we hit shiite militias when they do something. were some that were lost at an air force base and we immediately counter fire -- and we immediately did a counter fire strike and killed members of the shiite militia. there are five people. it doesn't matter who the prime minister is. one state oftter law exist. the good thing is the u.s. doesn't have to do any of that. we can sanction individuals. that will send a strong message, but iraqis are burning down the offices of the individuals -- of these individuals. they are tearing down their pictures and rejecting the message that you will hear from their leaders. problems been causing this whole time, and you have to pass by their offices to get to the prime minister's offices, and that is a big deal. i talk to someone and i said, what if i told there is a terrorist who has in office in baghdad -- who has an office in baghdad and has access to training and equipment? he said, how was that possible? will i told him his name and every time i ask someone why he still in position, they c

it's that exactly, inessential talking about shiite shiite. it's not shiite ship in terms of population. it's the shiite ovulation against political parties. >> i just wanted to jump in on that. what's interesting also is that protesters, there are two myths here, to make things that when prime minister abadi with prime minister none of this would be happening. it would be happening under any prime minister as long as bad actors which will talk about later continue to have influence. the second thing is that shiite youth are not tied to him. people try to say this is a sign of movement. it was to show iraqis this is a guy we can move around. we've been able to move them around. what's interesting about this is the first time at a think what i talk to sunnis and kurds in iraq, they don't want a protest because when they took a legal stance in the kirkuk referendum, there met with military force. the sunnis were killed and nobody cared. this is that she had use for the first time 60% of the country is shia. 70% are under under the age of 30. one

the shiite are protesting because they consider the government in baghdad to be a shiite government. >> which it is. >> which it is. therefore, the level of expectation for their government is higher than the expectation of the sunnis from the shiite government. so, there is an imbalance expectation. the shiite feels like this is our government, but what have they given us? they have robbed us. it is not exactly, and a sense, you were talking about shiite in terms of population. >> i just wanted to jump in on that. what is interesting is the shiite protesters, there are two myths here. if he was the prime minister, it would not be happening. the second thing is the shiite youth are not tied to him. this is not an assad movement. this was to show iraqis this is a guy we could move around. what is interesting to your point about this is the first time and when i have talked to sunnis and kurds in iraq, they don't want to protest because when they took a legal stance in the cook referendum, they were met with military force. this is the shiite youth for the first time, 68% -- 60% are un

and i think you do see, in iran, you see and a certain shiite distemper. distaste disquiet and for the iranian clerical regime's dominion. i don't think that is going away. acceleration, the regime strikes back. i think the shiite secretary and secretarianism is an ecumenical military approach. they tried to seek out sunnis more than shiites. shink they attained a great -- of success. but it might have reached its apex. now it has to deal with the aftertaste of that. on that note, i am optimistic. i would say that if we are on the cusp or close to some type of fundamental transformation in the islamic republic which is conceivable. unlikely, but conceivable. it has to be good news for iraq. it takes away one of the factors which is pretty they'll full -- baleful. it is hard to see how there is a positive side effect. happens, if we are seeing a weakening of iran's position through the region, that is a very good thing. i am not convinced that we are. i think what we have seen in the air of shiite world -- arab irane world, once again, has erected. i think

danny who is the top shiite cleric manager in iraq that the head of the medicare yet that argument julia was in fact also defending that arkie religious establishment because he has been actually existing a brush up from the protesters for the past 2 weeks to call for that ignition of the prime minister out of hoping that he will be. starting a serious and genuine reforms in order to meet the demands of the protesters and the street today actually when he asked for the resignation of the prime minister he was defending the very existence of the iraqi religious establishment because he knows ali says that he knows very well that iran would want. to weaken the iraqi religious. establishment in order to have bliss in thailand. in order to have come. you know you're on your the. total bill is that iraq a religious matter because iran would want actually very much to be the major of all shiite in the world so i think that was a major victory also for for ali. but i think also an iraqi people will be continuing this struggle until they achieve what they want what they want actually is to elimi

