>> russia's president has been talking about syria saying that work must begin on a new step to ending the war. he added that finding a peaceful solution will be made for difficult by saudi arabia's current diplomatic stand-off with iran. putin disputed reports that he is an ally of bashar al-assad saying that his forces are also helping armed opposition groups to battle i.s.i.l. nigeria's oil minister is calling for an emergency meeting because of falling oil prices. a barrel has fallen to the lowest price in more than 12 years at $30.60. he says saudi arabia supported an emergency meeting if market conditions worsened. rescue workers in baghdad have been sorting through the rubble of a shopping center. that's where a suicide bomber and other attackers

we say that the russian air strikes have helped the bashar al-assad forces. how has what has happened on the ground there impacted on the peace talks there? >> reporter: it is absolutely certain what the russian foreign minister said was true, that what has happened on the ground in syria has changed dramatically and you saw it in gerald tan's report since last summer when the russians got involved. the bashar al-assad regime was in some trouble and the situation has changed a great deal since then. even the gains that we've seen by the syrian government, the syrian regime, in southern syria in deraa is in part because of them. they said they pushed back the terrorists. what the opposition will tell you is that they have pushed back rebel forces not necessarily i.s.i.l. and other groups that are considered by the united nations, i.s.i.l. and al-nusra, to be terrorist groups. i think it is important to see the fighting that has taken place in the lft last few hours and weeks in the context of imminent talks which are slated to take place on friday because on t

but he has also said various things about bashar al-assad his ally in syria and said bashar al-assad targeting his own population, he is only targeting the armed groups that are fighting against what he calls the legitimate government of syria but that doesn't mean that bashar al-assad has escaped rebuke from the russian president, he said that bashar al-assad had done many things wrong in this conflict without expanding particularly on what those things were. he also talked about the support that russia says it's giving to various armed groups in syria at the moment that are opposed to the government. he says that they are giving support at the moment because those groups are fighting against i.s.i.s. and russia says that it's fighting against i.s.i.s. too so four groups russia says it supported with bombing campaigns and air support but we don't yet know further detail about whether russia is contributing to supplying these groups with arms, vladimir putin was still quiet about that matter. >> thanks very much for the update from moscow. let's return to those delivery in besieged s

control of 18 towns and villages. >> reporter: the streets are now patrolled by troops loyal to bashar al-assad. it is a stronghold of the community to which bashar al-assad belongs. it has been a key place for fighters. it is estimated 20,000 people have fled from the homes in the turkman mountains. >> translation: it was one of the opposition's biggest strong holds. it was where they kept their supplies, ammunition and weapons for the area. also many villages west of here were considered safe havens for the groups. it gave them safe pass aenl to the border. >> reporter: the forces have been supported by russian air attacks. the taking means the regime and the russians are now stronger in latakia. they may now turn their attention to idlib still head by opposition fighters, including the al-nusra front. talks to finding a solution to the syrian crisis are planned for this week. there's still doubt about whether those talks will go maid, but in latakia syria's front line is being redrawn. rob matheson >>> the united states says it is confident that planned talks will go ahead in geneva this wee

all need to do that together, by accepting that they'll also be accepting that the question of bashar al assad does need to be dealt with. but probably needs to be dealt with later on in the year. about bashar al assad. instead they'll talk about fighting isis. fighting isis together. but the assumption will be once isis starts to get weakened then you'll have to address one of the root causes of isis which is bashar al assad's continued presence and if isis is weakened and there is progress made on that front then you might see more international consensus to off ramp bashar al assad. >> so much to talk to you about. we'll be speaking to you a lot this year of course. thank you for your time. and matt, over to you. >> savannah, thanks very much. what does the new year have in store for your bottom line? from interest rates to technology, gas prices, olivia stearns is here with the financial forecast for the coming year. happy new year to you. >> happy new year. >> can we say the end of 2015 got swallowed up in politics and the economy took a backseat so before we move forward what was your ec

