the confusion online about people saying they don't actually know what's going on join the colobus conversation at this time on al-jazeera. and the war on terror begins right now but it does not in there no terrorist state poses a greater or more immediate threat than the regime of saddam hussein this is a regime that has something to hide they had prepared a significant propaganda machine and guess what not one w m d shite was found in iraq since one thousand nine hundred ninety one iraq a deadly deception at this time on al jazeera.

al-jazeera. hello i'm barbara sarah this is the news hour live from london coming up in the next sixty minutes. whether vote against us will save a lot. we don't hear. president. cut financial aid any country who votes for a u.n. resolution against his decision to recognize jerusalem as the capital of israel a lot of thing in the u.s. republicans give final approval to a sweeping tax reform sounding president trump his first major legislative victory poland's president says he will sign into law two controversial judicial bills despite the e.u. threatening to suspend his country's voting rights. and. top story in sports russia's banned from paralympic sport told but they'll get another

month to prove their athletes should be allowed to compete. no thank you for joining us u.s. president donald trump has threatened to cut off financial aid to countries that vote in favor of a draft united nations resolution against his decision to recognize jerusalem as israel's capital earlier the u.s. ambassador to the u.n. sent a threatening e-mail to members of the general assembly making halley warned against supporting the resolution the e-mail reads the president will be watching this photo carefully and has requested that i report back on those who voted against us and as you consider your vote i encourage you to know the president and the u.s. take this vote personally and this is what the u.s. president had to say a short while ago. i like the message that mickey said yes to the united nations for all of these nations that take our money and then they vote against us at the

security council or they vote against us potentially at the assembly they take hundreds of millions of dollars and even billions of dollars and then they vote against us while we're watching those votes let them vote against us will save a lot we don't care. well meanwhile the turkish foreign minister has accused the us of intimidation over the. narrative in this in the knowledge of what are you going to do after taking names will you allow those countries as well to be occupied already going to punish them the world has changed the belief that i am strong therefore i am right has changed the world today revolting against injustices from now on. will bow to such pressure we'll have more on this let's speak to mike hanna who joins us live now from the united nations in new york my kid the initial reaction to nikki haley's e-mail was pretty negative what reaction has there been any i know it only happened recently but what kind of reaction are we expecting to mr trump's comments. well there's speed no reluctance for any

of the diplomats here to comment publicly on nikki haley's letter to all members of the general assembly certainly privately there's been a lot of outrage expressed at what is seen as a hectoring and bullying tone contained in that letter and of course knob we see exactly what she meant president trump threatening to cut off financial aid to any nation that would vote against him the majority position perhaps by the one person who would talk the swedish ambassador and he said that the security council voted to rule a monday which was fourteen to one with the u.s. veto was based on principle and certainly there's no reason why sweden would change its vote in the general assembly vote will be happening thursday that's probably going to be the majority of pinion. and mike what's been interesting is that of course there was a vote in the security council will fourteen out of the fifteen states voted

against it obviously the u.s. has a veto there as so so blocked that resolution going through why do we think the president trump cares so much about this vote at the u.n. general assembly because ultimately the u.s. can move its embassy and put it wherever it wants to and say jerusalem is the capital of israel if it wants to what impact does that have on the u.s. . well it's perhaps more about president trump's policies his core policies which he would describe as america first now from the very beginning of this dispute this controversy with the announcement that he would recognize your islam as the capital of israel president trump and his ambassador to the un have been cutting it in terms of you mary can sovereignty saying that the u.s. has the right to decide what ever its capital is going to be in whatever country it may be but that's not taking into account the sensitivities over a city like jerusalem the consequences of president trumps decision have been seen

around the world what we're going to be seeing in the general assembly thursday in that particular vote is likely to be a sweeping condemnation now not just of attempts to alter the status of jerusalem but also in a way an opinion poll on the president trumps isolationist policies what is seen as his america first mantra so what was going to be a fairly straightforward vote likely to be sweepingly in favor of the resolution is now also going to be a vote inadvertently as president trump would expect on the policies of president trump and the way in which he views the rest of the world mike hanna at the u.n. mike thank you and while all of that is taking place at the united nations palestinians protesting as president trump's plans to move the u.s. embassy to jerusalem have again called for a day of rage there have been some clashes with israeli security forces across the

