rory challands has more from moscow. >> reporter: strategic partners was how this man described syria in russia and the country's foreign ministers were certainly speaking with one voice on friday. >> translator: isis militants receive free weapons and passage. we are talking about militants from several countries.

rory challands joining us from moscow. to just comment, as well, rory on what are the main points that you've heard and the main message that we can take away from this press conference being held by the foreign ministers? >> what lavrov really was talking about or setting out was a general platform and then some more specifics. you touch on one of the specifics there involved in the vienna process and the vienna process was agreed a couple of weeks ago, there was a press conference afterwards between lavrov and john kerry. they spoke together saying there were various things that needed to happen over the coming months in syria to work towards some sort of durable lasting peace. primarily, these were new elections, a new constitution and intrasyrian dialogue and only the syrians, they both said, could finally decide their own future. the first point, the first thing that needs to happen in this process is the dialogue between the government and the opposition. now, they have until the end of the year to make the conditions

rory challands is there for us. president putin expressing his anger over this incident, rory. don't know whether you can hear me. >> yes, i missed your question. >> i was saying how president putin earlier had expressed his anger over this incident. >> reporter: yes, he has. and he used very, very powerful language. language picked up by the russian media. now they are leading their bulletins with the phrase stabbed in the back. it's the language that putin was using was the language of someone who feels deeply betrayed by a person or a friend. and is struggling to work out what happened. so vladimir putin is now saying that this -- this attack, really, on -- on -- on a russian military asset, a plane, was done by turkey. turkey is now being called an accomplice of terrorism. it is saying turkey's first response was to run to nato, rather than talking to russia. run to nato, as if it wanted to get nato as well to start supporting isil. because from the russian perspective, it has been taking on isil for months now. and any act that is aggressive act against russia, must be sup

rory challands, al jazeera, moscow. >> coming up. ban the box, leveling the playing field for ex-cons looking for work, but moderates says it puts an unfair burden on them. >> today, marks the unofficial kick jofer tkickoff to the holig season. online sales continue to tick up. analysts say web-buying is up 25% since last thanksgiving and the numbers are big. consumers spend $1.7 billion online. >>> unemployment it's lowest at 5.7%. but finding a job is still difficult. there is a growing movement to try to level the playing field called banning the box. lisa stark reports. >> reporter: getting a job is often cause for celebration. but especially here, at a meeting of a baltimore group called turn around tuesday. those who traditionally have trouble finding work. >> something was on my criminal record that prevented me from getting a job. >> michael marshall's rap sheet tells the story. 31 years in and out of prison for drug dealing, robbery and assault. he's been out and clean for six years with one goal. >> it's frustrating, it's a

as al jazeera am rory challands reports, syria is the main topic of discussion. >> a jam packed to tehran for vladimir putin. speaking at the gas exporters summit meeting with the supreme leader from iran, ali khamenei and also president rouhani. we have been told by the russian kremlin spokesperson, dimitri peskov, this was a long conversation, went on 1.5 hours, longer than they planned for. trade, bilateral negotiations and of course syria. we know had a these two men broadly agreed on the inadmissibility they called it of imposing a political settlement on syria from outside. this is a revenues to what the iranians and the russians think the west is trying to do. they both agree that no one can tell the syrians which form of government and which leader they must choose. this is what they agreed on. what this doesn't say is what they disagreed on. this is what western governments will be looking for, any sign that this cozy relationship between moscow and tehran has any friction in it. mainly they want to see any sign of friction over their commitment to the faith of assad. >> that is

rory challands told us about the latest developments. >> reporter: the two discussing the ways -- practicalat they are finding to push the vienna process forward. the vienna process is the means by which hopefully some kind of political resolution will be achieved in syria. the first of the things to find a way of creating the environment for intra-syrian dialogue, dialogue between the government and the opposition forces. now [ inaudible ] was saying that damascus has already come up with the list of representatives that it is going to be having at these talks. it's now up to the opposition forces to come up with a political platform, but also decide on who they are going to be sending to discuss things with the government. >> rory there are also continuing tensions over turkey's downing of that russian military jet near the syrian border earlier this week. i imagine the syrians and russians are on the same page on that issue. >> reporter: absolutely. they say turkey is a supporter of terrorism and it does that, they said, by a number of different things. it does that by funding and suppor

more the latest reaction from moscow let's speak to rory challands. it didn't take long for them to come back with a response in these accusations. remind us of what he said. >> yes, well, he said that well, essentially from the press here, the calls for russia to be banned from athletics not objective because the organizations management was changed in the spring after the cases were detailed in this report. while there have been cases of doping in russia athletics, he said he doesn't think this is systemic in nature. but he wasn't the first person to react to this from a russian federal organization. actually, the first body that came out to speak about this was not to do the sport at all. it's an agency called the federal medical biological agency, and they were very--they had come out with damning reports with recommendations to disqualify russians from the athletics is politically motivated. someone who we not heard from yet is the sports minister. he was mentioned in the report and mentioned in the press conference by dick pound. he did speak ye

