tensions erupted as jews arabs protested a local election in the golan heights a disputed territory between syria and israel dozens of locals denounced the vote as illegal and pro israeli. i.d.f. soldiers used tear gas to break up demonstrations when crowds tried to block the entrances to polling stations and several villages many people living in the israeli occupied area have refused to take up israeli citizenship and consider themselves syrian is the first local of action since israel took control of the golan heights in one thousand nine hundred sixty seven the israeli government approved the poll last year after an appeal from israeli villages. we spoke to political analyst who says israel's actions in the golan heights are clearly against international. it's definitely illegal well it's not it's and it's not an opinion by the syrian government it is the decision by the security council of the united nations the united nations issued resolution two forty two that calls upon israel to withdraw immediately from the golan heights from the west bank and therefore under international law th

the golan heights perceived these persons who are who are so-called running for the so-called the elections they are caught up the elements they are collaborators with the enemy with the collaborators with the occupying force they are expecting the people to vote for people who are collaborating with the occupying force that is completely illogical it's impressive that these people in the occupied golan heights i was. holding on to their national city and identity at a time when so many arab countries are you know are making deals with the israelis it's really interesting that the syrians in the golan heights are not really buying all this they really believe that their rights rights of syrian citizens in syrian land they have the right to be. to be in their own country to liberate their country from foreign occupation the syrians are taken to the streets they are not just boycotting their village acting the entirety of the population that is falsely called the democratic process that isn't there is not democratic process under international law when it comes to our compassion their process

political analyst says israel's actions in the golan heights are against international law. it's definitely illegal well it's not it's and it's not an opinion by the syrian government it is the decision by the security council of the united nations the united nations issued resolution two forty two that calls upon israel to withdraw immediately from the golan heights from the west bank and therefore under international law they are under occupation the occupying force has no right to interfere with their representation they are supposed to pick their own presentation that is according to international humanitarian law geneva conventions that is on one side there on the other side there is also the people in. the golan heights perceived these persons who are who are so-called running for the so-called the elections they are caught up the elements they are collaborators with the enemy with the collaborators with the occupying force they are expecting the people to vote for people who are collaborating with the occupying force that is completely illogical it's impressive that t

trysting that this did in the golan heights are not really a buying all this they do believe that their rights of rights of syrian citizens and syrian land they have the right to be to be in their own country to liberate their country from foreign occupation and that is it does israel enjoy any support in that area that as a. yes there are collaborators as i just mentioned there are always good operators when there is a foreign occupation people who you know who want to benefit from the presence of the israelis in order to get their own private benefits or their own businesses getting around but the majority of the people the twenty three thousand people and you can see that in the images you just showed and the syrians are taken to the streets they are not just boycotting their village acting the entirety of the mobilization that is falsely called the democratic process that isn't there is no democratic process under international law when it comes to occupation the process is supposed to be a local between the locals there without any interference from the occupying force thank you sa

consider at themselves syrian it is the first local election since israel took control of the golan heights in one nine hundred sixty seven really government approved the poll last year after an appeal from its really villagers. nato is holding its largest military exercise since the end of the cold war the drills kicked off last week stretch from the baltic sea to iceland military forces from thirty one countries are involved in the fortnight long maneuvers with over fifty thousand personnel two hundred fifty ft and sixty five ships taking part in the alliance has even made its own video guide to norway where a large part of the exercises are being held. this is some things you need to know about norway. that i love morning. the symbol of peace through a new year and we have. is a region where something more to eat on the beach and it's everything. well while the drills focus on restoring the region's sovereignty after an attack by a quote fictitious aggressor the capital replenishment one of its core supply. after over three years of a devastating war in yemen the united states has called

