this individual was said to be close to bashar al assad. how close is that close? >> according to the evidence that was used to convict him, peter, which essentially recorded him with explosives, he said that bashar al assad personally ordered him or was aware of plots to plant these explosives in lebanon to target different religious institutions and personalities in order to create some sort of civil strife or conflict in lebanon, so according to him, very close indeed. >> some people were saying his first sentence was by and far just too too lenient. was the court reacting to that or was this just part of an ongoing legal process? >> well, i mean it depends who you speak to, really, there is no doubt that this case has been very closely monitored not just by the average person here in lebanon but by all the different sides vying for influence in lebanon or control in lebanon and obviously also the regional powers who are at play in what is becoming more of a cold war or proxy war being fought on lebanon. with regard to the first sentence since the first sentence

president bashar al-assad offered to form a unity government with the opposition. >> bashar al-assad talks about a unity government by which he means bringing one or two hand-picked regime friendly oppositionists into minor posts in the government. that is not sufficient. there has to be a direct change of direction in syria, there has to be the creation of a government that represents all the people, all the communities, all the faiths in syria and it has to be a government that is not, or at least in the future, will not be led by bashar al-assad >>> one of iraq's most prominent shia leaders has urged his followers to end a two-week protest. his supporters had been staging a sit-in around the capital green zone. the prime minister has met their demand for reform by announcing a new cabinet. our correspondent has more. >> reporter: the sit in, with thanks and appreciation to you, with those words, he called on the protesters to stand down. >> translation: after all these demonstrations, he took a positive step. he announced a new government cabinet today, except the interior and def

foreign secretary phillip hammond says only a transitional government without bashar al-assad can solve the country's political crisis. >> bashar al-assad talks about a unity government by which he means bringing one or two hand-picked regime friendly oppositionists into minor posts in the government. that is not sufficient. there has to be a change of direction in syria. there has to be the creation of a government that represents all the people, all the communities, all the faiths in syria. it has to be a government that is not or at least in the future will not be led by bashar al-assad >>> people in the libyan capital have come out in force to show their support for the new unit dw government. they're calling on the u.n. backed government to help end years of political turmoil. members of the government travelled to tripoli from tunis on wednesday defying threats of violence. they have begun meetings there. thousands of protesters in brazil have rallied to show their support for dilma rousseff. they believe impeachment procedures against her unjust and amount to a coup. >> reporter:

and the people won't let the prime minister ignore. >> bashar al-assad says he is willing to hold early presidential elections in syria. questions about the future stalled the peace negotiations. bashar al-assad was re-elected with 90% of the vote in the june 2013 ballot. the opposition leaders called it a farce. the term set to end in 2021. syrian antiquities officials are trying to determine how much damage was done to the ancient city of palmyra. saying the temple of bell is not beyond repair, but it will take several weeks to clear up the damage. >> greece began to move hundreds of refugees to other parts of the country. thousands are dropped in a damp. al jazeera's asher hodara reports. >> day 33 and waiting. living out in the open, just a few hundred meters from a boarder, separating them from the family. this man is from the syrian city. on his way to germany before the route closed. >> we made the journey because we thought we could reach germany, we sold everything we owned. they can't do this to us. >> this woman has not seen her husband and four children. she was left behind

foreign secretary phillip hammond says only a transitional government without bashar al-assad can help solve the country's conflict. >> bashar al-assad talks about a unity government by which he means bringing one or two hand-picked regime friendly oppositionists into minor posts in the government. that is not sufficient. there has to be a change of direction in syria. there has to be the creation of a government that represents all the people, all the communities, all the faiths in syria. it has to be a government that is not or at least in the future will not be led by bashar al-assad >>> the u.s. said its japanese and south korean allies have vowed to increase pressure against north korea's nuclear program. the three warned they could take faurth steps to counter threats from pyongyang. a dinner was held at the white house for heads of state and delegates from 50 countries attending the summit. on the agenda is how vulnerable nuclear materials can be better secured. our correspondent has more from washington dc. >> reporter: this is the fourth and final nuclear security summit of pr

