numbers and the reduction of isaf forces in direct support of our isaf and lisbon transition goals of 31 december 2014. with regard to the voices that we hear in the afghan government, the afghan government is on a path towards sovereignty. this is the whole process that we're talking about with respect to the lisbon convention of -- anticipating security leave by 2014. we should encourage the voices of sovereignty, he courage actions within the afghan government that seeks sovereignty, the m.o.u. that i recently signed with the minister wardac was one of the greatest acknowledgements where they partner increasingly with us in a counterinsurgency, they will take responsibility for the administrative detention of insurgents in the battle spacing, and american forces will cease detaining afghans for long periods of time and afghans will pick up that responsibility. that is appropriate. it is a great indicator of sovereignty, for example. with respect to night operations, we have been in a long-term conversation with the afghan government in that regard. i believe that just in the last t

at allows us and makes possible transition to afghans in accordance with our lisbon commitments and on time. security conditions remain very good in areas that have transitioned thus far from kabul in the east to harat in the west, and later this year, afghan security forces are expected to assume the security lead for two-thirds or possibly more of the afghan population. as the potential unifying influence in afghanistan, the afghan forces are better than we thought they were to be. importantly, they are better than they thought they could be. and as they move to the fore, they are gaining more and more confidence and gaining more and more capability. in the past five months, 89% of the total conventional operations were partnered with both conventional and afghan forces. and 42% of those operations had afghans in the lead. over the next two years coalition forces will remain combat ready but increasingly focused on security force assistance and supporting afghan combat operations. afghan leadership then is simply key. and i can tell you the afghans want to lead, and they want the res

we are well into a process of transition to ansf leadership, as agreed to at 2010 nato lisbon summit. today almost 50% of afghans already live in areas that have begun the transition process to ansf lead. as interim milestone at some point in 2013, the ansf will be in the lead for providing security across afghanistan. at that time u.s. and coalition forces will be in a support role which will take a number of forms. this includes u.s. and coalition forces partners with afghan units, as already occurring in many places today and it will include the smaller footprint associated with u.s. and coalition forces in a train, advise, assist role. by the end of 2014, the ansf will be responsible for the security of afghanistan. by that time u.s. and coalition forces will have moved to a much maller presence focused on counterterrorism and training, advising and assisting afghan forces. mr. chairman, there is no doubt that the afghanistan war has been a tough fight. in the last several weeks have been particularly difficult. the inappropriate handling of korans at bagram air because was an err

. >> a middle-class suburb on the edge of lisbon. fernanda lives here with her 84- year-old mother and 11-year-old son. she is a civil servant. in the past few months, her modest earnings dropped by a quarter. she now relies on basic food handouts from her son to school. -- son's school. she says public-sector workers like her are being hit too hard. a few doors down, we need ms. costa, a teacher married to a teacher. both are earning less after government cuts. >> i do not think it is right. i have less money to spend. but i think it is necessary, because i think we lived beyond what -- our capacity. >> across the road, one of many small plots of land dotted around lisbon. with tax increases, food is more expensive. now more people grow their own. at the local school, the head teacher says families who not long ago were the new rich are now the new poor. he says violent behavior has risen and more kids now arrive in the morning without eating breakfast. one obvious effect of the eurozone crisis is that countries like portugal have a

lisbon is being compared to a crisis-hit athens.eople are saying portugal might be the next greece. is that the driver is feeling the pinch. he started work at 4:00 a.m., and six hours on the job, he has only had two customers. in his 30-year career, he has never known things to be this bad, and he is not the only one who is suffering. >> i work all day, and it is not worth it. i earn seven euros a day, and at the same time, everything is getting more expensive. >> petrol, in particular, takes almost all my profits. >> the portuguese are fed up with being both pete and blamed for the eurozone's problems -- pete and blamed. they are well aware of their country's economy. the country's record unemployment rate is just one example of that. marques is torn between edgar and dejection. >> europe is a good idea, but where do we stand now? portugal is doing badly. spain, too. greece's a disaster. where is it going to lead? i do not know. >> there's evidence both for and against the theory that portugal is heading in the same direction as g