let's go to rory challands live for us now in moscow.irst, perhaps of many heads to roll, and we're expecting an official statement from russian authorities pretty soon, i understand. >> reporter: well, actually this will be i think the second head to roll, if it does go, and it's probably very likely that it will. a bit of background on this man. he was essentially the man who built up the russian athletics federation. he was the president of the organization from 1991, so a long time ago, up until february of this year. he resigned in the wake of the doping scandal that erupted after the germans made this documentary, the ard channel made a documentary, which was -- the thing that basically caused or triggered the wider doping report. so he stepped down from the russian athletics federation position of chairman, but he kept a position on the executive committee of the russian olympic committee. now that is what he is supposed to be resigning under their recommendations right now. he is also interestingly on the treasury -- he is the tr

rory challands reports. >> speaking with one voice in moscow on friday. >> translator: i.s.i.s. militants receive weapons and free passage. they don't have to use parachutes. we are talking about militants from several questions. turkey made the step to shoot down the russian jet because it supports and encourages those terrorists. >> reporter: they were meeting to discuss practical steps for pushing forward vienna process, the mechanism they hope will find a political settlement for syria. >> we have agreed that a list of terrorist groups that will be secluded from any political negotiations needs to be drafted. then vienna needs to go through the u.n. security council. it is absolutely clear that without it political peace talks between moderate opposition and the syrian government cannot take place. >> reporter: in southern russe were military funerals. alexander was the pilot shot dead parachuting to the ground are viewed as heroes in russia. not in turkey, these protesters are calling russia's military murderers. putin is depicted as a vampire. recep tayyip erdogan has accu

let's go to rory challands in moscow.y, after years of innuendo and rumors it is all moving quickly, isn't it? >> reporter: it does seem to be gathering pace. there was one head that rolled earlier in the week. he ran the laboratory in moscow that is at the heart of the allegations contained in the wider report. he resigned. now it looks like we're going to have another resignation. a bit of background on him. he was basically the head of the russian athletics federation for more than two decades from 1991 until february of this year. he was the president of the athletics federation here. he resigned after the german documentary, made by ard was aired, which criticized him very heavily. he decided in the wake of that, that he was going to step down. he did keep a position on the executive committee of russia's olympic committee. it's this position that he is essentially being instructed or recommended to resign from. he also interestingly has a position as the treasurer for the iaaf, the national association of athletics

even the russian security operators were involved in this process. >> rory challands. thank you. >> meeting at the white house, and the focus will be on combating isil as well as israel's security. the talks come as violence has escalated in israel and the occupied palestinian territories during the past five weeks. >> i want to be very clear that we condemn in the strongest terms palestinian violence against innocent israeli citizens. the strong believe that israel has not just the right but the obligation to protect itself. i also will discuss with prime minister his thoughts on how we can lower the temperature in the--between israeli and palestinians, and how we can get back on a path towards peace. >> i remain committed to a vision of peace, two states for two peoples. a demilitarized palestinian state that recognizes a jewish state. i don't think that anybody should doubt israel's determination to defend itself against terror and destruction, but neither should anybody doubt israel's willingness to make peace with any of its neighbors who genuinely want to achieve

. >> let's go live now to al jazeera's rory challands. tell us what the russian federal security chief has been saying, calling for the suspension of flights to egypt. >> this is a significant development in the on going investigation into the crash of the metro jet plain in sinai. early on today, there was an emergency security meeting held in moscow. it was chaired by the president vladimir putin and out of that meeting, there was this new line, a new advisory if you will, from the head of the federal security era, the f.s.b. in terms of russian security matters, there aren't many people higher than this man. what he called for was for flights to egypt to be suspended. he considered it expedient to suspend flights until the true cause of the sinai air crash can be established. he said that there was the utmost importance in being completely objective and looking at all the data. now remember that this is something that the u.k. has already done, and following this decision of the united kingdom to suspend flights to the sinai, the russi

. >>> rory challands has more now on the meeting between the russian and syrian foreign ministers. >>ter: syria's foreign minister called russia and syria strategic partners, and they certainly were singing from the same hymn sheet here. they were talking about how they were going to try to move the peace process, the political resolution for syria forward. it's called the vienna process, and involves a certain number of different stages. the first of these, really, is trying to get the environment right for what they call an intra-syrian dialogue. now that basically means the government and the opposition talking together. now this has to happen by the end of this year, so not very far away. damascus says it already has a list of its representatives that will be engaged in these talks. the onus is on the opposition to come up with a political platform, and second of all, its own list of representatives to engage in these talks. that's not going to be an easy thing because of the different factions involved in the disparate opposition movement. one of the other things they are talking

