military reports and experts have reiterated that hizbullah has grown ten times more powerful than it was in two thousand and six when it forced the israelis out of the country after three to thirty three days a war and the israelis have estimated the law has over one hundred thousand myside is that could rain down on israel if. any kind of clash arises or starts against them saw but the estimates here in tehran show that the israelis are not a lot of wheeling to start any kind of conflict with hizbollah last patiently considering that a foreign invasion would unite the lebanese around his bill lloyd again and that case if they must if that tells us that the view from tehran is that this is a psychological warfare that doesn't seem to be a real possibility of a military escalation a military confrontation between these powers is that how it fails in lebanon today no quite actually feels very bad i think that hyperbole aside no one really knows exactly what's going on behind the scenes whether or not this party or that party is going to get involved in escalating this there are fundame

and two thousand and thirteen last year lebanon's parliament swore in a new cabinet dominated by hizbullah and its allies in a major victory for the shiite iran backed side i reread is lebanon's most influential sunni politician and a saudi ally who is a fierce critic of iran and hezbollah the killing of his father refute harry reid by a massive car bomb in two thousand and five was blamed on members of his bala charlotte bellus is more now on such heavy reasons political career. saad hariri had been in office for less than a year the forty seven year old was appointed in twenty sixteen to lead a coalition government which included iran's powerful shia ally hizbullah. stability what i see is. focusing on. the interests of the lebanese citizens. this was horary second turn as prime minister it previously served between two thousand and nine and eleven horary had followed in his father's political footsteps griffey career he was assassinated in beirut and favoring two thousand and five he'd been seen as the driving force behind lebanon's rehabilitation and reconstruction following civil wars

about not to interfere in all conflicts like syria and iraq and he gets reassurances from hizbullah that he won't be involved any time soon in the near future and that he will be putting out its fighters from those areas i think saddam how do you he will resign if his demands are not met by the all political parties which is going to create a political crisis in the country and this explains why today during the military parade commemorating independence day the message that everyone was sending was a message of unity of that lebanon despite all the problems it faces the concerns about regional interference stands united against its leader we're talking about a fractious political reality a country divided along sectarian lines but however the message today that all together they need to tackle the challenges they face so the message there was a very positive one however the challenges are really huge. and hashim everybody i suppose is questioning whether he now speaks with his own voice or whether they're speaking with the saudi arabian voice. well once he's back home you can reall

war against it comes after lebanon's prime minister saad hariri is resignation blaming iran and hizbullah for sowing strife in the region saudi arabia's foreign minister accused iran of committing an act of war over its failed ballistic missile attack on riyadh at the who failed attack on that is the supreme court in papua new guinea has rejected an application to restore electricity food and water services to the madness island detention center six hundred refugees are refusing to leave the australian run facility despite it being closed by authorities last week they say it's not safe for them to move to new accommodation in the local community and the city international says the ruling puts the refugees lives in danger. the philippine government says that its war on drugs is producing results but murder rates rise with a large number of deaths linked to police operations general allen duggan reports from a city in little in philippines. charlie jeans last message to her mother was one of hope and redemption she was an only child and had become pregnant at the age of fourteen but she was

one nine hundred eighty two that's what united the lebanese old themselves all too all together hizbullah said no escalation the sunni parties said no escalation and also the question parties for the first time said no escalation even we disagree with his money not have an award now we want our president.

to hold back iranian influence in terms of what's going to happen in lebanon tomorrow or the hizbullah's akin to that in general will give a speech that will help us in understanding how they contextualize this resignation it gives us an indication about that light the response the problem is that hizbullah is in a bind they with heavy views that ignition they don't have the sunni partner in in the lebanese government system and saudi yes going to look a lot of pressure on other potential sunni candidates who can replace heavy throughout not stepping into that fray and taking that was a sure it's also going to look pressure on other lebanese politician specially within the christian community on deciding to take sides basically on pushing them to take sides in this in the scotland that is set for its condition. lebanon is in the region a very small country and diverse country sectarian differences religious differences which is always that found itself a sort of a scene for its bigger neighbors to play out some of their grievances so how do you think an unstable lebanon impacts the rest

