he helped found a group called "raqqa is being slaughtered silently." it's made up of 27 activists who report on the horrors that take place there. >> isis claimed that they are real islam. and they show the islam in a photo. so for me it was a duty for my city first and second to me as a muslem to show that they are not real islam. reporter: he hopes this kind of documentation will make young people question isis propoganda. >> anyone who is thinking to join or to go to syria to join isis, he will think more than one time. and maybe a lot of them decide not to go because of what they saw and what they read. reporter: he came to berlin as a refugee in 20-14. -- 2014. as well as receiving welfare, he also gets support from international organisations. the 24-year-old used to study biology in raqqa and comes from a family of academics. he wasn't always political. but the arab spring changed that. he started protesting against the assad regime and the the civil war. and since 2014, he has been fighting against isis at the risk of his own safety. >> they tr

it all comes back to raqqa. reporter: in terms of the work that you did, special operations missions to take out leadership, take out bad guys through the area. what's your sense of what the reality is in terms of people like you on the ground doing that right now? that's the reality right now is we don't have much human intelligence. we don't have enough people in the ground to tell us what's going on. there are special operations targeting high-value individuals but were going to need more of a big push to get all the low-level guys through there. we take out a leader here and there, it would be great to get out i dottie on a mission raid but were going to need to take out, there's a lot of people in there. were goingto not need a lot of people to go in there and fight . reporter: thanks to you we got bin laden and many other high-value targets and we hope the people who can carry out the kind of work that you did have a leeway to do that. rob, good to see you. reporter: a defense secretary testifying on a fre

the mosul and in syria, the raqqa. >> when we talk about raqqa, there are claims circulating within the past three or four hours saying we will be able to push on as far as raqqa. is that really a probability? >> it is a probability, however it's too much difficult now. if you are going to raqqa, you are going to need, you know, the air power and we know what happens with the russians. more over, you need the personnel. you need lot of personnel and more than 100,000 troops and the regime doesn't have this kind of number. moreover, when you want to take raqqa, we've seen what happened at are a mad did i, so to take it, it is going to be like kobane and like total destruction of the city. i think that major contain to contain raqqa, to cut the line of commune be occasion since the gains made by the kurds, the gains made by the regime is really to cut it off and then there will be after a look of political solution is made between the russians and americans. >> when you talk about strategic depth there on the part of the government and the government forces out of damascus, if isil is now

the same thing with raqqa. so, it isn't something that's going to happen in the deep, deep future.people have confused maybe when would mosul be secure with when will operations start. i would tell you both in terms of the cyber capabilities the secretary spoke about, as well aspirations to cut the line of communications and begin to go after some of the targets in and around mosul, those operations have already started. >> a question for general dunford on that. a different topic, which is afghanistan. given the taliban's resurgent activity in helmund and kabul and the kunar province, are you considering the possibility that toward the end of this year, going to need to keep more americançnoñ troops there doinge than currently planned? >> what i would say is in many ways what happened this summer wasn't that surprising when you think about the difficulty and the political transition of the last two years. when we looked at this in 2013, we assumed a certain progression of ministerial capacity, core level capabilities, intelligence enterprise, special operations and aviation, and m

carter saying it makes it more difficult for isil to travel between raqqa and mosul.e says in syria and iraq, we are seeing the shaping of the fight yet to come. he was basically saying -- flanked there by the joint cs

focusing on the power centers in raqqa and mosul.pport recently took the town of shadadi, repelled counterattacks and severed the main artery between syria and northern iraq. and as a result, it's become much harder for isil's leaders and forces to travel between raqqa and mosul. i'm also pleased to see that iraqi security forces have moved from their staging base and are advancing to new positions as part of the early stages of operations to collapse isil's control over mosul. the u.s. marines we've seen near this place where staff sergeant cardin gave his life are providing artillery fire at the request of the iraqis to help support the isf advance against the enemy and protect their forces. so in both syria and iraq, we're seeing important steps to shape what will become crucial battles in the months to come. as our partners move forward, we're continuing to bring relentless pressure on isil commanders in mosul. and we've taken a significant number of actions this week, one of which i've already mentioned. second, we targeted abu

it opens up access to the strongholds and the group's self-declared capitol, raqqa.his report from the turkish/syrian border. >> activists inside palmiera have told al jazeera the government forces are in control of the ancient city. whoever controls that city gives them a vantage point and means in military terms, they will be in control of the city, itself. we have reports isil is putting up a tough fit. we know the government forces are clearing a number of areas. now, the importance of the city palmiera is big for the regime and the russians because it connects another strong hold to the north and to the east. there is an isil, mostly an isil stronghold. >> palmiera is more than 200 kilometers to damascus. it used to be home to 50,000 syrians before isil took control in may of last year. it is a victory for assad due to cultural and strategic value. here are more details. >> reporter: a significant advance against isil in syria. according to state media, government forces backed by russian air power have recaptured the ancient city from isil after days of intenti

