possibility of splits and divisions which when the moslems with dean who sees them talking about sunni and shia muslimsthis is unacceptable we should have heard that it was actually within a sunni islam. there is currently some friction this is a very dentures so saudi arabia as a country. that has so. police is the sort of two places holy for muslims to think a country that wants to see as posed iran's as a country that wants to be a leader. part of the old regime muslim world and that also makes no secret of the fact that it would like. a regime because you just stay there and achieve political settlement of course those two countries should participate in this conference because any case they will have influence on the situation there so it would be much better for them to participate general conversation it's much better to make them part of the general format it's much better for them to be able to listen to the opinions of all the parties taking part in the conference that. the government and the opposition but also other party is supporting it's. the conflict you know side with the let's get is

there is been further violence between shiite and sunni muslims. the operation triggered an immediate backlash. hasthe prime minister pledged to withdraw troops from the mainly sunni anbar province. >> the remains of the raman the adi camp, shown on iraqi tv. access to the major highway, which was blocked for year, finally able to reopen. clashes on monday between iraqi police and armed men left a dozen dead and a number of sunni protesters injured. the shiite prime minister has and withinltimatum, foreclosure, political fallout. 44 lawmakers submitted resignations. monday's fighting spread to the nearby city of falluja, where took vehicles. elsewhere, iraqi military hunting down al qaeda fighters in a bid to stem the violence. -- sunnisters protesters in the thousands denounce the government. theyhiite government, claim, imposes discriminatory policies against them. >> and norway and denmark, awaiting the removal of dangerous chemical weapons from syria. bad weather has hampered the operation, meaning a key deadline has been missed. ambitiousow to

its right to defend a lead citizens whatever their religion against the crimes committed by the sunni muslim extremist groups to attack them in mass times in the places of worship in the neighborhoods in his first christmas address newly elected pope korean sisters both sides to open access for humanitarian aid in syria. in september he also held a global prayer day for keys and voiced strong opposition against plans of the u s intervention. i'd be the meanwhile for the past two weeks. it's the real reason has targeted villages across the limpopo province the saturday kids in each of the deal was seen online and local and ceo the efforts of snow the aftermath of the syrian army carol bombing on the market is nice to let go. it comes to destroy the hospital the ball according to the screen observatory for kim in rates more than five hundred people have died since december sixteen. thousands of people march through the ukrainian capital today showing no signs of backing down all within a month of rallies this will spot the government's decision to shelve a key deal with the european adults ins

keeping your profile and finding increasing attacks by sunni muslim extremists. you can feed an army could open the bonnet is confident students and eat and my not even a bit stunned at the hunting act was some kind of let it go out on them. and guess who just wanted him to stop in his own gang pga at this or that the site it's got to his cv. he had just stepped forward. and late nineteen sixties looking at around one thirty of those looking to add into this suicide attacks on the island chain still it cannot rest in peace summit. at the feet of the pockets on time to bond acting responsibly teeth with the attacks. is it written out. we should do it i did it the nature of nature. christians have bunch of new techniques. this time many of sixty dollars might be assassinated from the prime minister then as it would go. the moment it does need to teach it really isn't much at all. i didn't come in handy in nevada city ca on sunday in christian school the embassy. for one thing is it. horvath. the king did not go ahead. all of the education and now i want to miss him

military officers have reportedly been killed this in an ambush on westgate country's western sunni muslim dominated province of anbar. this is according to military sources say several top ranking officers were among those killed in the attack that number has the exact number of officials has not been given but once again at least fifteen iraqi army officers killed in anbar province. now push for dialogue to end the violence the us has announced it's sending a special envoy to south sudan an effort to stop the sectarian fighting in the country on friday representatives from several neighboring african countries met with the presidents of the kia be called the talks productive but former vice president make the stock has been accused of a failed coup d'etat has so far refused to join negotiations on sarcasm the entire region is united for peace mission in fancy done. ministers from flight neighboring countries were in the capital cuba on friday it persuaded presence of the kia to open dialogue with this one finds president no rival. we miss our. it's still unclear what exactly sparked the

