syria. hundreds of thousands of lives have been lost many of them innocent women and children. while i.s.i.l. and other rebel groups undoubtedly committed war crimes, syria has blood on its hands as well. vladimir putin pulling some russian jets out of the region, are we turning a tide on the war torn country? it's the "inside story." >> welcome to "inside story." i'm sheila macvicar in for ray suarez. today forces loyal to syrian president bashar al-assad entered palmyra, which has been under full i.s.i.l. control for almost a year now. omar al saleh is there, near the syrian border. >> syrian where officials say syrian officials are near, they describe the situation as very tense and the fightings is fears. fierce. people are called to leave palmyra. earlier in the month they start he the campaign to regain palmyra which fell to i.s.i.l. last year. the importance of palmyra, aside from the historical aspect and the archaeological side, to the north is raqqa and that's a i.s.i.l. strong hold. to the east is are deir ez zor, so the road between them, is tremendous key for i.s.i.l. .

>>> united nations says it is still unable to deliver aid to six regions in syria where people are starving. ♪ >>> hello there, you are watching al jazeera live from our headquarters here in doha. also in this program -- >> daesh is responsible for genocide against groups in areas under its control, including asighdyes, christians and shiite muslims. >> the u.s. secretary of state john kerry says isil is responsible for crimes against humanity. >>> the south african president is shouted down in parliament while answering questions about his links to a local powerful family. ♪ >>> and closing the gap campaign. australia's efforts to improve the lyes and health of its indigenous people. muse ♪ >>> our top story. the u.n.'s humanitarian advisor says they are still unable to deliver aid to six regions in syria where people are starving. >> it turns out that it was more tick nickly difficult than we had thought. this has been from a great height since it is the i.s. that is controlling the ground. they may have surface to air missiles. so it has to be at great height, great speed,

♪ russia says it's begun withdrawing the main part of military force from syria as peace talks from geneva head into their second day. ♪ hello there and welcome to al jazeera live from our headquarters in doha i'm laura kyle and our other top stories at least three refugees drown in a desperate attempt from macedonia to greece after the border crossing was closed and in myanmar where more than half a century of military rule and elected a civilian as the country's president plus french government ministers travelling to the ivory coast in mourning after an al-qaeda attack and we will have the latest on that. ♪ the russian defense ministry says they have a partial we draw from syria and pictures shown on russian state television as u.n. brokered talks of ending the five-year conflict enter the second day in geneva and carolyn malone has more. >> reporter: russian air strikes in syria have allowed the syrian government to regain lost ground while also killing hundreds of people. now it appears they are coming to an end. russian president vladimir putin says they achieved what they

assumptions that we make an foreign-policy. charlie: as you summed it up earlier, syria poses the most direct challenge to the president's worldview. george w. bush was also a gambler and not a bluffer. he will be removed at harshly for the things he did in the middle east. barack obama is gambling but suggests he did well for the things he did not do. >> syria is a dark cloud that hangs over this administration. the difference between the interventionist obama and the non-interventionist obama's middle east is profound. he really believes and has reason to believe that one of his primary tasks is to keep america from intervening him off from following its impulses and intervening in a middle eastern civil war that cannot be won. 20 yearses that 10 to from now we will look back and say god, barack obama was there to stand and thwart history and say we are not going. there are two true other quick observations about that. the first is that he does not believe the middle east is as important as it used to be for the united states. one obvious reason is energy independence and second

military from syria as talks on how to end the conflict enter their second day. >> i am lawrence lee on turkey's border with syria. now the balkan route is closing. >>> also this how, a new president for myanmar, a civilian leader after more than half a century of military rule. >> i am rob reynolds in austin, texas, the self-described live music capitol of the world. we will take a look at how hard it is to make a living as a musician here ♪ we will begin this news hour with a major development out of syria. russia started pulling forces oust of that country. the russian defense ministry says the first group of warplanes has left. 1,000 troops, however, are expected to stay in syria. the russian military began its air campaign in september. the decision to pull outcomes as a syrian government delegation and the opposition meets in geneva to try to end the war. today marks exactly five years since the kong conflict began. 250,000 people have been killed. that's according to the u.n. half of the country's population is now officially displaced. we have correspondents covering all sides

