Thousands in the southeast surrounded by bushfires forcing many to take refuge on the beaches. Jonah hall in london with the top stories from europe including 20 years after putin came to power we look back on 2 decades of russias strongman leader. Pole race with the sport including disappearance of a football this fall that colombias world cup made failed it demands from the new head of the countrys. United states is deploying additional troops to secure its embassy in baghdad after members and supporters of an iranian backed group marched into the green zone and surrounded the heavily fortified compound some managed to break into part of the facility a security post at the entrance to the building was set on fire as well they were responding to us and strikes in iraq and syria on sunday when camps belonging to the iranian backed group has been abrogated. Were targeted the violence all erupted on the same day funerals were being held for the fighters whove been killed in the u. S. Air strikes the u. S. President has put the blame squarely on iran donald trump has warned iraq as well that it must use its forces to defend the u. S. Embassy so lets have a look now its a little bit past 9 pm in baghdad and there are still plenty of people protesting there the fire still burning as well it has come down slightly from the peak of earlier in the day but still plenty of activity outside that embassy which sits within the heavily fortified green zone in baghdad that houses Iraqi Government buildings and foreign embassies its in the center of the city that embassy is actually the United States is the largest diplomatic post anywhere in the world and also the most expensive 2 bills so our correspondents covering this one our mike hanna in washington d. C. Who we will be with shortly but with starting with Simona Fulton in baghdad who was out amongst the protests today simona. Well the latest we are hearing from near the u. S. Embassy is that the u. S. Trained Counterterrorism Forces have now deployed next to the u. S. Embassy and they have secured one of the gates but around one to 2000 members and supporters of the Popular Mobilization forces remain located there and really theyre refusing to withdraw now what one Security Officer told me who is currently at the scene he basically said that there are very confused orders that theyre getting from their leadership theyre not being given clear orders on whether or not to use force to remove these p. M. S. Fighters who are there at one point they got an order to move further ahead close to push back this group but then they were told to withdraw again because it was not clear whether they were allowed to use force now of course the Counterterrorism Forces are u. S. Trained force they are seen as being close to the United States and on the other hand we have the Popular Mobilization forces which are close to iran so it appears that this band of could further escalate to that if indeed it comes to a confrontation here between the c. T. s and the p. M. S. One important thing that we cant emphasize enough here is that these crowds that have marched on the u. S. Embassy they have nothing to do with the protesters who have been in but that story of course for 3 months demonstrating against the government against irans interference in iraq they actually put up loud speakers today in to hear square to broadcast a message that they have nothing to do with this crowd that marched on the u. S. Embassy that that is in fact a crowd that consists mostly of p. M. S. Fighters and i was actually there throughout the entire day accompanying this crowd which began as a funeral procession accompanying them across the Hanging Bridge across the tigris river into the fortified green zone and this is our summary of the day. Supposed to be a funeral procession commemorating the 27 fighters killed in the latest u. S. Air strike but instead it turned into an unequivocal message to the u. S. As well over the. Oh hundreds perhaps thousands of people are taking part in this procession currently theyre marching across the Hanging Bridge towards the fortified green zone behind me and this is of course where the u. S. Embassy is located and that is where they are headed of course this is not just a funeral procession this is a public show of defiance aimed at passing a message towards america the bear presence here in iraq is no longer welcome. Most of those here are members or supporters of the Popular Mobilization forces they pay their respects as the bodies pass by and they vow to avenge their deaths and the other on the lives of on others although this cowardly act was carried out by the u. S. And israel they will pay a high price we will take a strong stand and we will not forget the blood of the martyrs as long as there is breath of sight of us we will tell them that we are here on the street and we are here to stay and there will be an aggressive response to their bases are not seeing the top leaders support this march including. The leader of the biggest bloc in parliament and there is. An insurgency after the u. S. Led invasion they vowed to use both military and political means to expel the u. S. Troops that are part of the dog this embassy has proved its conspires against iraq this is the embassy where they spy on iraq and where they lead to destruction of iraq this is where the saboteurs are supported for months Iraqi Security forces have guarded the green zone against antigovernment protests but this time they appear to have orders to stand down allowing the crowds to cast a checkpoint leading to the u. S. Embassy the protesters threw stones and set fire to the outer gates of the embassy