the area was the scene of heavy fighting six months ago between the army of supporters of the sunni muslim cleric who backs rebels in neighboring syria the rough is that syrian relate to counties could even to the plunge lebanon back into it and civil. rest in peace. ten days of mourning process up because fest duck president ended on sunday with the burial of nelson mandela and his ancestral having to do. as the coffin was lowered into the grave army helicopters few of the bank the south african black. a day. the state funeral said this was a mix of nikki home and tradition on a steve writes that ended by then it is politically this and foreign guests the nobel peace laureate was held in apartheid prisons for twenty seven years before emerging to pizza cuteness was ninety five twenty diet candles for the day of his life when dipped in endurance but in the salsa been carried out for one more sarah many december the sixteenth is a holiday in the piece as africa's reconciliation day. this year a giant statues to be on that but kristin jacobs the lead in pretoria to the man they call the fath

through to the sunni muslim cities of russia. really fourteen thousand people or sixty thousand kilometers live in a record setting trip by. air sea and others face. olympic torch relay. on our. live . list. welcome back to worlds apart from rio discussing the interplay between democracy and security with. the secretary general of the organization for security and cooperation in europe mr xavier the always see was created as an organization to facilitate the dialogue between east and west or. the cold war and to some extent this divide ideological divide still remains and some may even argue that it has exacerbated in recent years in fact this recent toggle for between russia and the european union over ukrainian future may be seen as one example of that what do you think are we witnessing the formation of this new divide between east and west in europe because there's talk about. what we see is that the relations between the keep players a group of players in the us see space not necessarily become any easier in recent times and

in iraq violence between shia and sunni muslims continues. but that hasn't stopped an islamic leader joining the christmas eve mass at a church in baghdad. the people prayed for peace alongside the leader of the shia muslim political party the islamic supreme council of iraq other religious groups also joined one christian said this may be the first time for such a mixture of religions. to celebrate christmas in iraq together he still in the middle east syria refugees in lebanon prayed for an end to the civil war and their home country. nevada has accepted more than eight hundred thousand refugees from syria one family spent a quiet christmas eve at their apartment in beirut. they fled the northern syrian city of qom initially five months ago the fire father said they don't feel like celebrating when they think of their countrymen still caught in the conflict. baby wishes for the future the new school. and again sunday. i am happy to go back to school in stereo with my friends. to celebrate christmas with them someday barely decorated their r

people more than twenty were also injured when the car bomb went off near a cafe in sony in a sunni muslim area iraqi security forces are struggling to tame a wave of violence is pushed the number of casualties this year is highest level since two thousand and eight. french troops have started taking control of checkpoints in the capital of the central african republic as they confiscate weapons from opposing groups and try to stifle ongoing unrest earlier shooting broke out near the airport when a number of fighters refused to surrender their arms the pentagon is reporting taking part in the french operation sixteen hundred french soldiers have been deployed in the nation wracked by sectarian violence. so not to bring it up to date for the moment but with the news team with more for in just over half an hour all the thrills and spills from the world of sport coming up very shortly. just imagine a foreign leaders like alexander lukashenko of lattimer putin to shoot up an anti e.u. protest and all garia greece are hungry to urge people to leave the e.u. and join up with the eurasian customs

killed eleven people more than twenty were also injured one big car bomb went off near a cafe in a sunni muslim area iraqi security forces are struggling to contain a wave of violence that has pushed the number of casualties this year to its highest level since two thousand and eight. hundred thousand people have marched in the thai capital even though one of their key demands that the parliament be dissolved was met by the prime minister nawaz new elections will be held on february the second after weeks of public anger bore parts of by contrast standstill protesters have been calling for the prime minister to step down over suspicion and you understood bill could be used to bring her brother back from exile. in indonesia a high speed commuter train has rammed into a truck carrying five cows killing at least ten people police a railway crossing gate was responsible for the collision in the capital jakarta and sparked a fireball when two meters into their emergency services are searching through the wreckage for survivors. of violent dispute between the wire cutters and owners of a scottish oil

