the majority population concentrated in the east and southern iraq, including cities like basra, generating 40% of iraq's oil revenues. let's speak to an editor-in-chief inside iraqi politics. joining us from the kurd anian capital. no single party is expected to win the elections currently taking place, to win a majority of the elections going on in iraq. can up explain the system of proportional representation? >> sure, so the way it works is that iraq is divided into 18 districts. one district for each province. there are 328 seats in the parliament. three more than in 2010. they are divided roughly according to population. what will happen is that the parties - what they'll do is they are allowed to register as coalition blocks or run as parties. the most important groups ran as coalition blocks. nouri al-maliki's block is called the state of law coalition. another competing one lead by the islamic supreme council is the block of the citizen, and so on. each of these is made up of a variety of different parties, and then after the election, they will form a larger block even among these

assigned to you could have held back i was in the second squadron that was the lead elements across southern iraqwe could have covered that territory that we took three days probably didn't six and 1/2 or eight hours because causally be were halted. it was the emphasis that high levels of traffic control moving everything you zero very slowly forward resembled world war foreign to move thousands of troops across the battlefield. around 4:00 in the afternoon we were coming out of a heavy sandstorm we had driven through lots of artillery encountered lots of the enemy and we knew we were in a security zone so we knew we would make enemy contact but we were held back and when we were released we were given another limit of the advance. but as chance would have it that people at high levels were trying to micromanage and we were unaware the picture of their battlefield was not accurate. nothing was flying. they had no idea with any specificity what was out there we literally collided with the brigade of 2500 iraqi troops republican guard brigade. it was at 100 percent strength because actually the rea

look at southern iraq. why is greece just showing signs of life with 27 percent unemployment? austerity hits the private sector not the public sector so it escapes and it gets crushed and then with neighboring belgium nobody thought of that as a tax haven. [laughter] >> i remember when the united states used to be a tax haven. >> i don't think this comes to fruition but i have heard from some of white house with the latest budget numbers with the deficit under half a trillion dollars but it is still money added to the dead and half a trillion is still not that great but they say it is aside what they have been doing with taxing and little control of spending is working senate the ada to celebrate half trillion dollars deficit is news to be but the get the presidency although almost all have been designed to reduce and cut many quality do you know, what has happened? the people of the stock market at the top have gotten richer what we have seen is the of middle-class hurt the most. neil: if not by any other means they will raise up that will take the top tax rate to crunch it d

they are providing gas and do control the flow of water especially in southern iraq which they shown from time to time but they have a lot of power and i'm not even talking about their presence in the country back and forth knowing that the most important although he may not be there in the present is the head of the force and the irg c.. he was a major figure in iran and he is now responsible for the war in serious of course. but he is a powerful figure, and he has influence with the sunni and the shia. so there is no clean line ethically or sectarian. there's all kind of elements, but they were able to penetrate a lot of organizations. remember they trained the brigade that came to the police. it involved the security and a lot of different ways that are hard to remove but i think it is a matter of time. i would say this for a long time now that their influence was at its greatest point. it's going to take a long time to separate that out more. that iraq is always going to have to think about what they want and what they could do. they are not in a position to deny and most is mand

into northern iraq, southern turkey, northern jordan and into lebanon which has taken by far the mostit has received only 14% of the funding it has asked for. some have told us about their struggles. >> well, the united nations have said no country has done as much as lebanon proportional to its size. how is lebanon coping? >> it is under immense pressure from economically. as you said, when you have one in four of the population as refugees this puts a lot of pressure on electricity, water, education. of these million refugees who are formally registered in lebanon, 400,000 are children. there are places for a hundred thousand of them. so we have 300,000 children of these refugee versus no schools to go to. children are working. girls are getting married the a young age. so it is a very grim milestone. >> this is in a country where stability every day is challenged politically and economically. how is the country embracing this enormous potential for in stability? >> now, lebanon has suffered a spillover from the war. you have the shiite hezbollah supporting and the the sunnis suppor