as rory challands reports from moscow, the russians are coming out fighting. >> reporter: rain fell on olympic complex on tuesday, fitting weather for the current mood. this show piece venue is a legacy from soviet days when doping scandals were common. those days seem to be back, and russia could soon find itself cast out of world athletics. >> translator: of course it would be an enormous blow. we hope for common sense from the council members who first of all must work in the interests of our sport. >> reporter: the russian athletics federation has until thursday to respond to the allegations of state-endorsed doping, an iaaf council decision on whether to ban russia is expected over the weekend. it's a move some top athletes would support. >> i think it needs to be strong action now, and you never want to have to penalize even one innocent athlete, which might happen in this case, but i think it's a step that has to be taken. >> reporter: this moscow the allegations have invoked a kind of siege mentality. this building is the official address of the moscow, anti-doping laboratory,

let's go to rory challands in moscow. russian president making these comments sitting alongside his military big guns, quite litterly. >> reporter: what he announced on tuesday at least the kremlin has spoken and said on tuesday, they had a phone conversation. now of course they talked about the two attacks that they both have been victim to over the last few weeks or at least their people have been victim to. and they pledge to work closer together militarily in syria. now the briefing that putin was given on all of the attacks that have been taking place in syria over the last few hours, he specifically instructed his naval commanders operating in the eastern mediterranean, he said the french fleet is coming, treat them as your allies. this is, i think an indication of how the sands are shifting and how russia and the west which had been so far apart in syria and over ukraine, and now after these attacks on the -- on the french capitol paris, and on this russian plane, now they are starting to be drawn closer together.

rory challands reports. >> reporter: strategic partners was how he described syria and russia. country's foreign ministers were certainly speaking with one voice in moscow on friday. >> translator: isis militants receive weapons and free passage, they don't have to use parachutes, we are talking about militants from several countries. they have receive medical help and weapons from turkey. turkey made the step to shoot down the russian jet because it supports and encourages those terrorists. >> reporter: they were meet to go discuss practical steps to pushing forth the vienna process we hope they find a political solution to syria. >> we have agreed that a list of terrorist groups that will be excluded from my political negotiations needs to be drafted. it will then need to go through the u.n. security council. it is absolutely clear that without it, political peace talks between moderate opposition and the syrian government cannot take place. >> reporter: in southern russia there were military honors and a funeral. alexander was the marine killed trying to rescue a russian air

rory challands al jazeera, moscow. >>> joining me now live from washington, d.c.fellow at the washington institution focusing on russia's policy towards the middle east. madam thank you so much for joining us. we were just listening to that report by rory challands so the suspension of visa-free travel strong words between the two leaders, and apparent refusal, really to meet at the paris summit neck week but i guess considering what could have happened does it look to you like all of this is going to go towards a deescalation. >> neither side wants a direct military confrontation. i think we'll see a lot of strong language in the coming days and weeks. their personalities are very similar and neither is going to want to back down. so i think we'll see more of these tennings but neither side really wans a direct confrontation. >> no direct confrontation, though you say we're going to see more tensions. are these tensions going to have an impact on the rest of the coalition on the fight against isil which obviously all of these countries are there for. >> a couple

rory challengrory challands, moscow. >> there were light bombs and shots that might be signals to thepilot. the areas around all front engagement points of the position are being bombarded also been the regime forces. the place of the second pilot whose fate is not known at the moment. more than 5,000 people have fled eight villages in the mountains to the border in recent days. those who refuse to leave their homes decided to leave today after the aircraft explosion in order not to be targeted by the russian planes. >> u.s. president has spoken about the downing of the jet. he said that turkey has a right to defend its territory and air space. >> i do think that this points to an ongoing problem with the russian operations. in the sense that they are operating very close to a turkish border and they are going after moderate opposition that are supported by not only turkey but a wide range of countries. and if russia is directing its energies towards daesh and isil, some of those conflicts or potentials for mistakes or escalation are less likely to occur. i also think that this unders

and if he knew about it, then he was complicit in it. >> rory challands reporting from moscow. a shift in tone from russia. prime minister dimitri me medve, said that a missile could have brought down the metro jet over sinai last month. there is strong evidence that the bomb blew the jet out of the sky. the fbi is offering its assistance to egyptian and russian investigators. russian president vladimir putin held a meeting with his defense officials today. he touted russia's success in the syrian air campaign. at the same time russia confirmed it is sending advanced air missiles to iran, the deal arrived after the nuclear deal. >>> syrian activists are accusing the assad regime with targeting with barrel bombs. video of one of the attacks is posted today, purports to show a barrel bomb hitting the rebel city of doraya. >>> the white house today strongly condemned the killing of two americans at a u.s. training facility in amman jordan. by a jordanian police officer. president obama says the u.s. takes this act very seriously and says officials will work closely with the jordan