occupied palestinian territories in bethlehem protesters marched in the street to denounce donald trump's recognition of jerusalem as israel's capital israeli security forces this person with tear gas well the biggest overhaul of the u.s. tax system in thirty years is now set to become law in the last few minutes the u.s. house of representatives gave the one point five trillion dollar tax return. it's final approval it's a huge legislative victory for president and it repeals part of the obamacare health system but one recent poll suggests fifty five percent of americans oppose it democrats say the bill was passed in secret and the new law will benefit the ultra rich at the expense of the middle class well the bill slashes the corporate tax rate from thirty five to twenty one percent as of january first and ends the tax advantages for companies that move overseas income tax rates and then heritance tax will be reduced for most people those earning over half a million dollars

a year will experience higher tax reductions but these provisions are temporary the end in twenty twenty six the bill is expected to add one point five trillion dollars to the u.s. national debt over the next decade it currently stands at twenty trillion dollars well our white house correspondent kimberly hackett joins us live now from washington d.c. so it's finally happened and i guess it's happened in a very divisive way. a very divisive way americans are not sure about this two thirds of americans according to most polls deeply skeptical about whether or not they will benefit still this is being sold by republicans as a gift a christmas gift if you will that will immediately see more money in the pockets of ordinary americans democrats on the other hand say that this is a gift for the millionaires and billionaires in the united states because of that

deep cut to the corporate tax rate the idea being this will trickle down in terms of jobs being created more companies that are located overseas coming back to the united states but at the same time to not only are republicans saying this but of course it is the president who is celebrating his first legislative victory but you have to remember doll trip made two very big campaign promises one was of course not only these tax reforms but also to repeal and replace obamacare and as you point out at the start of the segment tucked inside this tax reform is that requirement that americans must buy health insurance that is no longer the case as a result of this passage of legislation so donald trump trying to portray this as two legislative victories when he spoke in the cabinet room just a short time ago. we have a socially repealed obamacare and will come up with something that will be much better whether it's block grants or whether it's taking what we have been doing

something to reflect but obamacare has been repealed in this bill we did want to bring it up i told people specifically required with the fake news media because i don't want them talking too much about it because i don't know how people are different now that it's approved i can say the individual mandate on health care when you had to pay not to have insurance or to figure that when you pay not to have insurance the individual mandate has been repealed. and this bill you know now seemed to become law has been talked about as a kind of christmas present but actually it's not going to happen before christmas in fact probably not going to happen for the new either why isn't trump signing it into law today. well that's a question we posed to the white house press office to find out specifically because we kept hearing this was going to happen by the end of the year as you point out a christmas gift but turns out that's likely not to be the case and here's why there are some sort of arcane legislative rules and requirements that legal must

look at this for at least ten days the wheels of government moving very slowly so what we're hearing now and the white house sort of portraying this says we never said be by the end of the year we said be by the end of president trump's first year in office that's when this will likely now be signed and it will be a great way to start the new year presumably twenty eighteen so a little bit of a characterization shift on just how and when this is going to be signed still the white house making a big deal of this going to be holding a passage ceremony or a vent if you will here at the white house where the president no doubt will have more to say about his what he sees as legislative victories that have been a long time in coming here really help at the white house can really thank you or republicans call the tax bill in kind woman trish warm but it will see cuts to social welfare programs and we've been hearing like medicare that could impact millions some reports suggest medicare could become by twenty five billion dollars

next and the gallagher reports from florida. you know or protest over the bay oaks retirement home in miami has been housing the elderly for seventy years many of its residents rely on social welfare programs and have for decades some like eighty seven year old janet lied becca a paying close attention to what's happening in washington a form of social worker janet says welfare may be coming to an end my generation i think we never thought of social security having an end date. but i believe it will perhaps it will be two thousand and twenty five two thousand and thirty but there will come an end but this is plenty of time for everybody to get their act together. and. there. is. a night team of particular concern a potential changes to medicare a federal program for over sixty five's it could face cuts of up to twenty five

billion dollars when medicare and medicaid was set up in the one nine hundred sixty s. it encompassed the idea of a great society one that took care of its poor and elderly experts say any of those programs won't necessarily mean less money for recipients but it will mean less cash for doctors hospitals and nursing facilities and advocates say that could have terrible consequences this was going to be terrible my clinic represents you know newman says without access to affordable health care millions could suffer doctors who take care of the elderly patients will find themselves unable to accept patients they will turn people away who need the care most of all and who can't afford to pay high private market rates or premiums more than fifty million americans currently receive medicare benefits and with a rapidly aging population it's seen by many as a vital safety net it's