raqqa is an isil strong hold.u have a road between palmyra and raqqa and that is key for isil, and that's why the government wants to cut that road off. and to the east, you have deir ez-zor, most of that province is under isil control. so again, there is a road from palmyra to deir ez-zor, so that is a supply route for isil, and that's why i think the government wants to cut that off. not only the government, but i think their allies the russians. because remember, russia when it entered this war -- or started this military campaign, it declared its target was to target terrorism in syria. this is what they say, of course. >> and we are nominally in a cessation of hostilities period. paint us a picture of what is going on in syria under this umbrella of cessation of hostilities. >> reporter: well, the cessation of hostilities has surprising to everyone, contrary to their expectations has largely held. there are serious violations, but when you compare them to the level of violence prior to this cessation of hosti

heart land of raqqa to the east, mohamed al jazeera. >>> more on the story and joined by retired u.s. mark from washington d.c., good to have you with us on this program. a significant victory for assad and his forces, they say a significant victory for the russians as well. >> that is true. they were able to concentrate their forces against the i.s.i.l. elements around palmyra because all the other rebel forces had signed on to the ceasefire so that allowed the russians and the government forces to concentrate in that area and it's not surprising that they are able to retake palmyra. >> proving he can tackle, can fight and can beat i.s.i.l. does this now strengthen assad's negotiating position when it comes to talking about the future of syria? >> well i think it does. it is clear he is retaking more and more of syria, many would like syria to be broken up like former yugoslavia but the more particularly during the ceasefire period and the more land he can take the stronger position he will be in the in egg in negotiations and peace talks. >> russia will play a bigger part in those p

n iraq and syria, focusing on its power centers in raqqa and mosul.a, motivated local forces that we support recently took o. repelled isil counter attacks and ultimately severed the main artery between syria and northern iraq. as a result it has become much harder for isil's leaders and forces to travel between raqqa and mosul. i'm also pleased to see that iraqi security forces have moved from their staging base at machmor and are advancing into new positions as part of early stages of operations to collapse isil's control over mosul. the u.s. marines we've sent mere machmor where staff sergeant cardin gave his life are now providing artillery fire at request of the iraqis to support the isf advance against the enemy and protect their forces. so in both syria and iraq, we're seeing important steps to shape what will become crucial battles in the months to come. as our partners move forward we're continuing to bring relentless pressure on isil commanders in mosul and we have taken a significant number of actions this week, one of which i already menti

a number about people are calling for carpet bombing of areas in raqqa, in and around raqqa where we know isis has a lot of its headquarters. could you do that without unacceptable civilian damage? >> well, no, absolutely not. carpet bombing with the 20th century technique designed when prosecution of war was totally different. we made war against germany not only to defeat their military but roosevelt and churchhill made a very tough strategic decision to make war against the german people so that they would never give rise to the kind of idealogical movement that naziism was, that led to so many million deaths, close to 100 million. in the 21st century we would never prosecute a war like that. we tried to protect civilians from the instruments of war as best we can. we don't need to use so-called dumb bombs like we did in world war ii. we have precision guided munitions and we use those very surgeally to take out targets. the problem we have, this is not a nation-state that has infrastructure that we saw initially in afghanistan with the taliban or in kosovo, in yugoslavia, the for

these appear to be operationally directed by the isis leadership in raqqa. catherine n.: i suppose the next question is how can those links europe be broand there has beenken. -- be broken. there has been talk about cracking down on finance. learly, they obtained guns and -- robin: the answer is to defeat isis abroad. defeating isis in the middle east helps bring security to europe. it is only this caliphate it has in iraq and syria that gives it any sense of legitimacy. we really need to figure out a way of taking away that terror -- in order to increase -- increased security in the west. catherine n.: thank you very from thein simcox, margaret thatcher center for freedom in washington, d.c. live pictures from brussels right now. the picture hardly changing since 24 hours ago. hundreds of people spontaneously gathering there in this central brussels square. you can see they have laid out flowers, candles, other tributes. belgium is observing the first of three days of national mourning. thousands of belgians stood in silence earlier in tribute to the victim