announces it's withdrawing its main force from syria as talks take place in geneva to end the 5-year conflict. >> an attempt to reach macedonia - refugees wade through a river to leave greece >>> emergency cabinet meeting after 18 die in ivory coast attack, as footage shows a man with a machine-gun inside a hotel >>> the joint russian and e.u. effort to find life on the red planet. >> hello, i'm robin adams - leicester city are trying to open up a 5-point gap at the top of the english premier league. diego costa charged by the english football association for this incident during the saturday f.a. cup quarterfinal loss to everton >>> russia has made the surprise announcement that it is beginning the withdrawal of the main part of its military force in syria. vladimir putin said the intervention in syria largely achieved the objectives. russia's military entered in september, setting up an air base near latakia. russian war planes staged hundreds of bombing missions near isil. putin said the news in a phone call. russia has been the strongest ally of syrian president bashar al-assad,

these things, it is possible for conflict and peace to return. i admit in syria, that is more hard to imagine than any other place, which is why i suspect that we may have to work a little harder at integrating syrian refugees than any others, because the neighboring states of turkey, jordan and lebanon are buckling under the strain and we need to take some off of their borders. resulting in pulling up the drawbridges. that is impossible in europe. our borders are too complicated. >> we have time for three more questions. i have spent a lot of time in europe and you said something a while ago which i think is strategically important and that was the matter of shared values, the shared values should be looked at very carefully and europe and the united states, but going specifically to the problems we are facing today, i am reminded of a very famous rating that took place shortly -- reading that took place by the .hancellor at reims at the end of the conference, the two of them walked the altarral, and, no at the and ask god for forgiveness for all of the conflict between france and ge

situation , weyria as well as in irack have two kurdish sectors in iraq and syria. do it is a we can federation. there's no way to unify syria, we talk about a strategy to unify syria with someone else leading syria, no chance. ishful thinking. and to talk about a federation, he controls 40% of his former territory, there's it. we have syria and kurdistan already. we know the turks are not happy with it. there's a kurdish a autonomy -- autonomy in syria and in iraq. syria, the about sunnis tarts with the and other followers. radical elements. so first of all, let's find a way to have a kind of federation or whatever and also agree to have this kind of federation. then fighting. the problem is, there are so many contradictory interests regarding the situation in syria, as an example, there are those who support, like iran, hezbollah, russia today, it's an intervention in siria. , en worse than politics believing iran should be a central part of the settlement, of the solution as i mentioned earlier. they demonstrated their campaignabilities when they were supported. why not support ot

russians on syria. plus. >> reporter: i'm on a disputed island in the south china sea where this time it's taiwan making waves in these troubled waters >>> we will meet the man on a mission to give indonesia's endangered orangutans a better future >>> we begin this news hour with latest on the investigation into the brussels bombings. it seems that a second man believed to have taken part in the bombing at the metro station may still be at large. the hunt is still on to find the man seen on a security camera at the airport. there appears to have been three bombers at the airport. two are dead, but this man is believed to be on the run after his explosives failed to detonate properly. his identity is unknown. the two suspected attackers who died at the airport, najim laachraoui was already a suspect in paris attacks. the other airport bomber has been identified as brahim el-bakraoui. he had been deported from turkey after being detained at the syrian turkish border last june. meanwhile his brother brahim el-bakraoui is believed to have carried out the bombing at the metro station. he was al

we're going to start with what could be quite a significant development in syria. there are reports that the syrian kurds are claiming autonomy in the northern part of country and this announcement is from the pyd the kurdish democratic union party something which could have an impact certainly on the country and the region and james base in geneva to cover the talks going on james but i wonder if i could ask you about your thoughts of what sort of impact if we are talking about an atonomous region in the north. >> just as talks are restarting and we are on the third day of these talks which were stalled when this started in geneva and i think the timing has been chosen by the pyd to make a very clear point do not forget about us because they have been excluded from the talks process. the last time we were here end of january, beginning of february they even turned up in switzerland the pyd and the muslim who is their leader turned up here ready to take part in the process in geneva and he never got an invitation and that is because of an row with russians and strongly want the pyd

ground slowly going back to russia, but russia is not leaving syria militarily, certainly not diplomatically, it is going to be engaged, it will be on the sidelines, ready to pounce, to quote save the day, if it feels it needs to do that, we have seen that play before. so thi this isn't the end. >> rose: obama, putin, syria and more. when we continue. funding for charlie rose is provided by the following. and by bloomberg, a prior of multimedia news and information services worldwide. from our studios in new york city, this is charlie rose. >> jeffrey goldberg is here, he is a national correspondent for the atlantic and win ore the national magazine award for reporting. his new cover article is called the obama doctrine, it draws on a series of extensive conversations with the president and others about his hardest foreign policy decision, and the think iing behind them, the atlantic's editor calls it a portrait of a presidential mind at work. i am pleased to have jeffrey goldberg back at this table. first of all, congratulations. >> thank you. >> rose: extraordinary look at a