as we agreed at the nato/russia summit in lisbon in november 2010, and since our summit in lisbon, we have made important progress in important areas. we have enhanced cooperation on afghanistan, on counterterrorism, on counternarcotic, on counterpiracy and i hope we will now be able to move forward in other areas, especially on missile defense. i think both russia and nato would benefit from such cooperation. in lisbon, we decided to develop truth treaty partnership between nato and russia, and i hope to see progress in that respect. now on libya, yes, i am aware of the report from the international commission on libya. as far as the concrete figures are concerned, i don't have any comment because i'm not able to verify these figures. but i welcome the commission's conclusion that nato -- now i quote from the commission report that nato conducted a highly precise campaign with a demonstrable determination to avoid civilian casualties. and the commission also recognized nato's objective to take all necessary precautions to avoid civilian casualties entirely. and based on the report fr

the -- the value of the lisbon transition process is that it is a process. it is something that is measurable. as you know, the lisbon transition process occurs over five tranches of terrain that comes off the map and goes into afghan sovereignty. each one of those tranches is acomp anied by detailed conversations and conferences between isaf and ansf to ensure the forces are red dou take over the lead for security, not to be finished for security, but lead for security. it has, i believe, a seriously focused conversation both in terms of the development of the ansf and resourcing. in that sense has been positive. >> thank you. i would like to turn briefly to another topic, which when i visited with you last fall, we talked about our group did, which was the issue of safe havens in pakistan and the challenge that that poses with, you know, all the good intent and great success in terms of training up afghans if the taliban can operate with impunity in and out of pakistan that really provides, you know, a real weakness in terms of accomplishine

as a coalition, the largest in recent history, we are well along in our progress to meet our 2010 lisbon summit commitment to transition security lead to the afghan national security forces by december 2014. and third, our troops know the difference that they're making every day, and the enemy feels that difference every day. >> rose: this comes at a time of strained relationship between the united states and kabul. tonight sergeant bales were charged with killing 17 afghanistan civilians. this happened shortly after american soldiers burned korans at a u.s. military base in afghanistan. despite widespread criticism, president obama and president karzai reaffirmed their commitment to finishing the mission in afghanistan. president obama has asked the pentagon to bring home 23,000 troops in september of this year. i am pleased to have general allen with me here in washington. >> it is good to be with you. >> rose: army sergeant robert bales has been accused of 17 counts of premeditated murder and could possibly face the death penalty. i know you can't speak to the merits of that case, and

. >> a middle-class suburb on the edge of lisbon. her 84 year-old mother and her 11-year-old son live here. her already modest earnings have dropped by 1/4. she relies on basic food handouts from her son's school. she says public-sector workers like her are being hit too heart. a few doors down we meet a teacher married to a teacher. both are earning less after government cuts. >> i do not think it is right because i have less money to spend. i think it is necessary because we live beyond our capacity. >> across the road, many small plots of land around lisbon. it is more expensive. who is more expensive and more people grow their own. the new poor. he says violent behavior has risen and more kids are right in the morning without eating breakfast. >> what obvious effect is that countries like portugal have a shrinking public sector. some argue that the scale of the government cuts -- others see the crisis as an opportunity for a more deficient form of government. that is the mission of the government that was voted in the last summer

the two presidents reiterated their support for the approach agreed upon at the 2010 nato summit in lisbon, which calls for afghan security forces to assume, quote, full responsibility for security across the country by the end of 2014. this morning i want to focus on another part of that jointly issued statement. president obama and president karzai said they share the goal of sharing security forces so afghans are increasingly in chashlg of their own security, and the quote is with the lead for combat operations shifting to afghan forces with u.s. forces in support in 2013. now, general allen assured me in a discussion in my office that nato's planned transfer of future responsibility for security across afghanistan in 2014 always assumed shifting the lead in combat operations to afghans in all five so-called tranches or areas of afghanistan by 2013. now that's good news to me. i say good news because it has always been my belief that success in afghanistan depends on building the capacity of the afghan army and police so that afghans are in the lead in providing security for their own c

