Power struggle. A new Opposition Controlled National Assembly is sworn in in venezuela, but not all members are allowed to take their seats deadly journey. Dozens of refugees drowned trying to reach greece when two boats sank in rough sees. Rough seas. Good evening, im antonio mora, this is al jazeera Americas International news your. We begin with a deepening diplomatic divide between saudi arabia and iran. The Saudi Arabia Foreign minister says the severing of diplomatic ties with iran will not affect the peace talks in syria. The two nations opposing sides in the negotiations. Saudi arabia wants the syrian president and iranian ally Bashar Alassad to have no future role in syria. More of saudi arabias allies are following the kingdoms lead. Kuwait recalling the ambassador for iran, and bahrain stopped flights there police fired shotgun and pellets at protesters in the tiny gulf state of bahrain. Day four of protests following saudi arabias execution of 47 people, including the shia cleric. Fall out from the execution spread first from sunni saudi arabia to shia iran. Where the Saudi Arabia Embassy was ransacked, forces saudis to cut diplomatic ties. Now to center of excellence of brain aging, u. A. E. And sudan, all of which tore up diplomatic relations complaining of possess interference. R riyadh has been accused of trying to shift the real crime, the execution of a cleric. And calling it names will not hurt it. For more than 30 years after the iranian resolution, great powers have severed ties with iran. Saudi arabia is taking measures based on immature policies and inexperience. At the heart of the spat, saudi arabia is under pressure in its region, since its ally, the United States, struck a nuclear deal with iran. Add to that the saudi military Coalition Fighting iranian supported houthi forces to the south of saudi in yemen, and Iranian Military involvement to the war in syria, and you have a recipe for the saudis to feel isolated in their desert kingdom. Saudi arabia can sustain this for some time. The issue here is that at least for riyadh, the iranians have to understand that saudi arabia is going to combat a lot of the negativity that we see in the region. U. S. Officials say tensions between saudi arabia and iran will not have an impact on the Coalition Efforts in defeating i. S. I. L. As we know, the secretary was on the phone all day yesterday. We are encouraging deescalation. Any time you have region app polarization and escalation, it can cause difficulties, it opens up streams on the far side. Residence are speaking out about the rift between the two middle eastern giants. The saudis should know it will not take corition for threat. They will not allow saudi rainions to threaten us. They have the right to be upset and angry because of the attack on the embassy. We should not forget the stampede at mecca. So the war of words goes on, with little hope either side will back down soon joining us now from beirut is joseph, a middle east analyst and senior fellow at the research for islamic studies in riyadh. Its good to see you. We have irans president Hassan Rouhani saying saudi arabia cant hide its crime by severing diplomatic ties. The saudis seem to have little interest in deescalating allies, and are jumpening on board and weakening ties with iran. To this making a dangerous region more dangerous . Not really. I think that president Hassan Rouhani had to say what he has to say today, what he said today, simply because he confronts at home opposition from the extremists who essentially are against him. Or opposed to him. Remember a couple of days ago when the iranians torched the saudi embassy, the president came out and said this was wrong. It was not the right thing to do, and that iran has got to learn how to report international law. But, of course, he had to reverse his position because at home in iran, there are a lot of people who are opposed to his policies. Talking about the iranians, a lot of analysts thought that the nuclear deal would strengthen the moderates there and weaken the extremists, the hardliners. Has the opposite happened . Probably. We dont know much of what goes on inside of iran because it is a mysterious and closed society. They like to give the impression that it is open. Its not. The debates that take place are convoluted. And the divisions that exist surfaced from time to time in parliament when there are open debates, when people can follow this. Make no speak about the fact that the Supreme Leader of islam revolution, Ayatollah Khamenei has the last word. It is not up to the president to opine what he thinks should be done or not. Do you believe the saudis knew what the consequences of the execution of the shiite cleric would be . I think the soughties knew, but it was not important simply because they were applying the law as sharia courts have done. They have arrested this man for a variety of crimes and they have put this in front of judgments. Couldnt the government decide to give him an amnesty because in moving forward with this, clearly it has a series of affects. Some of which are positive for the saudi government. Because it manages to take attention away from serious internal problems because the economy is a mess. They had to take perks away from saudi citizens because of the falling oil prices. We have to put this in perspective. We are not talking about a monastery cleric involved in scholar equities. We are talking about a fire brand cleric who is interested in bringing down the government. And no surprise there that government rejects and refuses to go along. Could it be a message to washington that the saudis will not depend on the u. S. Any longer and will act independently because the saudis were not worried about the nuclear deal. A trust that has grown weaker after hard line challenges by iran with testing Ballistic Missiles and contravention of u. N. Resolutions