stephanie dekker is following that story for us from beirut. a fierce battle over four or fives days for idlib. >> that's right and it's now firmly in the hands of this new coalition formed last week. it's led by the al-qaeda affiliated al nusra front. but there are other groups working together. they say to liberate idlib something that they have now achieved. syrian state television said that the syrian army has regrouped to the south of the city, and they'll continue to fight what they call terrorists. it is an ongoing battle. we've seen videos up loaded on the internet where they're attacking a statue of the president's father where they're pulling down posters of president. they're taking down the syrian flag usually significant images in a city that has been under government control for the majority of this role, and was functioning as a relatively normalcy compared to what has been happening in the rest of the cities. we've seen civilians fleeing over the last father days. what is new the government was carrying ute airstrikes to try to

for more, a researcher at the carnegie middle east center joins us from beirut. it's getting increasingly di - hello and welcome by the way - to see what is going on. for those displaced. it seems at the same time there's very little desire for those - to help those people. what is going on. >> sorry i didn't hear the question. i was trying to find out from you why there seems to be little desire by those that can't, like the united nations security council. what's going wrong. >> well from what we can see, there's quite a lot of paralysis at the level of security council. it's not just in terms of the syrian crisis but in terms of a lot of other decisions. the decisions by the security council are held hostage to the competing interests of the country, that are part of the security council. it's mainly par lived or slipped along u.s.-russian interest. what is going to break the stand off? >> short of a deal between them i don't see what will break the standoff at the level of the council. it's paralyzing other parts of the u.n. i think people are turning to. i t

. >> thank you very much for joining us from beirut. >> the u.s. secretary of state john kerry is saying washington will eventually have to negotiate with bashar al assad to secure a political transition in syria. our diplomatic editor james bays joins us. tell us about the political significance of these comments kerry has been making on syria. >> these are new comments from kerry, which he made egypt. he's on his way from egypt to come here to lausanne for nuclear talks with the iranians. now, the u.s. has been involved in a process involving the syrians before but the syrian government negotiated with the syrian opposition, with russia and the u.s. acting as the guarantors of the pros. he's now talking about direct negotiations between u.s. diplomats and diplomats representing the regime of bashar al assad. that would be something new. i think the reason they are talking about all of this now is because they had vested all their hope in the process that was set out by the u.n.'s special envoy. he had a plan for freezes and ceasefire starting in

. >> okay and we will leave it there and joining us from beirut. to another top story in the saudi-led operation in yemen and have been civilian casualties and we have workers on the ground helping the wounded. what i'm referring to specifically is the attack that took place in the province near the saudi border and reports saying that a camp that houses displaced people was hit and there are conflicting reports on exactly what happened there and as well as the number of people that were killed. let's try and get some clarity on that and speak to the manager of the program in the middle east and joining us from barcelona via skype and thanks for joining us and can you tell us what happened in the prove inls -- province at the camp and what took place? >> first of all, we had a team that was there yesterday and i went to the camp yesterday morning because they had received some reports they will be a displaced person and a right to the camp in the previous days and spoke with operation there and authorities and it was when they were returning to the

there's opposition too from washington's top allies in the region including israel and saudi arabia. well joining us now from beirut is the iranian commentator sharwan narwani. thank you so much for being with us. we did hear i guess we could say positive comments i believe the nuclear chief said he was very optimistic. similar tones from the foreign minister ever iran. do you agree with them, do you share that this could be a time when momentum really does go towards a deal between iran and the west? is. >> i certainly think this is a time of opt mitchell. even a month ago there was no sign of or indications of which way this would go. but certainly in the last two weeks, we've seen activities that suggest that we're very close to a deal or at least the key points that the contentious points have been agreed on. i mean you have to just look at signs in the region, having jordan's foreign minister pop over to tehran after an eight year gap is significant. kerry going to saudi arabia was preparing the ground to let the saudis know that the u.s. was close to reaching an agreement with the iranians. >> we don't want t

we have cnn's nic robertson joining us live from beirut. >> reporter: good morning, john. you have to look at the map of yemen to realize the air strikes are going on all over the country. in the north, close to the saudi arabia border, air strikes. up around sanaa, air strikes. to the town east of the country air strikes according to the houthis. women and children killed and more people wounded. look at the south of the country. aden, this is the last stronghold of president hadi. houthi is closing in there. the war ships shelling the road coming into the town to cut the houthis houthis off. aden may be the place if a ground offensive is placed it could come from there. yesterday, in a displaced person's camp close to the saudi border according to red cross officials and doctors without borders, they say 29 people or up to 40 people killed there. saudis say the houthis rebels are hiding and may have shot at the aircraft. >> nic robertson, thank you. >>> jay-z wants you to drop spotify and subscribe to his music service. what will it cost you? look at the lineup of people

retired army general joining us live from beirut. >>> iraqi state television says fighters from isile set fire to an oil pipeline east of tikrit but reports also say isil was forced to retreat from the area. isil fighters in syria have reportedly killed 14 syrian soldiers in a gas field east of homs. forces close to isil say the solders were killed while trying to withdraw from a battle in the area. >>> still ahead on the al jazeera news hour -- >> have you made any progress today sir? >> nuclear negotiations wrap up in geneva. >>> plus facing an uncertain future. >>> and coming up in sport, australia give afghanistan a reality check at the cricket world cup, those details later in the program. ♪ >>> first, the lawyer for fugitive edward snowden says the american whistleblower wants to return home to the u.s. the former spy agency contractor has been in russia since 2013. he was granted asylum there. washington says snowden will have to face criminal charges if he returns. rory challands joins us live from moscow. why does snowden want to go back home now? >> reporter: well as far as