a curious thing ten thousand people turn sixty five every day in america and will for the next twenty years so i imagine the money majority of those people though and i imagine that when the tax cuts actually take place they'll be adversely affected and they're going to go to the polls the contras report is adopted without a judge an emotional reaction or a final table the republicans tax reform bill is already in popular among many voters it's hope with next year's midterm elections approaching drastic cuts may be avoided and agalloch are al-jazeera miami florida. well it's take a closer look at this bill with samhain linda he's an economist and political analyst at the niskanen center and joins us live now from washington d.c. thank you so much for joining us here on al-jazeera obviously quite a controversial bill president trying to scribe it as a christmas present for the middle class what do you make of it who do you think actually benefits from this bill. well i think the only correct way of looking at

this bill's as a giant mixed bag i'm concerned with the way the discourse is right now where everything is either all good or all bad but there's really only one way to look at this bill and it's a giant mixed bag worth benefits going to the wealthy but also so much structural reform in the business i suppose one of the reasons there's so much controversy over it i mean right now politics is quite divided but it's also the way that it's being pushed through i mean do you think it could have been a tax reform bill of some sort that perhaps could have been pushed through in a more bipartisan way. yeah unfortunately i think the biggest problem with this bill is the process behind it republicans have not had a win after holding every aspect of government for the last year and they have really been trying to push this through without any bipartisan support but when you look at the bigger picture the aspects of the bill that are actually pro growth

like the corporate supply side reforms. do represent an opportunity for bipartisan . political action even the obama administration acknowledge that our corporate tax rate was too high and so the areas where the best parts of the bill are probably the the exact same parts that would have been germane for a bipartisan reform but unfortunately the republican party also want to push through these large tax cuts for wealthy individuals which is unlikely to ever bring democrats to the table. i suppose it also has elements within the bill that touches social policy we're talking about obamacare and the medicare a little bit earlier i mean what do you think in the long term the impact to be and i know it's hard to to know but is this really what the president promised as he was. electioneering leading up to the election or not do you think people even his supporters would be surprised

a few months in. well the big problem with health care for republicans is they know they don't like obamacare but they have no idea or at least no agreement of what to replace it with and so after failing to reform health care earlier in this presidential term they. have turned to a strategy of just sabotaging the obamacare markets and so that's the way the individual mandate works is that insurers young healthy people buy health insurance which bring down premiums for less advantaged people and so this tax reform repeal that mandate which means people will voluntarily opt out of insurance which will drive up premiums for the un well. the problem is they have nothing to replace it with so longer term i actually see this as sort of bringing. democrats back to health care and next time they take power with probably something bigger more expensive like a medicare for all program we've already seen front runners for the democratic

presidential nominee like cory booker and camilla harris endorsed by the bernie sanders medicare for all plan so i think republicans should look in the mirror because they might this might backfire on them in a big way where they have you know strips so much of obama's legacy that democrats no longer feel like they have to hold to it. somehow i'm an economist and political analyst at the niskanen center thank you so much for sharing your views with us. now the united states has imposed sanctions against several russians and chechens including the chechen president for arms and cabinet of the us treasury department blacklisted caballero for alleged human rights abuses on wednesday the chechen leader is accused of overseeing an administration involved in disappearances an extrajudicial killings torture and other violations the sanctions will freeze the bank accounts of those targeted under a law called the act. and coming up in this news hour a game changer for the top court rules that it's officially

a transport firm and not a digital service zimbabwe's new president makes fixing the economy his number one priority in his state of the nation speech and then sport peter will tell you about this a former world cup winning striker is planned to clean up corruption in prison and in football. poland's president says he will sign into law two new bill increasing the government's powers over the courts in the finance of the european union and raised through that has pushed ahead with the controversial reforms the spite and e.u. threat to take away poland's voting rights the e.u. has triggered its article seven procedure calling the laws a threat to democracy. the common pattern of all these legislative changes

is that the executive or legislative those are not set up in such a way that the ruling majority can systematically politically it's a fear with the composition the powers that mistake should and the functioning of these authorities thereby rendering the independence of the judiciary. well joining us now via skype from the polish capital warsaw the current affairs journalist alma chill sir thank you so much for joining us here on algis there it's quite interesting that the president of poland has signed the two new laws. basically in defiance over what the european union has started to do by activating article seven do you think that's because he doesn't actually think the e.u. will see it through with article seven or that they just don't care what the e.u. does. i think it's more of a certain thing. it was. quite obvious that he would sign the deal is because he