that the u. S. Talked about sanctions for, and then backed off on . There may be truth to this. But no one really knows. The fact is they have been an ally. There are certain saudis who are certainly disappointed with the positions that the United States took in the last several years visavis iraq. The message is not just to the iranians and the shia population, but to the sunni population of the world, and perhaps, also, western powers saying to everyone concerned, we are the will to power, we have knocksal security interests, and we will protect them. Its a complicated situation on many levels, and raising questions about what it will mean for the fight against terrorism in the region. Good to have you with us and have your insights. Thank you. Thank you very much. Iranian Television Broadcast images of an underground missile bumper. It was the same time time in three months that similar footage was prepared. The bunker houses missiles equipped with nuclear war heads. The video features the speaker of the iranian parliament, led on a tour by members of the revolutionary guard. The videos release came as iran faces sanctions for testing the same missiles in october. Today the u. S. State department is discussing possible punishments with other u. S. Agency. The white house believes the test launches violated u. S. Security council resolutions. Iran says the Missile Programme is for defense and not subject to resolutions an earthquake your appeared to have been caused by human activity has been reported in north korea, reported near a Nuclear Testing site and has been measured at 5. 1. Several international mont ris agencies report signs of what they believe is an artificial quake. North korea conducted a Third Nuclear test in february of 2013 in that region, recording an earthquake of similar size to the one reported tonight. A north korean spokesperson said theyll make an important announcement within the hour and well keep you updated. Syrians have been exposed to sanaa, coaccording to a top report. The Watchdog Group was looking into allegations that chemical agents had been used in 11 incidents, and said further investigation is needed to determine when or how the possible sarin exposure took place. The Syrian Government and opposition accused each other of using chemical weapons. An american soldiers was killed and two others wounded when they came under fire in moving. Accompanying Afghan Forces fighting the taliban in marja a town in helmand province. Two medivac helicopters like the ones in these file pictures were sent in to help. One was waved off after it came under fire. The other landed, struck a wall, damaged blades and was forced to stay on the ground. This is an ongoing situation. There is still a fight going on in the immediate surroundings, and well provide details as they become available. Because of the situation now, we dont have the details surrounding what is taking place. Afghan forces battled the taliban for more than six months. British officials suspect a londoner who sold bounce houses may be the new executioner, unnamed sources named siddharthu dh ark r, born a hindu, before becoming radicalized. He was freed on bail and since disappeared in 2014. Authorities believe hes lily in syria. His hes believed to be in syria. His sister is not sure it is him. A second round of attacks home to the biggest i will ports in sidra. There has been a plea for help, saying it is powerless against i. S. I. L. s destruction. Libya has been in chaos since Muammar Gaddafi was overthrown in 2011. I. S. I. L. Has been losing territory held in iraq and syria. Colonel steve warren says the group is in a defensive crouch. In iraq its about 40 , in syria, harder to get a number, always around 30 . Taken together, iraq and syria. Brad taylor is a retired special forces colonel and defense analyst and a bestselling novelist whose recent book is the forgotten soldiers, and he joins us from houston. The event in your new book is triggered by violence in afghanistan. How concerned are you that the taliban is staging a come back threatening progress since the 2001 war. Im concerned about if. The progress we are making is basically the drug trade, like the sanaa lowa area in mexico. Its a powerhouse. In 2010 people forget theres a huge battle for marja, and its the battle after the battle. We are talking about how we defeated i. S. I. S. In ramadi. I dont consider it a defeat until you see what happened six months from now. I. S. I. L. Is increasing presence from afghanistan. What do the u. S. Or n. A. T. O. Need to do to secure the gains made over the past 14 years . The hardest thing is to get governance down there. Helmand province is one of the biggest opium producing places in the universe. Its an economic power house. You want to put a government in there, you cant put in a government saying its okay to make heroin. If you dont have a government in there that doesnt say that, the taliban is saying get rid of that guy. In the broader fight against i. S. I. L. , do you see reason for optimism. Iraqi forces retook ramadi. And colonel steve warren talked about how they could have lost 30 of territory it controlled in syria and iraq. I think there is signs of optimism. I. S. I. L. Is more like a kids balloon, when you squeeze it, they leave this area and go to another. You mentioned crouch. I was nod be surprised if i. S. I. L. Would take on another town to prove their venketed. Its not clear whether american casualties in afghanistan were special operations forces. They were in an area where the u. S. Special forces were active. The poach has been to increase the role of special forces. As a former colonel in this world, is it a good strategist. I see it as a good opponent of a strategy. Im 99. 