. >> live in moscow, al jazeera's rory challands is there. how you are the comments going down in the kremlin, rory. >> well, the russian government insisted from day one of its air campaign in syria, which started back in september, that it was doing this precisely to take on i.s.i.l. that is why it is in syria, and you can argue that it is doing that. i mean primarily strikes have been taken, carried out against i.s.i.l. and they have been increasing in severity over the last few days. the big question is not whether it is attacking i.s.i.l., but how much of it is attacking i.s.i.l. is it the main focus of the campaign, or is president obama the main focus of the campaign propping up bashar al-assad, and hitting the more moderate groups that have been fighting against the bashar al-assad regime since 2011. well, that's open to interpretation, and depend on who you believe, and which side you are on. certainly the big gulf with i.s.i.l., everyone believes they are bad, the americans, the russians, the saudis. all the actors involved in syria

. >> we'll go to rory challand. should we be surprised by the recommendations being put forward? >> well, we did think that this was going to be a big announcement. but i don't think anyone in this press conference is still going on in the hotel to the right of me now really expected it to be so big. the doctor has--the document given out is a big document, it's been handed to interpol for them 20 decide what to do with it. confirmed from what they saw from the german channel in december that sparked in inquiry, confirmed widespread cheatin cheating from cheatin cheating from entourage, athletes, we see giving doping substances to cleats discussing how not to be caught. some of the statements were russian athletes who were fearing for their safety after appearing in the document. fiber analysis, and extensive doping, there is coercion of russian athletes told they won't have access to top coaches if they don't join in this program of doping, and it comes to around 4 million people not employed not in a great economic state. young athletes are under great pressure to perform and p

we have more from rory challands. >> murderers, they chanted. many russians are angry with turkey, and protests have occurred in a few cities in the past hours. this is the turkish embassy in moscow where eggs were thrown. >> this is the embassy of murderers, people instead of being honest partners showed their beastly grin. >> their pilot was shot to death while parachuting from his burning plane. a marine died and a helicopters with destroyed. but the russian jet's navigator had a lucky escape. >> he was safe. the pilot's navigator. he's already at our base. he's like all the others involved in the operation, including the rescue operation, they will receive state awards. the ministry of defense has come up with this proposal and the plane commander will be rewarded the star 69 hero russian federation posthumously. >> there has no warning. there had been no contact whatsoever. so we started the combat course as usual. keep in mind the speed of the bomber and the f-16 fighter jet. >> another ministry of defense proposal has been put into action

more from rory challands, joining us live from moscow. things are moving on at quite a rate aren't they. fill us in. >> actually, the last that we heard from the kremlin press office, that they are in the process of shifting the time and the place of the meeting that was due to start right about now in sochi. vladimir putin and various heads of the sporting federations here in russia also the sports minister too. we don't quite know where or when this meeting will happen, but we'll keep you updated on that, what we know is the kremlin's spokesperson, they say that doping would not be the main focus of the meeting. the meeting was preplanned and mainly there to cover the preparations for the olympics next year in rio, but said that in some way or another, maybe the doping scandal might be addressed, but it will be definitely addressed. but it seems that the kremlin is starting to wake up to what is turning into a serious problem for russian sport. >> reporter: rain fell on moscow's olympic complex on tuesday - fitting weather for the curre

from moscow, rory challands reports. >> reporter: this was a carefully prepared television event.orded the day before its broadcast on russian tv. vladimir putin was briefed by security service chief, russia's foreign and defense ministers listened attentively. >> translator: according to analysis, a homemade bomb detonated during the flight, clausing the plane to break up in midair. we can unequivocally say it was a terrorist act. >> reporter: then the men rose for a moment of silence before putin delivered a prepared address. >> translator: we should not apply any time limits. we will find them in any spot on the planet and punish them. >> reporter: isil's early claim that it killed the 224 people inside this plane was initially scorned. a technical fault was considered more likely, but more and more countries started to doubt the malfunction theory. the u.k. suspended flights to sigh any. the u.s. said it was pretty much certain that the plane was brought down by a bomb, but although russia too suspended flights to egypt giving every impression that it was working to the same a

rory challands, al jazeera, moscow. >> james bays has more now from new york. the. >> angry words of a different version of events from ankara and moscow, but they are very keen to de-escalate the situation because it remains a dangerous situation. they're keen, too, that this should be a dispute between turkey and russia. a bilateral dispute. not a dispute that widens between one between russia and all of nato. i'm told by diplomats here that they think it's interesting and worth noting that this has not been referred to the u.n. security council. any member of the council can request a meeting. turkey could ask one of its allies on the security council to call a meeting. both have decided not to do th that. >> joining us, thanks for joining us, we've been listening to james bays in new york explaining how both sides seem to be taking a step back here. but diplomatically these have been pretty dangerous moments, haven't they, not just between turkey and russia, but nato and russia? >> yes, indeed, and i think what this almost straits is th--what this demonstra