elsewhere in the country tensions are wrapped it does druze are a protested a local election in the golan heights a disputed territory between syria and israel dozens of locals denounced the vote as a legal and pro israeli. i.d.f. soldiers used tear gas to break up demonstrations when crowds trying to block the entrances to polling stations in several villages many people living in the israeli occupied area have refused to take up is really citizenship consider themselves syrian it's the first local election since israel took control of the golan heights in one thousand sixty seven the israeli government approved the poll last year after an appeal from israeli the electronics. that. after more than three years of a devastating war the united states has cold on saudi arabia to stop its strikes on populated areas of the yemen washington is urging all sides in the civil war to reach a ceasefire agreement in the coming weeks according to a just released study the war in yemen has claimed fifty six thousand lives in the past two years a little while riyadh says' it is working hard to reduce civilian c

just staying in the country tensions are up to drew's are a protest of a local election in the golan heights disputed territory between syria and israel dozens of locals than once the vote is a legal and also call that through israeli. the i.d.f. soldiers used tear gas to break up demonstrations when cried trying to block the entrances to polling stations and several villages many people living in these really occupied areas have refused to take up is really so this in ship consider themselves it's the first local election since israel took control of the golan heights in one thousand nine hundred sixty seven the israeli government approved the poll last year after an appeal from peru is really the truth. it's another story we're closely following this hour after more than three years of a devastating war the united states was called on sunday arabia to stop its strikes on populated areas of yemen washington is urging all sides in the civil war to reach a cease fire agreement in the coming weeks according to a just released study the war in yemen has claimed fifty six thousand lives not in t

ship consider themselves syrian it's the first local election since israel took control of the golan heights in one nine hundred sixty seven these really government approved the polling last year after an appeal from a prolific relief. that. after more than three years of a devastating war the united states has cold done so to. stop its strikes on populated areas of yemen washington is urging all sides in the civil war to reach a cease fire agreement in the coming weeks according to a just really study the war in yemen has claimed fifty six thousand lives in the past two years riyadh says' it is working hard to reduce civilian casualties. however neither concern for yemeni citizens nor the murder of a saudi journalist working for the washington post are enough to stop the united states from dealing on its lucrative weapons contracts with saudi arabia political science professor colin campbell so yes the u.s. has no interest in sanctioning the saudis or ending yemen's war something has triggered this and the only thing possible is that it has to do with. this is more of a message to saudi ara

there will elsewhere in syria tensions iraq did druze are a protest of a local election in the golan heights disputed territory between syria and israel dozens of locals denounced the vote as a legal and promise really where crowds blocked the entrance since two polling stations in several villages with his release soldiers using tear gas to break up the demonstrators many people living in these really occupied earlier house refused to take up israeli citizenship consider themselves it's the first local election since israel took control of the golan heights in one nine hundred sixty seven the israeli government approved the poll last year after an appeal from was really villagers. with just a week to go until the midterm elections in the usa it seems everyone who's anyone opinion even the popular t.v. series big bang theory has an anti trump message in its credits. and reports much of the rhetoric is feeding public discord on social division. but the mid-term elections approaching things are getting intense across the united states bombs are being sent through the mail shootings are happeni

well swear in syria tensions are wrapped in druze are absurd protested a local election in the golan heights a disputed territory between syria and israel dozens of locals denounced the vote as a legal pro is really a. soldier's used to brick demonstrations when crowds try to block the entrances to police stations and several villages many people living in these really occupied areas of refused to take up israeli citizenship consider themselves syrian it's the first local election since israel took control of the golan heights in one nine hundred sixty seven the israeli government approved the poll last year after an appeal from this really. is holding its largest military exercise since the end of the cold war the drills kicked off last week and stretched from the baltic sea to iceland military forces from thirty one countries in all are involved in the fortnight long maneuvers with over fifty thousand personnel two hundred fifty or sixty five ships taking part in the alliance has even made it so to norway where a large parts of the exercises are being held. this is some things you need to

dru's arabs have boycotted a local election in the golan heights a disputed territory between syria and israel dozens of locals denounced of the vote as illegal and pro israel crowds blocked the gates of polling stations in several villages to prevent people from casting their ballots israeli soldiers used tear gas to break up the demonstrators many people living in the israeli occupied area have refused to take up israeli citizenship and consider themselves syrian is the first local election since israel took control of the golan heights in one thousand nine hundred sixty seven the israeli government approved the poll last year after an appeal from pro israeli villagers. french human rights groups are calling for a probe to be reopened into the one thousand nine hundred genocide in rwanda and want to establish whether french troops had any blame for the deaths of hundreds of people they had promised to protect in the village of. a video from a news website media part appears to show a senior french military officer discussing an ongoing massacre there several days before the army decid

