Already claimed at least 15 lives. Israels Prime Minister seeks immunity from prosecution in 3 Corruption Cases. Violence and arrests as protesters in hong kong kickoff the new was another massive march demanding greater freedom. Supporters and members of an iran backed group of withdrawing from the u. S. Embassy compound in the iraqi capital baghdad after a 2 day siege of americas biggest Diplomatic Mission leaders of the Popular Mobilization forces ordered them to leave but there is a condition they want to Iraqs Parliament to vote on a timeline for the withdrawal of Foreign Forces the protesters are angry about sundays airstrikes by the u. S. On the hezbollah brigades camps that killed at least 27. 00 people earlier on weapons day the crowds threw rocks and lit fires outside the compound irans Supreme Leader the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has also condemned the u. S. Strikes and want to iran will defend itself if threatened its amount of 14 begins our coverage with this report from baghdad. They left just as they had arrived a day earlier determined and angry but also pleased that they had managed to deliver a message to the us supporters of the iranian backed Popular Mobilisation forces who had defied the Prime Ministers orders to withdraw just a day before now heeded the call of their leaders while some dismantled tents and ferried away supplies used to camp the night out the more defiant ones staged a final showdown in front of the embassy gates burning tires and flags to the sounds of antiamerican slogans usa was let out of from our country we dont americans we cant brought it to ourselves more dont really our fighters who hurt out. Killed arses road turned them gone through. The attack on the u. S. Embassy was sparked by the latest u. S. Strikes against hezbollah brigades which is part of the Popular Mobilization forces the majority of the crowd consisted of its members and supporters but some here say they were also driven by what they perceive as an unjust american policy in the region this is my land and if you want to stay here you must understand its. When they. Believe and understand. Its we can leave. As crowds withdrew u. S. Helicopter circled overhead after reinforcements arrived from kuwait the night before the white house had pressured the Iraqi Government to end the standoff but it was clear that off already is here didnt want to risk confrontation Iraqi Security forces surrounded the embassy but use no force to remove the crowds or the Iraqi Governmental forces have been put on a very confusing and sensitive position as i mentioned they have a very Sharp Partnership and an alliance with both countries the u. S. And iran so the Iraqi Government has to prove to the u. S. That its taking either a neutral stance or its protecting the u. S. Embassy because thats what a government has to do. And yet the outer gates of the Embassy Burned and vandalized bear witness to the Iraqi Governments inability to protect the u. S. Presence here the speech here at the u. S. Embassy appears to be coming to an end with u. S. Trade and Iraqi Counterterrorism forces now taking over the security and basically securing the area of the crowd but the hezbollah brigades have said that this is just the 1st left and for the United States they have vowed that they will not stand down until they hear the archer of u. S. Forces from iraq and the monopole to aljazeera. Lets bring in gabriel and his own correspondent in washington just picking up on the point at the end of that report they gave the u. S. Secretary of state mike pompei on the phone to regional allies but clearly i mean hes not about to say ok were leaving we will do what were being told to do we presumably saying were there for the long hold up. He absolutely is and thats why youre seeing him make so many different calls to leaders and our allies within the region just because the immediate threat so to speak is dissipated outside the u. S. Embassy in baghdad does not necessarily mean everyone in washington is called what how everything is going and its moving on to the next thing no theyre not this is still very much a big crisis here in washington are seen as that of what happened my pump aoe the secretary of state speaking to regional allies in israel iraq and qatar he spoke to israeli Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu about iran who the u. S. And israel both think were behind this clearly spoke also to iraqi Prime MinisterAbdul Abdul Mahdi on wednesday as well where he the secretary of state stressed to the Prime Minister of iraq that the u. S. Still strongly believes that its that you Iraqi Governments responsibility to make sure that no such attack happens again on an american Diplomatic Mission inside iraq and then he also spoke to the Qatari Foreign minister mohammad to bin Abdul Rahman Al thought any qatar is important because its a key strategic ally in the region for the United States according the state department to the Foreign Ministers spoke about their joint commitment to see peace and security in the region and how to Work Together to make that happen again qatar very critical the u. S. Has about 10000. 