public sector work verse hit the streets of lisbon by the hundreds. union members there and elsewhere in portugal are frustrated over government austerity measures. they have gone on strikes across the country paralyzing public transportation. staff at school and hospitals walked out. the nationwide union confederation staged demonstrations in the capital lisbon. the international monetary fund and the european union bailed out portugal with a loan of more than $100 billion. in return, those bodies urged the government to push ahead with belt-tightening measures. the government raised taxes and cut social security. demonstrators say the imf and the eu are manipulating their government. >> the austerity plan is security for a large part of the population but not for people with real money that are escaping taxes, that are impoverishing this company. >> financial markets are less jittery about portugal than in month's past. still investors speculate the country may need additional bailout funds like greece. now let's see what investors on the tokyo mark

>> it has indeed sir, and the value of the lisbon transition process is that it is a process. it is something that is measurable and as you know the lisbon transition process occurs to over five tranches of terrain that comes off the map and ultimately goes to afghan sovereignty. each one of those tranches is accompanied by detailed conversations and conferences between isaf and our ansf partners to ensure that the security forces in those areas are poshard and ready to take over the lead for security. not to be finished in terms of security but the lead for security in those areas. it has i believe that very seriously focused conversations both in terms of the development of the ansf and the resourcing of the ansf and in that sense has been -- >> thankthank you. i. i would like to turn briefly to another topic. last fall we talked about a group which was the issue of safe haven in pakistan and the challenge that poses with all of the good intent and great success in terms of training up afghans if the taliban can operate with impunity in and out of pakistan. that really provi

meanwhile manchester city were involved in a truly encounter at home to sporting lisbon the portuguese side raced into a two no lead on thursday night but was three nil on aggregate city then stormed back to win three two it was too little too late to mention these men were knocked out on away goals meaning they can now concentrate solely on the premier league title race would be a good. until the end of the season because really we have all the premier league and we can put. all our strength. on this i think that would be good. also in the last eight arthur as a coma drake who string a win in turkey gave them a six one victory over person to ask steve mclaren's dutch side f.c. twente ace or their advantage right out of the german club shelter progressed another german club made it through in hull over ninety six when n.c.l.b. p.s.v. eindhoven and methods kharkiv complete the quarter final line up. now in tennis maria sharapova has advanced to the semifinals of the indian wells open after beating compassionate maria kirilenko in three sets but she had to do it the hard way in a match w

the europa league at the last sixteen stage city went out on away goals to portuguese side sporting lisbon while united were eliminated by spanish club athletic bilbao the league side had a cretin late from the first leg at old trafford last week and goals are the side of half time from fernando llorente and oscar de marco slots alex ferguson's man with a mountain to climb wayne rooney's late goal was a make consolation as the spaniards run out five three winners on advocates they'll find out their last eight opponents in the jewel later on friday. i think you could do very well with finger or center they do us thirty thirty minutes what ways i mean it when i sit in europe. and that takes you a long way because apart from the test you were ready to have some good qualities also there's no just sort of the walkways can and will be out of the moment the show and some very good. competition through poland i think you can go the way i think there's a very very good chance you could win it meanwhile manchester city were involved in an enthralling encounter at home to sporting lisbon the portugu

from the shores of my home town in lisbon in portugal, to the borders of russia. there reston, i hope, from iceland's to cyprus, we are welcoming now the 28 member of the european union, croatia, next year. we just accepted serbia as a candidate country. we will start negotiations in view of membership. we are bringing the balkans into the european union, bringing to an end decades of conflict in the balkans. all this with respect to diversity of our peoples, our culture. we have 23 official languages. this is a magnificent project that, at the same time, provides high levels of quality of life, environment protection, consumer protection in the european union, and also at the same time, far from being what is described somewhere here, these are countries that promote free enterprise, that promote entrepreneurship. that promote foreign investment, as shown by the statistics revealing the importance of -- american foreign investment. >> we will take a little pause while i identify statements primarily for the benefit of our listeners. sirius xm radio. this program