. >> as we drove from two other cbs colleagues from beirut took us about 2.5 hours to make the trip youdidn't hear as many explosions in damascus as i did in 2013 when i was there. it was quite -- you see people outside engaged in the parks, you know, talking to each other. at the same time, you see military people everywhere. you know that there is a kind of on-alert circumstance in damascus. >> woodruff: charlie rose, we'll look for the entire interview on charlie rose on pbs on monday night. thank you. >> thank you judy. pleasure to be with you. >> woodruff: now to a verdict in a sexual discrimination case in silicon valley that's been widely watched. a jury of six men and six women found gender was not a factor in the firing of a former junior partner at a leading venture capital firm. hari sreenivasan has the story from our pbs station, kqed in san francisco. >> sreenivasan: the sex discrimination case drew attention to gender imbalance, working conditions and outright discrimination for women in the tech world. attorneys for ellen pao argued she was denied a promotion at kleiner p

used to chants. the yelling came from the bottom of the heart. smee is an activist living in beirut. she cried looking at the videos of the earlier demonstration, it's hard to contemplate now home are starving. four years after the revolution they insist on hiding identity. she is afraid of the government which still controls parts of government where her family live. we were there for this rare moment four years ago, when people's hopes were high. they believed they would be able to overthrow the syrian government. many hope the army should turn within the community and it would come to the rescue. that is not how events unfolded. the revolution turned into a civil war, and syria a battle ground or international forces to fight for their own agenda. more than 2,000 syrians have been killed and 3.5 million became refugees. 80% live in poverty. across the country, visitors. >> syrians are exhausted, frustrated. so much daily suffering. too much blood. the bill is high the bloodshed most stop. most syrians are lost don't know where things are heading and they know they've gone out of t

used a chant. the yelling came from the bottom of our hearts. >> she is an activist, now living in beirut. she says now she crisis when she looks at the videos of the early demonstrations. >> it's hard now to cancel plate a demonstration while people are starving looking for something to eat. >> four years after the revolution she insists on hiding her identity. she's afraid of the assad government which still controls parts of the area where her family lives, as well as parts of damascus. we were there for this rare moment four years ago when people's hopes were high. most believed they would be able to overthrow the syrian government within weeks. many syrians hold the army would turn against president assad and the international community would come to their rescue and bomb his ball lass. that's not how events unfolded. the revolution turned into a civil war. syria turned into a battleground for regional and international forces to fight for their own agendas. more than 200,000 syrians have been killed. more than 3.5 million became refugees in neighboring countries and 80% live in pover

from beirut now. what more can you tell us about why the rebels have rejected this plan? >> after two days of meetings in the turkish border town, the opposition said that the plan does not provide a woman presencive solution to the syrian crisis. they said that they will refuse to sit with the u.n. envoy unless he wants to discuss a solution, and a collusion for the opposition involves the syrian president, bashar al assad stepping down. it also involves the prosecution of war criminals so basically the proposal is now dead. he is in damascus, trying to get some sort of an agreement in place, temporary ceasefire to begin in the city of aleppo, the divided city of aleppo. now the rebels and opposition have been saying why just aleppo, why can't we reach agreement that involves the whole of syria. they don't trust the government. they think the government will exploit this truce. it is a difficult and complicated process. the u.n. envoy himself has said that, since each side does not see the other at legitimate. we are back to square one with the rejection of the proposal.

beirut. paul crook shank is in new york. rick francona joining us from california. here with me in washington our counterterrorism analyst phil mudd. he sits on the national intelligence council and the board of the national terrorism center. nick let me get the latest information from you, the targets, the victims, what happened? >> reporter: over 120 dead over 300 injured. hospitals in the yemeni capital are crying out for blood donors to try and assist in treating that wave of wounded. it was during the busiest time of friday during friday prayer when two key shia mosques in the capital of sanaa were attacked chillingly similar to al qaeda, other extremists in the past. a suicide bomber went into the crowds of worshippers in both mosques and then as many rushed in to help another device a suicide bomber and a car bomb tore into those crowds of people trying to rescue the injured. now many deeply concerned this could be the beginning of a new chapter of sectarian violence in yemen. there has been great instability as the shia group, the houthis who were targeted t