had been killed and inspiration that i gave it to shock his convoy in downtown beirut just not a sunni muslim was orson opposition feedback and an eight to follow from any set aside our hiring the chateau was reported to be on he's way too attended the scene when expansion that has eye witnesses say ambulances and taking beacons from the area evidence the state news agency said the stairs in a region agents from the comp all noble nine season has yet claimed responsibility for that bring you more details become available. essential to that my team j in beirut he said jon the midst of that a lot to know what can happen with a kiss to have aunt bekah polling station what will be giving you just mentioned are full with getting a move from second to the full review here. over the reasons why some people go on the convention opens his most recent tweets to the pool. and he doesn't think i'm mentioning it. it doesn't. exercising its right to attend to inform policy an issue with him on the button but i think it ought to expect a great arm. situation is very very tense and teach them that is the top

chatah was a sunni muslim who often spoke out publicly for moderation and tolerance, as in this 2011 interview. >> lebanon has an interest in peace. has an interest in maintaining a liberal democracy where individuals can live freely. >> reporter: clearly, not everyone in lebanon shared his vision. already, senior politicians are blaming hezbollah for the bombing. chatah had been an outspoken critic of hezbollah, the iranian-backed militia which uses lebanon as its base. and also its ally, president bashar al-assad in neighboring war-torn syria. hours after the bombing, hezbollah denied it had anything to do with it. >> glor: elizabeth palmer is in our london bureau tonight. liz, what's the potential fallout from this attack? >> reporter: well, lebanon is a very fragile society. it's come through its own civil war not so very long ago and it's still very vulnerable to the kind of sectarian tensions that have been laid bare in the conflict in syria. today's bombing is the sixth since july in lebanon and many people think this is just the beginning of what's going to be an escalating s

iraqi security forces arrested a prominent sunni muslim lawmaker and government critic a raid on his home in the western unbar province killed at least five people including his brother and guards there are fears the incident could inflame ethnic tensions in the region as often is seen of anti-government protests sectarian violence is on the rise in iraq with more than eight thousand people killed there this year. the world's youngest country on the brink of collapse just two years after it appeared on the map what started as a power struggle in south sudan between the president and his sacked vice president this week descended toward civil war fighting in the oil rich states already claimed more than one thousand lives of this month artie's posts leader looks at the core of the conflict. it is the glutes newest country but it is south sudan who will be on the brink of its own a full blown divisive conflict you know dealing with a civil war that knows no bounds in terms of how long that's would last of course it has no determination as to how many people lose their lives not to menti

killed eleven people more than twenty were also injured when the car bomb went off near a cafe in a sunni muslim area iraqi security forces are struggling to contain a wave of violence that has pushed the number of casualties this year to its highest level since two thousand and eight. hundred thousand people have marched in the thai capital despite the prime minister agreeing to a key demand that the parliament be dissolved the king ahaz indoors the p.m.'s decision to hold a new elections earlier next here for weeks now thousands of protesters have been calling for the prime minister to step down over suspicion a new amnesty bill could be used to bring her brother back from x. i'll back into the. in indonesia a high speed commuter train has rammed into a truck carrying you can buy gas killing at least ten people police say a full scale railway crossing gate was responsible for the collision in the capital . it sparked a fireball that shop twenty metres into the air emergency services are searching through the wreckage will survive this day. a violent a speed between the workers and owners of a

i see that if that persists even tuesday between shiites and sunni muslims. explosions happened despite the security team meltdown in baucus towns and cities. the ami had conducted that much is true said one attendee of the vote of ninety or by phone so this is what suspended and markets had been going to start the pecans for what cost to stay off the dance and piano nineteen and to read is happy then. security was tight since monday evening in dublin and the city of cap the tickets now mumbai the administration had seen me towards the socks knit in the campaign is to isolate the shia say shame on me and got in the troops had taken positions at all is said to the points in the garrison city. the high security for the succeeding cashews to the russian opposition denounced month the riots that began in the making the hacking alerted us to be true. i'm number of meetings plus activities. it is also conducted a chance and guest houses in the challenging to do for one's notice is in the north west and said he was also suspended. on board a plane into couldn't find