this and i think that the iranians on the one hand obviously rejected those claims at the same time hizbullah is there are there are signs of relations with the has that's between hezbollah and gays. but i think we should not forget that the reason why they attacked we are has more to do with the saudi air strikes in yemen rather than with its connections for example to to you ron so obviously the whole idea of wars on the one hand or a power play in the region between iran and saudi arabia plays a role here as well all right middle east analyst. by joining us tonight from the german city of dusseldorf thank you very much we appreciate your insights tonight. my pleasure. or staying in the region saudi authorities have questioned more than two hundred people in a high profile anti corruption probe involving princes billionaire businessmen and cabinet ministers together they're accused of embezzling at least a hundred billion dollars over the past few decades some are reportedly being detained in the luxury ritz carlton hotel in the saudi capital riyadh it's a rather attractive prison then agai

through what israel has to do with this conflict between saudi arabia and iran well obviously it is hizbullah is a force that has defended against israeli invasion that is threatening israel however also in the middle east the iranians use has a lot as a defense line against any form of israeli influence in the region that the iranians do not like therefore any of skill ation in the southern border or in the border between that israel wouldn't be in israel's interest and this is why i believe that the israelis won't this is a really see to see this escalating ahead of the u.s. france germany they're all urging the escalation is saudi arabia going it alone here who are their allies. as i said i think politically political messaging can be a skill torrie while you actually don't do really anything so i think if we compare donald trump's tweets and reactions to this and the state department's statements today you can see a big difference in how people who just care about political messaging seem to like this when there are allied with crown prince behind the fence on the side to review of those

a well known fact in lebanon that every government has been coming trying to discuss the fate of hizbullah arms many people have been saying that if hezbollah wants to have the people as part of the army then the arab world com however it is not allowed to stay an armed. and defeating and. burial madam we'll continue this discussion with myself my colleague mary massey after the break and we'll be back with you in just a couple minutes. hello winter weather is heading south again through europe may but not be that'll obvious from the satellite picture which just shows a massive cloud but you can string a frontal system through here on this side is proper cold single figures by day and decided to double figures for the whole of is coming south this pretty obvious during monday for france is massive some trials through the alps and up towards the lower ground of both poland and better thing to the north is cult that snow of course rain to the south but it's turning stormy once again in italy in the adriatic that will be rain thunderstorms and strengthening when the whole lot keeps moving sou

surprised if the british government did the same if there is a problem or a problem or a war against hizbullah lebanon. thank you after the break forty six years ago to the day of the release of fear and loathing in las vegas we speak which illustrate a real step with the documentary filmmaker jerry levy about political cartoons of fighting the security guards with dress codes and from the headlines of the current prime minister on the ropes and the potential prime minister in the wings of all the civil cover up about to have going underground. one hundred years ago russia was consumed by revolution and unprecedented violence is not an understatement to say the russian revolution will also be called a top was a defining moment of the twentieth century how did it change russia. thank you all. thank. you all this is not a good. the book. welcome back by the ticket taker right forty six years ago today people first read those words from hunter s. thompson as iconic novel fear and loathing in las vegas later adapted into the cult film starring johnny depp thomson style of writing blended fact with

iran has also increased its presence in lebanon through its shiite ally hizbullah this is the israelis are very worried. will war break out again in lebanon. the result is the israelis are worried about the prospects of a possible war in lebanon is it likely is it inevitable well this the feeling is that it is an inevitable it's not a question of if a question of when and there's oh also seems to be consensus that now is not the time yet. israel's always been very loud about and clear about the fact that it will not tolerate any missiles you know being on the range of missiles from lebanon you know from hezbollah to israel of course in there injure the northern part of israel but can also reach into the the most populated area in the center and then the biggest metropolitan of tel aviv so. in that in that aspect of course yes there's fear this great. mostly you know we're talking about the middle east as a new game with all the cards being we shuffled there's an understanding of every tiny mistake my family to to to war and my plea to you know the the replications might be you know ver

through what israel has to do with this conflict between saudi arabia and iran well obviously it is hizbullah is a force that has defended against israeli invasion that is threatening israel however also in the middle east the iranians use has a lot as a defense line against any form of israeli influence in the region that the iranians do not like therefore any a school ation in the southern border or in the border between that israel wouldn't be in israel's interest and this is why i believe that the israelis won't this is a really see to see this escalating ahead of the u.s. france germany they're all urging the escalation is saudi arabia going it alone here who are their allies. as i said i think politically political messaging can be a skill torrie while you actually don't do really anything so i think if we compare donald trump's tweets and reactions to this and the state department's statements today you can see a big difference in how people who just care about political messaging seem to like this when there are alive with crown prince behind the fence on the side to review those who