was the one who proposed the vice president do the vento do two bills that was about constant off the judiciary and second about the supreme court in the summer but after that he proposed his own versions rubber similar to iraq because it's. different in details and after the procedure in the parliament very were not changed in a major way he so it was obvious that he will sign. i suppose you know certainly one of the reactions in poland has been about national pride and the fact that the e.u. should really have a say on you know the the internal legal matters of a country but the you think the government is genuinely worried about having its voting rights revoked within the e.u. . well this is a very serious thing i don't think that the government is worried about having their rights revoked because one of the required by i will not approve of this and this needs an enemy as so i don't think that poland's rise will be revoked.

consequences will probably be a lot more diplomatic wants not not so or not so much formal lots but the same time it is important to understand. one of them i instructed use of the ruling parties to the published by the law and justice look for and then these outside and inside of a counter and justified very hour in in such a way that by tech come three security and some very heavy against those enemies so . we are consequence of this article seven the might be that grip on power will be even stronger and this will. probably be government even to fire her from that you so you act and i'm afraid of it because. in the end this could go out. of. control so you actually think that in

a sense it would almost have strengthened the the hand of the ruling party in poland. in the short term definitely yes because this move goes well with the last week of the ruling party an hour show brought so brussels brussels. threatening poland and saying anybody wants to protect poland against foreign powers and so i don't think that this is a good wire to secure poland as coming back on the road of your book more but at the same time the reasons behind the decision of the european commission are youngers not and it will be interesting to see how the countries of the you will react to the fact that now article seven has been activated a kind of now it's up to them to see what action they take for the moment current affairs journalist amish such ok joining us for morsels sir thank you thank you for

the e.u. highest court has ruled that the taxi hailing company is a transport company and must be regulated as one over argues that it's an online digital platform many shouldn't be subject to the same rules need parker reports now from london it's a judgment with big implications for other companies the european court of justice ruled that is a tux he said this the north a technology firm is the company insists it may have to comply to the same regulation as other transport firms rules that can be sensitive country level. the long running call case was first brought by taxi drivers in spain with a backlash against hoopers bien explosive. thousands of taxi drivers took to the streets accusing the company of unfair competition there were similar scenes in several other cities this was paris and this demonstration brought central london to a standstill and deliberate on has been under mounting scrutiny after

a driver with previous criminal convictions allegedly murdered a british embassy work of this month. had its license revoked back in september for breaching operating rules including its handling of alleged sex attacks still there were three and a half million users here and many were angry with that decision part of the company's ensuring appeal is that is sufficient and cheap ones cheaper than traditional black cabs for now it's been allowed to continue operating in the capital while it appeals the decision. the european courts ruling isn't legally binding but it does send a message to other high tech firms is one of several companies facing legal battles in recent years. another san francisco based firm allows people to rent out their homes to visitors but cities such as pass a loner and berlin want to regulate usage to avoid driving up rents and forcing out

locals experts say it's important to uphold regulation without stifling innovation if you look at many of the new take firms yes they have a new way of delivering things but the main reason they're making money is often by getting around roles techs regulation the kind of things that the average companies have to apply with the digital revolution to advancing at breakneck speed now the law needs to pick up the pace knave al-jazeera london. zimbabwe's new president a missile and jaguar has the liberties for a state of the nation address in the capital harare economic recovery was the focus of it he said his government was determined to open up the economy to foreign investors government will soon and real robust engagement and the reengagement program with the international community in now will continue to be to rejoin the community of nations may government is committed to open

a zimbabwe up to address meant by building a free and transparent economy which the british it's zimbabweans and is welcoming to outsiders. more now from harare. the feedback has been generally positive it's ultimately about the economy like he said people want jobs they want the economy to recover and they say the president said all the right things but some are saying we've heard this all before robert mugabe when he was head of state the former head of state he promised to create jobs and he never really did so people are saying they are tired of talk they want action they want to see results president is expected in south africa on thursday he clearly call and leave the country without someone in charge so what we could see happening is him appointing two vice presidents this the commission one of them could be general constantine he used to hit the zimbabwe defense forces you tired yesterday and he is the man who played