that political scientists have done that look at return rates and who goes to syria, for example. we also worn a- moment now than 10 years ago. isis is a real threat. it is worth reminding ourselves of that. thatif these are people many of us believe are not muslim or are slandering the religion, they now -- it is a is,tion worth asking which if they call themselves muslims, who are we to say they are not? lots of people unite around that. you cannot simply say -- this speaks to the previous question about who gets to speak on behalf of muslims, right? no one gets to speak on behalf of muslims precisely because of the diversity of the religion. i think it is a dangerous organization, terrifying, no doubt. could european integration policies be modified to help fix this problem? so.ink but these groups absorbed in the u.s. have many transnational ties in britain and elsewhere. for example, the famous dutch politician who is famously fromd from britain, banned entering britain, for inciting religious hatred towards muslims, he is a regular guest on many of these lecture circuits but i

>>> reports of heavy fighting in syria despite the cessation of hostilities, but the u.n.'s envoy says he is more optimistic about peace. >> we do have momentum. and the syrian people are det t detecting it themselves. ♪ >> i'm lauren taylor. this is al jazeera live from london. the u.n.'s human rights chief denounces the plan to repel refugees. ♪ >>> hello. the u.n.'s special envoy to syria has told al jazeera he is more hopeful than he has ever been that peace can be achieved in the war-torn country. ahead of the meeting, he has been speaking to our diplomatic editor, james bayes. >> reporter: this is a crucial moment for syria. it is almost five years since the start of the war. we're almost at two weeks since the start of that cessation of hostilities. it is holding. there have been violations, but also a significant reduction in the violence, and of course, talks between the two main sides are supposed to be taking police here in geneva, so far neither side has turned up for those talks. despite that, the u.n. special envoy is upbeat. he once described getting peace in sy

to the border with syria. the turkish president said he had been deported back to europe and officials there had been warned. >> translation: one of the brussels attackers was caught in gazian gazianteep in june 2014. he was released. despite our warnings that this person is a foreign fighters year, they couldn't establish a terrorism link >>> the man police say is a key suspect salah abdeslam is the subject of a court hearing in brussels. the session will relate to his continued detention. salah abdeslam was born in belgium but has french nationality. he was arrested last week. the authorities have called for his extradition. as far as his legal team is concerned, what is the logic of the rational abouts e behind him staying in belgium and not ending up in france? >> reporter: that is the question that everybody here is asking. he appears toresisting extradition to france. he appears to want to stay here in belgium. perhaps more will emerge later today. as you say, the first hearing taking place for salah abdeslam. his lawyer has arrived in brussels to go to the hearing. ans

northern syria. president obama names his choice for the u.s. supreme court but republicans have vowed to block his nomination. we look at australia's aboriginal people who die younger and have higher mortality rates than their compatriots >>> protests are taking place across brazil demanding the resignation of the president. tens of thousands are on the streets of the city. they're angry over the appointment of her predecessor as chief of staff. critics say the move would shield him from prosecution in a corruption scandal. demonstrations have occurred outside the presidential palace in the capital. >> translation: my relationship with minimum is not one of powers or super powers. it is a solid relationship of two people who are building a project together. i am sorry he is coming, he is going to help, we're going to look at returning to growth, fiscal stability and controlling inflation >>> the judge leading the corruption investigation at brazil state oil company has released recordings of phone taps of the former president with the current president >> reporter: a just here has releas

fiery conflict in syria. >>> hello, you're watching al jazeera, i'm jane dutton live from doha. also coming up. >>> funerals begin for the victims of a car bomb in ankara. turkey's president views to crack down on terrorism. an al-qaeda linked group said it's carried out an attack on a beach resort in ivory coast. >>> trees worth more than gold, we are in hong kong where conservationists are trying to save trees from extinction. >>> a moment of truth, that's how the u.n. special envoy for syria describes the latest round of talks to try to end the war that's been raging for five years. staffan de mistura hopes that by the time this third round of talks ends, all sides will have agreed on a roadmap. following a meeting with the syrian demonstration, staffan de mistura reiterated there is only one way for it. >> i don't know where anyone else has a plan b. here. i'm only aware of a plan a., which is giving the maximum chance, but the maximum pressure by the international community in order to ensure that this type of intra syrian talks and the cessation of hostilities and the hum