iraqi security forces arrested a prominent sunni muslim lawmaker and government critic a raid on his home in western unbar province killed at least five people including his brother and guards there are fears the incident could inflame ethnic tensions in a region often the scene of anti-government protests so tarion violence is on the rise in iraq with more than a thousand people killed there this year i made biting welfare reform and social spending the british government has still managed to secure a tax cut but only for those already making a mint details from artie's poly boyo. for many of those working here in the city of london two thousand and thirteen has been a year of prosperity thanks to a tax cut that kicked in earlier this spring the u.k.'s highest earners have been able to make even more money this year the rate of tax for people earning over one hundred fifty thousand pounds per year has gone down from fifty pence to forty five so for every hundred pounds they earn over that fifty pounds used to go straight into the treasury but that figure has now been reduced and now

including the minority sect of the whites continue to back the rebels which mainly consist of sunni muslims. un school to find a political solution to the conflict have slid from being unsuccessful he recently sent its first of several batches of humanitarian aid by plane from iraq the supplies of two to four feet to the more than six thousand syrian families of the rest of them on the red size stones which have prompted the country to create an additional hardship for those displaced. i. the i . yet the desert in the sense of israel is one of the country's most advanced areas to kill a jew why is it the same time. one of the most challenging one to sew binding. we joined a fact finding mission of the jewish colonization association who visited the are about to find projects to fund in twenty fourteen you are lucky that the john jay z board member from france admits he's always fascinated by the people she gets to meet on a fact finding missions to the arvo. what a maniac when we do these two lists is that it's fitting that the way to discover its own. because we don't the act is to risk we

the saudis then i'll tell you the ball go ahead there's been a long time battle between shia and sunni muslims that's existed for a thousand years and exists in the iran iraq war saudi arabia is leading the sunni's iran is leading the shias in syria of course you have a sunni majority country ruled by it. iranian backed months already why he's killing washington d.c. involved in all who it is coming out of the balance sheet in washington be backing the sequester you want friends go ahead go ahead mark they should they should be backing the peaceful rebels there because and doing it through a no fly zone by the way not through arms because right now it's all going to end up frankly you know why you don't have any of the satellite there brian jump in here no one should act of war. and act again good stuff going on with each other brian let's be real let's be real if i could a no fly zone means you have to carry out the you through the u.s. and nato air forces the ability to destroy the syrian air defenses no fly zone means the u.s. would unlike what it's doing right now which is preparing for an

saudis then i'll tell you that will go ahead there's been a long time battle between shia and sunni muslims that's existed for a thousand years and exists in the iran iraq war saudi arabia is leading the sunni's iran is leading the shias in syria of course you have a sunni majority country ruled by. iranian backed months already why he's killing washington d.c. involved in all who it is coming out of the balance sheet in washington be backing the sequester you want friends go ahead go ahead mark they should they should be backing the peaceful rebels there because and doing it through a no fly zone by the way not through arms because right now it's all going to end up frankly you know why you don't have any and starlight there brian jump in here no one should act of war mongering i mean it was you know in an act again good stuff you know we were talking over each other brian let's be real let's be real if i could a no fly zone means you have to carry out the you through the u.s. and nato air forces the ability to destroy the syrian air defenses no fly zone means the u.s. would unlike what it

saudis then i'll tell you that will go ahead there's been a long time battle between shia and sunni muslims that's existed for a thousand years and exists in the iran iraq war saudi arabia is leading the sunni's iran is leading the shias in syria of course you have a sunni majority country ruled by it. iranian backed months already why he's killing washington d.c. involved in all the greatest coming out of the balance sheet in washington be backing the seiko you want friends go ahead go ahead mark they should they should be backing the peaceful rebels there because and doing it for a no fly zone by the way not through arms because right now it's all going to end up frankly you know why you don't have any light there brian jump in here no one should act of war mongering i mean it's a. good start you know we were all very each other brian let's be real let's be real if i could a no fly zone means you have to carry out the you through the u.s. and nato air forces the ability to destroy the syrian air defenses no fly zone means the u.s. would unlike what it's doing right now which is preparing