and he spoke a lot about having listened to the words of the grand ayatollah ali sistani the top shiite cleric here in iraq a sermon was delivered earlier by his representative i mean a softly let's take a listen to more of what i'm going to suffer you had to say earlier in the day. i'm a genius a new layout the parliament from which this current government is drawn is asked to reconsider its choice in this regard and to act according to iraq's interest and preserve the blood of its children to prevent the country from slipping into violence chaos and destruction we confirm again that attacks against peaceful protesters are forbidden as well as them being prevented from having the right to demand reforms we also confirm that attacking private and public property is forbidden and that property should not be left to be attacked by infiltrators and their allies mohammed this is kind of a little bit so what. was saying he wanted as well a couple of weeks ago is there an axis between him and the stunning. you know peter that's a question that many people here have been asking for weeks reall

they then crossed into the mainly shiite neighborhood of shia. it was a warm welcome from a person who seem to want to leave the past behind i i think but it was a different picture a few nights ago there was a standoff between supporters of christian opposition parties and backers of shiite parties in power and hezbollah who have used force against appetite establishment protesters across the country in recent days. is doing what they best do is just play on the sectarian. the sectarian emotions they're trying to use the tools on the street of intimidating. peaceful protesters and this is being used basically to i think. for internal kind of balance of power struggle in between the establishment parties opposition parties have been accused of hijacking a popular uprising for almost 2 months there have been protests against the political elite who are refusing to give up power. the story of the war and political stability that is why many are concerned the longer this political crisis lasts and the longer people remain in the streets the likeliho

prime minister with of course a configuration of shiite sunni kurd. power sharing of sort of this division of labor while the sharks of course are in measure control this existing regime but him sort of as part and parcel of it and hence he is trying to rectify whatever could be rectified without. in any way undoing the regime that he belongs to and so he is trying to play along under pressure by different parties with then they rockey parliament in order to really make a serious governmental change but all he's saying is look we cannot afford a vacuum we will need an alternative viable prime minister candidate in order for us to push this government out so he is trying to do everything within the context within the status quo hoping that this will not get out of hand. now if we look at both countries together is it possible to say that whether we're talking about in lebanon right now or in iraq with seeing a rebellion from from key stakeholders the heart of the you know the street the offers the support for some of the strongest sections political se

that happened in early november there are protesters here that again and again whether they be in shiite majority cities or other parts of the country that have decried the outsized influence of iran in the politics and so they want to see that come to an end certainly this is worrisome not just to iran it is also worrisome very much to the shiite majority government here in iraq we've had a statement from the government in which they condemned the attack and they say that this attack was aimed at damaging the historical relations between it off and on and with the rest of the countries that's what the interior ministry said in a statement just a few hours ago beyond that also one more thing to add as you mentioned now we're hearing from right off the army sources that that off the military is going to send military leaders to different provinces in the country to try to quell the unrest that's also raising. a lot of concern right now as to what form exactly that's going to take does that mean there is going to be a crackdown what measures are going to be taken in these provinces in thes

the shiites always led you back to iran. and because i'd been there, in and out of there before, i decided to go back. brian: in the introduction of your book, you say, "to the memory of a thoughtful law professor who advised his students, as well as his children, to approach all problems by standing on top of the world and looking down and who was so much more than my father." what's that all about? robin: my father always taught me as a child that when there was some major issue, that one had to distance oneself from it, to try to stand on top of the world without having the subjective values that can impede or limit judgment. and he was always interested in foreign policy, and we traveled a lot as children, and he would try to explain other cultures to us. so i guess what i tried to do with iran was to go there, to stand on top of the world and look down at iran not just as an american with my own bitterness, but as someone objective trying to see what the revolution set out to accomplish. and the book actually begins fro

they then crossed into the mainly shiite neighborhood of shia. it was a warm welcome from neighbors who seem to want to leave the past behind was. but it was a different picture a few nights ago there was a standoff between supporters of christian opposition parties and backers of shiite parties in power and hezbollah who have used force against abd establishment protesters across the country in recent days start. doing what they do is just play on the sectarian. the sectarian emotions they're trying to use the tools on the streets of intimidating. peaceful protesters and this is being used basically to i think. for internal kind of balance and power. struggle in between the establishment parties opposition parties have been accused of hijacking a popular uprising for almost 2 months there have been protests against the political elite who are refusing to give up power that was like the story of the cold war over civility that is why many are concerned the longer this political crisis lasts and the longer people remain in the streets the likeliho