it's withdrawing its main force from syria as talks begin in geneva to end the five-year conflict. hello there i'm barbara serra. you're watching al jazeera live from london. also coming up on the program a desperate attempt to reach macedonia. refugees and their children wade through a flowing river to leave greece. >>> emergency cabinet meeting after 18 die in ivory coast attack as new footage shows a man with a machine gun certified the hotel. >>> and the joint russian and eu effort to find life on the red planet. is hello, thanhello thank you f. >>> russian ha announcement that will withdraw its main military force from syria. >>> u.n. envoy staffan de mistura said all parties were facing a quote moment of truth. he said he would also like to see facia national elections wi8 months. the foreign minister says the post of syrian president is not up for discussion. main representative will be there but will only accept a transitional governing body and doesn't want bashar al-assad to be part of that. russia wants ethnic kurds to be included in the talks but not invited. i.s.i.l.

of talks in geneva to try to end the five. year conflict in syria. funerals begin for the victims of a car bomb in ankara. turkey's president vows to crackdown on terrorism. and the coal miners defy authorities in china to take part of protests. and search for life on mars. we look at a new mission that has been launched to investigate the red planet. we begin this news hour with the latest round of talks in geneva aimed at finding a peaceful resolution to conflict in syria. the u.n. special envoy has called this a moment of truth for the country which has been ravaged by war for the past five years. he insisted the only plan b available would be to return to war. and they also said that they would like presidential elections to be held within 18 months. >> i don't know whether anyone else has had a plan b here. i'm only aware of a plan a, which is giving the maximum chances and the maximum pressure by the international community in order to insure that this type of talks and cessation of hostilities and the humanitarian task force is given the maximum opportunity. the alternative to

says hits forces have begun their partial withdrawal from syria. the announcement comes as u.n. brokered talks aimed at ending the five year old conflict enter a second day in geneva. >> reporter: russian air strikes in syria have allowed the syrian government to regain lost ground while also killing hundreds of people. that appears to be coming to an end. vladimir putin says they have achieved what they came to achieve. back in september that was helping syrian president bashar al-assad fight what he calls terrorists. >> translation: i believe that the goals set out the ministry of defense and the armed forces have overall been fulfilled. that's why i ordered the pull out of our military group possessing from the area. >> reporter: the syrian government told the decision and said it was a joint one. the syrian opposition is cautious. the timing of the announcement was significant. it was made at the same time as u.n.-led talks were going on in geneva. the message from putin to his diplomats, it's their turn. >> our diplomacy has received a time to march. so it should be - we b

-year war in syria to an end. but it is down playing the chances of reaching an agreement. the u.n. special envoy says talks will address presidential and parliamentary elections next year. he says he thinks the elections will happen in 18-month's time. >> reporter: you said finding peace in syria was almost mission impossible. what do you think of the chances of peace now? >> certainly higher than ever before. for three reasons. the first one we do have momentum, and we can see it in the syrian people are detecting it themselves. you can ask them and they will tell you that. both on the human inside, not enough momentum, and then a reduction of violence, not enough, but moving in that direction. think about what it used to be three weeks ago. the second reason is we do have something that both of the previous envoys who tried very hard and did not have at that moment some unity at the security council. and third, we have the vienna group, 18 countries, from saudi arabia to iran, from cat tar to turkey, to u.s. to russia, sitting in the same room, and in theory, and so far quite a

is today. syria is in chaos. iran continues to assert its power in the region. the israeli/palestinian conflict continues with no end in site. russia is now a new factor in the equation in syria. we asked how does israel, a small yet powerful country that sits in the middle of this region prioritize these challenges. and more importantly, what is israel's current stat strategy for dealing with them? there are no better people qualified to address these nen the minister of defense mosh moshe ya'alon who is in washington to meet with ash carter who's also a very good friend of the wilson center. we are so pleased to have you, mr. minister. welcome to washington. it is also my pleasure to welcome aaron david miller, vice president of the wilson center, and middle east expert who will lead this conversation. please join me in welcoming them both. [ applause ] >> joey, thank you so much. you have done so much for the wilson center. you have no idea how greatly we appreciate your efforts. mr. minister, you were here in 2012. i want to welcome you back to the woodrow wilson intern

syria and coming back because they have passports. is there enough scrutiny or is that an impossible task to check everybody at the border coming from syria or turkey? >> charlie, one of the great advantages we have is there is this big piece of water between us and these cases. one of the vulnerabilities -- i'm sorry. one of the great advantages of the european union is they have a union they can easily cross borders. it's good for their economics, it's good for their social, crossover their society, but it comes with vulnerability. you see increasing questions being asked by various nations of when you have a known terrorist who managed to make his way from brussels into paris to do the attacks that occurred earlier this year, who is someone who had already been in paris before, then back to brussels, then back to syria, then back to belgium, that that comes with a certain cost, and this is an old tug of war in the argument about terrorism, which is what the terrorists' goal is, part of the goal is to cause the government to limit people's freedom, to cause people to question wheth