agree to be part of this peace process, including this peace process, including the notion that bashar al-assad the notion that bashar al-assad could be part of a negotiating could be part of a negotiating process. process. the question that we the question that we now have to now have to ask ourselves, if the purpose of ask ourselves, if the purpose of these so-called peace talks is these so-called peace talks is to end the devastation and to end the devastation and destruction of syria, why do the destruction of syria, why do the peace talks contemplate the peace talks contemplate the continuation of war in a third continuation of war in a third of the country where i.s.i.s. of the country where i.s.i.s. are located some in what is the are located some in what is the grounds for which grounds for which excluding excluding i.s.i.s. al-nusra make sense i.s.i.s. al-nusra make sense from a point of view. from a point of view. is it their abuse record? is it their abuse record? i don't think so. i don't think so. certainly the force responsible certainly the force responsible for the gravest abuse

that the things that the security council resolution 2254 talk about it will be respected by the bashar al-assad government. we have been five years. the bashar al-assad government never care about the civilians. there are reasons to believe he is intensifying fighting on the areas. releasing prisoners has to be met, has to be respected before any negotiations can be undertaken. we cannot negotiate on the life of syrians if they can't be helped because of starvation, how can they impose a transition on the government, how can they be forced to release women and children. that is contradictory. this is why the syrians, they ask what many achieve in geneva if just taking pictures or give the bashar al-assad to speak against the syrian people, against the opposition or achieve something >>> on the ground in syria 15 people have been killed and dozens more injured in russian air strikes near the northern city of the aleppo. in the west fighters have taken control of several check points in and around h ashhaama. the palestinian liberation organization has welcomed a call for international involvemen

mark: meanwhile, secretary kerry, blamed bashar al-assad -- secretary kerry blamed bashar al-assad forng what he called the worst humanitarian disaster of our time. two police officers have been leave on administrative because of a video. pleaded not guilty to the shooting four months ago. the city has been on edge since the video was released. to be no political motivation behind the recent abduction of three americans in baghdad. they were taken by criminal gangs and there has been no demand for ransom. meanwhile, the u.s. embassy in baghdad has only confirmed that an unspecified number of americans is missing. republican presidential candidate jeb bush has enlisted his mom. in a new ad, former first lady barbara bush praises her son's leadership skills and says the public can trust him. george w. bush will soon join him on the campaign trail. global news 24 hours a day from the bloomberg first word desk. i'm mark crumpton. back to you. david: let's take a look at some of today's biggest movers. for its biggest weekly increase since october. prices are now closing at two dollars a po

it doesn't address bashar al-assad's role in the future of syria. let's speak to an associate fellow at the observer research foundation where she focuses on asia's west asia policy. the former president visiting india, is this symbolic? >> i think it is significant in that they're lobbying to play an active role in the conflict. they have done this in the past. they want to have a resolution in the conflict. a regime change and they see it will maintain the status quo >>> sorry, but how will it end the syrian conflict? it hasn't in the past >> i don't think it is likely. they have been staunch in the position that it will be under any sort of u.n. mandate, it won't join a coalition. there have been talks in the past. they have spoken with the u.s. and russian but they haven't joined any coalition so it doesn't look like they will do anything major. the only thing is to have an initial like in 2013 >>> what is at stake for syria if the war keeps going on? >> i think that if bashar al-assad goes, there doesn't seem to be a game plan for the syrian st

that's syrian president bashar al-assad. this once was a syrian airport. since the summer, the russians have built barracks, brought in 4,000 personnel, paved roads, rolled in truckloads of equipment and munitions, erecting a bit of russia in the heart of assad-controlled syria. but the relationship between russia and syria is far from perfect, as we found out when the russian admiral we interviewed used a derogatory term to describe president assad. >> ( speaking russian ) >> pelley: ray hinton stepped out of prison after nearly 30 what was that moment like? >> as though i was walking on clouds. >> pelley: but hinton's story raises serious questions about how we handle unjust convictions. >> 30 years ago, a judge proudly

locals say forces loyal to president bashar al-assad still blockade the town. hezbollah fighters are told residents to abandon their homes and hezbollah is reported to be battling the syrian opposition in nearby districts. >> translation: for more than 220 days now madaya and the surrounding areas have been subjected to a siege by hezbollah and regime forces. anyone who tries to be leave will be shot or killed by a land mine. >> reporter: the world food program says close to half a million people are cut off from food, 18 parts of syria are besieged by fighters loyal to the opposition or i.s.i.l. pressure is growing on bashar al-assad to allow more food through >> the syrian regime and governments is p responsible for padlock access to 915 of the now 18 besieged areas. >> reporter: hunger continues to claim the weakest. the people of madaya are hoping for more aid convoys as food supplies run out again, that small hope is all some of them have left >>> sweden plans to deport up to 80,000 failed asylum seekers. the minister told local media that it may take seve