al jazeera's rory challands has the story from plowsk. moscow. >> such an interesting story. these people are cycling from russia to norway. that is because at this border crossing foot traffic is not allowed and the cheapest way of getting across other than by foot is to buy a bicycle and pedal across. then there's the whole remoteness of this crossing. we've all seen the heartbreaking stories of hundreds of thousands of refugees trying get through europe's front door, these people are going the long way around and trying to get in through back door. so far north that the next stop is the north pole. but actually there's a logical reason for this. it is much cheaper and much safer than risking death or drowning in the mediterranean or paying people-smugglers to go through balkans or other ways to europe. this person is an afghan and explaining why he is leaving. >> there is no other option, we have to go to norway, there isn't any other one. in moscow they don't provide us with document. they say go away from here, they don't give us documents or work. there is nothing left

rory challands, al jazeera, moscow. >> al qaeda's affiliate, social media saying the drones were shot down over a military airport in the country's northwest on tuesday. international monitors say the two drones were definitely shot down in that location. but it is still unknown if they were russian. it verified they would be the first russian aircraft shot down over syria. >>> new york police officials say they are aware of a newly released i.s.i.l. video that vows more attacks and shows images of new york city. police say there is current no specific threat to new york and point out that most of the footage is not new. the video shows images of times square, fifth avenue and herald square, an images of a man zipping his jacket over a suicide belt. fbi is working with the joint terrorism task force and teams to keep the city safe. >>> united states has welcomed france's snrovmenfrance's involt conducting strikes against i.s.i.l. ydges'al jazeera national secury correspondent jamie mcintire explains why. >> not just the bombers and cruise missiles that is a problem, how the air strike

rory challands has that story. >> reporter: it was the angry language of betrayal putin described it as a stab in the back. >> we regarded turkey not only as a close neighbor but as a friendly state. i don't know who wanted what was done today. we didn't in any case. instead of contacting us, they addressed their partners as if it was us who downed their plane, not vites verse a. russia's defense ministry said it was not true that it was in turkish airspace or that it was warned by turkish jets. >> there were no attempts on the part of the turkishjets to communicate by mea. the rocket hit the planes. the place the plane fell was on syrian territory. the pilots were able to reject. according to preliminary data, one of the pilots was killed in the air by fire from ground. >> russia's first response was diplomatic. lavrov cancelled his trip to turkey. the second was commercial, advising russians it was unsafe for them to travel to turkey. and a military response of sorts, too. a russian warship is being sent to the coastline and cooperation with turkey's armed forces has been stopped.

al jazeera's rory challands is in moss co. >> murderers, they chanted. many russians are angry with turkey and protests have occurred in a few cities in the past hours. this was the turkish embassy in moscow. eggs were thrown. >> this is embassy of murderers in my opinion. they showed their beastly grin. >> tuesday's incidents killed a russian pilot, shot to death by turkmen rebels while parachuting from his burning plane. a marine involved in the rescue operation also died and a helicopter was destroyed. the russian jet's navigator had a lucky escape. >> he was safe. the pilot navigator. i believe he is already at our base. and he is like all of the other involved in the operation including the rescue operation, will receive state awards. the ministry of defense has already come up with this proceeds posal -- proposal. he will be awarded the star of the hero federation posthumously. >> the navigate offer and on television. >> there had been no warning, neither on the radio nor visually. there had been no contact whatsoever. so we started the combat cour

. >> rory challands has this update from moscow. >> what was interesting before vladimir putin's address, and it was a brief one, was that he didn't actually criticize the report into russian athletic doping at all. that has been done. but vladimir putin focused on what thetive response to this should be. now putin is a leader who sees himself as an athlete. he practices martial arts. he plays ice hockey. he goes skiing. he was also immensely proud that russia hosted a winter olympics in 2004, and he obviously does not want russian athletes to be banned from the olympics i in 2016. so he is probably taking it doping can exactly very seriously. but he called for an open and transparent internal investigation into russian doping to be under taken in cooperation with international body. but russia does not have a good operation for transparency. it ranks russia at 136 out of 75 countries. so if world sporting bodies are really intense on rooting out doping in sports, and in particular russia and not happy to settle for some political fudge, then they really have to keep the pressure on and

. >> let's bring in rory challands joining us from moscow. rory, both foreign ministers, both strong allies on the same page when it kim to everything that they were discussing from the downed russian jet to the political process for syria going forward. not surprising, really. >> yes, strategic partners is what he calls russia and syria. they were, i think singing from the same hymn sheet here. we heard a lot of criticism of turkey. we heard that from the syrian foreign minister, who was left to deliver the fiercest criticisms of its northern neighbor. it basically said that turkey has been carrying out aggressive acts towards syria for the last five years. it said it had sympathy with russia for having been hit in similar way over the last few days. of course, referring to the downing of the russian jet, but this is something that syria believes it has been undergoing for at least since the war in syria started. he said that turkey was supporting various terrorist groups inside syria and that particularly, the illegal trade in isil's oil is