he was supporting some of the rebel groups fighting bashar al-assad. like i say, this is as much about lebanese politics as it is about the war in syria as well >>> like we said, he was sentenced back in 2014 for four and a half years in prison and then in june the military court over turned that verdict. talk us us through what happened at that point and what is he convicted of? >> so there's two convictions here. there is the one you just mentioned now a few years ago where he served his time for that and that sentence was for the possession of explosives. today's conviction is based on the motivation or the motive why he had those explosives according to the court and that was to divide essentially the lebanese society according to the courts. they believe that he was trying to do this in order to target different religious institutions and to try and create some sort of sectarian violence. the facts that we have on the ground, yes, he had explosives in the car and that's what he was caught with. the other elements taking place, this is what each si

bashar al-assad is confident. therefore that's also negotiations. >> leading to the comments he's making about staying in power. >> recently they killed two of i.s.i.l.'s top leaders. how damaging is the strategy of chopping off the head of the organization been. >> i wouldn't call it the head of the organization. the people had 15-20 years of operation. al-qaeda and other groups have been subjected to attacks by american jones and other forces. so they adjusted to the reality. and they have set up megan issues locally based. so the blow will not be as significant as it may be. it's like killing osama bin laden. it didn't cause a problem. >> the iraqis made progress against isil, there were reports today that trapped civilians stalled advances. progress will be slow. progress will be slow. it will happen. takes it through this time. he said that. it's clear now that any time it happened, kurdish or iraqi or whatever it may be. british militants, it's going to be a process. it was by the russians, and we heard that

plans never carried out to overthrow syria's bashar al-assad. he sat down with our chief foreign correspondent richard engel. >> reporter: spring, 2012, amateur video appears to show a syrian government attack on civilians in a veg called hula. witnesses say it was a part of a massacre to crush what was then a growing rebel uprising. the regime denied responsibility a. young ci aoperative doug louks had recently arrived in the region after two tours tracking insurgents in afghanistan. his boss had just told him his new assignment was to find out more about the syrian rebels. >> he taps you, tells you your mission in syria is what? >> he says, look, you will be my eyes and ears. i want to know what's going on. >> reporter: in a new book redacted by the cia before its release next week. syria was clear, find culvert ways to back the rebels and remove president bashar al-assad. he said he made detailed recommendations. >> i was saying, hey, here's a possible solution. what if we try this? what if we try this? >> reporter: although a version of his

plans never carried out to overthrow syria's bashar al assad. he sat down with our chief foreign correspondent richard engel. >> reporter: spring, 2012, amateur video appears to show a syrian government attack on civilians in a village called hulah. witnesses say it was a part of a massacre to crush what was then a rebel uprising. the regime denied responsibility. a young cia operative had recently arrived in the region after two tours tracking insurgents in afghanistan. his boss told him his new assignment was to find out mort about the syrian rebels. >> he taups and said your military issue is what? >> look you will be my eyes and ears. i want to know what's going on. >> reporter: in a new book dacted before next we're, it was clear. find covert ways to back the rebels and remove president bashar al-assad. he says he made detailed recommendations. >> i said, hey, here's a possible solution what if we try this, what if we try this? >> reporter: although a version of his plan to arm rebels was publicly supported by senior officials in the obama

the votes have been held in areas controlled by bashar al-assad. thousands of candidates are competing. nearly all of them favor bashar al-assad's party. the international community and the opposition have criticized the election saying they will be biassed. aid workers are preparing to deliver more food packages to der azor. enough is being sent to feed 2500 people for a month. parts of the city have been under siege since 2014. around 200,000 people there face severe shortages of food and medicine. fire has broken out in a major commercial center in japan's capital. these pictures, the aerial shots we've got of the fire in the area of tokyo, according to local media, six buildings were set alight and continued for an hour. emergency services are dealing with the blaze and there have been no reports of injuries. a committee of brazil's lower house of congress has voted to recommended the impeachment of dilma rousseff. she faces charges of breaking budget laws to support her re-election in 2014. our correspondent has more. >> reporter: after hours o