a huge major role in the movie robert mugabe from power. to the international community the minister again a soldier retired major general is the moral is now the front affairs minister he met ambassadors few days ago he says this forget about the past it by god to be bygones we know we made mistakes some of you didn't like our policies we now starting over is no longer around it's now a new country so he is really trying to engage with national unity which is very very key but i think most people in the international media spoken to here have said they want to wait and see how the elections next year play out if they're free fair and credible and there's no violence it could indicate there's nost ability in the country which could encourage investors to come back and pour money into the country. two ugandan politicians have been detained as they tried to enter parliament for the second day of a controversial debate about extending the rule of the president scuffles broke out as police tried to block several opposition members two of them were pushed into security vehicles and driven away now they are against the bill of the age cap of

seventy five years on the president and that would allow seventy three year old president seventy to further extend his three decades in charge. still to come. a u.n. official investigating human rights abuses in myanmar is barred from entering the country for the rest of her term in the job al jazeera journalist saying it marks one year behind bars in egypt and in sports turkey a four year prison sentence for an. ally in sport. hello it still wore me up quite surprised maybe i'm not really talking about iran or the stones where you're in the caucasus but the if you look at where the tide

was coming from out of northeast after out of egypt the breeze drawing it is a southerly it's usually warmer from the south of course so temps you're seeing here twenty four in beirut twenty three in baghdad are much harder they should be by and they get to sixty eight degrees and the trend is going to carry on for the next couple of days i don't think much more come out of it it's just cloud but the direction is coming from was interesting so you guys might be white but it will feel unusually warm and twenty four this time the quite high q it's a twenty three yes in the sunshine it's quite a dusty atmosphere this part of the world that extends down the eastern side of society towards you it is not much breeze around how you can see anybody to draw pictures of nothing else is really going on as you want expect in this quiet time the winter whereas of course we're into proper wet season from malawi south which has been some pretty vicious weather in central tanzania some tanzania malawi and now once again the line that's fairly persistent comes down from angola through northern the may be able swallow to south africa's redeveloping big shower scene

likely in the middle of south africa possibly in botswana although cape town is sitting pretty in the sun. tonight getting something for. it's the season of this is me. for one all american family. life without the wilds we don't make anything what is our economic christmas without china documentary. on the server. destructor. there are some of the ruins the defiance to resist.

power investigate charges suburb of damascus. crumble under the might of our search on me. part two at this time. now reminder of the top stories on al-jazeera u.s. president donald trump has threatened to cut off financial aid to countries that vote in favor of a draft u.n. resolution against his the seizure and to recognize jerusalem as israel's. the u.s. house of representatives has given final approval to the biggest overhaul of the u.s. tax system in thirty years it gives trump the first that major legislative victory

of his presidency and poland's president says he will sign you was increasing the government's powers over the courts in defiance of the european union's threat to suspend its vote rights. me and maher has blocked an independent un investigator from visiting the country for the rest of her tenure the un special rapporteur for me and young he was due to visit in january to assess the state of human rights the un has accused troops of ethnic cleansing and possible elements of genocide against the lease says she's disappointed by the me and maher government's decision saying there must be something terrible happening in iraq well she spoke to us a little earlier from seoul. i am really deeply. disappointed and there is. why the decision. to

deny gratian my mandate or with any other human rights mechanisms and most to silence. about these kind of. the president of the philippines as they cleared a ten day ceasefire with communist fighters to allow filipinos to enjoy a stress free christmas rodrigo but that they ordered the army and police to suspend the fence of operations from christmas eve until the new year the rebel forces have been waging a guerrilla warfare campaign in the countryside for almost fifty years in a conflict that has killed more than forty thousand people communities in the central philippines have begun the cleanup after a tropical storm a tie tack hit last week the same region was ravaged by a powerful typhoon forty years ago and roll locals have barely recovered jimmy the island dogon reports now from palo in central philippines. this is what's happened

to the town of the valley in eastern japan the pains that so many communities here it was long had to pack my property in natural disasters but tropical storm has made life even more typical now at least forty people were killed when it struck eastern for the police last thursday a majority of those who died from here buried alive in their homes after boulders and mud down from the hills that includes members of the but easter family. but they say they've come to accept the risks of disasters like this but that might mean we can't do anything because it's all up to god we are all headed back to him all of us in the end will have to face her maker. but security experts believe this is such a mindset in many communities must be changed that deaths in disasters like this one should be seen as preventable while we are