the top shiite condemning the use of lethal force against demonstrators.iege,he end of a 12 day hong kong police say they found 470st 4000 petrol bombs and weapons while clearing out the polytechnic university campus after protesters left the building. climate change activists kicking off a round of demonstrations across europe in cities such a s london, berlin, , rome, and par. ♪ we begin in iraq where the death toll of antigovernment protesters continues to climb. security forces shooting dead more than 40 demonstrators and 24 hours in baghdad and the south of iraq and the country's top shiite muslim cleric condemned the use of lethal force against demonstrators, urging demonstrators to reject acts of violence while warning against another wave of violence. the latest on weft -- unrest coming after a day of conflict. joining me is patrick, thank you for your time. noappears the violence shows sign of easing. whwhato you think the government will do next? patrick:k: i think it is likelyo increase repression. it has killed two mini people to back down now.

it is considered to be the heart of the shiite muslim world -- shia muslim world.q thought it had the shia muslim world on its side. clearly that is not the case. >> it is difficult to see how they can respond. -- naturall constituency of supporters iran andlight upon has been in among shiite communities -- shia communities. it responds with brutal force as it has recently, to crush similar protests, that runs the losing tehran's support in iraq and throughout the broader region. it's unclear what options the government in iran has in response to these protests. i don't think they have good options. there is panic and paranoia in tehran over what happened today. in najaf. twoonald trump has signed bills backing pro-democracy activists in hong kong. placed oncan now be individuals responsible for human rights abuses. the hong kong government has called the legislation unnecessary and unwarranted, saying it will harm relations with the u.s.. washington, president trump's team had voiced reservations about this. why did he sign these at the end? >> quite frankly becau

june has the latest from baghdad the fact that you have now had 2 attacks on iranian consulates in shiite holy cities within a matter of weeks this month that really goes to show how much frustration there is even in shiite majority cities toward the government of iran because of the outsized role that they play in the politics of course you had this attack last night that was an attack in which the anti-government demonstrators they got into that compound in and they set. the iranian consulate ablaze they burned it before the attack happened the staff at the consulate they had escaped through a back door we're now being told that they're off the military is going to be sending these security cells to some of the provinces to try to quell the protests we don't really know exactly what form that's going to take there is great concern here right now the perhaps that could mean that there is a crackdown looming that perhaps there will be more violence we just don't know we'll have to wait and see but also we've been told that there is now a curfew that has been put in place in the city of no

the grand ayatollah ali sistani is the top shiite cleric here. he said that while he urged protesters to stay peaceful and to reject violent acts he also says that the country must not descend into civil strife or tyranny and he also demanded that parliament act with more resolution and in a quicker manner to try to solve the crisis here look time and again we've heard from religious leaders and parliamentarians and other government officials in iraq urging the government to do more to try to in the crisis here in fact the matter is it really hasn't made an impact on what is going on in the streets in the major cities of iraq young activists around the world are skipping school to protest against climate change the marches began in australia and japan students in sydney protested outside the headquarters of the ruling party under a smoke filled sky australia's southeast has been devastated by bush fire as which some blame on climate change and students in india's capital demonstrating outside a waste energy power plant new delhi is one of the wor

influence they call the shiite question i think the arabic word is fitna civil war we're in a business right now of creating and some places sectarian violence. situation because we're trying to destroy it. in mali have a crime to give all the training. area. it really has the world gone mad but not enough. to realize how mad. you really coming out. like americans are living under a kind of world of no relating to where i'm. sitting. today there are good and bad the bad terrorists those in yemen who the united states deems to be a threat the good those who are in syria the joke here is we've been there before i mean if you consider the of the honest on story they have learned nothing. today if i see the saudis are giving money to groups in syria that are not only a looser out but also. if you want a conspiracy theory is what i'm just trying to. in the moment the. dangerous. sounds insane. so what appears to have been a conspiracy at the time. when. we must address the cycle of conflict especially sectarian conflict that creates the conditions the terrorists prey upon in public we have