00 troops stationed in a big airbase just about a half an hour outside the capital of doha and qatar well a key ally of the United States also speaks with its neighbor iran as well and when it comes to the the hostilities between iran and the United States qatar is has very much a neutral attitude towards it trying to facilitate perhaps any sort of dial. That could potentially happen so what youre seeing here is United States very much sending troops to the region 750. 00 to be exact taking no chances but also the secretary of state taking no chances on the diplomatic front as well playing all of his cards because it just shows how serious the u. S. Is taking this and how potentially it could escalate again gave thanks very much Gabriel Elizondo our correspondent in washington Hillary Mann Leverett is formally a White House National security official shes currently c. E. O. Of strategy a Political Risk consultancy she joins us from washington as well hilary great to talk to you again whats your reading of how the trumpet ministration has handled this. Well i think you know what what we see is in india an enduring symbol of the storming of the u. S. Embassy by thousands of of iraqis its an enduring symbol that nearly 17 years after the u. S. Invasion of iraq one trillion dollars spent 5000. 00 u. S. Lives lost that the u. S. Position in iraq is is worse today than it ever was and i think the trump and ministration President Trump in particular but also secretary of state pompei o are very concerned that what is happening in iraq could at least you know on Television Look like a nother benghazi moment thats what theyre talking about here the concern that back in 2013 when the u. S. U. S. Diplomatic compound was stormed in magazine libya and the u. S. Ambassador was killed it was a tragic terrible moment for the United States but politically it was an issue that both president and especially secretary of state pump aoe use mr lee to attack then secretary of state Hillary Clinton when she ran for president they are both very concerned that a similar type of in an incident could now happen in iraq to President Trump here we are on the 1st day of 2020 as he enters his 2020 Election Campaign so theyre trying very hard to avert that sending more u. S. Troops there but unfortunately thats likely to lead to something even more significant in benghazi the u. S. Is now trapped in iraq u. S. Diplomats are trapped in that embassy they were cordoned off there overnight they had to stay overnight in the embassy how did they get out now by helicopter like u. S. Diplomats had to flee set saigon vietnam when it collapsed this is a really terrible situation for the United States and a crisis that is nowhere near over if we rewind by 24 hours does this trumpet ministration feel slightly bushed by the way that the iraqi authorities clearly took a decision to let this iran backed militia and its supporters just walk with impunity literally up to the front door of the compound building. Well this is ministration and not just this administration alone its not just the Trump Administration the Obama Administration the Bush Administration certainly before that have misread almost day by day minute by minute what is going on both on the ground in iraq in iran in saudi arabia across the region and they make decisions based on these miscalculations and then they profess to be surprised its its quite stunning in its level of arrogance and when we talk about the Election Campaign were into the Election Year no on the one hand from mr trump weve had a year of were getting out of the middle east boys and girls are coming home the reality seems to us is that the the diametric opposite of that is actually happening and youre going 1st not youre stronger but youre saying theyre actually trapped in iraq that theres no escape pod its very difficult to see what the escape point is certainly. Would like the United States to have to leave in a blaze of defeat off of the u. S. That the roof of the atmos embassy in helicopters if that the acting Prime Minister or the caretaker Prime Minister are going to it would prefer a negotiated way for the use of u. S. Troops to get out of maybe not for all of them to get out keep in mind he supported the u. S. Invasion as did a lot of the political elites in iraq today for the United States are in a terrible position in iraq but its not just iraq its everywhere in the region where would even those troops go would turkey invite them to incirlik to the u. S. Base there doesnt seem likely President Trump said promise that u. S. Troops would get out of the region but i dont think he was expecting that they would it be expelled from the region in quite this way Hillary Mann Leverett there in washington thank you so much thank you very much. Evacuations have started and relief supplies arrive for thousands of australians stranded in fire ravaged towns thousands more are being told to leave their homes with dangerous conditions in the forecast this week has seen the deadliest space of blazes since the crisis began in october 15 people have died in the state of New South Wales navy ships and military aircraft are being used to help emergency crews more than 200 fires are burning in the states a victorian and New South Wales and more