. >> did you see raqqa fulling this year, taken away from isil. >> limiting the freedom of movement. i can't put a time line on it. i can say we were working closely with indigenous forces. >> the likelihood of raqqa falling between now and the election is remote. >> again, i haven't put a time line on it. the state department says the declaration would have little practical effect. the u.s. treating isil even without the formal designation. it's a specific meaning. it's not just killing people, but doing it with a religious group in whole or in part. secretary of state john kerry called for an independent investigation to document the atrocities so all is accountable in the future. >> jamie mcintyre at the pentagon. now to the peace talks. to release thousands of imprisoned people. both sides in the war is have detainees, numbers on the government side are higher. the issue has been added to the work from human task force. nothing is more important to get out some groups in particular. women and children. and the sick and the wounded among the detainees. so, yes, we are hopeful to m

donnelly: let me ask, how do we get to raqqa?t question is, and there is no index date -- exact date, but if you have an idea of how we get this done and eliminate isis presence on the ground, because it creates a danger to us. joseph dunford: one thing i would say is we are already isolating raqqa right now. we have made progress in a limiting the movement and cutting the line of communication between iraq and syria. a to thelimited raqqq north, and other lines and communication. we have grown the capability and compassion of indigenous forces supporting syria quite a bit. had i testified quite a month ago, we had 2500 arabs inside the syrian democratic forces. today we have 25,000. we are planning another operation that will further isolate -- sen. donnelly: do you see that number continuing to grow significantly? .oseph dunford: senator, i do the more successfully have and we always said we wanted, the more success as the secretary described as a snowball effect. people want to join because they see the level of support we are

. >> do you see raqqa falling this year, taken away from i.s.i.l.? >> we're focused on isolating raqqa, limiting the enemy's movement. i can't put a timeline, but we are working closely with indigenous forces on the ground to isolate and then-- >> do you agree raqqa is likely to fall between now and the election is pretty remote? >> again, i haven't put a timeline on it. >> reporter: the state department says the declaration will have little practical effect in the ongoing war against i.s.i.l. because the u.s. is already treating i.s.i.l. as a genocidal, even without the formal delegation. genocide has a specific meaning. it is not just killing vast numbers of people, but doing it with the intent to destroy an ethnic or religious group in whole or in part. john kerry has called for an investigation to document i.s.i.l.'s alleged atrocities so that all perpetrators can be held accountable in the future >>> thank you for that. now to the talks to geneva and the push for the bashar al-assad regime to release thousands of people it is holding behind bars

what choice will the people of homs have, stay there or move to the sunni quarter in raqqa. clearly it is an open question whether i.s.i.l. would still be there. what it would do would play very much to the point of the syrian foreign minister that the integrity needs to be respected and there is a red line over bashar al-assad >>> the syria's main negotiator says bashar al-assad must leave before the conflict is resolved. >> translation: we continue it can only begin when bashar al-assad is death or stands down >>> all parties have been called to on to unite. >> reporter: fighting in syria two weeks into a partial ceasefire agreed by many sides in the war, but not all. inactivists video they say they're taking the area from allied forces. aleppo said they had been hit by government air strikes. >> translation: military planes launched air strikes on friday morning after prayers. >> reporter: there is less violence in other parts of the country. in idlib people felt safe enough to on come out into the streets. there have been protests against the government since the ceasefi

. >> northern aleppo to raqqa and homs in the center but it has been diverse in recent years.s have fled from homs what was once their stronghold. raqqa is now the capitol of the islamic state of i iraq and the levante and syrian opposition groups say the will to re-moore bashar al-assad in western countries including the united states contributed to losses and the strongest groups fighting in syria either pledged allegiance to aisle or al-qaeda and many syrian soldiers and offices defected early on but the free syrian army had limited success in responding to the government's brutal actions. more organized groups like el nusra front and others were able to take large parts from government forces but dozens of other groups have also sprung up including some that are terrorist organizations. those who left syria joined others in exile for a democratic front for a democratic opposition and at first the coordination committee started documenting the fight and casualties to join a group of leaders in exile who formed a council and faced with criticism of not being inclusive enough

stronghold of dazur and the group's self declared capitol of raqqa and more from mohamed. >> reportert advance against i.s.i.l. in syria. according to state media government forces backed by russian air power have recaptured the ancient city of palmyra from i.s.i.l. after days of intense fighting. while there has been no independent confirmation the syrian observatory for human rights said that by sunday morning the bulk of i.s.i.l. forces in the city had retreated. >> translator: following a series of large-scale operations our units operating on the eastern country side of homs backed by the syrian and russian airforces fulfilled their mission successfully in the city of palmyra. they gained control over the surrounding mountains and ridges and killed large numbers of i.s.i.l. tear rests and destroyed their bunkers and military gear. >> reporter: i.s.i.l. took over palmyra also a unesco world heritage site last may and began a campaign of destroying ancient sites and staging mass excuses. known as the bride of the desert palmyra used to attract tens of thousands of tourists a year b