up elsewhere in syria tensions iraq to this druze arabs protested a local election in the golan heights that's a disputed territory between syria and israel dozens of locals denounced the vote as illegal and pro israeli. body of soldiers used tear gas to break of demonstrations when crowds tried to block the entrances to polling stations in several villages many people living in the israeli occupied there have refused to take up israeli citizenship and they consider themselves syrian it's the first local election since israel took control of the golan heights back in one hundred sixty seven israeli government approved the poll last year after an appeal from pro israeli villages. no going back to one of our top stories you mentioned just now and as i mentioned yemen what's going on there are key talking point right now in washington westminster yemen while the u.s. is guardedly calling for saudi strikes to stop the british government as we just heard getting pressured by m.p.'s over its dealings with saudi arabia arabia let's go to journalist and middle east comtesse darwish he's in lond

in syria to border crossings have opened one to jordan and the other to the israeli controlled golan heights how significant is that. well that's pretty good news actually because i mean even though the syrian government by opening these border crossings is trying to send a message that they're trying to normalize things that they have when it is a sign of the war nearing an end things perhaps beginning to return to normal is a positive move in fact it has an economic dimension because people living in around these border crossings will finally have some sort of work to do do any work because they were operating their businesses around these border crossings and of course an overall economic benefit as well but it also has a huge diplomatic and security dimension to it especially if you look at the israel syria border the opening of the border suddenly disputed because it's the golan heights but syria claims and it's occupied by israel that opening means the messes there is that we go back to preset an uprising phase where golan heights are disputed but the two countries were not an act of w

into syria have reopened in the past forty eight hours there with jordan and israel's occupied golan heights syria's foreign minister says the border post with iraq will open soon it's open the crossing with jordan will help boost trade israel says only un peacekeepers will be allowed to use the crossing between syria and the golan heights syria only controls around half of the nineteen crossing points with its neighbors the prime minister has appointed women to half of the government's ministry of posts including the job of defense minister if the o.p.'s now the only african state after rwanda to have equal gender representation in the government since his appointment every document has made peace with neighboring eritrea and has also created a new ministry of peace to tackle ethnic violence of mitt took office in april and has carried out several major reforms jordan henderson is an analyst at i mark eight he says this is an attempt his prime minister create to create that is political inclusion and deal with the country's ethnic violence. by focusing on diversity so by talking about the i

forces to cross over from the disputed golan heights and jordan on monday reopened its main crossing to civilians for the first time in three years syrian government troops retract their side of the checkpoint in july the move restores a commercial lifeline to syria clearing a route for its exports to arab countries but this man was among the first to cross the line you know no i'm serious a fool to hold of syria and say syria is beautiful and the land of the sea of syria of say. let's bring in correspondent bora she's following events in syria for us from beirut is that man that we just heard right is syria now safe again. well that's a very complex question to answer you've got to consider several things if you've got to say about this idiocy for not to the extent that yes the war is nearing an end and for the last seven years the people of syria have been facing bombings from several sides and intensive fighting in that context yes it would be ok to say that parts of syria under the control of the. now safe i can also say that based on my person experiences of traveling to syria a

reopened in the past forty eight hours there are junctions with jordan and with israel's occupied golan heights syria's foreign minister says the crossing with iraq will open soon it's up the crossing with jordan will help boost the trade israel says only un peacekeepers will be allowed to use its border crossing for the time being syria only controls around half of the nineteenth crossing points with its neighbors. now after a series delay millions of afghans will cast their votes in a crucial parliamentary election on saturday but recent attacks by the taliban which has threatened to target polling stations have led to growing security concerns ahead of the election reports now from kabul. tight security in kabul joint army and police units patrol all in turn service to the capital they search vehicles and people are taking no chances suicide bomb attacks and improvised devices have killed and injured thousands of people this year. and the situation is getting worse security forces are under pressure to ensure election unless. the dickey had checked with the there is no doubt that terrorist o