a lets see if you consider us a very faithful faithful community. we lay everything to god we failed to internalize that we have to do something us people debatable to prevent those things from happening local government only when they're. an emergency and the would be too late already experts say people living in dangerous areas should not only evacuated but they should not be living there in the first place they see the government should focus on strengthening communities to prepare better and be independent so that mass casualties can be avoided in november two thousand and thirteen typhoon haiyan struck central philippines killing at least eight thousand people and millions who lost their homes by law is just one of the many towns that managed to rebuild itself in the four years since typhoon haiyan struck but experts question just how prepared these communities are

should another typhoon of such magnitude strike again we can never be called for that because it's always there's always unknown it's always unknown you never know . but in terms of the social. especially the people. i think i think we can survive more. for a region that was the target they take. many see the impact of tropical storm. as a warning that crucial lessons have not been learned. an. essential philippines at least seventeen people have been killed in airstrikes in syria's province it's believed four children and two women are among the dead the syrian civil defense the first responders known as the white helmets say that the toll is higher they put the figure at nineteen the province has been

a rebel stronghold for three years and president bashar al assad has recently launched an offensive to try and retake it well elsewhere in syria people displaced the from former stronghold of raka say they're being pressured into returning to their destroyed homes and parents are worried about their young children stepping on unexploded bombs or some a binge of eid reports now from the western bank of the euphrates river. floods from rubble but the family have little choice. their home in iraq i was hit by a near strike as i filled was driven out they've been living in displacement camps but life was so tough there back home with some fears that children could step on a mine on an unexploded munition. halftime i'm from the l much like neighborhood i'm constantly worried about the young children it's difficult to live here there's nothing with no house if you look outside now after the fall of isis de facto

capital the people of russia complain no one is helping them with armor has thirteen children and he says the camp management i need told him to go home and then we'll look at this the house is gone there's nothing left nothing to eat or drink we need something to survive i was once home to more than a quarter of a million people after nearly five months of fighting eighty percent of the city's destroyed. doctors without borders says during the battle nobody cared about the civilians and the coalition inflicted a deluge your fire on the city reconstruction is estimated to cost billions of dollars but since isis defeat in october few have announced the villain mr foot the bill or even provide basic infrastructure health care and education the ancient city was a crown jewel of empires dating back more than two thousand years it's never been leveled like this before beyond the river euphrates was isis capital iraq which was under their control since two thousand and fourteen now the city has been taken

over by kurdish led forces but it remains in ruins and i say the limits are still being cleared. by just continue to discover weapons dumps. i sort of leave guns and ammunition from the syrian army. generally the area is safe but there are some i saw weapons left to protect the people we are doing mining of the city we are here to protect civilians. the displaced population find things hard to believe people wouldn't comment on camera but many say they are under another occupying force goodish why b.g. fighters deny accusations that they have arabs from their towns and villages but unless there is a serious push to rebuild and rehabilitate raptors gaping wounds bear the risk of fostering some of the group like i saw with ahmed job made out of iraq on the western bank of the euphrates river. catalans are preparing for thursday's the size of regional vote which will help settle the question of whether the region should secede from spain polling stations are being set up across the region thursday's

poll pits the leaders of the separatist movement against candidates who want to stay part of spain record turnout is expected and candidates are neck and neck in opinion polls with neither side likely to win a clear majority madrid called for the start vote after procession leaders unilaterally declared independence in october well paul brennan is live for us now in barcelona supple how likely is it actually that this vote is going to resolve the crisis. but i think if madrid was hoping that there would be a big boost to the supporters who want to stay part of a unified spain i think they're going to be disappointed because the poll of polls that we've had coming out in the past few days shows that the bloc of parties which remain opposed to madrid and want independence or session for cuts alone yeah remains the biggest block it's around forty seven percent and that raises the very

intriguing prospect that a an election run on the article one five five this. control state imposed by madrid by actually return the same kind of results as the previous election in two thousand and fifteen that is a set of parties and potentially a president which remains opposed to rule from madrid now to talk about some of those intriguing possibilities i'm joined by eduardo wrote he's a constitutional law expert from the university of barcelona at what were in the article one five five direct rule from madrid another action run under those rules and yet the biggest party and the winner effectively might be another secessionist bloc another secessionist president now what happens real madrid respect a result such as that. well yes madrid will have to respect that result but the aim and the goal of the intervention was not to change the majority or at least the