and that they are a sore countryside the syrian army's elite forces iran backed shia militia and hizbullah fighters are leading the operation on the ground ousted caton a leader khamis pushed them or has urged all political parties in favor of catalonia secession from spain to form a coalition for the regions the center pole push them and posted the message on twitter but his exact whereabouts in belgium where he fled to after being removed from office are unknown after a european search and the rest warrant was issued for him and for his allies more than one thousand people have taken part in protests across australia against the treatment of hundreds of asylum seekers in an offshore detention center in papua new guinea about six hundred men on my messiah and have been without food running water and medical services for days. now these are your headlines i'm going to have the al-jazeera news hour for you in less than half an hour stay with us though coming up next it's inside story of i. know the earth . imagine you can't go to school fear doctor travel when you want and feel constantly l

this and i think that the iranians on the one hand obviously rejected those claims at the same time hizbullah is there are there are signs of relations between has been it's between hezbollah and the east. but i think we should not forget that the reason these attacks we are has more to do with the saudi air strikes in yemen rather than with its connections for example to it to you ron so obviously the whole idea of proxy wars on the one hand or a power play in the region between iran saudi arabia plays a role here as well all right middle east analyst at non tabatha by joining us tonight from the german city of dusseldorf thank you very much we appreciate your insights tonight. my pleasure when l. to one of those countries mentioned that's called up in this proxy conflict yemen the united nations says seven million yemenis could face starvation and death if to date is not allowed into the country of that devastating morning comes after the saudi led coalition which is backing the government tightened its air land and sea blockade around yemen after a missile was launched from yemen towards r

if the british government did the same if there is a problem or a problem or a war against their hizbullah lebanon governor thank you after the break forty six years ago to the day of the release of fear and loathing in las vegas we speak which illustrates a real step with the documentary filmmaker jerry levy about political cartoons of fighting the security guards with a dress called. mad lines a current prime minister on the ropes and the potential prime minister in the wings told the civil coming of about two of going up to ground. thank. you. one hundred years ago russia was consumed by revolution unprecedented violence is not an understatement to say the russian revolution. was a defining moment of the twentieth century how did it change russia. yes kaiser one for my guide to financial survival this is. a device used by professional scallywags to earn money. that's right these hedge funds are simply not accountable and we're just. totally destabilize the global economy you need to protect yourself and get in for kaiser. was. the only thing going on down the road soon enough that are e

prince of saudi arabia he said clearly you know we launched this war because we don't want another hizbullah in. yemen it means a thing is in his will or in yemen i don't think there's any hezbollah yes there is a horse and those horses are in particular part of yemen they are yemenis you know silicon valley we know that there are certainly in beirut because there are m.p.'s in the lebanese part of the nutley under the as well about what do you think that dog trump would have had to ok the elves went from this air apparent to the saudi or talk as regards the threats now being made very clearly to lebanon after the southern exit of president hariri the situation in lebanon is deteriorating and yemen is heading towards you would could be a war that american the talking start talk for the first time about that marrying. nineteen eighty three when a suicide attacks against the base in beirut killed two hundred and forty many's so this start talking about hizbollah the spear of terrorism in the. region and this stabilizing the whole planet so it seems now that the saudi joining the camp and we he

with the uys crown prince mohammed bin ziad al nahyan already resigned on saturday blaming iran and hizbullah for sowing strife in the region that field speculation that he was coerced into quitting and has been held against his will which saudi arabia has denied. government of stormed a television station in afghanistan according to an eyewitness they had to the facility after an explosion in the capital kabul some employees are believed to be still inside the building the u.s. air force is investigating how it handled the criminal records of the government behind sunday's church shooting in texas twenty six people including children were killed when former airman devin kelly entered that church that opened fire the air force says that it failed to hand over information about kelly's previous domestic assault charges to a national database and the supreme court in papua new guinea has rejected an application to restore electricity food and water services to the madness island detention center six hundred refugees are refusing to leave the australian run facility despite it being closed by au