well, this also comes as a key crossing as reopening in the golan heights. that's where cnn's ian lee is. he joins us now live with the latest on all of this. so, ian, what is the significance of the reopening of this crossing, and what might it signal? >> reporter: well, rosemary, essentially, this is syria's reengagement with the region where you have not only the border crossing behind me that's opening, but you have the one as you mentioned in jordan. i have to tell you, i was here just this last summer and you could see heavy fighting taking place just across this front tier. about 100, 200, 300 meters away, we were watching artillery strikes take place. today the syrian regime is very much in control. there is quiet along this frontier. you can actually see just a little while ago, there was a ceremony on the syrian side. we heard the national anthem being played. the syrian flag now flying over their side of the border crossing. this is a unique crossing, though, because israel and syria do not have relations. the u.n. operates this border crossing. t

. >>> well, this also comes as a key crossing as reopening in the golan heights.hat's where cnn's ian lee is live. ian, good to see you. what is the significance of the reopening of this crossing, and what might it signal? >> reporter: well, rosemary, it really does signal syria's reengagement with the region, like you said, not only is this border crossing opening, the border crossing, but you have the one in jordan. but the one that is opening today right behind me, you can see there is a heavy security presence here, and that's because syria and israel do not have formal relations. this border crossing is operated by the u.n. agency that over sees this demilitarized area. so they are the ones that are going to be opening it with coordination from the israelis from the syrians. but this is a border crossing. you'll have u.n. soldiers that will be coming through here, but in the past you would have some trade, apples being the primary, would be coming from the israel-controlled golan from inside syria. you would have some people who lived here, the drews minority

led by israel uncrossed three taken a security fence into the occupy syrian territory of the golan heights so into israeli occupied territory and then on to jordan is what i was told around fifty percent were actually terrorist leaders no surprise leaders and isis fighters coming in from the race and all of these of course some have been resettled now in the u.k. there is huge secrecy over those that have and to pay and where they are being resettled they told me that while they were not affiliated to us were front despite the fact that there center was actually in a no sort of front complex the notes from front headquarters were directly next door to the white house at center that i visited they told while they had no if any ation to the store front it was very likely that every other white helmet group in syria did have affiliation to us were from were led by no sort of front militants but of course they had no for the nation and that. they should be considered for funding and financing by the british government. donald trump is keeping india in suspense after it signed a must have weapo

. >> i just want to add something on golan heights.last week bibi netanyahu said that the gold lined will always remain under israeli sovereignty and lavrov responded to by saying that this would be a violation of common essay that it is part of israel, would be a violation of the u.n. security council resolution. it was interesting to see that tense moment right after this happened and so i agree with you that the israeli russian relationship may prove to be, it's not stable for sure pick and make it worse before it gets any better over the long-term. >> wanted to also try to bonn, reconstruction, could kick us off with tomorrow there will be a meeting in istanbul where the europeans, will shop for a meeting with the turks and the russians which is primarily about idlib and continuing how to avoid a sort of humanitarian catastrophe or of course european leaders are very, very interested and concerned of course also somewhat from the self-interest in the sense that if refugee flows into your as to happened, he the still assault large d

led by israel uncrossed three taken a security fence into the occupy syrian territory of the golan heights so into israeli occupied territory and then on to jordan is what i was told around fifty percent were actually terrorist leaders no surprise leaders and isis fighters coming in from the on the race and all of these of course some have been resettled now in the u.k. there is huge secrecy over those that have entered pay and where they are being resettled they told me that while they were not affiliated to us or front despite the fact that their center was actually in a nasra front complex the notes from front headquarters were directly next door to the white house at center that i visited they told those that while they had no if any ation to the store front it was very likely that every other white holik group in syria did have affiliation to us were from were led by no sort of front militants but of course they had no for the ation and that. they should be considered for funding and financing by the british government. don't trumps keeping india in suspense off the countryside a mass