beirut sends us this report. >> reporter: the opposition has rejected ms. mizdura's report. flags from coalition as well as representatives of some armed groups in aleppo took part in that meeting. they are saying the initiative is not comprehensive enough t and that a comprehensive solution that would involve the depart from syrian president bashar from power. the opposition really has expressed a lot of reservations ever since mizdura presented this proposal last october. they said they don't trust the government. they have been asking for mechanisms on the ground to monitor this cease-fire but more importantly, the opposition is asking why the initiative has changed in october when the proposal was represented, it involved the cessation of hostilities now the cessation of heavy bombardment. the proposal really he has repeatedly said he is facing a daunting challenge. these are warring sides who don't trust each other. each one of them sees the other as illegitimate. what i was what he was trying to do was reduce violence in order to ease the suffering of the people in and allow huma

from al nusra front entered idlib on friday. many civilians are now trapped in their homes. for more we go to al jazeera's stephanie dekker live in beirut. give us the latest. what do we know about what is happening in idlib at the moment? >> well, syrian state television has confirmed that the army has moved out of the idlib city. they're regrouping in the south. this is a five-day battle, and some people will say it fell very quickly led by al nusra, yes, but it's a new coalition formed last week with different brigades in the free syrian army. so a concerted effort by that new coalition to push the army out. we've seen videos come out with security headquarters in the central square where there and also to say idlib has been a relatively safe haven throughout this war and according to a group observatory who monitors the war the airstrikes over the battle of the last five days. this has new to idlib. almost a million people living there, also a lot of internally displaced people seeking safety there. they're now fleeing. there is a group called the quitewhite helmets who say they go in and try to help people. you see vas of people trying to f

us in beirut and thank you very much. and i.s.i.l. has accepted a pledge of allegiance fromharam fighters in nigeria, in an audio message posted online a spokesman for i.s.i.l. is heard saying that they have now expanded to west africa. until recently boko haram was in control of an area the size of belgium. this is a region where it has been most active over the years but now the nigerian military says it has taken control of many areas in bono and two other states, the military says the armed group is now cornered into these areas. it does have control of several towns and battles are ongoing and we will bring in al jazeera who is live for us in abuja so i.s.i.l. accepted boko haram pledge of allegiance, what does it mean and what has been the reaction in nigeria? >> well that is right, in this new audio recording which was placed on the internet this spokesperson, let me just quote, we announce to you the good news of the expansion of west africa because it accepted allegiance of our brothers and so far no official reaction from the government or the nigerian security ser

we used the chaps, and the yelling came from the bottom of our hearts. >> ghardinia is not her real name. she's an actress living in beirut. she ride when she looked at the videos of earlier demonstrations. >> it's hard to contemplate a demonstration. people are starving, looking for something to eat. >> four years after the revolution ghardinia insists on hiding the identity. she's afraid of the government which controls parts of the area where the family live and other parts of the country including damascus. we were there for this rare moment four years ago, when people's hopes were high. they believed they'd be able to overthrow the government. many hoped the army would turp and the international community would come to the rescue and bump the powers it's not how the event unfolded. the revolution turned into a civil war. and syria turned into a battle ground for regional and international forces. more than 200,000 syrians had been killed. more that 3.5 millions game refugees in neighbouring countries. 80% live in policy. across the country, villages are growing. >> translation: syrian people are exhausted. too much b

us via web cam from amman, jordan. director of the institute of public policy and international affairs at the american university of beirut. thank you very much. >> you bet. >>> british prime minister david cameron says if he wipz re-election in may, that will be his last term in office. mr. cameron told the bbc if the conservatives are returned to power, he will serve as prime minister for the full five-year term, and then he would leave number 10 downing street. >> if you remain prime minister will you go for a second snerm. >> no. i think, you know i'm standing for a full second term. i'm not saying all prime ministers necessarily, definitely go mad or go mad at the same rate. but i think -- i feel i've got more to bring to this job. i think the job is half done. >> the labor opposition accused him of being arrogant while some commentators have predicted it could be the start of a five-year-long leadership tussle within the conservative party. >>> now the 2016 presidential race is officially on. senator ted cruz a conservative fire brand originally born in canada is now the first candidate to throw his hat into the rin

he has told us a story here of two people but more than that it is a story on the importance of journalists. he is a journalist here from beirut. this is really the 1st major presentation for this book. we welcome him again. he had an earlier book four years ago and was at politics and prose, so welcome back. and telling the story he brings in a sensibility of history and culture and it is a story about how we have to have major understanding of rapid change and how to figure out ways to prevent and stop violent extremism. by using journalism and history and culture by being probing, my understanding causes by listening to people particularly two major characters begin to identify patterns and their significance. this is the kind of contribution we need and we need to be talking about it. you we will all get your chance to ask questions and have a discussion after the initial presentation. let's welcome the author to politics and prose. [applause] >> thank you very much for that very warm introduction and thank you to all of you for coming tonight. i am excited and honored to have the chance to carry the story. telling the sto