residential areas were hit the syrian army's elite forces that's iran's backed shia militia and hizbullah fighters are leading the operation on the ground on friday i saw was pushed out of there as or city the on the groups last major urban stronghold in the country. is tracking those developments from gaziantep on the turkey syria border. the military campaign to take over will come out is under way the russians are pounding i still position in five tons of will come out of the syrian army funding we'll force them and an elite unit which is going to engage with i still know if the videos are concerned about their safety of the seven doubles of people were killed during those strikes i said i was left with very few options if it is why it is absolutely no way they can cope with vastly superior army the syrian army which is backed by russia i do think that this time what we're going to see is basically the syrian army coming from the east the turkish the iraqi army is coming from the south we were caught in a very military push to try to drive eisel out from their last pocket in syria. the

external issues can be dealt with later and there's nothing pressing right now that should cause hizbullah or anybody else in lebanon to want to actively engage outside the country this is not a country that has power all across the middle east but hezbollah does and this is the great dilemma for the lebanese they've never really addressed the issue of law as well as power and how to reconcile that with the lebanese government's formal authority for sovereignty and governance. now at least ten people have been killed after an earthquake struck the iran iraq border the epicenter of the seven point three magnitude quake was around one hundred fifty kilometers northeast of the iraqi capital baghdad at least eight villages have been badly damaged in iran with electricity cuts dozens of people have been injured and ron khan has more from baghdad. well the earthquake was felt . on the fifth my hotel can tell you this building swayed from left to right for about a minute it was very disorientated nothing really fell off the shelves but still very very strong we followed our emergency procedures w

the crisis in lebanon is caused by hizbullah that hijacked the state and imposed it's also pretty on the country if hezbollah continues its current policy it would make lebanon vulnerable lebanon has been caught up in proxy wars in the past it is easy to exploit the deep divisions between its political camps. we cannot afford more pressures we cannot afford more interferences from anybody whether from so they be or from iran. it's not clear of how to draw his resignation but lebanon's president michel aoun said he will wait for the prime minister to return to beirut to decide the next step with regards to the government french mediation may have ended the diplomatic turmoil over how to create but the crisis is far from over if insists on resigning it will be hard to find a candidate accepted by all sides to replace him and the ongoing rivalry between iran and saudi arabia could cause more instability here. lebanese from across the political divide had one message to saudi arabia we want our prime minister back it seems is now coming back but what happens next will test if the unity w

it is true that the military actions against lebanon you cannot be limited to hizbullah it's very hard it's impossible. not to me and they can amik sanction also it's going to affect everyone it was interesting that today and i think lebanese people in this in these conditions kind of unite even the party have. issued a statement regarding the fate of sadler who we all know from day one that he is against his will and he's been held against his will and that no matter what the saudis are saying everybody in the world knows this and that unfortunately the world the united nation the americans in there even the french president who was in the area yesterday did not and i brought about it it's very concerning in fact you say obviously that everybody in the world knows that he made this statement and resigned under some sort of jurist but obviously that is an assumption we should make that clear we have not yet to receive any concrete proof of that but given that and if given the nature of the conversation that we're having and that there is an intense intention here to try to deepen the d

difficult and many fear a prolonged period of political paralysis and once for the reactions i know from hizbullah. well we're expected to hear from the secretary general later today he's expected to react to these shocking announcement that he is resigning from government but yesterday we did hear from an official from hezbollah he said that what saudi arabia is trying to do the united states and israel weren't able to do over the past few years so a very defiant attitude has been really the target we cannot see this resignation as an isolated incident it is related to regional developments what is going on in the region it is related to the ongoing rivalry between saudi arabia and iran across the region now it is playing out in lebanon it has played out in syria this played out in iraq and we do know that saudi arabia and the united states and israel as well as a much more aggressive stance towards iran and they want to curb iranian influence and to do that you have to go after its proxies and hezbollah is one of those proxies and has of course was a dominant player in the lebanese cabinet a cab

the government but that being said there of i would have misgivings about condemning iran or even hizbullah too strongly oman for example which has good relations with iran iraq which has relatively good relations with iran algeria also which is more neutral and and of course other countries so the arab world is divided and i think that's reflected in the arab league as well and what does that mean then that division for the sort of proxy war that we talk about so often between saudi air arabia and iran that seems to be very heightened at the moment. yes well it means that it is not certainly the entire arab world versus iran saudi arabia and the core elements behind in saudi arabia the quartet as it were the saudis the emraan t's the trainees and the egyptians outside of the gulf now are the primary players in this conflict and sometimes egypt has a tapes with regards to some issues like for example syria but yes the herbal does divided and i don't think and as we've seen many other countries in the arab world including morocco for example tunisia algeria are fully in the so d. camp with r