it has to be a government that is not or at least in the future will not be led by bashar al-assad >>> people in the libyan capital have come out in force to show their support for the new unity government. members of this new government have begun holding meetings in a base in tripoli. they arrived there on wednesday in spite of the opposition of some political figures in the capital >>> thousands of protesters in brazil have rallied to show support for embattled president dilma rousseff. they believe impeachment procedures against her are unjust and amount to a coup. our correspondent reports from the capital. >> reporter: they will not let their president go down without a fight. tens of thousands of the most ardent supporters took to the streets all over the country to try to embolden a president fighting for political survival and trying to stave off impeachment. >> translation: it is a very delicate situation, but there's nothing against the president to justify her impeachment. >> reporter: they see the impeachment as a coup orchestrated by the opposition to regain power withou

they say bashar al-assad cannot be a key issue in the discussions. as a conflict in syria continues now into its sixth year, the country is preparing to hold parliamentary elections on wednesday. the vote is being held in areas controlled by the president bashar al-assad. thousands of candidates are exceeding and nearly all of them favor his party. the international community and the opposition have criticized the elections saying they will be biassed. 20 tons of food aid has been air dropped on the city of der asor. they had a high altitude delivery on sunday. 22 of the 26 pallets were collected. i.s.i.l. has been trying to capture an air base in the area which is a supply route to the city. in the united states health officials say the more they know about the zika virus the scarier it appears. it is linked to neurological conditions and immune deficiencys. >> reporter: you're looking at the 3d model of the zika virus. it is an image that few of us would recognise but one that has scientists and governments concerned. >> everything we look at it wi

the russian bombing campaign in syria has turned the tide for the syrian regime of bashar al-assad, who embroiled his country in a five-year civil war. well, today assad held elections, ignoring u.s. demands that he step down. elizabeth palmer is in damascus. >> reporter: more than 3,000 candidates vied for seats in syria's parliament, but none represented genuine opposition, so every vote was really an endorsement of president bashar al-assad, who, along with his wife, made a personal appearance today to cast his ballot. this election, with its thousands of candidates, its ballot boxes and polling stations is a surreal exercise, considering that syria is very much at war and the ceasefire month is now collapsing. so to say this election is flawed is an understatement. there was no voting for the millions of syrians who fled the country. or those who live in areas controlled by opposition groups and none in the many active battle zone, some close to the center of the capital. but the fiercest fighting right now is around aleppo, where opposition activists say on the weekends syrian heli

phillip hammond said only a transitional government without bashar al assad can help sox the country's conflict. >> bashar al assad talks about a unity government by which he means bringing one or two handled-picked regime-friendly oppositionists into minor posts in the government. that is not sufficient. there has to be a change of direction in syria. there has to be the creation of a government that represents all the people, all the communities, all the faiths in syria, and it has to be a government that is not or at least in the future will not be led by bashar al assad. >> myanmar's upper house approved a new government post. she'll be in fact the president's boss. the house is expected to vote on it is proposal on tuesday. she is barred from becoming president because her children hold foreign passports. we have this update from myanmar's capitol. >> a large majority in the upper house accepted a very crucial bill which will give extended powers to the prime minister. she was barred from running for president. now she has created a very powerful position for herself which seems t

february 16, the un's general assembly passes a nonbinding resolution for the resignation of bashar al-assad. this is the first formal resignation request from the united nations for the removal of assad. the reason again i am bringing up this point is what is the key point in the negotiations that we are hearing today in february 2000? the sticking point is the removal of bashar al-assad. this is what people are fighting over. february 23, general kofi annan is appointed the special envoy to syria. he will become the first of three special envoys deployed to syria. that is also a sign of how complicated this conflict has been. on june 16, the un suspends the monetary mission in syria. this is june 16, 2012. a year and some change into the war. the un says the situation has become too dangerous to continue its work after observers are directly targeted in an attack. 30, we have something called the geneva communique which calls for a transitional governing body with full executive powers. that was supposed to set the framework for peace talks to follow. unfortunately, it never did. on july 1