saudis then i'll tell you that will go ahead there's been a long time battle between shia and sunni muslims that's existed for a thousand years and exists in the iran iraq war saudi arabia is leading the sunni's iran is leading the shias in syria of course you have a sunni majority country ruled by. iranian backed months already why he's killing washington d.c. involved in all the greatest coming out of the balance sheet in washington be backing the sicko you want friends go ahead go ahead mark they should they should be backing the peaceful rebels there because doing it for a no fly zone by the way not through arms because right now it's all going to end up frankly you know why you don't have anything to light there brian jump in here know what's an act of war mongering i mean it's a. good start. for each other brian let's be real let's be real if i could a no fly zone means you have to carry out the you through the u.s. and nato air forces the ability to destroy the syrian air defenses no fly zone means the u.s. would unlike what it's doing right now which is preparing for another round o

iraqi security forces are arrested a prominent sunni muslim lawmaker and government critic a raid on his home in western on barre province killed at least five people including his brother and guards there are fears the incident could inflame ethnic tensions in the region that's often a scene of anti-government protests so tarion violence is on the rise in iraq with more than a thousand people killed there this year alone. christmas in paris normally conjures many romantic seasonal images but not for the thousands of homeless people in the french capital whose numbers have been on the rise since twenty eleven as marie if you know she reports. a time of seasonal joy cross europe but not for all. these people have nowhere to sleep and nothing to eat if you have reasons to feel festive although some try. to see what happened while you on the street. rob oh it's still very odd the system in france is designed so that anybody could be a minister to a show that's a very big decision on the shoulders people you know think of as coins because they know they could be here one of the back of t

the massacre that was barbaric for christians jews and will slow of the even sunni muslims i believe who rejected the hardline islamist rules that these people preached but i see again this isn't the first time this is happened not long ago human rights watch established the other groups with no less brutal groups that now make up the so-called islamic front we know that at this inception even job was considered a potential member of the only reason it was excluded was to keep these fronts reputation clean as. is considered a terrorist organization there are even reports that our american colleagues with the islamic front representatives trying to get them to join the free syrian army. says e.u. partners want russia to be helping out in the situation of libya but he says that russia wants to have a say in the way the operations are going and that's the kind of equal footing that they want the russian you start to prove ukraine is not a major issue i guess that came up. before a lover of even came here there were a lot of warnings from the other foreign ministers that he's going to ge

because iran is becoming increasingly influential and what we're seeing is a paradox where the sunni muslim governments of the gulf are suddenly finding themselves in with israel and looking very bad while the iranian shiite influence is helping the palestinians and creating a completely new playing field. the u.s. state of texas shaken recently by a string of increasing earthquakes some of its residents pointing the finger at controversial fracking technology calling for it to be banned. these are all the parts that when into making this or where there's progress there could be dangerous still to come on the program a report on technology know how that allows the creation of functioning guns with the use of a three d. printer. first has been a critical week for scotland in the long lead up to a vote on independence late next year neither alex salmond launched a way to document laying out what he labeled the mission statement for the nation's future or these tests are so you look at the key points put forward by the pro independence movement. should scotland be an independent country it's a

christians druze and satellites but we'll sort that even sunni muslims nine he rejected the hardline islamist rule the reason his laundry. what i say again this isn't the first time this happened long ago human rights watch establishment of the hard work with no desperate pulled its troops that now make up the so called islamic front. we know that at the reception he would jump out at heathrow was considered a potential member. the only reason it is excluded. the slavic tribes reputation the best job out of the fact is considered the organize a . there are even reports that our american colleagues eat with the summit fronts representatives trying to get them to join the free syrian up the reason we respond to the scene for tourists want russia to be helping out in the situation on the other he says that russia wants to have a say in the way the operations of the week and that's a kind of equal footing that they want to be a rush east of the five ukraine is another major issue i guess the cat multiple percent then the four s and another of the key here there are a lot of warnings from

. >> reporter: this is what is left of a sunni muslim protest camp after it was dismantled by policeaq's western province. and this is what happened when security forces entered the camp on monday. several people were killed, and in response hours later more than 40 members of the iraqi parliament resigned. the mp's demanded the withdraw of the army and the release of a sunni politician arrested on sunday. in a statement read on national television, maliki called on the armed force to . . . >> this is a war between the prime minister and the people of iraq. the members of his government -- there are still sunnis in his government. so it is not a sectarian, it's a cross sectarian. it is mallyky who is the new dictator of iraq. >> reporter: shoe -- sunnis have been staging protests for months for what they say are treatment like second-class citizens. with national elections expected in many april, security is a growing concern as sectarian tensions continue to rise. >>> russian president vladimir putin has vowed to annihilate terrorists after a second blast. let's get more from julie.