israel and crossed three they could nature security fence into the occupy syrian territory of the golan heights so into israeli occupied territory and then on to jordan is what i was told around fifty percent were actually terrorist leaders no refund leaders and isis fighters coming in from the yarmouk basin so between eight hundred to a thousand numbers vary depending on who is talking to me laughed by the special evacuation that was initiated by canada or i believe. all of these of course some have been resettled now in the u.k. there is huge secrecy over those that have entered the u.k. and where they are being resettled i would question whether the british government is repeating what it has done in the past giving special resettlement programs to possible terrorist assets who've been operating on their behalf inside syria as of course they did to sell. bady in two thousand and fourteen from libya who then carried out the manchester bombing in two thousand and seventeen. but what the white helmets also told in course in an effort to elicit sympathy a pro of their cause they told me that whi

changed the united states has never recognized the israeli annex ation of west jerusalem or of the golan heights for that matter occupied from syria and the west bank is supposed to be only an occupied territory temporarily under israeli control until there is a peace settlement but in fact one cannot see palestinian leaders now coming to jerusalem to be certain to be an embassy to israel even though the unit dealing with them is going to be separate the one indication that there is chaos in the trumpet ministration even regarding jerusalem is in the monday in fact that the d.m. the daily expense that an american diplomat can get is different in jerusalem then it is in israel which means that drew slim is still a separate entity from israel but politically what this move means is that americans are abandoning the palestinians. secretary of state in the us president trump was committed to last a comprehensive peace between israel the palestinians. moving everything to this embassy is not going to help surely is it. well you know the russian formula of last year had to do with recognizing west jer

in it led it's unlikely that the jordanians or the israelis who also opened a crossing on the golan heights will close their will close their borders the jordanians are very eager to have this trade going that jordanian economy as we know it's been it has been sagging under the weight of all these wars and there's been a big demonstration so the jordanian government is very eager to get jobs back to ordinary jordanians and also jordan has been a refuge for many syrians so if you look at the reverse i suppose really jordan would like to offload its syrian refugees or displaced back to the country that they belong to and suppose it benefits jordan in that way as well. absolutely because you know jordan is eager of course to get rid of this million something refugees who've taken who've taken safety found safety in jordan and and getting jobs back is one of the primary things of course security is number one but number two is economic security people have to have someplace to go to and be able to feed themselves so it's very important to get this road open and to have economic life being blown

>> i want to add asking on the golan heights. last week b.b. netanyahu said the golan will always remain under israeli sovereignty and lavrov responded to him by saying that doing so would be a violation of. announcing that it is part of israel would be a violation of the u.n. security council resolution. it was very interesting to see that sort of tense moment right after this happened and so i don't -- i agree with you that the israeli/russian relationship may prove to be -- it's not stable for sure and it may get worse before it gets any better over the longer term. >> i wanted to try to -- post-reconstruction opposition, which could kick us off, tomorrow a meeting in istanbul where the europeans and merkel and macron will show up with the russians, primarily about idlib and sort of continuing how to avoid a sort of humanitarian catastrophe where european leaders are very interested and concerned, of course, also from a self-interest in the sense that a huge refugee flow into europe has happened and also destabilized to a large degree europea

have reopened in the past forty eight hours there are junctions with jordan and israel's occupied golan heights syria's foreign minister says the crossing with iraq will open sood that would stop the crossing with jordan will help boost trade israel says only un peacekeepers will be allowed to use its border crossing for the time being syria only controls around half of the one thousand crossing points with its neighbors. for palestinian children living under israeli occupation getting an education can be a major challenge and for children from bed when communities it can be particularly tough they often have long and dangerous journeys to reach classrooms which then don't have electricity or computers as part of our above the rubble series that the sugar name reports from the occupied west bank. it's a two hour ride on a donkey for some for most it's scaling up and down a dusty rocky mountain or two. the sick that is going wedded asika during the winter it's very cold and we don't have time to get home before doug the walk is the most difficult thing. these are the students of elman tar school