al jazeera's rory challands has more from moscow. >> a jam packed diplomatic day for russian president in tehran. three main items on the schedule. having a meeting with the iranian president rouhani and also talking with the supreme leader of iran, ali khamenei. now had a meeting went on for longer than we thought it would. the presidential spokesperson dimitri peskov says they talked for an hour and a half, discussing many different things, bilateral relations, syria one of the main topics of discussion. and dimitri peskov said the these two men did broadly agree that a political settlement for syria cannot be imposed on the country from outside. that of course is a direct reference to what these two countries think the west is trying to do, insisting that assad step down. putin said that no one can tell syrians, which form of government and which leader they must choose. of course that tells us what these two agreed on. what it doesn't say anything about is what they disagreed on. and that's what western governments will be looking for here, any sign of discord between tehran and mo

rory challands, al jazeera, moscow. >> as i mentioned turkey has released an audio recordings of what it says is it's warning to the russian fighter. [ playing of recording ] >> al jazeera's james bays is live are the latest. now from new york. james, the signs appear to be of both sides trying to calm things down, the turkish prime minister talking about russia as a friend and a neighbor, but the potential is there, isn't it, for a massive diplomatic showdown not just between turkey and russia, but nato and russia? >> yes, this is a very dangerous moment, and it has been a very dangerous moment since this incident happened and the jet was shot down. despite the fact that there are angry words being exchanged and competing claims of what happened, everyone is trying to de-escalate the situation. i think it's worth to explain to you, jonah, when there is a row between two countries there are various stages that you can go to in some diplomatic protocol of these things. the first you can do is common in the diplomat from the other country to your foreign minister and give them a good ta

. >>> al jazeera's rory challands has more from moscow. >> reporter: in a televised address on tuesday heard very strong language from vladimir putin, words like retribution, punishment, and destruction, and then later in the day, we saw that essentially being put into practice. vladimir putin visited a new shiny command center, defense ministry war room, essentially where he was given the latest information and update on what had been going on over the last few hours in syria, the strikes that had been ordered by the russian president and carried out. the strikes we have been told, about 34 cruise missiles at least being launched, a large long-range strategic bombers doing some of that work, also some of these cruise missiles coming from naval else haves. it has been reported that a submarine was involved in one of these attacks in raqqa. we understand that 140 particular targets were hit. most of those were isil, we're being informed, but some of course as russia has been doing for the last few weeks or so, were hitting against other groups, groups that the united states at least con

rory challands, al jazeera, moscow. >> well, james bays has more now on the situation from the united nations. >> the angry words and very different versions of events are coming from ankara and from moscow. but other countries watching this are very keen to de-escalate the situation because it remains a dangerous situation. they're keen, too, this should be a dispute between turkey and russia. a bilateral dispute, not a dispute that widens into one between russia and all of nato. i'm toldly diplomats here that they think it's interesting and worth noting that this has not been referred to the u.n. security council. russia is a member of the council. turkey could also ask one of its allies on the security council to call a meeting. both have decided not to do that for now. i think that's because according to diplomats they believe that will be an escalation of things if it were to come before the u.n. security council. >> russia has been warned not to attack turkey under pretext of fighting isil. >> forced to leave her home i in the turk men mountains of latakia. more than 300 turk me

. >> well, rory challands september this update. >> the question of what has changed the minds of the russian leadership is one that actually does not have a definitive answer. but clearly their minds have been changed because recently politicians are saying that the british decision to suspend flight from the sinai was politically motivated and pre-ma sure. we know that the russian investigators have had access to the black boxes and also samples from the crash flight are currently being analyzed in moscow looking for traces of explosives. whether that has influenced this decision we don't know quite yet. but the russians have a logistical headache of 45,000, at least, russians stranded in egypt who have to be brought home. that is a process that the tourism union here in russia said could take as long as a whole month. >> meanwhile the united states says it's tightening security on flights from oversead. josh earnest has this update. >> we still have not made our own determination of the cause of the incident. while we can't rule anything in or out, we have to consider that possibil

. >> live in moscow, al jazeera's rory challands is there. what will the kremlin make of those remarks? >> well, the kremlin has always insisted, from the get-go in this air campaign, which started towards the end of scept. it insisted that it has been going after i.s.i.l., i.s.i.l. has been the primary target of this campaign. and it's deniable, really, that a portion of that - it has been targetting i.s.i.l., it has naval assets, in the mediterranean, and the caspian sea. launching cruise missiles into syria, it has long-range bombers flying from russia, dropping bombs on syria and an airbase outside of damascus used to launch strikes in syria as well. the question is not whether it is hitting i.s.i.l., but how much is it hitting i.s.i.l. and there is, president obama, is it looking to target other groups before it strikes i.s.i.l. >> the rushions want, really, to try to build a coalition, a coalition involving the americans, a coalition now involving the french and anyone else that wants to join in. >> russia says the only way that i.s.i.l