♪ >> bombings must stop. >> syria's government accused of breaking the cease-fire and trying to disrupt the peace process on the eve of new talks. ♪ >>> hello. this is al jazeera live from london, also coming up, angela merkel's open-door policy for refugees is put to the test as germans vote in three regional elections. >> we begin with reports of an ongoing gun attack at a beach resort in ivory coast. at least .7 people are dead. shots were reported at the hotel in grand basan, a popular weekend destination for locals and, also, for foreigners. let's get more on this now from yvonne tracking the story for us from abujah. what more do we know? >> reporter: well, maryland, the details are still a little bit sketchy. what we are hearing -- coming from eyewitnesses who are around the place where this ongoing attack is happening, they are talking about 2003 four to ten gunmen attacking a hotel in grand basan. just as you said, it's a popular tourist destination in the ivory coast, about 40 kilometers roughly from the capitol. i have been there quite a few times, myself. now, what

killed and more than 30 people arrested. jordan has said that because of its proximity to syria and iraq and its general proximity to conflict in the region, it is at risk for serious threats from isil and sympathizers in jordan. these were described as outlaws by jordanian officials, indicating because it didn't say that they were a different nationality that they are in fact jordanian. this has been as well as a threat from the syrian conflict. very much homegrown threat here in jordan for many years. >> the gulf cooperation council designated hezbollah as a terrorist organization. the move deepened a wrist with lebanon where hezbollah is a leading political power. in 2013, the g.c.c. imposed sanctions on hezbollah members in response to their intervention in syria's civil war. two weeks ago, saudi arabia announced it was cutting $4 billion in aid to lebanese security forces and i should travel warnings to the nation. on tuesday, hezbollah leader sharply criticized saws rain for the punitive measures and insisted that his shia group would remain in lebanon's coalition government. earli

brazilians to the streets and is threatening the presentation deny see of dilma rousseff. as syria's warring sides attends to talks in geneva, we find out what is ahead for the fragmented opposition. african scandal linked to a wealthy family. >> you're losing everything, jobs, income, they're going to mexico, china >>> the foreign policy of donald trump >>> the peaceful giants caught in the cross-fire of west africa's conflicts >>> protesters have filled the streets of several brazilian cities. they're furious about the latest allegations against the president. she has named her predesays sore lula da silva as chief of staff and it is to shield him from prosecution >>> tens of thousands of people are back on the streets here, some dwarthed at the presidential palace. dilma rousseff's appointment of lula da silva was meant to improve public trust but it has done the opposite. he is now facing charges of fraud and money laundering. in relation to the national oil company petrobras. takes the post gives him ministerial immunity. he insisted that wasn't why she gai him the position >> t

violence in syria since it came into effect at the end of february but not all sides have been invited to the talks and the syrian government agreed to attend but foreign minister says it will not discuss the presidency and main opposition representative will there be but only will accept a govern body within six months and the high negotiation community represents the coalition and the free syrian army. russian wants ethnic kurdz in the talks but not invited and i.s.i.l. and the front el nusra front have also been excluded and we are joined on set by senior political analyst and we are expected aren't we to hear from the envoy sef -- staffan de mistura and he is collar of his agenda but the other sides are not so much so. >> after the destructive civil war we are all just happy they can be in the same building, right, but there are conflicting interests and not just conflicting positions if you will. there are more now forces that are effecting the negotiations in geneva as everyone in the world knows the russians and americans are heavily involved and almost like super power politics an

fulfilled. >> vladimir putin orders russian troops to begin their withdrawal from syria as the civil war enters its sixth year and new peace talks get underway. >>> ankara attack. funerals for victims of yesterday's car bombing in turkey's capital and the turkish government launches new air strikes on kurdish targetse tarn northern iraq. hi alert, new video emerges of sunday's deadly hotel attack. >>> and best teacher. a palestinian ex refugee wins global award for her work with students traumatized by violence. good evening i'm antonio mora, we begin al jazeera america international news hour by a surprise decision by russia, on the fifth anniversary of the war in syria. russian president vladimir putin announced this morning he is withdrawing most of russia's troops. gathering in geneva for a new round of talks to end the conflict, it's unclear how many russian troops will remain in syria, it is unclear if russia will continue to conduct air strikes against terrorists, putin says he hopes the pullout is a step towards peace. >> translator: i hope this will significantly increase the le