the majority of the shia population is concentrated in the eastern and southern parts of iraq.ncluding cities like basra. >> so for iraqis heading to the polls, it's not just sectarian challenges, there are regional ones as well. >> iraqi president is showing the rare public appearance at a hospital in germany where he is being treated. the ballot he is passing is for the first parliamentary elections since 2011 when the u.s. pulled out of iraq. these elections are seen as crucial. voting in some regions is expected to be difficult. in places like anbar, there's intense fighting between the army and members of the islamic state in iraq and the levant. tribal leaders control post of anbar, including the city of ballujah. sunnis accuse the shia-led government of mistreating them. during a rally, protesters accuse the prime minister nouri al-maliki of being a puppet of iran. maliki's problems do not end there. leaders in the gulf accuse the government of discriminating against sunni. nouri al-maliki blames saudi arabia and qatar for helping armed groups. the last summit on syria i

so it's everywhere in southern california which has the largest population of iraq and afghanistan in the country. i look at it as being we live in a kind of, culture in some ways so it's just part of our environment at this point. hispanic in the new yorker you wrote in their article just sent researchers challenging our understanding even its very nature as an ailment. modern psychiatry they argue is systematically overdiagnosed as ptsd without nurturing the ability to heal themselves. could you explain this controversy? >> when people hear that there is a criticism it is hard to wrap your head around that idea because in my mind there is a kind of surplus of sympathy for veterans. we all want that. we want to thank them for their service and that is something i appreciate the title of david's book i think it is ironic. people would thank me and some veterans have said to me i feel like everyone assumes that we all have ptsd and we have the entire veteran experience that assumes if you went over there and were blown up 1% a week in baghdad that you are broken and i think there is a

iraq. est fan grew up in the southern most city.ddle east to the american midwest is a classic tale of an ambitious immigrant seeking freedom and fortunate. but hbut he fought fought harden most, literally. >> i was a champion. i was beating every champion in iraq in my weight . >> reporter: in his younger days he dominated the light heavy i weight boxers of iraq, he was iraq's national champion in his weight class . but could not represent his country beyond its borders because of his religious, born a christian in a muslim country. >> every time when i stop and step in the ring i do the cross and pray. some muslims boo me. >> they were to booing you. >> they boo me because i am christian. my family tell me don't stay here, you are a good boxer, you are beating every champion, they don't let you represent iraq, runway from this country. because you are going to be good boxer. >> reporter: in iraq, estefan was seen as an outsider on two counts, not muslim or arab. he is christian and a proud ethnic group that chase it its heritage a

. >> in iraq, four people have been killed in two explosions in southern baghdad. police say two bombs went off in a street full of shoppers in a mainly sunni neighborhood. the explosions damaged nearby shops and tore up parts of the roads. eight people were injured. >>> two people have been killed by an apparent car bomb in bahrain. the interior ministry says signs of explosives were found inside the car. united nations refugee camp has run out of food. they were allowed to deliver aid but in the last 10 days, nothing has reached the 18,000 people trapped there. t several people have reportedly starved to death. >> that's despite a u.n. resolution calling for food parcels to be brought in. >> doctors say they have treated at least 100 people for suffocation. it's near the northern city of hama. they are blaming helicopters that dropped bombs packed with explosives. >> aide workers say up to 2 million children in syria may need psychological help because of the war that's going on. some are getting support and treatment but in the city, jordan, others aren't so luc

southern russia. i think ukrainians are involved in this uprising. >>> in other news, at least 11 people have been killed in two separate bombings in the outdoor market in iraq 19 others were wounded in the attack northeast of baghdad. the series of attacks are aimed to discourage people from voting wednesday. >>> reports from nigeria say some of the 200 girls abducted from the boarding school may been sold into marriage in neighboring cameroon. it's believed they were kidnapped by the group boko haram. people call on the government and military to do more to try to get the girls back safely. >>> brazil's preparations for the 2016 rio games have been described by senior olympic officials as the worst he's seen. the vice president john coates says the production is well behind schedule. there's concerns about infrastructure and water quality. he added there's no plan b. there will not be an alternative city chosen to host the games. >>> as divers continue to recover bodies from the sunk south korean ferry, president park has apologized for failing to prevent the disaster that left more than 300 dead or missing. at the memorial for the 250 school children on b

