damascus is at the end of the .aravan route from mesopotamia many camel trains enter the city and trail through the winding streets. bazaar streets are covered by arched metal roofs. the name of this one is familiar to all of us. we stopped at a small outdoor .akery the strange manner in which bread is baked interests us. the ball of dough is twirled. when it is large enough, it is placed over a pillar and thrust into an oven. causes it to cling to the hot walls. the pillar is removed. let's watch it again. no, the baker is not wearing gloves. the bread is fresh when bought over-the-counter. it isom a merchant, generally after much handling and when many flies have sampled it. damascus has long been famous for its many oriental coffee houses where men gather in the evening and smoke a turkish waterpipe. the tobacco is placed in the metal top and kept burning by a small piece of charcoal. the smoke is cooled by being drawn through the water in the bowl. we look upon the walls of old jerusalem, walls which have been destroyed and rebuilt many times . there is a modern jerusalem with many

mesopotamia's used oil from cedar and cypress trees and the opium poppy to treat alien -- to treat ailments. ancient chinese, tibetan and indian medicines all prescribed drugs that are mostly plant- based. >> if you are on the medication, particularly for cancer or infectious disease, it's a good chance the medicines that are saving your life would not exist or not for nature. >> most of the medicines we take are made in laboratories today. , their designion and discovery has is directly relied very heavily on molecules' we have discovered in plants, animals, and microorganisms. >> this includes drugs like stanton's which are widely used all over the world. insulin is a natural product. >> there is something that's used against herpes that comes from a marine sponge. there is also a cancer -- an anti-cancer agent that comes from sea squirts. >> the rosy periwinkle, a plant found in nascar, revolutionized the treatment for hodgkin's lymphoma. was found inant the marquetry of and design -- amazon rain forest. morphine was isolated from the opium poppy. aspirin was synthesized from compounds f

including this piece known as the statue, the 150-kilogram bronze relic dates back to the ancient mesopotamiaeriod and one of the few recovered objects put back on display. some of the museum's finest antiquities are not on display at all. they're far from public view. so off limits are the vaults and contents that are safely guarded secrets, we were not allowed anywhere near them. that's because of concerns over iraq's readiness to preserve and predict it's only pressures. iraq advice of isil and years of violent sectarian decisions have all raised questions about the museum's safety. >> my history, and i have to be proud to put these pieces in this gallery, but it's not allowed now. >> it's not just artifacts stored at the museum that are at risk. iraq has 12,000 known archeological sites where samaria, arcadian,en precious sites once stood. many are not protected and have been looted for years. while many artifacts are on display and vaulted away, much of its heritage continues to be under threats. >> you can keep updated by checking out our website. www.aljazeera.com. you can watch us by

if you look at the three most radical islamic groups in mesopotamia, including isis, daesh, whatever you call them, one of the common features for them is a deep conviction that we are in the end times. this is just about the world is about to end. well, when that's your view, it does slightly change your response to people attacking you, because you haven't got a lot to lose. in fact, you've got everything to gain. it's that narrative that needs to be subverted and shown to be false within their own idealogical framework. if we are going to begin to have impact on those groups. >> you have not always been in the church. you started out in the oil industry and you worked in africa. >> you know, i have said sorry for this many, many times. >> well, this is a new audience. tell us a little about that experience and explain how -- >> the oil industry? you dig holes in the ground, black stuff comes up, you plug it, you make money. >> what did you learn from that? >> don't dig the holes in the wrong place. which we did. what did i learn from that. i think that i learned -- well, let's say

the 150-kilogram bronze relic dates back to the ancient mesopotamia period, and now back on display.> some are bricked up in storage rooms far from public view. so off limits are the vaults and the contents such a safely guarded secret, we weren't allowed anywhere near them. >> that's because of concerns over iraq's readiness to preserve and protect its own treasures. the rapid rise of isil and sectarian division have all raised questions about the museum's safety. >> it's not allowed now. >> it's not just artifacts stored at the museum at risk. iraq has 12,000 known archeological sites where ancient islamic sites once stood. many have been looted for years. while some artifacts remain on display or hidden away, much of its ancient heritage continues to be threatened. al jazeera at the iraq museum in baghdad. >> emergency teams are searching for survivors after a huge landslide in northern myanmar. 113 are confirmed dead. 100 others are missing after a mountain of waste near a jade mine collapsed. >> police in nepal shot dead two protestors in the south of the country. there have bee

were looking at one of the earliest natural disasters, this was the epic of gilgamesh written in mesopotamia and it was the story about a flood and a lot of people think this boy original writing or record talks about the flood of noaa so one of the things i thought was interesting was the record of this disaster which we consider to be one of the costliest disasters in u.s. history, natural disasters come as well as one that was the largest hurricane to make landfall in the u.s. needed a record. the whole book is a record of what already exists in the media which is the rough cut of it. the impact on journalism is with climate change, the scale of disasters tripled or ten times worse than what we have seen before because of the way in which we have settled our civilization has evolved, housing and climate change. what does this mean for journalism? initially, 2005 was the time when many newspapers were laying off a lot of journalists. it actually bought time, three years because they may have been on the chopping block the next year for downsizing their most veteran and seasoned journalists