the crisis in lebanon is caused by hizbullah that hijacked the state and imposed on the country if hezbollah continues its current policy it would make lebanon vulnerable lebanon has been caught up in proxy wars in the past it is easy to exploit the deep divisions between its political camps we cannot afford more pressures we cannot afford more interferences from anybody whether from the or from iran. it's not clear if his resignation but lebanon's president michel aoun said he will wait for the prime minister to return to beirut to decide the next step with regards to the government french mediation may have ended the diplomatic turmoil over fate but the crisis is far from over if it's on resigning it will be hard to find a candidate accepted by all sides to replace him and the ongoing rivalry between iran and saudi arabia could cause more instability here. lebanese from across the political divide had one message to saudi arabia we want our prime minister back it seems he is now coming back but what happens next will test if the unity will be short lived. beirut. israel says that it's prep

included iran's powerful shia ally hizbullah. ability what i see is. focusing on on lebanon and the interests of the lebanese citizens. this was horary second term as prime minister it previously served between two thousand and nine and eleven horary had followed in his father's political footsteps. griffey career he was assassinated in beirut and face very two thousand and five he'd been seen as the driving force behind lebanon's rehabilitation and reconstruction following civil wars and foreign invasion between one thousand nine hundred ninety five and one thousand nine hundred one. saad tried to continue the family legacy but began to lose popularity as lebanon faced multiple political and economic struggles unemployment has been at more than twenty percent its population of six million includes one and a half million refugees for two years it was unable to elect a president as its parliament was crippled and it couldn't provide basic services such as alec tricity and weiss collection last year harare announced he was backing his rival michel aoun f

a long time ago israel's enemy not syria he said in two thousand and five that hizbullah was to be disarmed so a lot of these cases have all been there before and now they're just coming to the open but i don't think necessarily it's been a secret it's true the population of course will look askance at these measures indeed for the moment thank you very much for joining us thank you. well israel's energy minister is the first member of the cabinet to confirm a secret contact with saudi arabia as mark just mentioned about those concerns over iran yuval steinitz mid long rumored talks have been held but isn't saying who with the saudis officially denied crown prince mohammed bin still man met officials that israel two months ago. i can say that we have secret relations with moderate arab and muslim states we don't shy away from that but the other side is the one which wants to keep such relations quiet we respect the desire of the other side if we are dealing with saudi arabia or any other arab or muslim countries we have to protect the secrecy it's true that saudi arabia is not a democratic

delivering a message from the saudis will he say something privately or publicly about the road to hizbullah which is what the saudis really dislike about lebanon will he insists that he still wants to resign so there are some quite big questions yet to be answered he's obviously going to go the wife i guess he wouldn't have said so but it is really intriguing we're going to see another chapter in this very mysterious story within quite a short space of time and this is a visit she had to paris to see the french president as a manual macro and i see improved situation as ease attentions always even muddied the waters for so i think because being helpful i mean he certainly gave her really some way to go neutral but friendly territory making the point about not wanting lebanon to become a source of new tension france of course has an important historic relationship with lebanon dating back many years sadhu his father was assassinated was very close to jacques chirac so there's a sort of lucas there if you like for this and vicious french president is a time of considerable disarray internatio

regime and its allies are either on the other shiite militias supported by by iran in syria including hizbullah and other and other factions so the americans as you said they are clearly actually giving the russians like a carte blanche in order to lead the whole process in syria the americans did not show from the very beginning any major interest in the syrian conflict aside from fighting isis and the war against terrorism other than that the political situation but the political process and the conflict between the regime and the opposition in syria has never been actually a matter of great concern for the american. administration changed in washington d.c. and i should say perhaps president trump is going to say she is taking it as a step back how is that step back going to be viewed by the groups that were backed by the u.s. that do want to see regime changes the line has been drawn and the u.s. is saying well you know we dealt with dealt with terrorism we're now leaving russia to deal with i mean this is this is a matter of great i mean there are a lot of disappointed it's a great disappo