he should paint a picture of the car bombs that tore through southern baghdad yesterday in another devastating reminder that the iraq war lives eleven years after that invasion began and instead of paying world leaders he should paint portraits of the iraqi children born with birth defects because they've been exposed to the depleted uranium and white phosphorous used by the american military during the war. we should also paint portraits of the millions of americans who come home from his wars in iraq and afghanistan with life altering injuries or permanent psychological damage all those things would be a better representation of the bush years and yet another painting of a picture from wikipedia of uncle merkel. the french author albert khemu once about art that a guilty conscience needs to confess and that a work of art is a confession if that's true then george w. bush still has a whole lot more soul searching to do. maybe on the left article. when the obama supporters to the phones all but mr miller get. their eyes politically correct that i'm correcting fox so-called news host stuart varney during a recent epi

iraq and levant says it was behind that attack. and said an event for the asaad allal-hack movement before the election. they are accused of carrying out attacks in southern syria. >>> it will be an issue when iraqis go to the polls. many wonder if the police are up to the challenge of protecting the capital - not just for the vote, but for the long term. imran khan reports. >> reporter: this is baghdad operations command, as the name suggests they are responsible for baghdad's security. cameras are rarely allowed into this - the nerve center controlling the movements of the troops on the ground. as the election gets closer they realise there are security concerns. >> the enemy is trying to demoralize us, spreading hatred to prevent iraqis to exercise their democratic right to vote. stakes are high, we feel we have a concrete plan it guarantee security. >> checkpoints such as this dot the city. you can find them every few kilometres and they are a visable sign. the soldiers understand the threats faced. >> translation: we are the spearhead of the open war on terrorism and are fighting on behalf of the region and iraq and baghdad. the war continues with al

southern afghanistan. the british chapper went down in kandahar prove incideprovince. there is no word on the nationalities of those on board >> an election campaign rally came to a bloody end in iraq yesterday. an off-shoot of al-qaeda set off bombs killing 30 and injures dozens more. about 10,000 gathered at a baghdad stadium. they planned to announce candidates for upcoming elections. many worry whether the government can secure bbaghdad >> this is baghdad operations command. they are responsible for baghdad's security. cameras are rarely allowed into this, the nerve center that controls the movements of troops on the ground. as iraq's election gets closer, the government understands it faces security challenges. >> the enemy is trying to demoral eyes us by spreading hatred to prevent iraqis to exercise their democratic right to vote. we believe the stakes are high, but we feel we have a concrete plan to help guarantee security. checkpoints such as this dot the city. you can find them every few kilometers, the most visible sign of the government's secure plan. the government understands the threats they face. >> we are the spearhead of the open war on terrorism in general. we ar

southern yemen. they had been watched and targeted for quite some time. i want you to take a listen to what form 0er ambassador to iraq chris hill said today about the importance of this strike. >> i think it sends a very powerful message, first of all, of our technical capabilities, obviously, but also of our will, and i think one thing we really have shown through the bush administration and the obama administration is a real will to deal with these people. >> reporter: now, i should say that the u.s. is the only known country to have carried out these sorts of drone strikes in yemen, and so far, fred, this year there have already been eight of those attacks. fred? >> all right. sunlen, and then several civilians were also killed, and we just mentioned, some discrepancies over the numbers. what's the late jest. >> reporter: we do have confirmed that three civilians were definitely in a car, according to sources in the region. they were in a car right by that truck targeted and unfortunately were lost as well. you know, this is often a sensitive part of drone strikes, of course. the casualties that take place, and pr

iraq has surged to levels not seen since 2008. american drones in the yemeni military have carried out attacks in the southern part of the country.rgets have been killed in the operation so far. several u.s. officials say the air strikes were timed to counter any plans for terror attacks in yemen. >>> president obama heads to the washington state landslide zone today to meet family members and first responders. he will make a brief stop as he heads out on an eight-day asian tour. the disaster death toll is up to 41 people. four are still missing. >>> vice president biden is in ukraine's capital to show support for the struggling government there. this comes as photos are turning up on twitter an other media that show some of the troops in ukraine are russian special forces. with more karen travers. >> reporter: vice president biden touched down in ukraine to reaffirm the commitment to the government there. the obama administration continues to point fingers at russia for the ongoing tensions releasing images of soldiers in eastern ukraine that it says are russian forces. >> there's a strong connection between russia and the armed