do you have enough right now to assist in your plans to be able to retake mosul and raqqa? >> the approach that we have used and will continue to use senator as you know is to use the indigenous forces to conduct the operations on the ground and enable those forces with our aerial fires and other enablers. as we look towards raqqa and mosul clearly there will be things that we will want to do to increase the capability of that, to be able to increase the pace of operations and apple were choir some additional capability. we have gone through and done some analysis to see what types of things we need to provide and we have made those recommendations. >> could you share those recommendations with this committee? >> no sir i would not care to do so because i've just provided those to my leadership. >> that but you have made recommendations and you are awaiting a response to your recommendations at this time? >> yes it will work its way up the chain. >> if you are allowed to have more ground troops what would be the capabilities that you could accomplish or what could you accom

carter saying it makes it more difficult for isil to travel between raqqa and mosul. he says in syria and iraq, we are seeing the shaping of the fight yet to come. he was basically saying -- flanked there by the joint chiefs of staff -- they have targeted the main isil person responsible for recruiting new isil fighters as well. we'll go back to this news conference and get a real sense of what they feel they have achieved. >> we're not reluctant jennifer. what we track is the number that are in our force management level. that's 3800. but this is nothing inconsistent with what has been going on for 15 years. those have not been counted -- in other words there is a consistency that have has going on for the last 15 years. when units rotate, for example, we don't double count those numbers. so if a unit of 200 is being replaced by a unit of 200, we don't count those as 400. we're not denying there are more than 3800. but in terms with the number we count, the 3800 was what is in the mission. i didn't say 5,000 was accurate. i said 3800 and some number above that on any

as i have said, our campaign plan is first and foremost, to collapse isil's parents in raqqa and mosul. they recently took a town, repelled isil's counterattacks, and severed the main artery between syria and northern iraq. as a result, it has become much harder for isil's leaders and forces to travel between raqqa and mosul. i am also pleased to see iraqi soldiers have advanced to new positions as part of the early stages of operations to collapse isil's control over mosul. the u.s. marines we have sent, where staff sergeant cardiff gave his life, are now providing artillery fire through the crest of the iraqi's, against the enemy, protecting forces. in both syria and iraq, we are seeing important steps to shape what will become crucial battles in the months to come. as our partners move forward, we are continuing to bring relentless pressure on isil commanders and mosul. and we have taken significant actions at week, one i have mentioned. second, we targeted a top leader charged with paying fighters in iraq. next, we targeted a number of associates involved in external plotting and t

. >> dozens of people are dead in the northern syrian town of raqqa, after air strikes hit it today. initial reports point to syrian or russian planes being on the air strikes. coming on the heels of the announcement by russia of pulling back their forces. >>> syrian kurds have declared a federal region in the northern part of the country. split between iraq, syria and turkey but have never had their own recognized country. the declaration was met with immediate opposition. >> translator: for us, we totally oppose it. syrian people with free will are the future of this country. the only constructors of government. >> other groups have come out strongly against the kurds' move including turkey and the syrian regime. joining us now is ambassador peter galbraith. he is the former advisor to kurdistan regional government. first of all what do you make sir of this announcement today, what i suppose it amounts to a declaration of independence. >> oh, not at all. the syrian kurds have declared a federal region which is meant to be part of syria. they're hoping that in the peace talks that a

, then you are back to a situation where the caliphate doesn't have a center of gravity. >> raqqa being the center of government for i.s.i.l. in syria. what would you like to see? >> that we could have more troops there now, not engage enn combat but ready, that tal afar, that is place you could put u.s. troops to shore up defensive borders. everyone i spoke to in the military thinks we can and should do more. not necessarily getting involved in combat. >> defeating them there is the only thing that will prevent terrorism abroad. thanks mike lyons. >> in bell july, police arrested three peopl -- in belgium police arrested three people be associated with the attacks. glrk man refused to comply with the police request to remove his rucksack. so they shot him. those who witnessed the incident gave their reactions. >> translator: we heard a boom. we thought it might be a car accident. we then heard a second boom and saw loads of heavily armed police. when we tried to get close they told us to get out of the way. >> translator: we were asked to stay indoors all the time it was going on becau