. >> we begin in iraq where the sectarian conflict between sunni and shia muslims appear to be worsening. dozens of sunni mps have resigned. 20 people have been killed between protesters and security forces. these are the latest pictures from ramadi. police removed tents put up by the protesters. >> violence in fallujah killed another 10. iraqi sunnis say they have enough of what they call marginalisation by the shia led government. >> in the city of fallujah, armed men burnt a military vehicle, taking control of government and security officers. other gunmen blocked a highway into the city to stop government forces from approaching. all this happened as 44 iraqi members of parliament announced they'd resign. they are demanding the army get out of ramadi, the largest city here, and that a prominent sunni politician be released. >> i received the resignation from members of parliament. i'll do my best with the government institutions and international community. we are asking the government to answer the demands of the protesters, and to pull back their troops. >> in ramadi the army clear

by and large extremists, sunni muslim jihadists. so i think russia has become a target more so than anyone imaginable and now we got this terrorist on youtube calling for the satanic games to be disrupted the. the bottom line i think the russians will do a superb job of security at the games. their problem will be transportation hubs coming in like volgograd and they just seized a huge cache of weapons which included ground to ware missile, surface to air missiles. this will be a tough row 7th of february through the 21st of february they have to watch their step. >> thank you, general. >> another big story overseas, someone in attention attacking the residence of the german ambassador today. police say the gunman opened fire on the residence with two high powered assault rivals. 60 shots were fired. several of the bullets made knit to home to. the german ambassador was home at the time of the early morning attack but nobody was injured. anti-german sentiment runs high in greece. germany is the biggest contributor of the greek bailo

also more than 40 people are dead following clashing in northern yemen, sunni muslims and shiite rebels battled each other today. the clashes began when the conservative sunnies took over a mountain yous area near the boarder. the fire chief of staff for senator lamar alexandar was due in federal court today for suspected child pornography. the last decade working for the republican congressman, he was arrested only charges of possession, and distribution of child pornography. similar of the one that crashed into a scottish pub. nine people were killed in the crash including the pilot and two lives onboard. >> a lot happening around the world today. >> thank you very much. >> you are welcome. >> shipping activity is a benchmark of economic strength and early indications show that this year it is way up. s that holiday season is in full tilt, and millions of packages are being mailed all the way in the run up to christmas. al jazeera has more from world port in louisville kentucky. float up and fly around the world each day, until christmas. >> a fully automated facility, where 155 miles

the politician was a sunni muslim and a staunch critic of syria and its lebanese ally hezbollah. lebanon has seen a wave of bombings as tensions rise in the shia and sunni communities. >>> the libyan government is defending its brief detainment of four u.s. military personnel saying their convoy had failed to stop at a checkpoint and had been carrying weapons. u.s. officials said the libyan government held the men for several hours before they were released. the u.s. state department released a statement saying the americans were taking part in a security preparedness effort when they were detained. libyan officials say once their identity was established, the four americans were sent to tripoli. >>> we have breaking news out of san francisco this morning where a woman has just died after sustaining gunshot wounds to the face outside of a movie theater in japantown. police say the victim was shot across the street from the cue bu can i movie theater on post street just before 2:00 this morning. she was then transported to a local hospital suffering from at least one gunshot wound.

most are sunni muslims not arabs and homogeneous by competing parties and rivalries throughout the regioney too have joined the well documented diaspera of nearly 2.5 million syrians who have crossed into turkey, lebanon and jordan and now this latest wave 200,000 of them into iraq. the majority of them are kurds who settled in the semi autonomous kurdish region in the north. at the outset, they were welcome with open arms. the kurdish regional government provided them with land for their cam's, electricity, transport and even work permits. that welcome was on display among many locals too when video journalists traveled to the region for the newshour. 20 year old mohamed sells home wares in his father's store. even though some refugees have stolen from his shop, he said they are welcome. >> it is better to take good care of them. of course entry and exit from the camps have to be limited. i do not mind. we want them to have the best. they are our brothers. >> there's a great deal of ethnic solidarity with these folks living across the border. >> senior director of refugee international r