continues to move to the lead and as the fifth tranche of transition occurs, which, according to the lisbon conference, technically means that the ansf are in security lead across the country, our forces will move into a support roll to continue to accelerate and to support the ansf as it completes the security transition after the end of 2014. so we will still have combat forces in afghanistan all the way to the end. they'll be fewer in number, and the nature of the forces will be in many respects advisory in nature, but we can anticipate that the u.s. will be engamed in combat operations in support of the ansf right to the end of 2014. >> has it hurt us or helped us? >> i think it's -- i think it has helped us to focus on the mission. i think it has helped the afghans to focus on their need to become proficient and to move into the fore and on the whole, in the end, i think it has been beneficial. it's not just been a unilateral u.s. decision. it's been an isaf decision. 40 other countries have joined us in this. >> thank you. >> thank you for being here. i think my colleague from georgia

the value of the lisbon transition process is that it is a process. something that is measurable. as you know, the lisbon transition process occurs over five charges of turning that comes off the map and ultimately goes into afghan sovereignty. each one of those is a company accompanied by detailed conversations and conferences between art ansi partners to ensure the security forces in those areas are fostered and ready to take over the lead for security, not to be finished in terms of security, but to leave for security in those areas. it has, i believe, a very seriously focused conversations in terms of the development of the nsf and the resourcing. in that sense it has been positive. thank you. >> i would like to turn to another topic which i visited with u.s. law. we talked about a group that was the issue of safe havens in pakistan. the challenge that that poses with all the good intent and great success in terms of training afghans. if the taliban can operate with impunity in and out of pakistan. that really provides, you know, a weakness in ter

meanwhile manchester city were involved in an inflow encounter at home just causing lisbon to put itbeside raced into a two nil lead on thursday night that was greener. on aggregate city then stormed back to win three two on the night but it was too little too late as your birthday mancini's men were knocked out on the way goals meaning they can now concentrate solely on the lead. to be a good. feeling the end of the season because. we have all the. premier league and we can put. all our strength. on this and it would be good so in the last eight our athletic or madrid whose three zero win in turkey gave them a six one aggregate victory over sit us steve mclaren's dutch side f.c. twente a saw their advantage wiped out his german club shall have progressed another german club made it through and hand over ninety six palencia b.p.'s we are in when our methods kharkiv complete three quarter final line up. now what makes an olympic champion well it seems that russia's republic of dagestan has the answer the tiny region continually provides russia with gold medalists at the summer games w

the europa league at the last sixteen stage city went out on away goals to portuguese side sporting lisbon while united were eliminated by spanish club athletic bilbao they rallied a side had a three two lead in the first leg and old trafford lost weight and goals either side of half time from fernando llorente and also to mark austin left alex ferguson's men with the mountains of crime wayne rooney's legolas i'm a consolation as the spaniards run out five three winners on aggregate they'll find out their last eight opponents in the draw later on friday. i think you could do very well i think. to us there's achievements what really is i mean it would sit in europe. and that takes only because apart from that fits us you were already out of some good coaches also just not just sort of the walkways get them but the out of the moment the short some very good. competition for bowling i think you can go the way i think there's a very very good chance you could win it. meanwhile my sister city were involved in an influence counter at home to a sporting lisbon the portuguese side raced into into

as a coalition, the largest and recent history we are well along in our progress to meet our 2010 lisbon summit commitments to transition security lead to the afghan national security forces by december 2014. third, our troops know the difference that they're making every day and the enemy feels that difference every day. now, to be sure, the last couple of months have been trying, and in the wake of the revelations that american troops mishandled religious texts to include the quran protests, some violent, occurred in several but only a few regions across afghanistan and 32 afghans lost their lives in these riots and even more were hurt. just since the first of january the coalition has lost 61 brave troops in action from six different nations and 13 of them were killed at the hands of what appear to have been afghan security forces, some of whom were motivated we believe in part by the mishandling of religious materials. just as tragic we're investigating what appears to be the murder of 16 innocent afghan civilians at the hands of a u.s. service member of each of these events is heart