this is not the equilibrium anybody wants to see emerge in mesopotamia that is a lost cause. you start adding a small level to give a coherent strategy if you want to beat isis than understand what comes along with that strategy. >> host: day que very much we will turn over to questions. [applause] , to the microphone behind me. >> they give for that illuminating presentation and. my question maybe so basic is there a difference between the term isis and isil and if not why does the administration continued to use the term isil? [applause] >> guest: roughly speaking, no. historically speaking efp idea that ice is covers more terrain but the fact that we have debates what to call them is the level of stability. [laughter] [applause] when the president of the united states says we must not call them the islamic state to set you call them the islamic state. it doesn't matter. just kill them. get a strategy in place. what is the counter narrative? should be tweet 10 times the day? it is of pressing in the wind. they think this is peak america that also a defeat propaganda unfortu

previous issue, al qaeda central, and not sure how that could create a durable state in mes po mesopotamiathere some group influenced by i.s.i.l. and claiming to be in lock step with them but not really under their control? >> it's true that we really don't understand what's happened here. we know that i.s.i.l. has taken credit for this attack. they've put out a statement that says that they bless the attack, they endorse it, and they've said that soldiers of the caliphate are the ones who have perpetrated it. but does that really mean that they've been sent from on high in i.s.i.l. territory, is this attack something that's been funded, planned from syria or something that freelancers who have been inspired by i.s.i.l. have done? we don't know at this point. >> let's go to eunice p patel. is that the right target or as you have indicated that the french may have been overreacting. >> france was already involved in the war in syria so it's not at all surprising they're going to continue to do that. if they were to pull back at this time that would go very much against the same that holland

they are part of mesopotamia, the cradle of civilization. for 4,000 years, empires have risen and fallen, but syria has remained a commercial crossroads. and this has contributed to a rich cultural mix of ethnicities, customs, and creeds. but the story of modern syria has been a grim one. in 1970, a baathist military leader, hafez al-assad, seized power, ushering in an era of limited modernization accompanied by unlimited repression. in the year 2000, assad was succeeded by his son, bashar, raising hopes for the possibility of greater political openness -- hopes that the new leader chose not to fulfill. it was little wonder, then, that when the sparks of arab spring began to ignite, demands for change were heard in syria. the protests were actually quite modest at first, and they were driven not by sectarian or religious differences, but by the lack of freedom and jobs. the violence only began when assad responded to peaceful demonstrations by sending in thugs to beat up young people. and when the parents of those young people objected -- th

they have the domestic one which has been superimposed on levant and mesopotamia.wo iraqs, one artificially created after world war i. you saw them smashing the berms that designated the boundary between their two states. they said the state is established. the remaining is remaining and expanding. the mujahedeen from all around must integrate, populate the caliphate, have babies, spawn, young child soldiers of the caliphate, women should come and breed here. the second part is the foreign expeditionary part. they see themselves as a state. we like to say in the united states they have nothing to do with the united states. >> rose: they're simply killers. >> yes, and i think that's false. they see themselves as a state. i got back from turkey and interviewed a defector. "jihadi john" was a member of the same security branch. this guy said, look, you have two towns in aleppo. they run a city administration in al-bob, collect taxes, inspect restaurants to make sure sanitary standards are met. they have a penal code, you can take somebody to sharia court if they have

of damascus among the oldest continuously inhabited city is in the face of the earth as part of mesopotamia the cradle of civilization empires have risen and fallen and syria is a commercial crossroads. this is attributed to rich cultural mix the story of modern syria. to usher in the era of limited modernization ended the year 2000 assad was succeeded by his son raising hopes that the new leader chose not to fulfill. from the sparks of the arab spurring begin to ignite not by religious differences by the lack of freedom and jobs that is all they win assad and responded to peaceful demonstrations to send in thugs to beat up people when they objected and took to the streets themselves every she replied with bullets having made peaceful change then assad made war inevitable. this gave rise to 86 the gravest extremist rabbi our generation and the embodiment of evil and the results is four and a half years of nonstop or. one in 20 has been wounded or killed when and by as a refugee one at of two has been displaced the average life expectancy dropped by 20 years 80 percent of electricity has bee

the 150-kilogram bronze relic dates back to the mesopotamia period. >> some antiquities are bricked upview. off limits are the vaults and contents such a safely guarded secret, we weren't allowed near them. >> that's because of concerns over iraq's readiness to preserve and protect its open treasures. the rapid rise of isil and sectarian divisions have all raised questions about the museum's safety. >> it's my history. i have to be proud to put these pieces in this gallery, but it's not allowed now. >> it's not just artifacts stored at the museum at risk. iraq has 12,000 known archeological sites where ancient sites once stood. many are not protected and have been looted for years. while some of iraq's artifacts remain on display or hidden away, much which its ancient heritage continues to be threatened. al jazeera at the iraq museum in baghdad. >> one of the world's last remaining northern white rhinos has died. nola was a 41-year-old fee maim living in the san diego zoo. sunday, she was put down due to a bacterial infection and age related infections. there are only three northern wh

they are part of mesopotamia, the cradle of civilization, for 4000 years empires have risen and fallenas remained a commercial crossroads. this has contributed to a rich cultural mix of ethnicities, customs and creeds. but the story of modern syria has been a grim one. 1970, a baathist military leader a la senate seize power ushering in an era of limited modernization accompanied by unlimited oppression. -- in the year 2000 he was succeeded by his son bashar a sucker raising hopes to the possibly of greater political openness, hopes the new leader chose not to fulfill. it was little wonder then that when the sparks of arab spring begin to ignite, demands for change were in syria. the protests are actually quite modest at first and they were driven not by sectarian or religious differences but by the lack of freedom and jobs. the violence only begin when assad responded to peaceful demonstrations by sending in dogs to be of young people. and when the parents of those young people objected -- thugs. and they took to the streets themselves, the regime replied with bullets and then with bo