al qaeda and sunni muslim insurgents often target shiites on the pilgrimage. u.n.estigators say the syrian military and its allies are systematically seizing people who are never heard from again. a report today said thousands have been taken away. separately, amnesty international reported rebels linked to al qaeda have tortured and killed people at secret prisons in northern syria. president obama commuted the sentences of eight convicted drug offenders today. in a written statement, he said their prison terms were unduly long under a law that treated crack cocaine more harshly than powder cocaine. a more recent law has reduced the disparity. before today, the president commuted just one sentence in his five years in office. new mexico is now the 17th state to legalize gay marriage. the state supreme court ruled today it is unconstitutional to bar same-sex unions. new mexico law never directly addressed the issue, but, until recently, county clerks historically denied marriage licenses to gays and lesbians. still to come on the newshour: a massive data breach at

troops left iraq, its government is battling sunni muslim extremists, and now the pentagon is sendingre power to help in the fight. hari sreenivasan reports. >> reporter: scenes of carnage have become all too common for the people of iraq this year. all told, the united nations estimates, more than 8000 iraqis have died in a surge of violence not seen since at least 2008. the latest came christmas day when at least 37 people died in car bombings that targeted christian areas of baghdad. now, "the new york times" reports, the u.s. is rushing to bolster iraq's ability to battle al- qaeda insurgents behind many of the attacks. iraqi prime minister nuri al- maliki appealed for the help when he met with president obama in washington two months ago. during that same visit, he detailed his nation's dilemma. >> ( translated ): terrorists came back to iraq when the conflict started in syria. groups like al-qaida and the nusra front found there's another chance to benefit from the political conflict and create terror in iraq. so, the terrorists found a second chance. the u.s. assistance being s

soldiers there i'll tell you the ball go ahead there's been a long time battle between shia and sunni muslims that's existed for a thousand years and exists in the iran iraq war saudi arabia is leading the sunni's iran is leading the shias in syria of course you have a sunni majority country ruled by it. iranian backed months already why he's killing washington d.c. involved in all the greatest coming out of the balance sheet in washington be backing the sequester you want friends go ahead go ahead mark they should they should be backing the peaceful rebels there because and doing it through a no fly zone by the way not through arms because right now it's all going to end up frankly you know why you don't have a light there brian jump in here no one should act of war moreover you know you try to enact again such good stuff you know we were all very each other brian let's be real let's be real if i could a no fly zone means you have to carry out the you through the u.s. and nato air forces the ability to destroy the syrian air defenses no fly zone means the u.s. would unlike what it's doing ri

i am getting a good speech gets the majority sunni muslims he backs the study results. he's like mine aristide supporters of president bashar al asad. on saturday sunday gunmen shot him and his brother controls like minister. the incident sparked cost by this time i see the city. children were taught in schools which they didn't of course a few benchtops we are receiving a lot of wounded and corpses come on in between the two districts and tiffany. sure beats population is eighteen this and send me an email sent on a likes. tensions between the two factions date back to devon on civil war it had been heightened by the complex across the board and syria. many soldiers had been deployed in the case of ctc is ok that. to respond to the sporadic sniper fire the us human rights she says there's mounting evidence that syrian government officials including president bashar assad himself all the rides crimes against humanity and war crimes penny this monday the bpi said her office has a list of suspected criminals that it'll keep until it's requested by its national own natural