rory challands, moscow. >> a palestinian driver rammed his car into israelis, later in the day police released surveillance video showing a palestinian woman stabbing an israeli security guard at the entrance to a west bank settlement. he was wounded before shooting and injuring the woman. israeli-palestinian tensions are expected to be on the agenda while israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu meets with president obama. we'll discuss that in our week ahead segment next. >>> one day after the historically quested elections first in 25 years, final polling numbers will take weeks. the turnout was estimated at 80% of eligible voters. many were up before dawn to wait for polls to open but still uncertainty about how quickly the system can change to a full democracy. more on the story now from al jazeera's scott heidler in yangon, myanmar. >> reporter: a new day in myanmar and a new chapter in this nation's history. the election on sunday for the most part went through without any major hitches. it's been described as a remarkable day. now it's not like this nation woke up monday morn

from moscow al jazeera's rory challands has more. >> an every day item that could have led to the deaths of hundreds of people. this is the can of soft drink that isil claims it used to bring down a russian airliner. aside it what appears to be a detonator, power source and switch. one expert said the claim was capable. >> probably 200 to 300 graham 300 grams of high explosives. if this was place insid inside the optimum position could cause catastrophic failure and breach the shell of the aircraft, if you like, which at 30,000 feet is going to call it to disintegrate. >> isil displayed the device on its english-magazine. the metro jet airbus carrying holiday makers from sharm el sheikh. russia said that a bomb was to blame, a conclusion that several western governments had already reached. president vladimir putin has offered a reward for information leading to those who destroyed the jet. isil claims to have exploited a loophole at sharm el sheikh to smuggle the bomb on board. >> it tells you a lot t the operation happened in the south much sinai, and the capacity to bring down an airl

rory challands, al jazeera, moscow. >> more demonstrations tonight in chicago following yesterday's release of a video showing a white police officer shooting to death a black teenager, laquan mcdonald. jason van dyke has been charged with murder in this case but certa serious questions remain. so far, this second day of protests has been peaceful. activists are planning a rally on the city's best known retail strip on black friday. al jazeera's andy ros. j.en reports from chicago. >> after a night of tension, angry protests, the demonstrations wrapped up again wednesday afternoon in downtown chicago. there was a more subdued gathering inside city hall on wednesdays outside the mayor's. the anger was still very clear. children in most cases, cover-up. the only reason this one wasn't covered up was because there was a dam cash. >> this group is promising to marriott magnificent mile in the midst of shoppers? >> down with whoever is saying the magnificent mile must be shot down on black friday. >> absolutely. >> the break caucus weighed in as well on the need for immediate changes in the poli

rory challands reports now from moscow. >>> strategic partners was how the foreign minister describedyria and russia, and the foreign ministers were certainly speaking with one voice in moscow on friday. >> translator: isis militants received weapons and free passage. they don't have to use parachutes, we're talking about militants from several countries. turkey made the steps to shoot down the russian jet because it supports and encouraging those terroristst. >> reporter: they were meeting to discuss practical steps for pushing forward the geneva process. >> translator: we have agreed that a list of terries groups that will be excluded from any political negotiations need to be drafted. it will then need to go through the u.n. security council. it is absolutely clear that without it, political peace talks between moderate opposition and the syrian government cannot take place. >> reporter: in southern russia there were military honors and a funeral. this was the marine killed trying to rescue a russia air crew downed by turkish jets on tuesday. in turkey these protesters are calling

rory challands has been following developments from moscow. >> reporter: the kremlin has spoken and saidt on tuesday, vladimir putin and francois hollande had a phone conversation. of course they talked about the two attacks that they have both been victim to over the last few weeks, or at least their people have been victim to. and they have pledged to work closer together militarily in syria. now the briefing that putin was given on all of the attacks that have been taking place in syria, over any last few hours, he specifically instructed his naval commanders, operating in the eastern mediterranean, he said the french fleet is coming, treat them as your allies. this, i think, is an indication of how the sands are shifting, really, and how russia and the west, which had been so far apart in syria and over ukraine, are now after these attacks on the french capitol and this russian plane, now they are starting to be drawn closer together in this campaign. >>> u.s. secretary of state john kerry said now is the time for the world to come together and hit isil in syria and iraq. kerry is in

rory challands has reactions from moscow. >> reporter: the first official response we heard came from a russian state scientific agency that said that wada's report was politically motivated and not based in reality. slightly less belligerent were made by the sports muenster who said russia does have a problem with doping. it never tries to hide this. as an example of russia doing its job properly, it gave a list of russian athletes, russian anti-doping agencies have accused of using banned substances. rassada, the russian anti-doping agency is at the hard of the wada allegations. wada says that rassada has been compromised and wants it to be declared code non-commentent. may. uco defends this agency saying it was created under the specifications stipulated by wada, itself. now, buka says russia will comply with any recommendations that are made by the iaaf, the international athlet he can if he hadration. but it is also, i think >> fairlyo obvious that richard pound, who was the head of the wada investigation, does not actually trust mucko. when asked by a reporter what he thought of