>> similar to raqqa i do not put it timeline on it. i would emphasize that operations against -- >> is taking muzzle going to be more difficult than what we had to do in 20045 spinning significantly more. >> if you take muzzle without 14,000 american military members, does it make it even more significantly different? >> senator, it is a coalition forces issue. right now we have identified over 12 a grade directly security forces, additional forces grade directly security forces, additional forces and we are in the process of generating sunni forces. the ideas that we will isolate muzzle until the conditions are set for those forces to be successful in securing muzzle. >> finally, between 20162016 and 2021, the next five-year window, we talk about what is happened since 2011 until now. generally speaking, is our national security threats, do they maintain at this level, go up, go down, what can americans expect in the next five years in terms of threats of a kind should we have? >> i would assess based on a trajectory we see today, i d

isil is mostly in control this and alleges to the north toward raqqa, another stronghold for isil. they are keen to cut those supply roots for isil. >> thank you for that update. >>> let's give you a little bit more background on how we actually got here. isil's destruction of palmyra's ancient architecture made headlines around the world last year but it's world heritage status is not the only reason it is important. there was a prison in palmyra where political prisoners were toureddured. isil blew up the prison last may. it is an important gain for the government. we have more. >>> a significant advance against isil in syria. according to state media, government pores backed by russian air power have recaptured the ancient city of palmyra from isil after days of intense fighting. while there has been no independent confirmation, the syrian observatory for human rights said that by sunday morning, the bulk of isil forces in the city had retreated. >> following a series of large scale operations, our units operating on the eastern countryside of homs, backed by the syrian and russ

raqqa is the capital now of islamic state in iraq and the levant. syrian opposition groups say the lack of will to move president bashar al-assad by western countries, including the u.s., contributed to their losses. the strongest groups fighting in syria are the ones that have either pledged allegiance to i.s.i.l. or al-qaeda. many syrian soldiers and officers defected early on but the kraegts of the free syrian army had limited success in response to the government's brutal actions. more organised groups like al-nusra were able to take large parts from government forces. dozen of other groups have sprung up including some declared as terrorist organizations. those who left syria joined others in exile to form a diplomatic front. committees documented the casualties, joined by a syrian national council, faced with criticism of not being inclusive enough another body called the syrian national coalition was formed under the pray electronage of gulf around western countries. none of those so-called embral agroups in sway over the fighting on the grou

particularly in raqqa. we'll see if there's political will for that.uys, thank you very much for that. >>> some university students lashing out over these pro-trump chalkings on campus, claiming that it caused them, get this, pain and anxiety. really? we'll be right back. >>> terrified of trump, chalkings. some students at the university of georgia are saying that these chalkings make them feel unsafe and unwelcome and got the university president to address their concerns. we're going to get to the statements by the student body president and the university president in a moment. but first, ashley pratt, what is going on here and jessica, i'll let you start to explain what the heck is going on. is this that safe sdploen stuzo? >> listen, i mean, if you're scared of the word trump it's going to be a really long few months. >> or life. are you kidding me? >> let's hope it's over sooner rather than later. what i would say, there's more to the story and we know that they also -- it was chalk that said "build a wall" and trump is intentionally provocative.

the recapture drinks forces closer to raqqa. it's an important gain for the government. we have more. >> a significant advance against isil in syria. according to state media government forces backed by russian air power. they have recaptured the ancient area of isil after days of intense fighting. while there has been no independent confirmation, the bulk of isil forces had retreated. >> following a series of large scale operations, our units operating on the countryside of homs, backed by the syrian forces pull filled their mission. they gained control over the surrounding mountains and ridgion and killed large numbers of isil terrorists and destroyed their bunkers and military gear. >> isil took over palmyra, also a unesco world heritage site last may and began destroying ancient sites and staging mass excuses. known as the bride of the desert, palmyra used to attract tens of thousands of tourist as year before the conflict began. the city isn't known simply for its beautiful ruins. a prison complex is there. it was one of syria's most feared detention centers, housin

. >> we're focused on raqqa. we can't tell you when it will fall. we're working with indigenous forces on the ground. >> do you think that raqqa falling between now and the vote is remote? >> i couldn't tell you right now. >> the u.s. is already treating isil as a genocidal group even without the former designation. genocide has a very specific meeting. it's not just killing vast numbers of people. it's doing it with the intent to destroy ethnic or religious group in whole or in part. secretary kerry has called to document isil's alleged atrocities so that all perpetrators could be held accountable in the future. >> jamie thank you. north korea tonight is continue to go escalate tensions with the west. it fired a ballistic missile off its coast traveling some 500 miles before falling into the water. meanwhile, the state department said that it has been able to establish contact with that american student in prison in north korea. he was sentenced yesterday to 15 years of hard labor. the 21-year-old was convicted of crimes against the state for steal

hussein and his family say they are so desperate they want to go back to syria, even controlled by raqqa, now they find themselves sharing a tent with dozens of others. >> going back to syria is better than staying here even though our house has been destroyed and we sold everything to pay for our journey. we escaped death there but here we are dying. send us back. >> idomeni is the latest flash point in the european refugee crisis, more and more losing hope, zeina khodr acknowledge al jazeera, idomeni. >>> meanwhile, estonia latvia and lithuania, these pictures show latvia's new fence with russia. it says it needs $80 million to deal with the incoming migrants. time for an official break here ot al jazeera. when we come back, we'll look at a project that will destroy part of a pakistani city. plus. >> a dying generation of traditional musicians are working dispriment to preserve their art. art. >> welcome back, a quick reminder of the top stories here on al jazeera. in what's being called a major set back for i.s.i.l, the u.s. says it killed the man in charge of its finances. refugees o