one is the 2014 date, which was agreed to at lisbon for when african -- afghan security forces would have full responsibility for security throughout afghanistan and then the 2013 date, when the lead for combat operations will shift to afghan forces and u.s. forces in support. it is the 2013 timeframe for transitioning the lead for combat operations, is that consistent with the lisbon plan for completing the transition or for afghans having full responsibility for security throughout afghanistan? >> chairman, the lisbon summit envisaged that there would be several tranches of the geography of afghanistan that would transition over time. it ultimately, we determined that it would be five tranches. the first transition transition now in the second has just begun implementation. we are in the process of deliberating on the third. we anticipate that the fifth and final tranche of transition will be announced by president karzai probably in the summer of 2013 with implementation to begin at some point thereafter and that is generally 30 to 45 days thereafter. >> technically for the lisbon

to answers your question i do think we can deliver the lisbon oniveobjectives by 2014. an >> and prevent the taliban fromn afghanistan before the 9/11 ray1 attacks? >> yes. with the caveat that there will be always places in a country that size with a population that sky verse. verse -- diverse. where dollars ar there are areae challenges to the afghan security forces and to the central government. but what we seek to put in place is the ability of the afghan government when confronted bring that do deal with it. >> any conversation about afghanistan has to include pakistan that is why the president of afghan and pakistan reviewed. >> sure. >> is there any progress of getting the pakistani government to not be a staifnlgin staging r taliban that go across the border. >> they have been involved and they have domestic political issues they are sorting through. the incident occurred on november 26th and here we are at march 16th. the best thing we have done is we have not conducted our engagement with them with a microphone. we have communicated with them directly and comu

we'll talk to an expert who says lisbon may be forced to ask for another bailout later this year. another bailout later this year. . >>> labor reform talks between italian government and unions have failed to produce a deal. the largest it alan trade union has called an eight hour strike against the measure which is would make it easier for companies to layoff employees. mario monti has signaled that he will pass the measures new parliament with or without their support. >>> portuguese workers have kicked off a strike against the plan to cut austerity measures. concerns that it may not meet its budget goals. portugal may have to ask for more aid. is there anything they can do about it, is that a foregone conclusion? >> nothing's ever a foregone conclusion, but i think the markets are beginning to indicate that that's the way they think. if you look at what happened after the last ltro, portugal is one of the pew markets that really didn't participate in the nice rally in bonds that you saw in some other countries, italy and spain, for example, suggesting markets isn't actually goi

temperaturewise lisbon at 21. london at 15. towards the east wintry, moscow minus 4. i'll leave you now for the extended forecast. >>> that's our broadcast for this hour on "newsline." we'll be back with more news in half an hour. thank you for watching. bye-bye. . .

future trips are to beijing, liz been -- lisbon. we will teach kids about the world. before we get started, we have a brief word from someone who is key in making things happen for women on a federal level. she has sent a person here to read a statement from her. that is our illustrious leader in congress, nancy pelosi. she will read a brief statement from nancy pelosi. [applause] >> she will assist she could have been here to celebrate with everyone today. business has kept her in washington. she asked me to share with her -- share with the overstatement. on international women's day, we marked progress made for women and the work still to be done. we celebrate equality, and shine a light on the dark corners were inequality remains. we honor the suffragettes and reached for the ballots and stand with the women around the world still denied the fundamental right to participate in their democracy. the past year has painted a mixed portrait of both hope and struggle for the world's women in. three women won the nobel peace prize, yet millions of mothers and daughters re

temperaturewise lisbon at 21. london at 15. towards the east wintry, moscow minus 4. i'll leave you now for the extended forecast. >>> that's our broadcast for this hour on "newsline." we'll be back with more news in half an hour. thank you for watching. bye-bye.

lisbon at 20 degrees.ooking at athens reaching up to 21 degrees, but with wintry mix precipitation here in moscow at 3 degrees. here is your extended forecast. >>> and that's our broadcast for this hour on "newsline." we'll be back with more news in half an hour. i'm michio kijima in tokyo. thank you so much for watching. bye-bye.

out to the west and central portions, clear skies and lisbon looking at 25 degrees.ere's our extended forecast. >>> that's our broadcast for this hour on "newsline." we'll be back with more news in half an hour. i'm michio kijima in tokyo. thank you for watching. bye-bye.