than 1000 homes have been destroyed conditions are expected to worsen in the southeast on saturday so firefighters are busy back burning creating natural fire breaks to limit the destruction. As more. Entire neighborhoods have burned to the ground destroying more than property. Jan gilbert is among the thousands of australians who have begun to go back home to nothing. Rubble and debris now cover whats left of her belongings all of my positions have been tied in writing everything there is just simply nothing leaves nothing except that. In other areas the bushfires are far from over. There are thousands of firefighters are struggling in the states of the tory i New South Wales an area thats home to more than 13000000 people and the conditions are expected to get worse over the next few days the winds are expected to be very strong back to 45 degrees temperatures weve got a lot for in the last guy that we look at times. In the town of all adult people wait outside supermarkets and stock up on food and water power and mobile phone outages are also a concern you have a challenge with getting people liable to even access the basics like petrol and atrocity and thats causing enormous stress for communities we understand that the Australian Military is using planes and helicopters sit downs of flames while preparing for possible evacuations. Emergency crews are stretched thin and slight changes in temperatures and the wind could spark even more fires there wasnt much i could do it try and make work and i just couldnt do anything it was just hearing the wind just blew and wind just blew and if you look at everything in mind its just grof its just Everything Everywhere you go its left nothing no one knows yet the precise cost of the damage but its clear the widespread devastation is immense katia locus of a on aljazeera well the a. B. C. s Melissa Clark is in thats the New South Wales she says most people are trying to escape the flames but some are still choosing to stay. People in maria can either go north or south along the princes highway most people are choosing to go south that will get them down to bigger they can then take the Snowy Mountains highway into cooma and then for a lot of people go back to either camber or sydney or head further inland i spoke to people trying to get young camera people from all around just trying to get away interestingly a couple of locals i spoke to dont want to leave even though the r. F. S. Are advising people to leave this coast even though they can the r. F. S. Here are very clear that they want anyone who has the capacity to guard some leave as soon as they can one of the key thing thats worth mentioning is that power has been restored here in maria i have not but there are still plenty of places that joint have power and getting the information that they want people to leave as soon as possible is proving tricky and we are hearing some circumstances where theres been misinformation getting around as well particularly where there isnt mobile reception and power. Ok lets just take you briefly to canberra Scott Morrison australias Prime Minister getting us right up to date on the very latest as to these epic fires taking place up and across those 2 big states in australia listening to whats going on the knowledge and congratulate the exemplary efforts of our starts in the y. That i have boyd there i can see it through these far legacy that started back in september in queensland so every jurisdiction has stood up to that not only for their own starts but we Work Together in a coordinated why and the body i fact is working constantly in marking sure that we share resources around the country mike sure that everything that can be done has been done and also i work through the commonwealth in marking sure we bring in those international forefathers that are here from the United States and canada and you see them as weve reciprocated for them in their hour of need obviously we will continue to work with i fact in the states as they put further a question. But the states doing everything they humanly possibly can and so too is the commonwealth let me just side to those people that are frustrated whining for whether by surprise or tricity or even fuel can we just side them please be patient every think that humanly possibly can be done is being done we understand the situation were in but we cannot put more strides in harms why in trying to deliver those services as quickly as some would like it so we are getting there as quickly as we can but obviously some of those decisions in restoring some of those services to just take time and thats why the Strong Defense force with the assets that i have have been have been called upon to bring those in where it is possible and where it is saif but that will continue to happen but we just side to every a stride in as far as its also important now that you listen to the direction of those Emergency Management personnel on the ground for those men and women are putting their lives on the lawn weve already had too many fatalities in these low in these fires and sadly weve had 3 briber strides who were serving their community and their country whove made the ultimate sacrifice so i respect to them it is