9 positive of the special forces doing train and assist. I heard about it from a conference, image capable helicopters, i cant imagine anyone bar special forces are down there. Are you concerned that a large number could delude them in their effectiveness. Sorry, say that again. Could that delude them. Now that so many people are accepted to special forces. It shrunk a little bit. Its maintained steady. You and other top authors in the thriller espionage genre created groups that performed secret missions in the United States, and you mentioned that the c. I. A. Does not have the capability for paramilitary operations and the pentagon cant keep the operations secret, and thats the reason for the groups. Do you think that in reality groups similar to your task force are needed . No, i dont. The thing with this book. When we operated for real, we had extensive oversight for a renaling an. We thought we needed an organization to run free. I created the task force. As i wrote it, they do things, going off the reservation, but im writing a book it ends perfectly. But i thought it has a potential to go bad, if theres one guy in here. Thats what i explored in the book. Many of your books bring up issues that happen around the world and the new back forgotten soldiers, brad taylor, good to talk to you. Thanks, appreciate it. In france, the government honoured the vic sims is victims of the Charlie Hebdo shooting. A plaque was unveiled, and another near where a policeman was killed. The name of a victim was misspelled. Authorities said they would correct the mistake. 17 were killed in attacks that week. A journalist gaoled in turkey for four months is free. He was arrested inform august while covering confrontations between the kurdish opposition and police. His two british colleagues were deported, turkey said the iraqi rasul was held as a protective measure he is tree on bail, but cannot leave the country. Venezuelas knew National Assembly is sworn in, changing the balance of power. Supports of the government and of the opposition take to the street in dualling rallies. A proposal to ban donald trump from the u. K. Peace talks in booururundi,e to a halt. Theres no word on whether theyd resume. Opposition and government leaders have been meeting in uganda for a week. A top burundi official said the government would not attend because of the inclusion of groups supporting violence. A spokesman later said negotiators need more time to prepare. More than 400 have been killed in clashes since april, when the president announced hed run for an unconstitutional third term. Security was heavy on the streets of caracas when the opposition took control for the first type of. Todays swearing in ceremony comes at a time of the rising tensions between the opposition and president madura. Reporter songs about change and new beginnings. Jubilant supporters of the venezuela opposition joined the 112 legislators as they made their way to the capital assembly. Last december a sweeping victory gave them a twothirds major city. Majority. Translation venezuela needed a change. We are fed up with violence and shortages and violence. We want our children to grow outline without violence. Reporter a few miles a way is a rally supports nicolas maduro. The opposition hates this country, they defended chavez. We have to dell them to respect the revolution and leaders. Reporter street clashes between the groups was fierce, especially after three opposition deputies were prevented from being sworn in by a spoourt ruling. It was at the ceremony that the tensions were evident. A sign of the challenges legislators faced as they prepared to share power over the coming five years. A particularly sore subject has been efforts by the opposition to free Political Prisoners. The government blames them for the death of more than 40 people during a monthlong wave of violence in 2014. The assassins, the perpetrators, they cant pardon themselves, only the victims could forgive them. In the end progovernment legislators walked out. Their frustration over the changing Political Landscape in venezuela, too greats for them to stay. The government passed a series of laws that seemed to undermine the super majority that the opposition gained. Analysts here warn that the continuing of the political gridlock would exacerbate social conflict the u. S. Is responding favourably to the event in caracas. State Department Spokesman said the swearing in was an important and necessary step for venezuela. The obama is asking those on all sides to respect the authority and independence of the National Assembly and is calling for the release of Political Prisoners held in venezuela. Britains parliament set a date to hear a petition that calls for a travel ban on republican president ial candidate donald trump. Nearly 570,000 britains signed an online petition calling for trump to be denied entry into the u. K. Coming after remarks targetting muslims more than two dozen Asylum Seekers were killed when two boats capsized off the Turkish Coast. We look at the dangers survivors face after making it ashore germany opened the doors to refugees hoping to solve a population problem. The role that could be played in helping the economy. Welcome back to Al Jazeera America, im antonio mora, coming up in this half hour of International News on what is wednesday in asia, we look at how markets are responding after the terrible beginning over the first two trading days of 2016. First a look at the stories making headlines across the u. S. In the american minute. President obama unveiled new gun control measures at the white house. The executive actions strengthened background checks and closed loopholes for unlicensed firearms sales. The occupation of a Federal Building of wildlife refuge is four days on. Organizers saying they are vowing to stay until managements of land it turned over to ranchers. No Law Enforcement agency has tried to remove them. Showing for now a willingness to wait them out a governor of michigan declared a state of