could be on the verge of losing palmyra, after that raqqa could be targeted, the de facto capital, at the same time iraqi forces are saying that they are launching an offensive to retake the strategic city of mosul in that country. as a group loses ground does it become more dangerous for europe? >> it does. one has to be very cautious listening to what is coming out. they have controlled areas since december. we have learnt that i.s.i.l. actually has units in and around ramadi. i think the idea that mosul will be taken easily in the coming weeks and raqqa is under threat is basically just not true. i think one has to be careful about that >>> we have to treat those reports with caution and certainly the offensive to retake mosul is going to be a big job and many say it won't happen this year. nevertheless, what we're hearing from u.s. government forces and others that i.s.i.l. are losing territory in both iraq and sir yap combined and losing more and more fighters. as they come under pressure in those countries, do they become more desperate to essentially show that they are still re

. >> dozens of people have been killed in a series of airstrikes in the northern syrian city of raqqa. it's an ill stronghold and the target of syrian government and russian attacks. the syrian observatory for human rights say 39 people guid died on saturday. air raids hit a hospital, former army base and other neighborhoods. >>> palestinian ministry of health said that a teenager was killed near the disputed ibrahim mosque in hebron. the man tried to stab a soldier before being shot dead. there has been continuing violence in the region since october with 204 palestinians and 29 israelis killed. >> vetters will head to the polls on sunday to elect a new leader. they're confident that he'll expend his term in office. the opposition office said that the vote is flawed. >> president of the republican of congo for a long time. he has ruled this oil producing nation from 1979 to 1992. after a brief civil war he regained power in 1997. he then went on to win disputed election elections in 2002 and 2009. last year he secured the right to secure a third consecutive term in a constitutional r

. >> do you see raqqa falling this year, taken away from isil? >> senator, we are focusing on isolating raqqa. i can't put a timeline when it will fall. we are working closely with indigenous forces on the ground to isolate and consequently -- >> do you agree with me the likelihood of raqqa falling now between now and the election is pretty remote? >> senator, again, i haven't put a timeline on it. >> mcintire, al jazeera, the penalty gone. >> aed kurdish t.v. channel posted a individual osteo of an american isil fighter who sur enderred to the peshmerga earlier this week in an interview, the man says he regrets his decision to join the group and tried to contact did you everedish forces to help them. >> i didn't really support their ideology. at that point, that's when i decided i needed to escape. >> he is 26 years old. he is reportedly a virginia native. his relatives deny they were part of isil. in geneva, the u.n. special envoy will be meeting separately with members of the syrian government and the opposition. he spent the week trying to wo

are turning up the heat on the terror group.there are inklings of an offensive to retake the city of raqqa, which for the last three years isis has considered its capitol call it an anti-trump rising. including top conservatives are plotting against the republican frontrunner.in his first comments since suspending his presidential campaign -- marco rubio went after donald trump. trump.(sen. marco rubio/ (r) former presidential candidate): "hopefully there's still time to prevent a trump nomination which i think would fracture the party and be damaging to the conservative movement." movement."senator lindsey graham has long been the head of the anti ted cruz movement, but he says he'll play nice if it means stopping trump.and the leaders of nearly two dozen liberal groups signed a letter urging the party to unite against trump.and we already know how hillary and bernie feel. skies will be mostly sunny again tonight and temperatures will be a bit cooler. winds are shifting to the northwest today and this will keep highs in the mid 50s this afternoon. rain returns for saturday with the potent

he died in raqqa. i.s.i.l.'s base of operations in northern syria. he was wounded in a u.s. air strike in a town in syria last week. he was called i.s.i.l.'s minister of war. voting is underway in myanmar to pick the company's president. aung san suu kyi is barred from the role. her party won overwhelming majoritys in both houses in november's election. the pick is a long time confidente of aung san suu kyi and expected to beat the other candidate who is from the military. live to bangkok. wayne hay can tell us more. who is likely to become the president? >> reporter: all signs are that when that vote wraps up in the parliament that it will be the man you mentioned, a 69 year old member of the n.l.d. party. a man with a pretty low-profile, really. certainly internationally. he is close to the party leader and has known her since they went to school together. he is known to be very loyal to her. that's important because while she cannot become president right now, it is believed that the n.l.d. will not give up its hope that she can become president in the future and, in fact