he is somebody as we've just outlined there who is close to bashar al-assad than obviously the allies of assad's here in lebanon. obviously that is going to have some sort of an impact in terms of how things come out. >> pope francis has called for a more compassionate catholic church and a document on family life. in light of the joy of love, he calls for the church to be more open to those i am perfect catholic, those who have been divorced and remarried. those who have failed to live up to the gospel ideals of family life. the pope wants to help families who are struggling. >> the pope turns the attention to families, and even the failure of families, returning from, and i quote, without diminishing the value of the evangelical ideal we must have mercy and patience. when we accompany people in their possibility of growth this is car carried out day day by day in the mercy of the lord who inspires us to do good. >> joining us live in the studio is religious commentator from the catholic voices group. thank you for coming in. has there been much change in what the pope is saying? the

the russians to withdraw their fire power or reduce it from syria after the comments made by bashar al assad's prime minister. that's what contradicted. in fact, also, the gains made by bashar al assad's army in recent days appear to have been the foundations or the setting the groundwork for what is a much bigger campaign, which would be a much more difficult feat to kind of get over, which is being able to recapture aleppo, which is eventually syria's largest city or industrial city, and is the kind of prize possession of the opposition because it's from there that they are able to then launch their attacks when they try and go on the offensive towards the south, towards damascus and other areas. it is a big statement to make by the prime minister, but one would assume looking at how things have developed over the past few days and weeks that that statement wouldn't have been made if there wasn't some sort of military strategy done together with moscow to try to push towards aleppo. >> you've already touched on this idea. if palmyra was the template for aleppo, one would assume we would see

and both of president bashar al-assad's home region. chairman says he is disappointed by a lack of access to aid because of blockages by government-backed forces, but he says he hopes there will be progress soon. >> april was supposed to be our best month. it's not looking so. so far. i am disappointed and disheartened on what we achieved over the last week. we have a new procedure now, saying that after seven days, we should get a permission to go to a place, and then another three days, we should have the clearance, final clearance to actually go. >> that's the latest. joining us now on skype is the communications coordinator for the international committee of the red cross in syria. which particular areas are we talking about here? >> sorry, please come again. >> reporter: which areas are we discussing here? >> today i was told that you want to speak about general deliveries of aid in different parts of the country, so we can -- we can talk about difficulty to access. we can talk about besieged areas. >> understood, which areas are a

stalled because the syrian negotiators have been unwilling to discuss the possibility of president bashar al-assad leaving office. during the visit they praise the russia's involvement from isil fighters. >> i also want to make a point. we are key on the indication of what needs to be the beginning of freeing area which are international value it is something that we need to acknowledge. >> meanwhile, activists on the only road linking the city has been cut of "kurdish fighters. they have warned that syria's city could face a devastating siege. >> ahmed and his family rely heavily on food hand outside. but it's barely enough. they're scared that kurdish fighters could cut off the only road out of aleppo. >> god for bid if the road is closed it would be a big problem for us. there will be shortage in cooking oil, flour, and other food stuff. people are poor. they don't have the ability to stock food. >> aleppo is syria's largest city. since a cruise between ththe crews have advanced on aleppo's countryside. kurdish forces seen as ally government. activists warn that up to 300,000 people could be af