meanwhile the leader of the e powerful shiite group hezbollah. calling for a new government to be swiftly and stated. new government whoever forms it must prioritize restoring trust between people and civil authorities because if there isn't any trust in the government it won't be able to achieve what it needs to do. we call for donald between old lebanese people political parties politicians an honest representatives of the protests at him. and joining us now for the view from bay route is political scientist at least four was thank you so much for being with us. thank you for having me of course a is so is the catalyst of for these protests was the terrible economic situation and lebanon. so how are people operating without banks for so long. basically it's it seeeems that the people. knew that there was a certain crisis information said that before the protests that up. two billion dollars were- taken- from banks and ststalked and h houses so people would somehow- and prepared for what's coming so they operated without banks for two weeks for

that compound on fire and that echoed an attack that took place by other demonstrators in another shiite majority city covered by the just a few weeks back when demonstrators attacked the iranian consulate in that shii holy city and in which they demanded that iran basically get out of it off the politics so that really goes to show you how this movement this time is different than movements in the past what we are seeing right now is a cross-section of iraq these coming out of various cities that are putting aside politics that are putting aside sectarianism that are uniting as you know hakim in demanding a better future and demanding an overhaul of the political system here which they say is too corrupt and doesn't provide them any opportunity ok mohamed we'll let you get back kid see the atmosphere there in central baghdad we will of course provides cross and i thank you very much. stay with this story and speak with marwan and he's head of policy analysis at the arab center. for research and policy studies and joins us now live from doha marwan caballo thank you so much for talking t

shiite militias in syria and they have become ever more aggressive by actually using and using actually their own forces the force and they have helped assad to take over his country after the civil war that took place there with severe severe casualties you know you're talking about more than 600000 in there. and they're trying to dig in open basically a 2nd front against israel and we certainly will not allow that if you look from a larger perspective you see that iran is trying to surround israel from all sides and we take seriously the. announcements and declarations of the leaders of iran that they want to erase israel from the map iran denies that syria denies that but there are pictures of president yahoo treating people in syria in the golan heights associated with isis diaster and al-qaeda you just mentioned 600000 figure of 600000 when it came to the syrian civil war did your government support isis dietitian al qaeda in syria does it ever support those groups no no way if you look at the charter or the belief so fail qaeda and isis they think we are at the top of the list to

the fact that you have now had 2 attacks on iranian consulates in shiite holy cities within a matter of weeks this month that really goes to show how much frustration there is even in shiite majority cities toward the government of iran because of the outsized role that they play in the politics of course you had this attack last night that was an attack in which the anti-government demonstrators they got into that compound in and they set. the iranian consulate ablaze they burned it before the attack happened the staff at the consulate they had escaped through a back door we're now being told that they're off the military is going to be sending these security cells to some of the provinces to try to quell the protests we don't really know exactly what form that's going to take there is great concern here right now that perhaps that could mean that there is a crackdown looming that perhaps there will be more violence we just don't know we'll have to wait and see but also that we've been told that there is now a curfew that has been put in place in the city of now for the until furthe

iraq has been gripped by deadly protests since october many of those taking part believe that the shiite dominated political clubs all points of neighboring iran. iranian coincidence have been targeted numerous times by protesters wednesday's toolchain at the consulate in the jump from to the violent crackdown by security forces killed dozens of people nationwide. so far over four hundred protesters have been killed during the demonstrations parliament is convening an emergency meeting on sunday t to discuss the crisis. prime minister. matti housining yes and no when he wil officialally resign. now the comments of the french president made in the british press three weeks ago about nato being brain dead t to continue to spark controversy. this friday the turkish president's has lashed out at a menu and my c call saying that e should check if he is brain dead first. outing that mac homes remarks in the economist magazine show a sick and shallow understanding of the alliance the french foreign miministry has reacted very quickly summoning the tururkish ambassador to france. with one advise