. >>> the sectarian violence between sunni and shiite muslims issest indicate laying in osama has more reporter: ten frames and a few topplings are all that are left by the sunni protest camp. the camp had been here for the past 12 months. it was set up by protesters who say they are being marginalized by the country's shiite government. as a result dozens of members of parliament resigned. >> translator: i received the resignations, and i'll do my best to prevent the situation from further escalating. we are asking the government to answer the demands of the protesters and to pull back their troops. >> reporter: armed men attacked police and tried to block roads as they approached the camp. the it is-in has been a problem for the prime minister. his long promise to break it up, saying al-qaeda-linked fighters were being sheltered there. the vice president also resigned in protest and called on the government of saudi arabia for help. >> translator: enough is enough. everyone has a cause, but we face two main problems. we lack a unifying project and a count country that supports our ca

tonight we're hearing time and again over the history of this that the violence is between sunni and shia muslims christians in the firing line increasingly it seems well as far as the news is concerned i think they will not actually targeted as such but the explosion was near the church it's a very sad day for the christians who have just finished their christmas service to be caught in this i don't think. they were targeted as far as i can tell from the news however it is sad anyway and it is actually in terms of the general picture i don't think it's a sunni versus shia it's the iraqis fighting each other with the instigation of a variety of people from within the country the region and. that's why we have such a high toll of casualties in iraq which is ten years after the so-called. liberation of iraq by the western powers by the usa the iraqis have lost more people now than ever before the country is destroyed more than it has ever been before and this is this is not a natural disaster this is a willful act by the international community especially the united nations and the western powers y

what happened in 2006-2007 when tens of thousands of iraqis were killed in fighting and put sunni and muslims against each other and the government is struggling to provide security needing for them to take place. al jazeera. >> reporter: this was a political analyst and editor of the independent baghdad daily and he joins us from beirut and thank you very much for joining us, what do you think the political impact will be of this mass resignation? >> well, some people from the side show satisfaction on this because they will go easily in the next few weeks to some drafts which have been drafted because of the problems or disputes about them. but from the political point of view the issue is much more heavier. i do believe they need to end up with some kind of supplement in a few weeks at least or at most if they would like to go ahead for the election of 2014. that is why i do believe they have to workout on a sort of very critical timetable both sites of the opponents. >> reporter: is there truth in the point there are increasingly marginalized, that the sectarian divisions are growing? >>

things that seems to have been driving that was the perception that the world had abandoned the sunni muslim community to the whims of the assad regime and this fueled a lot of sunni activism in the gulf to raise this money. would you agree with that? what effect has it had on the insurgency? >> i agree with that completely. one of the motivating cries that you hear is, syria, everyone else has abandoned you, but kuwait has not. these sorts of appeals to the forgotten aspect of the conflict. the kuwaiti governors have also exacerbated supplying the rebels in other ways. i will view one specific example where feuding between two donors actually grew too rigid, to the fracturing of the rebels on the ground. it was between two outside syria -- one was a kuwaiti donor, and the other one was a donor in syria. two clerics. they had an argument on twitter on whether rebels should join the military council. these are the western-backed groups that were being -- that the official opposition was trying to create in 2012. the kuwaiti cleric said no way, no way are we working with west. this is not some

these are not sunni muslim powers. all secular at least in their profile.russia is really aiming at is trying to restore the bonds of power that is all shifting because of the concerns about the domestic politics and the problems that is served, putin and others are facing medicine the olympics with some of the blowback, not just the regime change aspects. it is a pretty complex picture for russia, and russia is trying to grapple with the way the picture has changed in the middle east. you thinkezinski, do there is an overarching theme in the way russia is engaging in the middle east? is it opportunistic or trying to put out fires? >> i look at it differently. there was a time when russia was one of the better principal players in the middle east, potentially a dominant player. and today brescia is not. and russia knows that. today russia is not and russia knows that. the united states' predominance in the region is declining, and they know that. there are some unfortunate episode in the recent past which have contributed to the decline of american preemine

professional training for people who served so that they know the difference between shia and sunni muslims and many other faith groups around the world and know what that means. that is very important. and also working with faith and community groups around the world to do things like development, economic development, to try to counter violent extremism and to try to promote religious freedom and other universal human rights. so i think there is a lot of consensus around those kinds of ideas and i hope that we will be able to push forward in a way that draws together people from across the political spectrum, to promote the agenda of that office. >> faith is a dominant actor in villages all over the world. we have seen it all too often and horribly how it interfaces in so many geopolitical questions of today. so illiteracy is unacceptable. so it is adjusted federal government question. tony blair and rick warren held an event at douglas not long ago, a couple of years go -- an davos not long ago, a couple of years ago. these are necessities. >> i would like to go ahead and open it up to s