at the beginning of 2011, as many of us now know, bashar al assad made a very concrete decision to release many extremists from prisons that then led really to the islamization of the revolution. they went on to lead isil, al nusra, and others. at the same time that he was doing this, he really deliberately used sectarian -- divisive sectarian rhetoric to really inform and make sure that the a if you did not send your sons to fight for them, the sunni majority would eradicate them through syria. we've seen this in many instances. the syrian government has relied on its ally iran to help os orchestrate the forced displacement of sunnis and removing shia to damascus and that's really to buttress this stronghold -- assad stronghold in the capital of syria. recently in an area also in damascus, bashar al assad gave the sunnis -- the syrians but mostly sunni population in this area an ultimatum that if they did not leave within 45 days that they would be forcibly removed. on voice of america recently said that iran recently announced it was encouraging construction companies and whatnot to come

sisi believes that a political solution is needed that would include bashar al-assad which the saudis are against. can they bridge differences and could these differences could last, on could make the partnership last? >> i think that the important question is to what extent are these issues important to each government. certainly it sees itself in direct conflict with them in the region. that's a major foreign policy. egypt is not concerned about the iranian government as its influence doesn't stretch quite as far over. issue issue is with respect to syria, government has not been as forceful the fall of bashar al-assad and not supportive of the gulf position. however it is not going to get in their way either. insist not playing a major role in the conflict on either side >>> thank you for joining us. plenty more ahead, including chasing a fifth term. will he extend his 26 year rule. plus poland marks a 6th anniversary of the plane crash that killed its president and dozens of senior officials. seeing if a boxing career can be ended on a high >>> syria's prime minister says the army

. >> bashar al-assad talks about a unity government by which he means bringing one or two hand-picked regime friendly oppositionists into minor posts in the government. that is not sufficient. there has to be a change of direction, the creation of a government that represents all the people, communities in syria. and it has to be a government that is seen in the future. >> one of iraq's prominent shia leaders urged the follower to urge the protest. supporters saged a sit in. around the capital. the prime minister met their demands for reform by announcing a new cabinet. we have more. >> end your sit in beforthe gates of green zone, with thanks and appreciation to you. with those words moouk tadder al-sadr called on the protesters to stand down. >> mr muqtada took a step, announcing a positive step. a new cabinet was announce the received as a result of sitting in. justice has been achieved. the new government should be approved by the parliament. >> baghdad's fortified green zone is where the elite lives and works. barricades separatelies them from the thousands camped out here. they

thousands of candidates are repeating and all favour bashar al-assad's party. the international community criticized the elections saying it will be biased. >> and 20 tonnes of food aid has been airdropped. the world food program carried out its first ever high altitude deliver. the syrian red crescent collected 22 of 26. isil has been trying to capture an air base. >> in the united states, health officials say they know more now about the zika virus, and the more they know, the carier the virus appears. it is linked to more neurologic conditions, and immune system disease. we have this report. >> reporter: you are looking at a 3d model of the zika virus, an image few of us would recognise, buts one that has scientists and governments concerned. . >> everything we look at with the virus seems scarier than thought. >> reporter: there's evidence that zika is linked to microcephali, causing malformation. brain and the foetus. babies born with it have small or abnormally shaped headsment researchers have not proven the link yet. we learnt that the fire us is linked

president obama had hoped the february cease-fire would encourage russia to push its ally, bashar al-assad, to reling wish power -- relinquish power but instead, it seems, rebel forces in the northern city of aleppo and further degrade the power of u.s.-supported rebels fighting mr. assad's regime. in response, president obama is considering escalating his support for those rebel groups. according to the "wall street journal," the u.s. may provide these rebels with antimissile systems to shoot down syrian and possibly also russian jets. in a sign president putin feels confident, russian military jets simulated an attack on a u.s. war ship in the baltic sea . what do you think is happening here, clarence? >> i think the russians are waving their sabers at us. at the same time they're trying to expand their control in syria. without getting too deeply involved in the combat over there. sphere of influence, and the cease-fire that was broken is probably not going to get reestablished very quickly. but it needs to be genuine. >> what the russians are doing makes more sense than anybody else. t