aljazeera.com. out of some key places. like ramadi in iraq and aleppo in syria. what's more, i.s.i.l. last lost some key road connections, linkining the iraqi city of mosl with territory it controls in syria. american special force he are helping the iraqi government and cusht kurdish informs rolling i.s.i.l. back. and syrian troops are fighting both i.s.i.l. and the u.s. backed rebels. either way, i.s.i.l. is on the defensive now in both syria and iraq butter the group is very much on the offensive everywhere else. the i.s.i.l. ideology is morphed into a franchise that's being taken up by the likes of boko haram in nigeria and grille la guerilla groups. the same story in libya. the new local i.s.i.l. franchise announced itself last year when it murder twuf 21 egyptian christians in front of cameras. but as i.s.i.l.' i.s.i.l.'s fore started to turn, regrouping, in february, i.s.i.l. launched strikes against a border in tunisia, the base was hit, 49 people died in the raid and six were wounded. the defense secretary, u.s. secretary ashton carter says u.s. needs to confront i.

terrorism adviser on the history and current state of the conflict in syria. she also speaks about her proposal to counter violent extremism in the middle east. this event was held at the university of tennessee in knoxville. this is an hour. >> hello, i am met very. i am pleased to be the person to introduce our speaker this evening. samar is an attorney who specializes in cross-border transactions, international law, and private diplomacy. samar served as the assistant for economic affairs under governor bill haslam. in 2010, samar was selected for a white house fellowship where she served under janet napolitano, focusing on policies concerning national security in the u.s., latin america, europe, and the middle east. immediately following her fellowship, she worked as an advisor to the department of homeland security in washington, d c and in doha, qatar, from 2007-2010. she was an associate with hogan in the u.s. and worked in the united arab emirates. she is an adjunct professor at vanderbilt university. we nonetheless invited her to give this talk to the university of tennessee c

>>> thank you. u.s. secretary of state john kerry says talk to end syria's conflict should go ahead on march 14, but monitors from russia and u.s. will first meet to discuss truce violations. this is according to a reporter who met the king at a military base near the saudi- iraqi border. the saudis have offered to send in ground forces to syria. for the second time in two weeks demonstrators took advantage of the ceasefire against the bashar al-assad government. marches were held against the country in at least 15 cities, including azaz where people were chanting slogans against the government. north korea says its military is ready for an attack against the south. it comes as the naval exercises takes place. the duals are being sdrind as the biggest every following pyongyang's nuclear and long-range rocket launch. >> reporter: this exercise is a show of force that is always meant to impress. the u.s. say it is non-provocative. they have told the north koreans about exactly what is taking place here. they also say it contributes to the stability of the region and does not undermine

brazil. thanks so much. >>> syria's main kurdish group the pyd declared a federal region in areas it controls in the north of syria. the region would include three onclaves near the turkish border. the announcement was made at a kurdish conference. about 200 delegates approved the federal democratic system. the move is rejected by the syrian government and opposition who warn against the partition of the country. >>> russia's president says despite a partial withdrawal from syria, his air force is ready to return if needed. putin withdrew some war planes from syria after a cessation of hostilities that daily russian air strikes dropped by two-thirds. they showed russia's relation sthip was still warm for his readiness to compromise and dialogue. we sent this update from moscow. >> reporter: for the past three days pictures of soldiers and jet fighters returning to russia were shown on national television. mr. putin did say that at this specific moment, while the mission was accomplished and the rest was really an intersyrian affair and russia wouldn't interfere with that. among the a

could it also spell more redundancies for workers. ♪ >>> hello, we begin in the north of syria, where a powerful kurdish group the pyd has announce its plan to establish an autonomous region. they are said to already hold three quarters of the boarder, but the expected declaration has angered syria's open situation as well as turkey. ankara says it supports a united syria. it says unilateral moves like a federation aren't valid. this latest development comes as syria's government and main opposition attend talks in geneva from which the kurds were excluded. president assad's chief negotiator said he wants to keep syria together, not break it apart. >> the syria kurds are an important component of the syrian people. we are proud of them. they are proud of us. we have established our -- our state together for centuries. so betting on creating any kind of divisions among the syrians will end -- will be a total failure. >> an official in the foreign affairs director rate of kobani, one of three autonomous regions set up in syria two years ago says federalism could work across the country.