. >> rory challands from moscow, thank you. >> both russia and iran reportedly have troops on the ground in syria. experts say this meeting could change the scope of their relationship there. >> a big sticking point is assad, and president obama has actually said a few days ago that russia can't continue to be on the fence about this. in other words, if putin and the kremlin want to be cooperative partners with western governments over syria, they really have to go along with getting assad out of power, and persuade, somehow persuade the iranians to comply. up until now, russia has been pretty animate that they're not going to concede to western demand that assad step down when they start to formulate this new government shortly. iran is also against having assad step down. i think russia, in fact, is becoming a little more flexible, and putin perhaps will try to persuade iranian leaders today that they need to moderate their views about assad. i think he's going to have a hard time. >> russian forces have been bombing isil targets, and says that may only increase in the coming weeks. >>

our russia correspondent rory challands has the reaction from moscow. >> the first official response we heard came from a russian state scientific agency which said that wada's report was politically motivated and not based in reality. slightly less belligerent were comments made by the sports minister that said yes, russia has a problem with doping it's never tried ohide this. as an example of russia doing its job properly it gave a list of russian athletes that eants doping agencieantidoping agencie accused. is it the heart of the allegations? wasada has been severely compromised and wants it to be called noncompliant. defends this agencies saying it was created under the specifications stipulated by wada itself. it is clearly that vitali muko has not read this report clearly. he asked for a lot of detail saying it's not there where actually if you read the report a lot of detail on these specific allegations is contained in the report. now says that russia will comply with any recommendations that are made by the iaaf, the international athletics federation. but it is also i think

rory challands, al jazeera, moscow. >> let's go back to emma hay word.e were asking earlier about the police in the last couple of hours or so say they're looking for an additional suspect in the paris attacks. >> well, french media railroad only quoting french police sources at the moment, felicity saying there could have been a ninth attacker involved in the attacks from the cafe not far from where we are. of course that means that there could an succeed suspect on th the--a second suspect on the run. this is a knew dynamic on this situation. the focus has been trying to find the main suspect the police have issued two new photos of him, and a car which is thought to have been used by the attackers was found about a kilometers away from where we are now. >> the investigation still continuing. what about people in paris. tomorrow ends the three days of mourning. is there a sense that the city will get back to normal quite quickly or not? >> i think it will take a long time for france to come to terms when 129 people were killed. but you look at the stre

al jazeera's rory challands now has more from moscow. >> strategic partners was how it was described syria and russia. in a country's foreign minister was certainly speaking with one voice with moscow on friday. >> isis militants use free panels. we're talking about militants in several countries. turkey made the steps because it encourage the terrorists. >> they were meeting to discuss practical steps. >> we have agreed that a list of terrorist groups that will be excluded from political negotiations needs to be route: it needing to through the u.s. security council. it is absolutely clear that without it political peace talks between moderate opposition and the syrian government cannot take place. >> in southern russia there were the funeral. the marine killed trying to rescue an air crew downed by occur tissue jets. he and the pilot shot dead are heroes in russia. not in turkey. these protesters. president erdogan has accused the russian president of playing with fire by bombing the opposition and propping the opposition. >> i requested a meeting from him. i wanted to hold a telep

rory challands, al jazeera, moscow. >> aung san suu kyi again insisted she'll be in control of the incoming government. results still coming in from sunday's historic election show her nld party is heading for a resounding win. but the pro-democracy champion is constitutionally barred from becoming president. she placed herself above the role of president. >> in any democratic country it's the winning of the--it's the leader of the winning party that becomes the leader of the government. we need to proceed along usual democratic lines. >> why should it effect the functions of the government? because there will be a government that will be run properly. the president will be told exactly what he can do. >> the observers say that myanmar process was not flawless but it has been free of major irregularities. >> she's one of the new faces of politics in myanmar. she was a political activist turned successful business woman now soon to be a member of parliament for the national league for democracy. >> this is not the end of the journey. it's just the beginning of the journey to go for the bette

rory challands has more from moscow. >> reporter: the russians are looking at what is coming out of their screens, and what the tv screens are saying is that this is an open case, it hasn't been decided one way or the others. there's not a great deal of anger detectible. yes, there's a huge amount of sorrow. at the moment it's a fatalistic attitude to what has happened, than searching around for someone or something to blame. there are many reasons for that. as i have just said, the russian television stations say that this is still open, it's not necessarily a bomb or attack. but also russia is no stranger to air disasters. it's comparable - well, in terms of air safety, it's a great deal worse than it is in other parts of europe. there has been 20 fatal crashes in the last 20 years. involving russian airlines or in russia itself. russia is no stranger to armed attacks. there has been a great many coming from groups based in the caucuses and beyond. as i read somewhere recently, russia is always a country of emergencies. this is no different >>> coming up on al jazeera - sweets and celeb