about bashar al-assad, syria. the leader in syria? who have beens the target of international sanctions, suspected of controlling key gateways to syria's oil and telecom business. >> yes, there are people connected to him. also what we have seen, companies that have been busting the international embargo against syria and supplying fuel that was used to keep syria's air force in the air, these are craft that were used to bomb his own citizens. mossack fonseca was representing, working with the company's ever busting the sanctions. amy: explain exactly what this company is in panama. mossack fonseca. >> it is a law firm, but it really is -- its main business is an incorporator of offshore companies. it is headquartered in panama city, but it has offices in miami, zurich, hong kong, more than 35 places around the world. i think they have eight offices total in china. this is an international organization that specializes in selling secrecy. secrecy is something that is bought and sold. the more secrecy -- the deeper secrecy, the more le

so far, president bashar al-assad's tactic has been to play russia and the u.s.inst each other in a proxy conflict. now, he appears confident that the upcoming parliamentary elections will cement his hold on power, although a free and fair election is nothing short of impossible. assad's baath party won a clear majority in the election a few years ago. this time, the election is likely to be similar. given the moderate influence held by syrian mps in political affairs, observers expect the result to bring out little change. brent: i am joined here in the studio by a syrian journalist based here in berlin. it is hard not to be a cynic when you talk about a civil war that is still raging and parliamentary elections. what is going on tomorrow? sirine: this is a show. perhaps for the outside viewer, this is really weird, but for a syrians, this has been going on for a long time. don't forget that there are presidential elections to come soon. this is all connected. brent: there have been what, to elections -- two elections prior to this one since the uprising against

they are calling for a transitional government in syria with bashar al-assad out of the picture. including members of the opposition. but they say bashahar al-assad s there to stay. there has been a surge of violence afterer the regime announced a new offensive to recapture aleppo from insurgents. >> the cease-fire has been so important over the last weeks because it has given people a lot more than simply access to markets and to the systems, it has given them hope. the end of the cease-fire would dash that hope, and we are all of the belief that it must be maintained. also allowedhas for increased humanitarian aid across syria. and a significant drop in civilian deaths. bringing longer lasting peace to a torn nation. catherine: next, brazilian leader dilma rousseff has said the efforts to impeach her are a conspiracy headed up by her own vice president. dilma rousseff was referring to an audio message from michel temer calling for impeachment. more bad news for dilma rousseff. another coalition partner has abandoned the government, the progressive party. or pp. blow to dilmaew

secretary of state john kerry blasted syrian leader bashar al assad on a known medical facility. he pressed them to stop attackingsive i willians tacking. last year, a u.s. air strike hit a different doctors without borders in afghanistan that killed 42. it waccidental. >>> let's go now to the investigation into prince's death. a law enforcement official are looking whether he died of an overdose, and whether a doctor was prescribing the drugs in weeks before he was found dead. while the official said there was an investigation if he overdosed on his plane there is no official cause of death it. the sheriff's office leads the investigation. >>> several is cities have stat of emergency, 10 inches of rain fell in a few hours. evacuations and forcing military vehicles to be deployed for rescues. without fail, right now to you, bill, what's going on out there. >> a big windstorm yesterday in the southwest, that is going to kick up severe weather. so all the middle of the country is in trouble. then today, this tracks to the east, much of the west coast quiet. thunderstorms this morni

civil war has been ragining in syria for five years, and bashar al-assad has made headlines using barrelombs against his own people. the syrian leader isn't in the panama papers, but his cousin is. he's one of the most powerful businessman in the country. has the war been personally financed through p panamanian accounts? and the shell company had other dubious customers. cash for weapons. years, he has been an associate of robert moog of a, a dictator who has used terror, and driven zimbabwe to economic ruin. they also say he played a key work in applying arms to the war-torn democratic republic of congo in the 1990's. money for the drug trade. raphael quintero was one of mosto's mustst powerful -- popowerful drug baronsns. released in 2013 after decades behind bars, he is once again i theed man, and he is in panama papers. if they serve this kind of clientele, shouldn't tax havens be banned completely? peter: i suppose that is the question. ursula, i would like to go back to where we were. my personal concern is when you see that practices of the people we just saw in that clip, it lea