the bashar al-assad administration or the government said we're going to geneva to listen, but not to negotiate. we will make no concessions. so it's very difficult for the syrian opposition to get anything out of these negotiations >>> is u.s. involvement in the peace talks helpful, hurtful or inconsequential? >> i'm losing you in my ear >>> i will repeat the question. with respect to secretary kerry and u.s. intervention, is u.s. involvement in the upcoming geneva peace talks helpful, hurtful or inconsequential? >> there's a great deal of - the rebels and the opposition are very angry right now because kerry has told them that they've got to be flexible. russia holds the cards and kerry wants to get these talks off the ground and moving because if necessity stall now and they come appears, a great deal of energy has been put into them. the united states doesn't have a lot of cards to play. president obama made it very clear on september 30 when he said the united states is not going to get into a proxy war with the russians over syria. so kerry has got a limited amount of cords. the

what you're going to do about bashar al-assad, you've opened the door to placing troops on the ground to fight i.s.i.l. that is something a lot of americans are against. it is something the iraqis are against and something the bashar al-assad government syria is against. how do you win this war? >> we can't win it strictly by air. i wish we could, but we can't. we have to have an aggressive air campaign where we actually drop the ordinances. 9,000 zartiees - shall sortees is not significant. we were dropping the ordinances. now the planes are flying back with them still on the wings. the second thing that has to happen, we have to have a ground game. there's no way to defeat an insurgent kind of operation like i.s.i.s., as well as the other terrorists organizations, unless you're willing to take the fight to the towns that they've inhabited. it has to be a multinational coalition of countries. u.s. shouldn't go along and we shouldn't. we shouldn't pay it by ourselves nor shed the blood by ourselves. we have to convince the people that we are under threat, not a threat nor real estate,

bashar al-assad is nowhere to be mentioned that he needs to go, et cetera, et cetera. for me that sounds like that peace process i covered for the last 25 years called the oslo process. i think we're more closer to geneva sounding more and more like geneva >>> you for analysis. with talks in geneva off to a shaky start, people inside syria saying the horrors faced by civilians have only worsened and they doubt anything significant will be achieved. >> reporter: it has continued suffering like this that syrian activists hopes will make an impact in geneva. they are deploring diplomats to remember the plight of those people, from those having too little food to too many taking cover from bombs. >> many people are killed by these cluster bombs. it is forbidden internationally. just to remember this, okay. >> reporter: a war zone as the talks in switzerland, and people say they're not faithful. >> translation: they can't deliver milk to people in madaya. >> reporter: those besieged in madaya that despite delivery of aid people continue to die of starvation. >> translation:

leaders as opposed to president assad bashar al assad say they haven't decided whether to go accusing united states of adopting unacceptable iranian and russian ideas on solving the conflict. >>> police in denmark will now be able to seize valuables worth more than $1500 from asylum seekers to help cover their housing and food costs. while their cases are being processed. the united nations condemned the new law saying refugees deserved compassion. >>> turning now to the heart of the crisis. the brutal civil war in syria and russia joining the fight in the war against isis aligning itself with syria's besieged leader assad. >> this morning in an abc news exclusive, terry moran is on the front lines with a rare view inside a russian armored personnel carrier. >> reporter: the vil of which now lies shattered after a battle two weeks ago. there's almost nothing left here. we walk the streets past the ruins. for three years, rebels against the government of syrian president bashar al assad controlled this strategic village until russian air power arrived. so you came in on the ground and

you want indigenous ground forces, we are prepared to do that if you had a strategy and bashar al-assad was part of the solution. sunni arabs won't do anything to help defeat crisis if they think it will empower bashar al-assad. it is very complicated. at the end of the day isis course sunnis and sunni extremists that were a product that were a product of prime minister maliki's actions and disenfranchising them. there is a military strategy that is put in place but you got to back that up, a political solution and reconciliation with in war-torn countries. and diplomatic solutions as well. that would be my advice if i were the next national security adviser, whatever might world next to the administration would be. you have to be smart about this, don't take the bait that you drop a bomb and solve problems. that is part of it obviously. it is not the end all. >> is there a threat looming toward the -- >> you want to influence the political ground. and any particular partisan affiliation, they don't care whether you are republican or democrat, they want to kill americans. there's a chap