. >> even if it means returning to raqqa which is controlled by i.s.i.l, they have no money left. he sold all he owned to move here. now they share a tent with dozens of others. >> translator: going back to syria is better than staying here, even though our house has been destroyed and we sold everything for our journey. here we are dying. send us back! >> reporter: idomeni is the latest flash point. this is not their intended final destination but it has become that, with more and more losing elosinghope. zeina khodr, al jazeera, idomeni. >> be newspaper editor in chief leaves the istanbul chorus. last may their paper released pictures claiming to prove that be turkey was smuggling arms to turkmen fighters in syria. simply carrying aid. the case was adjourned because occupation fighters refused to leave the hearing, failing to believe that the trial should be held behind closed doors. >> translator: there is a catch 22 situation and there is a political power that is caught in front of the world. they tried and did everything to discover up their situation and to date, the trial

what the terrorists want to do >>> at least 43 people have been killed in a series of air strikes in raqqa. the dead include five children and seven women. the area is an i.s.i.l. stronghold and the target of syrian government and russian attacks. activists say there were at least nine separate air strikes in the north of the province. i.s.i.l. isn't part of the cessation of hostilities which took effect three weeks ago >>> russian [technical difficulties] >>> syria >>> under the controversial plan that comes into effect on sunday, those arriving in greece will be sent back to turkey. our correspondent explains. >> reporter: these refugees have just arrived on the greek island of lesbos, but they're already on the move. buses are taking them to northern greece where they will be housed in refugee centers. it's part of a plan to evacuate the island so-called hot spot registration centers to make space for new rivals. the e.u.-turkey deal states that from sun any refugee arriving in greece will be deported back to turkey. some say they know nothing about the deal. >> translation: there wasn'

after palmyra we'll have to move to the surrounding areas of east ever syria, such as deir ez zor, and raqqa which represents the main stronghold of i.s.i.l. >> are french police have charged the main attack on a foiled attack on the country. reda kirkut has been charged by what officials say is the head of a terrorist groups. assault rifles and home made explosives were allegedly found at his homes. frnbe francoisfrancois hollande: >> the national senate and assembly have not agreed of the stripping of citizenship of terrorists. hostile to all revisions of the constitution with regard to the state of emergency. >> a new political chapter has started in myanmar. after 50 years of military rules, passed to main civilian government, close ally and leader of the national league of democracy, aung san suu kyi, has been appointed to lead a number of key ministries. step vaessen has more. >> after a long and difficult fight for democracy a civilian president is sworn in. witnessing this historic event many who were jailed for years by the military. the new president, tin cho is relatively unknown.

at least 43 people have been killed in a series of air strikes in the northern syrian province of raqqa. the victims include five children and seven women. the area is an i.s.i.l. stronghold and the target of syrian and russian attacks. they were the target of nine attacks in the area. it is not part of the limited truce which took effect three weeks ago >>> elections are taking place across africa on sunday. it is a tense situation in the republic of congo. the president is expected to prolong his term in office. niger is holding its first presidential run off. with the opposition boycotting the vote, the incumbent is more than likely will get a second term. also zansibar getting back to the policies. a referendum is being held in senegal. a close look at these elections. in republic of congo, the government has ordered all telecommunications to be blocked for 48 hours to stop illegal publication of the results. he is seeking to prolong his 32 years of running the country. in october a public referendum removed a two-term limit and an age limit for the presidency. it resulted in protes

> at least 43 people have been killed in a series of airstrikes in the northern syrian province of raqqa. the victims, according to monitoring groups include five children and seven women. the area is an isil stronghold, and the target of syrian government and russian attacks. activists say there are at least nine separate strikes in the area. >>> syrian government forces have retaken control of the mountain near homs. it had previously been held by isil. in eastern homs, isil seized five checkpoints near an oil field while isil took a town near aleppo. >>> greece has begun sending refugees back to turkey. even as the operation begins to remove some people, more are arriving. >> this was supposed to have stopped, bullet boats keep coming in. europe's refugee crisis is far from over. the latest arrivals are refugees from syria. many of them are from the war-torn city of aleppo. they are still making the jane russ journey across the aegean sea to reach the greek islands. the european union hoped that a recent agreement with turkey would discourage asylum seekers, but people who managed to