of the charlotte sought in syria will likely remain the elephant in the room -- the future of bashar al-assadin syria will likely remain the elephant in the room. secretary-general ban ki-moon called on syria to immediately renew their commitment to the cease-fire, calling on united states and russia to do their bit. u.s. vice president has made a surprise visit to iraq -- the u.s. vice president has made a surprise visit to iraq. chris al-abadi is facing -- fears criticism for an american-backed reform drive he is trying to carry out. joe biden is the most senior u.s. official to visit iraq since his last trip there in 2011. back to the head of the united nations. of what he called growing xenophobia in austria. ban ki-moon visiting vienna today, a day after the country's parliament voted in some of the country -- that you's -- voted in some of the eu's toughest migrant policies. alex marquardt has more. a warm welcome for ban ki-moon. the u.n. secretary-general arrived to express worry about growing xenophobia. secretary-general ban ki-moon: i'm worried that european countries are adopting

. >>> secretary of state john kerry blasted syria leader bashar al assad for what he called a deliberate strike on a known medical facility. kerry urged russia to press the assad regime to stop attacking civilians. officials say the attack may constitute more crimes under international law as a two-month-old cease-fire appears to be breaking down. >>> last year a u.s. air strike hit a different doctors without borders hospital in afghanistan which killed 42. the u.s. says that attack was accidental. 16 service personnel have been disciplined but won't face criminal charges. >>> now to the investigation into prince's death. says investigators are looking into whether prince died from a drug overdose. investigators are also looking into whether a doctor was prescribing the pop icon with drugs in the weeks before he was found dead in his paisley park home. while the officials said there is an investigation into whether prince overdosed on his plane that made an emergency landing earlier this month, still no official cause of death at this time. the carver county sheriff's office continues t

. >> so what is our present attitude towards president assad, bashar al-assad? you and i both have been to syria when he was viewed as kind of a possible reformer. >> well, he lost the opportunity. as -- as was said to me on occasion, he made mistakes and i think it is clear that assad made enormous, gigantic mistakes in not recognizing what was happening throughout his region and when his young people demonstrated, he met them with thug i are rather than with dialogue, and the result is that parents came out and he made sure they were met with bullets and violence and the result really was the beginning of the tearing apart of syria. so i don't know how he puts it. this is important. i don't see how, even if the united states or someone else said, oh, go ahead. you know, you try and make a government and we will support that idea, which we don't, you couldn't make it happen. there is no way for assad to be the person who puts the pieces back together again. >> rose: and we conclude this evening with tina brown, talking about her seventh women in the world summi

i've a question about how the israelis see bashar al-assad.cause my impression over the years has been their impression of the syrian leadership is more benign. they see it as in their interest that he stay in power. i don't know if that is still the attitude but how do they view him? >> i pursued that very question in israel, and i met with on one occasion, this was before the uprising, the chief of staff of the israeli military at the time who thought that he was weak, which tended to be a dominant view when he came to power, that he was weak and incompetent. then i met with his deputy who thought very much differently, that he has some promise, that he did get this thing together and, of course, as the uprising came in, there's been this divide in a shelter certain degree regarding his best to see him go and, therefore, iran and hezbollah weekend, or he's the devil we know type of thing and we want stability? i had one israeli poppe general tommy turning out a couple of years ago in answer to the question and he basically said and this is r

has used the cease-fire to advance its own ends to strengthen bashar al-assad. we are not going to be able to do what we did in iraq, which is get rid of all syrian armed forces, get rid of the bonds on bashar al-assad. we can get him to leave, but the structure of the syrian government has to remain. utility has to work, roads need to be built. you cannot do that starting from scratch. reach for that in iraq. -- we tried that in iraq. it did not work. we will not repeat that mistake, i hope. host: we have a question from twitter. it asks "do you agree that israel-palestine conflict is a root cause of a long list of problems in the middle east?" associated but is not necessarily the cause. the middle east is a region caught up in vast disparities of wealth. as european powers designed in the wake of world war i. we try to create nationstates out of areas that were tribal. we put families in charge. came wealthy in some regions because of oil. there are a lot of forces at work in the middle east. the struggleis between israel and the palestinians. exploited bybeen