. >> the president obama spds administration doesn't see bashar al-assad stepping down as president yl 2016. information obtained by the agency says bashar al-assad is unlikely to relinquish his position as president until 2017 >>> harsh winner weather hit syria's latakia refugee camp covering the area with snow. it caused thousands tos seek shelleder. many live in basic accommodation and appealed for help. >> translation: we are refugees from the turkman mountain: we have been here for four years. relief is given to new refugees, we have many shortages, we don't have work, heaters. our situation is very, very bad. >> i was displaced from the mountain, it took us a couple of days to secure oureslves here. it is minus 10 degrees, we don't have anything at all. we have an old person. it's too cold. we are unable to get firewood or relief. >> we can go live to sue turton, our correspondent. it's on the border with syria, and we have been looking at conditions in the western part of syria, what is it like there where millions of syrian refugees are currently based? > yes, you can see the a

that's syrian president bashar al-assad. this once was a syrian airport. since the summer, the russians have built barracks, brought in 4,000 personnel, paved roads, rolled in truckloads of equipment and munitions, erecting a bit of russia in the heart of assad-controlled syria. but the relationship between russia and syria is far from perfect, as we found out when the russian admiral we interviewed used a derogatory speaking russian ) >> pelley: ray hinton stepped out of prison after nearly 30 years on death row, a free man. what was that moment like? >> as though i was walking on clouds. >> pelley: but hinton's story raises serious questions about how we handle unjust convictions. >> 30 years ago, a judge proudly stood up and said, "i sentence you to die." 30 years later, no one had the decency to say, "we sorry for what took place." >> i'm past patiently waitin' i'm passionately smashin' every expectation every action's an act of creation... >> rose: the show has reached the loftiest heights. rodgers theater, "hamilton" has chalked up nearly $70 million

the iranians have become a life line for syria's embattled president bashar al-assad.nd they lend crucial political and military support to iraq's shia dominategovernment. mordominated government. triggering a sectarian proix war there with sunni dominated saudi arabia. while u.s. may regulate thing middle east, in cooperation to solve about myriad problems consuming the middle east today. >> today iran has emerged as a major player. the islamic revolution has a lot of influence in many parts of the islamic world. there are a lot of different areas where iran can play a very promotprominent role in sortingt different conflicts, resolving outstanding issues, particularly dealing with peace and security in the region. >> the strait of hormuz where you just saw me reporting from last summer is always a major tension point between iran and the united states. we saw that again last week when the u.s. military accused iran gun boats of firing unguided rockets near u.s. navy vessels. iran accused the u.s. of lying. add that to the growing list of tensions between iran and sau

>>> thank you for taking the time to talk to us here >>> the obama administration doesn't see bashar al-assad stepping down as syria's president before 2017 according to a new report. information obtained details how bashar al-assad is unlikely to relinquish his position as president before march 2017. the report was prepared for u.s. officials who are dealing with strategies to bring about an end to the conflict in syria. saudi arabia has signalled that its breakdown in relations with iran would not affect progress on peace talks over syria. the foreign minister made the comments following a meeting with the u.n. special envoy in riyadh. he will also visit syria, iran and turkey over the coming days. meanwhile, harsh winter weather has hit syria's latakia refugee camp covering the area with snow. the storm swept across western syria and forced thousands of people to seek shelter. many refugees have been living in very basic temporary accommodation and they have appealed for extra help from the aid agencies. >> translation: we refugees here from turman mountain. we have been here for four yea

president bashar al-assad will be allowed to participate in talks but he must leave power after a six-week period. preconditions must be met. government attacks must stop to allow aid into opposition areas and to facilitate the return of millions of refugees. the director of the center for middle east studies says it is not clear how saudi arabia could help end the war in syria. >> clearly the sunni sympathy aconflict-- shiite conflict is at the heart of this. saudi arabia is really change the battleground on its own. the saw deforeign-- saudi foreign minister said that there is a military solution to the syrian problem if bashar al-assad does not agree to leave power. that suggests that saudi arabia is going to outbid russia for syria. i don't believe that's true. it is not clear that this is just bluff, but saudi arabia is already in a difficult war in yemen. its over spending, giant deficit with low oil prices and it is not clear that it can take on russia and syria in this way. we will have to see what the future brings >>> at least six people have been killed after a 6.8 earthquake in