the resignation comes as iraq's top shiite cleric sis stane warned of civil war.e than 400 iraqis have been killed by iraqi security forces since demonstrations began two months ago to address corruption lack of public services jobs. iran backed militias have on iran's central government. 700 pages of leaked iranian intelligence reports from 2014 and 2015, published recently by the "new york times" and the intercept present a detailed portrait of just how aggressively tehran has worked to embed itself in iraqi affairs. wednesday, demonstrators stormed the iranian consulate in najaf, burning one of its buildings, occupying the grounds and demanding that iran's influence in iraq be reduced. iranian generals have used the past five years of the anti-isis fight to arm iraqi shiite militias. >> we consider this as the first step. we demand the resignation of all lawmakers. we call them the judiciary to put them on trial immediately. >> prime minister abdel, the son of a shiite cleric was chosen as a compromise candidate 13 months ago. the 77-year-old economist served a

color again the headlines on al-jazeera iraq's top shiite cleric has urged the police and military to avoid using excessive force the iraqi commission for human rights says that 23 people were killed in protests since sunday. the international court of justice says it will hear a case filed by ukraine against russia over its support of pro russian separatists this decision comes as ukraine's army and the separatists are set to withdraw more troops from the frontline on saturday great victories the preliminary objections bracy by the russian federation that the call to lacks jurisdiction on the basis of plastic or 22 of the international convention on the elimination of all 4 missing off racial discrimination. hong kong protesters are mourning the death of a student who fell from a building during a demonstration on monday 22 year old child she lost died of his injuries on friday the police are denying any wrongdoing but say they'll investigate acting white house chief of staff mick mulvaney has defied a subpoena ordering him to testify be impeachment inquiry the committee wanted move

hours later violence in yet another shiite majority southern city dozens killed or wounded in nasiriyah when security forces opened fire with live rounds and tear gas to disperse crowds of protesters. military announced the troops would be dispatched to southern iraq to restore order. anti-government demonstrations have been raging in iraq since early october with protesters accusing the government of corruption and demanding a complete overhaul of the country's political system since the unrest began at least $350.00 people have been killed and thousands wounded. political analysts say the only way for the government to find a solution is by pushing for reform. to issue a new electorial law for the best of the people to hold early elections off to be rocky parliament dissolves itself and the government resigns but many protesters say much more needs to be done day after day the demonstrators that we speak with be they in baghdad or other cities tell us they don't feel the government is taking their demands seriously they say that no matter the risk they will continue to come out and pr

influence of iran in the politics clearly this is worrying it on but also it's very much worrying the shiite led government here in iraq when you look at what's been going on here when you see how the parliament has been trying to reconcile the demands of the protesters with these efforts to try to mollify them by attempting to pass let's say electoral reform that is not doing anything to mollify the protesters. because in albania racing to find survivors from tuesday's earthquake several countries have sent teams to help around 20 people are still missing and 30 have been confirmed dead that's it for me for now inside stories next a chinese casino empire is transforming cambodia. development and criminality when i went to this gate to. cambodia to see it. on al-jazeera. political deadlock in lebanon it's widening the sectarian divide and leading to a drive in violence politicians of failed to form a government in the position of prime minister remain state so who can lead the country out of crisis this is inside story. and welcome to the program. now they had been more than 40 days of large

influence of iran in their politics clearly this is worrying iran but also it's very much worrying the shiite led government here in a tough when you look at what's been going on here when you see how the parliament has been trying to reconcile the demands of the protesters with these efforts to try to mollify them by attempting to pass let's say electoral reform that is not doing anything to mollify the protesters time and again you go out you speak to the protesters in baghdad you hear from protesters in other provinces and they say that the government here is ineffective and they want to complete overhaul of the political system and one of the things they want to see is an into the influence of not just eat on but they want to see an end of the influence by the united states and into the influence by saudi arabia by other countries that are allies of it up this is a problem that is going to continue to persist in the fact that you have these protesters last night this fight the threat of reprisals despite how unsafe it might have been going actually attacking the compound actually burning