now of bringing forward recommendations for increased capability as a result of operations in mosul, raqqa and elsewhere. reporter: one reason fewer bombs have been dropped is that last month the air force ordered its t-1 bombers back to their bases in the united states for maintenance. despite flying just three percent of the strike missions againstisis, the b1's have dropped 40 percent of the bombs today. the air force plans to deploy b-52 bombers next month to pick up the pace but in the meantime there is a bomber gap . last night the pentagon announced it had invested in air strikes against an al qaeda camp in yemen killing thousands of fighters. the president has authorized numerous rights against isis and al qaeda training camps outside iraq and syria. defense secretary asked carter will speak at west point and we will bring you highlights. abby: thank you. jon: now to america's election headquarters and the brussels terror attacks. with all the presidential candidates turning their focus to national security as voters went to the polls inkey western states. the issue of national sec

at least 43 people have been killed in a series of air strikes in the northern syrian province of raqqa the dead include five children and seven women. the area is an i.s.i.l. stronghold and the target of syrian government and russian attacks. russian planes have attacked the ancient sit of palmyra. it was by up to 70 air strikes. syria's state news agency say government forces are heading west >>> a political crisis in brazil has divided the country with thousands participating in pro and anti-government rallies. it comes as the supreme court blocks former president lula da silva to a cabinet post >> reporter: this small demonstration to counter the demonstration we saw in this very same spot just a few hours ago by government deporters in favor of the president dilma rousseff and they were addressed by the former president lula da silva. this is a follow on from what happened here last sunday when millions of people crowded the streets of the cities of brazil calling for the impeachment, the removal of the president. at the moment we seem to have demonstration, counter demonstration l

they have controlled in syria since they managed to take raqqa in 2013. and i think their defeat is also another evidence that the russians and the regime is trying to provide by saying look, we are actually the force that can be reckoned with. we are the only available force on the ground that can defeat d.a.e.s.h. and i think the russians and the regime is trying to send the message to the americans to alleviate the pressure. >> you use the word defeat. does this open the door to other areas. to the east, the boarder towards iraq. >> there is a race on the ground. between the syrian regime and the russians, and between the syrian opposition, there are so many fronts against d.a.e.s.h. the syrian opposition is fighting d.a.e.s.h. in the north and is trying to give the impression that they are a force to be reckoned with. >> this strengthens the hand of the regime in its argument. >> i think both sides are trying, as i said, to give the impression that they might be the force which can actually achieve this ultimate objective. especially the americans hav

secretary and chairman have admitted that it is going to be sometime before isil's de facto capitol in raqqaan be lib -- liberated. so it increases the moral imperative. kerry also called for some further investigations, but in terms of the military action on the ground, it doesn't change a lot. >> okay. jamie mcintyre for us at the pentagon. jamie thank you. >>> newly released emails show hillary clinton was denied a government issued smartphone during her time as secretary of state. the emails date back to 2009. she canned for a secured blackberry device. at one point clinton and staffers met with the nsa, but was still denied a phone. after that she started using a primate email servers. >>> absentee ballots in missouri are still being counted. >>> clinton today holds rallies in nashville and atlanta, and while sanders turns his attend towards arizona he'll hold a townhall in flagstaff tonight. [ cheers and applause ] >> a round of applause for senator marco rubio as he arrived in congress this morning. he returned to the senate for the first time since ending his bid for presidency. he s

terrorists want to do >>> at least 43 people have been killed in a series of air strikes in the province of raqqa. the dead include five children and seven women. the area is a stronghold and the target of syrian government and russian attacks. activists say there were at least nine separate air strikes in the north of the province. i.s.i.l. is not part of the cessation of hostilities which took effect three weeks ago. the syrian observe [technical difficulties] salah abdeslam has been charged with terror offences a day after he was arrested in brussels. the 26-year-old will challenge a new european arrest warrant for his extradition to france. >> reporter: a police convoy carrying salah abdeslam arrives at the prison after he was formally charged with participation in terrorist murder. the main suspect in the paris attacks was captured on friday and was likely injured during his arrest. >> translation: he is cooperating with the belgium legal authorities. i can tell you that we refuse extradition. >> reporter: the french authorities have now issued a new european arrest warrant against salah abd

this woman fled raqqa with her six children. school is out of the question for them as well. the youngest is nine, the eldest 13. three of them go out to work in the field every day, but even then it's barely enough. , >> we have to. what else can we do? the children go out at six in -- 6:00 in the morning and come back in the evening, sometimes not until 7:00. we have to survive. >> there are bizarre moments in the camp. a travelling vegetable vendor announces his presence - with the happy birthday melody. nothing he has is for free, but third rate vegetables are at least cheap. still, even they're often too expensive for umm mheidi. >> i don't have any money unfortunately, but he gives them to me on credit. i'll pay him later, as soon as i can. >> here's the account book. look, it's written here. she owes me the equivalent of 200 euros since the fourth of september. >> the international rescue committee, an organisation that helps refugees in lebanon, says parents don't send their children off to work lightheartedly. but poverty and misery often leave them no choice. >> i t