the situation appears to be escalating now with hundreds perhaps thousands of members of the popular. Mobilization forces having to reach to the gates of the u. S. Embassy there are Rolling Stones there for the trying to climb the wall to reach the u. S. Embassy compound and theyre chanting antiamerican slogans theyre demanding the wave troll of american troops from iraq Prime Minister atal of the mahdi has called on protesters to retreat condemning any attack on embassies but the fact that these crowds have been allowed to reach the embassy gates appears to signal the governments implicit endorsement of the message theyre trying to send someone a faulty an al jazeera but that and from baghdad we go to washington d. C. And mike hanna might take us through the official reaction so far from the u. S. Administration. Well the secretary of defense has just confirmed that further troops are going to be sent to backtrace the defenses of that embassy in baghdad they will not be being deployed from the u. S. They are in fact part of the u. S. Contingent already within iraq earlier in the day the secretary of state spoke to both the Prime Minister of iraq and the president of iraq seeking assurances that iraq would continue to protect the property and personnel of the United States earlier to President Trump tweeted out to end. The violence of iran who he claimed had orchestrated the ongoing demonstrations outside the embassy but questions to being asked in the u. S. About how the demonstrators gained access through that heavily fortified green zone through the outside perimeters through the internal checkpoints to actually get to the point where they could be at the very door of the u. S. Embassy questions being asked about that the fact that the u. S. Is now sending additional troops to reinforce the embassy a clear indication that assurances from the Iraqi Government that property will be defended may not be enough the the images in themselves are quite something of a mike even now 9 in the evening there the fire still going the hundreds of people who are still there just thinking about you know people in america are actually watching this and thinking hey were coming under attack around the world. Well the thought went through the minds of many. By u. S. Senator Lindsey Graham when he made reference to benghazi saying that President Trump would not allow another benghazi on his watch now this is in reference to the storming of the u. S. Embassy in benghazi in libya back in 2012 in which a u. S. Diplomat was killed a number of u. S. Contractors were killed so certainly there are memories within the u. S. Of embassies being attacked so the images that are being seen there of great concern obviously but to make very clear President Trump and his secretary of state are placing the soul in the context of the u. S. Versus iran conflict making very clear their belief that iran is behind these ongoing demonstrations iran was the reason for the u. S. Strikes which led to these demonstrations so setting the context very clearly that this is part of a wider ongoing conflict between iran and the United States in the view of the trumpet ministration. Thank you mike hanna in washington d. C. Announcer. On the run in capital explaining why iranian backed political figures were present at these protests. He is a very well known figure within the establishment in iran he fought on the iranian side during the iran iraq war between 1981980 has pledged his allegiances not only to the Islamic Republic and the ideologies of this country but also to the Supreme Leader as well as the head of the revolutionary guard sports force awesome soleimani he doesnt make it a hidden fact that thats where his allegiances lie he is now head of the Better Organization which is part of the largest Ruling Coalition within the Iraqi Parliament alba non group as is the man we just heard from he is the head of puzzling network these are groups that came to be following the fall of Saddam Hussein and their various groups that were fighting amongst each other and also fighting against the u. S. Forces that were occupying iraq about time they now are part of the government this is where the dichotomy lies within iraq their relationship with iran is something that has been ongoing for years and now that theyre officially part of the government that is something the United States cannot tolerate theyve said that this is part of irans quote to malign behavior its something really that dates back a long time it is not a recent development the relationship between these sides so for this event today its very important to note that these leaders were there as a sign as a gesture it wasnt an accident that they were present at this event outside the u. S. Embassy its a message to the americans that not only do we not want you here but that we have the full support and cooperation of the iranians behind us lets just go back to appease and actually live pictures these were just in the last 2 or 3 minutes have a look and see projectiles i think being well. Goodness me the facts of the fire still ongoing out on the sort of walls around the compound and then some explosives there as well the interesting thing is that the sheer number of people who have stayed its now nearly a quarter past 9 in the evening there and similar correspondent who you heard earlier she told us that she and her team actually pulled back from the area in the Late Afternoon because it was getting to be particularly dangerous there id say possibly not so dangerous now but certainly still a lot of people there and the fire is still burning as well earlier in the day maybe we can have a look