the close ally of the syrian president bashar al-assad was convicted of plotting bombings in lebanon on behalf of the regime in damascus. former lebanese prime minister reacted to that news, calling him a terrorist and adding that jail is the right place for anyone who plots to kill civilians. activists and syria says that the islamic state organization has released the 170 workers who were ceased -- sees on wednesday at a summit making point. local officials say they managed to negotiate the release and according to the jihadists themselves, all but four of hostages are going to be released. they are members of the druze religious minority. authorities in texas say a fatal shooting of 2 people at a u.s. air force base there appears to be a murder suicide. although it is thought that the shooter is amongst the dead at the base in san antonio, a search of the premises is continuing nonetheless as precaution. let's take a look. reporter: shots rang out at the san antonio airbase early friday morning. police reported to the scene prepared for an active shooter situation. they found 2 bo

putin, he's just about to turn the corner and come in here in order to work with us to get rid of bashar al assad. meanwhile, therefore, we can give up any demands about assad, any serious demands about the composition of the syrian government or concessions to the opposition because any minute now, here he comes, president putin. and president putin is very much aware of that and he plays to it by saying i'm withdrawing my forces from syria. i haven't seen them withdraw yet. the sixth is that there are no moderate -- fifth -- i'm at five. i'm at five and i can't even read it so i'm going to run -- i'll say -- i'll go to five and say there are no moderates, there are no moderates among the syrian opposition that we don't have any -- anyone that we can really work with. and there has been both by our own policy, the government's policy, and by the rhetoric of people in my party, there's been an identification with the syrian opposition and islamic extremism which i think is "a," it's factually incorrect. "b" it's horrendous with regard -- from a humanitarian point of view the way it tarnishes -- i

the syrian opposition blames syrian president bashar al assad's forces for the deadly attacks. >>> another will bring even more severe weather that will stretch from the southern plains to the southeast. large hail and damaging winds are the main threat. yesterday's outbreak brought this explosive super-cell thunderstorm that spawn a tornado over northeast missouri. the national weather service received reports of 14 tornadoes in parts of the midwest and kentucky yesterday. the storm also brought hail to many midwestern states, including outside of omaha. eric fisher of our boston station, wbz, has more. >> reporter: a busy week of severe weather continues. we're watching the next storm system starting to dig in to the west. we're talking about thunderstorms today. that threat will go up heading into friday. the next trough digging into the plains. again, we'll be watching oklahoma and texas. here's a look at the next couple of days as we head through thursday. our severe weather doesn't start going until later on in the evening and to the overnight. we'll be watching parts of north texas

a former lebanese minister with close links to syrian president bashar al-assad is sentenced to jail.ama papers scandal, protesters demanding that the president should step down.

secretary of state john kerry blasted syrian leaderer bashar al assad for what he called a deliberate strike on a known medical facility. officials say it may constitute war crimes under international law as a two month old cease-fire is breaking down. last year, a u.s. air strike hit a different doctors without borders hospital in afghanistan which killed 42. the u.s. says that attack was accidental. 16 service personnel have been disciplined but will not face criminal charges. >>> let's get down to business with cnbc's landon dowdy. >> good morning. happy friday. wall street will try to end the week and the month on a positive note. after the dow suffered the worst day in more than two months on thursday. the markets were having a disappointing -- were handed disappointing data. apple fell for the second straight day. look for reports on personal income and spending an consumer sentiment. watch shares of amazon today. the online retail giants' earnings easily beating the forecast thanks to the amazon web services. they continue to spend on new projects and technology including the a