. he says in syria and iraq, we are seeing the shaping of the fight yet to come. he was basically saying -- flanked there by the joint chiefs of staff -- they have targeted the main isil person responsible for recruiting new isil fighters as well. we'll go back to this news conference and get a real sense of what they feel they have achieved. >> we're not reluctant jennifer. what we track is the number that are in our force management level. that's 3800. but this is nothing inconsistent with what has been going on for 15 years. those have not been counted -- in other words there is a consistency that have has going on for the last 15 years. when units rotate, for example, we don't double count those numbers. so if a unit of 200 is being replaced by a unit of 200, we don't count those as 400. we're not denying there are more than 3800. but in terms with the number we count, the 3800 was what is in the mission. i didn't say 5,000 was accurate. i said 3800 and some number above that on any given day as a result of people in other categories. >> jim? >> reporter: i would like to follo

. still to come, in syria it carved out controls of part of the idlib province. why there's growing op togs to the group. >>> life expectancy ten years lower than the rest of the population. a closer look at efforts to improve the health of indigenous australians. >>> the defending nba champions hit a half-century. details of that milestone win later in the program. gram. >>> first, the u.n. special envoy to syria says the situation on the ground to the country has been, quote, surprisingly calm in recent days. we have been meeting the main syrian opposition group in geneva. he just breeched the media and outlined the progress made so far. >> it was very substantive. papers on the political transition were actually distributed, and they went very deeply into how they see the political transition being potentially implemented soon. we are going to study them very carefully when we have a need to question in order to there to share them with the other side. >> as the talks continue in geneva, the secretary of state kerry accused isil of genocide. he said they're committing war crimes

, which is first to destroy isil, and its parent tumor in iraq and syria and collapse its two power centers in raqqa and mosul. second, to combat the metastasize of the isil tumor worldwide and, third to protect the homeland. many of the troop is smoked to at fort campbell are now rotating into iraq. to assume the train, advise and assist mission which soldiers from the 82nd airborne have been fulfilling so effectively. because of our strategy, and our determination to accelerate our campaign, momentum is now on our side, and not on isil's. our partners on the ground in iraq have retaken ramadi and-making games in anbar, while statement we are making operationally significant strides in our campaign to dismantle ice until syria. in the last few days, capable local forces supported by the united states have reclaimed shadadi, a critical node for isil training training and logis well as the oil enterprise. as our partners take control of shadadi i believe we'll learn a great deal more about isil's criminal networks, criminal enterprise, and what it does sustain them. by encircling and

up in the next 60 minutes. a powerful kurdish group in syria say it's ready to declare an autonomous region. >> today i'm nominating chief judge merrick brian garland to join the supreme court. >> barack obama sets up a showdown with republicans. as he names his choice for the country's most powerful court, and the race for the white house the republican field narrows as marco rubio drops out while clinton is in poll position for the democratic nomination. >>> plus the misunderstanding with the u.n. chief that has seen morocco threat ton pull peace keepers out of western qatar. >> and i'm with all the sport including fifa seeking to reclaim tens of millions of dollars taken illegally by former executives who have now been indicted by u.s. authorities. >> hello, we begin in the north of syria where a powerful kurdish group, the pyd, has unveiled its plans to establish it's own autonomous region. the group wants a federal region said to hold three-quarters of that board which is 800 kilometers long. the expected declaration has angered syria's opposition with turkey. ankara said that i

russia bebins pulling out the mill care from syria as talks on how to end the conflict make progress. >> shots are fires in the belgium capitol following a police raid remitted to last year's deadly attacks in paris. heavy fighting as government forces launch a campaign to recapture yemen's third largest city. a new president parliament votes and the first civilian leader after more than half a century of military rule. >> we begin the news hour, in syria, the u.n. special envoy has just fennishes meeting with the syrian opposition delegation in geneva, and the past few minutes stefan said russia's withdrawal would have a significant impact on talks with syrian factions. >> we have considered this a significant, i repeat a significant development. and now we hope, and we shall be expecting and hoping that this will be happening. that we will be seeing this decision bringing some positive influence on the actual progress of the talks. that are, in fact, taking place if not a coincidence what leads them, we should not consider it that that decision to play at the very beginnin