have been more violent clashes in the iraqi capital and in the south of the country despite the top shiite cleric the military and the police to avoid using excessive force against protesters security forces fired tear gas and threw stun grenades into crowds of government demonstrators in baghdad and then in basra security forces there fired live rounds at demonstrators staging a sit in the rocky commission for human rights says at least 23 protests have been killed in the rest since sunday. well grand ayatollah ali al sistani only speaks on politics in times of crisis and wields enormous influence over public opinion in iraq a representative for the cleric has urged the government to respond as quickly as possible to the demands of demonstrators no more hard for a lot i love to let you judge out the peacefulness of the protests in their various forms should be paid great attention the biggest responsibility is on the security forces they must avoid using excessive force on peaceful protesters. now to sarah's mom been speaking to some protesters in the capital baghdad he sent us this repor

clearly that's not the case in the this is the 2nd time this month that an iranian consulate in a shiite majority city has been targeted by an off the demonstrators 3 weeks ago security forces killed 4 demonstrators who stormed the consulate in the city of karbala both attacks feed into the wider anti-government protest movement that's engulfed iraq since october hours later violence in yet another shiite majority southern city dozens killed or wounded in nasiriyah when security forces opened fire with live rounds and tear gas to disperse crowds of protesters. military announced the troops would be dispatched to southern iraq to restore order. anti-government demonstrations have been raging in iraq since early october with protesters accusing the government of corruption and demanding a complete overhaul of the country's political system since the unrest began at least $350.00 people have been killed and thousands wounded. political analysts say the only way for the government to find a solution is by pushing for reform. going into to issue a new electorial role for the best of the peopl

$23.00 protesters have died in baghdad and in southern areas of the country since sunday iraq's top shiite cleric is urging the military police to avoid using excessive force against demonstrators . as the governments must respond as quickly as possible so their demands. it. in baghdad thousands of demonstrators demonstrators of all ages men women children across the social divide they came out to tahrir square in the area surrounding to your square they were expressing a real resolve these protesters committed to continue coming out day after day demonstrators determined to effect some kind of change they said that through their demonstrations they wanted to make sure they could help ensure build a better future for it up and it up please when we arrived at to have your square earlier in the day we didn't really know what we would find there had been reports of deaths in basra protesters being killed and busta and protesters overnight be killed in baghdad when we arrived into here's where earlier in the day we found a real jubilant crowd a real festive atmosphere not just people discussin

but yvonne and his friends are holding out for serious change christian sunni's and shiites they're all unified in anger at the ruling class. for more we're joined by d.w. correspondent bussell r.a.d who is in the lebanese capital beirut hello to you basel so tell us what nobody has traitors are planning today. today we have. the 1st one the. main squares and all over the major cities and then in an 18 days. it's through that number decline after that is the mission of the government. to join. a mass demonstration similar to the one last sunday the. president president michel on. the minister of foreign affairs. movement which is the largest party and lebanon. will reach it and. its a. to the east. the presidential look at the. 2 different signs 2 different sets of goals tell us what each side i was hoping is hoping to achieve. the 1st one. since 18 years even as the nation of the government. it's. gone today no. huge. first of all to achieve to push hard on the authorities to form a. government made of experts and technocrats while the 2nd the 2nd of the 2nd part of the scene. the seek

but ivan and his friends are holding out for fundamental change whether sunni shiite or christian they're unified in anger at the ruling class. for more we're joined by d.w. correspondent bustle r.a.d who's in the lebanese capital beirut hello to you basel so tell us what in the morning strangers are planning today. today we have. the 1st one the protestants in the main squares and all over the major cities and lebanon 18 days. it's true that the number declined after that is the mission of the government but today the asking all the people to join them in the squares a mass demonstration similar to the one in last sunday the 2nd. president president michel aoun and his son the minister of foreign affairs. movement which is the largest party and lebanon. march will reach it and. it's a. 10 kilometers to the east of the presidential palace look at that all right 2 different signs 2 different sets of goals tell us what each side i'm hoping is hoping to achieve. the 1st 1. 118 these even the last of the nation of the government. the day now these huge protests 1st of all to achieve to push h