peacekeepers have also returned to patrol the demilitarized zone with israeli occupied syrian golan heights and syria and iraq are planning to reopen their borders following the defeat of eisel in the region government leaders in baghdad who didn't break ties with damascus say syria shouldn't be marginalized and it must return to the arab fold. of the syria is not an intruder in the arab league syria should not be marginalized and nobody can marginalize it. but many arab states remain hostile to president bashar assad and the government leaders may have withdrawn much of their support to the rebellion but are weary of iran's influence i think for the out of. the conflict it's now not of whether bashar assad will stay approach or not but about how much him to think and how did any future syria the syrian leadership are celebrating the reopening of borders as a sign of victory in the war as well as stability but that narrative doesn't reflect the whole reality russia says the international community is no longer focusing on making syrian president bashar assad leave power but the west is dema

fighting in it lead it's unlikely that the jordanians or the israelis who also open across and on the golan heights will close their will close their borders the jordanians are very eager to have this trade going that jordan economy as we know is been has been sagging under the weight of all these wars and there's been a big demonstration so the jordanian government is very eager to get jobs back to ordinary jordanians there's been a little cascade many cascade of countries embracing syria and that embrace was shown only a week ago with the foreign minister of botany a small country but an important one and they met with lots of cameras rolling this was a staged event in which will lead what i love the foreign minister of syria gave a big bear hug to the foreign minister about rain he gave a very warm interview with a kuwaiti newspaper in which he thanked the quaid he's very generously for standing by syria throughout the war so increasingly. the gulf countries have been embracing syria britain's prime minister says she believes the brig's it deal is still within reach to resume a was addressing pa

people do not make decisions on their own initiatives a captain in the field cannot fire on the golan heights could not fire artillery or into israel those decisions come only from damascus so the same thing here in saudi arabia a decision to kill a dissident in a consulate can only be made at the highest level no mid-level saudi official would take that initiatives upon himself so that's something that we're going to have to find out where the smoking gun we who made this decision or who carried out we know the names of these eighteen people are coming out. it's coming over now that the deputy head of the intelligence services has been relieved of his post as well so we'll get more information about who these people are in the coming hours not in the coming days but just in the coming hours thanks so much for your analysis on that and the love of danny there all called advisor is among one of the five people who's been sacked in a previous tweet here outlined how he saw his role quote do you think i do anything on my own i'm just an employee and carrying out orders from the king and the crow

ian lee, cnn, in the golan heights. >> we'll be right back after this. cancer. it's very personal. centers of america, we use diagnostic tools that help us better understand what drives each person's cancer. like christine bray. after battling ovarian cancer for several years, her test results revealed a drug therapy that targeted her tumor. today, christine's metastatic cancer is in remission. we're not just fighting cancer. we're outsmarting it. visit cancercenter.com. appointments available now. get stronger... get closer. start listening today to the world's largest selection of audiobooks on audible. and now, get more. for just $14.95 a month, you'll get a credit a month good for any audiobook, plus two audible originals exclusive titles you can't find anywhere else. if you don't like a book, you can exchange it any time, no questions asked. automatically roll your credits over to the next month if you don't use them. with the free audible app, you can listen anytime, and anywhere. plus for the first time ever, you'll get access to exclusive fitness programs a $95 value free w

anrossing along the israeli-occupied golan heights bropened. prime minister theresa may insisted today that her gornment and the european union can still come to terms on britain leaving the e.u. the two sides are hung up on the future of the border between british northern ireland and e.u. member ireland. but may told parliament at she remains optimistic, ahead of an e.u. summit in brussels this week. >> we cannot let this disagreement derail the prospects of a good deal and leave us with a no deal outcome that no one wants. i continue to believe that a negotiated deal is the best outcome for the u.k. and for the european union. i continue to believe that such a deal is achievable, and that is the spirit with which i will continue to work with ou european partners. >> woodruff: britain is set to leave the e.u. on mah 29th of next year. back in this country, judge in boston began inaring accusations that harvard university discres against asian-americans. an anti-affirmative action group says the school limits how many asian-americans it admits