that terrorist attack. they were trained in iraq or syria. and they were coming pack -- coming back because they have passport. is there enough scrutiny or is there possible task to -- john: one of the big advantages we have is this big tease of water between us and these cases. one of these boehner abilities -- one of these boehner abilities -- one of these vulnerabilities -- excuse me -- socialood for their society. it is good for their vulnerability. when you have a known terrorist that managed to make his way from brussels into paris to do the attacks that occurred earlier this year, for someone who had already been in paris before and back to brussels, then back to syria, then back to , that comes with a certain cost. this is an old tug-of-war in the argument against terrorism. part of the goal is to cause the government to limit people's freedom, to cause people to question whether the government can protect them, to cause people to be distrustful of their government. charlie: to cause people to change their way of living. john: exactly. we have the ability duke scrutinize peo

russian counterpart on a political transition in syria. >>> these attacks were relentless, systemic, and they were widespread. >> the department of justice announces one of the highest-profile indictments ever against iran. ♪ >>> this is al jazeera america live from new york city. i'm richelle carey. police in belgium are trying to hunt down as poable fifth suspect in the attacks in brussels, as they look for one of the men who left a bomb at the airport. surveillance cameras in the brussels metro caught another person walking with the man identified as the suicide bomber there. it is unclear if this possible fifth suspect was killed in tuesday's bombings. this comes as isil releases a new video, celebrating the attacks. let's take a look at what we know so far about the other four people believed to have been involved. this man appears to have died when he blew up a bomb at the brussels airport. he was a suspect in last november's paris attacks. this man also set off a suicide bomb at the airport. he was born in belgium and had been deported from turkey last year. his brother set off

going to solve the problem of isis which still controls territory in iraq and syria nor will it solve the problem of militant islam is greater than anyone leader . jon: this is a guy who was released from prison in 2012 we understand. he had worked in al qaeda and then set himself up in isis as being a number two, apparently on a college physics professor your the fact that we went in with special operations forces, this was not a drone strike. this was sort of if you will a bin laden type of rate apparently there was a previous specialforces raid , remember a while back where we rescued hostages. i think we have an increasing ground presence in iraq certainly and that certainly leads to better intel core special operations in syria we just had that marine who was killed unfortunately in arrack the war is getting serious i think you know it's certainly, part of the president's job to convey that seriousness to the american people he hasn't spoken yet on this killing of the isis leader bureau he's left that job to the secretary of defense and chairman he will give another speech i imag

nicholson. vladimir putin totaling the military to pull out of syria could he says he hopes it will help the push for peace that is restarted today between the regime and the opposition. 11 suspects have been arrested in turkey over sunday's deadly suicide blast in ankara. authorities are convinced that kurdish militants are responsible, and bombing kurdish targets in northern iraq in response. for french citizens known to be among the victims of the sunday attack in the ivory coast, the country is observing three days of national mourning after the gunman killed civilians of the beach resort. catherine: thanks very much for joining us. there has been a big surprise development this monday on the war in syria. russian president vladimir putin announced he is going to start withdrawing his military from syria. in a statement, the kremlin said the statement was taken in conjunction with the syrian regime. russia began its airstrikes to back up forces in september last year. take a look at what president putin has to say. i believe then: goals set out by the ministry of defense and arm

also been excluded. syrian i can't's-- syria's ambassador says there should not be conditions >> translation: the meeting happened in geneva is an all-syrian meeting without any foreign intervention and without preconditions >>> live to our editor james bays who is there for us. what are we expecting for this first day? >> reporter: we're expecting in one thour's time to hear from the man who is the mediator of these talks, staffan de mistura. he will be giving a press briefing which we will be carrying live here on al jazeera. we also know for certain what is happening at the end of the day in geneva time because he will also hear the u.n.'s european headquarters briefing the u.n. security council by video link from new york telling him the progress on his talks. what is not clear is what will happen in between those two events. will he see both of the sides today, remember these are proximity talks, they don't come into the same room. he sees one side and then the other side. he has seen both sides in the hotel, what he described as courtesy calls to them. i'm being told by

of the crisis in the arab republic of syria, which is, as you know, the document submitted by the delegation of the government of syria to the special envoy during the previous session. we believe that the approval of these principals which we call the keyitels will yield in a syrian-syrian dialogue, which will contribute to the building of the future of our homeland, syria. the approval of these principles or items will open those for a serious dialogue between the syrians and the syrian leadership without any foreign intervention or preconditions. thank you. >> [ inaudible ]. intersyrian dialogue. the adoption of these principals pave the way for a syrian dialogue without any foreign intervention and without preconditions. >> thank you so much. >> and just to get you up to date with what we're looking at now, that is the damascus envoy to the u.n. talks at u.n. headquarters in geneva. we thought we were going to get a short q&a session there. it was tonight be. he was sounding exceptionally optimistic. he said he believes the approval of what is on the table as of today will lea