at some of those pictures as well from earlier in the day. Which show you the height of the the protests and the fires that have been set at the gate of the green zone and remember mike hanna made this point this is this is the green zone the heavily heavily fortified part of baghdad government buildings and there are other embassies there how this many protest is pending to get through is one of the Big Questions and needs to be answered here allowed to get so close to what is the biggest American Embassy in the world diplomatic outpost in the world however you want to term it the most expensive to build and people have managed to get this close to burn the gates there and the entrances its all quite extraordinary actually and were going to talk about it in further with joel reuben whos a former u. S. Deputy assistant secretary of state hes in washington d. C. Hi joe thanks for your time today as youve seen those pictures today what is going through your mind i made the point with our correspondent before these are the kind of images which i wonder if americans are watching and thinking hang on were getting attacked here. Yeah and i appreciate you having me on today to talk about this and certainly it brings back memories for those of us who served in government as well as for americans watching the news right now and its important to remember that americans its the day before new years eve and theyre sitting at home and theyre wash and he and theyre witnessing this attacks against the embassy in tehran 40 years ago been discussed in recent days as well regarding the relationship so its a its a pretty trying time right now for the American People to watch this and as you noted the largest American Embassy in the world is in baghdad and certainly its a surprise for americans who are uncertain about why this is happening but not a surprise that it happened i might suggest to you even though obviously its quite something that they managed to get through into the green zone like this the fact that there has been retaliate for. The strikes which happened not entered just in iraq but in syria something was going to happen. Yeah and i think thats the part where americans are waking up to the reality that were in the midst of a very difficult situation inside of iraq our presence there has been supported by the Iraqi Government yet the people of iraq have been protesting that government now for months and at the same time there are running back militias roaming the country that have taken shots in recent days and American Forces and even killed one of our contractors leading to this moment if escalation so theres a real competition right now underway inside of iraq its a dangerous one and for the u. S. Government the trumpet ministration has to explain to the American People why its important for United States to be in iraq to vances our interests and how its not going to get sucked into an actual threat but more war frankly with the iranians and thats that thats the point i was going to make about iran the explanation so far from certain from President Donald Trump is that this is all irans fault and thats what secretary pompei of it said right as well is that simple of saying that that is it or you know do iraqi people have their own grievances there to having u. S. Troops there for so long and now having a u. S. Air strikes there. Yeah. One can say that its just the iranians fault right now the United States is there and because were there we are finding ourselves to be an attractive target but whats happening right now in the streets in baghdad in the protests against the Iraqi Government its not the same group of people that stormed the embassy and its very important to not describe protesters in both instances as if theyre the same theyre not these are pro rania militias that stormed the u. S. Embassy directly as a result of the attack against their bases and their their military component so were right now engaged in stepping into a military confrontation with the iranian backed militias and the Iraqi Government who has promised over the years to disband those militias and promise that iraqi people has sort of been wavering in terms of where it wants to go in its activities towards those militias and thats the tension point right now but joe where they i mean you make the very good point to distinguish between the protests that weve seen over the past few months and whats happened today but where they do converge is the fact that those months of protests have weakened this Iraqi Government to the point where things like this to happen and it is its become an ineffectual government. Right and you know i think the protesters would also make the argument that it was an ineffectual government which is why theyre protesting and so they do have a weak government they have a Prime Minister who has stepped down but is still acting as interim Prime Minister that is not a source of stability for the country so the Iraqi Government its leadership its going to have to start making some very hard decisions about how it wants to chart its way forward and we in the United States we also have to make sure that were not actually adding gas to to the flames and creating a more direct conflict and in many ways this this spat right now this fight between the United States in the iranian backed militias only serves to strengthen the programming elements that are not interested in seeing a reformist government take shape in baghdad so we have to have more of a strategy and i fear that right now what weve been doing is reacting rather than demonstrating a real strategic approach to calming the situation down and moving the Iraq