jury dickel aim of intervention was not to change the majority but to change the behavior of the majority in the sense that one can be secessionist and the succession is government but the new government should not prosecute those aims through illegal means so that means we have the expectation that the new government even if it is a suppression separatist government we'll act under the law and trying to find some kind of agreed solution with madrid in the light of what happened in quebec many years ago or even in scotland more recently so they can be succession they don't go for illegal referendums now is not going to present a real difficulty for collins push them on currently lingering in brussels that it's going to be a really big climb down for him if he is invited to become the next president after this election and not pursue the policies that he's staked his reputation on yes that's true that means that the first problem probably will be that one what will

happen he puts a man comes back to barcelona and there is only one one possible answer from a juridical point of view he will be probably arrested by the police and put behind bars by the judge because he has been already prosecuted by the judiciary and he has fled and going to brussels so that's the first problem we have because he can be elected of course member of the parliament he could be elected president of the autonomous government but he will have to face charges of the judiciary. because off he's. acting in october even in september of last year and we really don't know what will happen to him so i mean it's an intriguing possibility that thank you very much for joining us the reality is that it is unlikely to resolve. this question and the polls open let me say nine o'clock tomorrow morning local first results somewhere around eleven pm that's twenty two g.m.t.

tomorrow night where you will of course be reporting on that vote for the moment paul brennan live in barcelona thank you. motorists have brought the venezuelan city of san cristoval to a standstill in protests against fuel shortages hundreds of drivers blocked main roads in and out of the city now they're angry at huge queues for fuel with some motorists complaining they had to wait eight hours to fill up venezuela has huge oil reserves and the lowest prices in the world the government blames the shortages on people smuggling fuel over the border to colombia where it can be sold at a huge profit a mexican journalist has been shot dead at a school where he was attending his six year old son's christmas party thirty four year old gomer perez was a reporter who wrote regularly on security and drugs stories in southeastern veracruz state the state security coordinator has confirmed a lone gunman shot him dead in front of dozens of parents and children he is the

twelfth journalist to be killed in mexico this year. al-jazeera journalists around the world are calling for the release of our colleague mark would hussein who is now being detained in an egyptian prison for exactly a year he was taken into custody while visiting family security services say he is under investigation but have not referred him to a court in ts type reports. standing in solidarity with mahmoud hussein at al-jazeera headquarters in doha journalists from around the world showed their support for hussein who has been held in any gyptian prison for a year the correspondent is accused of crimes ranging from incitement to broadcasting fake news with the aim of spreading chaos trendall is the managing director of al-jazeera english he says the allegations against hussein are false it's quite outrageous that his imprisonment has been extended i believe that every forty five days they extended his detention and that it's now out in two years so

it's it's really outrageous and of course we call for his freedom of all as we do for all journalists who were unjustly imprisoned before working at network headquarters in doha hussein was based in al-jazeera is now closed bureau in cairo his family says his physical and mental health have deteriorated considerably over the past year and that he's been denied adequate medical attention for a broken arm my father is emotionally and mentally distressed because he feels that he was there underdogs and behind the bars without committing any crime the coverage of hussein's case by gyptian media has also had a major impact on his family shortly after being arrested he was paraded on national television which branded him a terrorist my sisters and brother face social stigma everything in their schools everyone calls things and they are sons and daughters of protest and they are not

sure fingering egypt they are not safe each one of us is not safe human rights and press freedom groups have also condemned hussein's arrest it's unclear when or if not move to say he will be released from prison but the message to his egyptian jailers from him his family and all his colleagues at all just zero remains the same free mood because. journalism is not a crime. hussein's detention is the latest in a string of arrests by egyptian authorities targeting al jazeera staff in the country a year and a half ago ibrahim helo the former editor in chief of al-jazeera arabic was sentenced to death in the potential for endangering national security accusations he denies egypt also imprisoned al jazeera mohammed fahmy and peter greste on charges of spreading false news in a case that was widely condemned by international media outlets and politicians alike they were freed after being held in prison for over

a year and while it's unclear what will happen to mahmoud hussein the demands for his release will continue until he's free in al-jazeera. was still ahead. why.

cardinal bernard law the discreet former catholic archbishop of boston who had to resign for covering up sex abuse by clergy has died at the age of eighty six law left his post in two thousand and two after church documents revealed that he'd been shielding priests accused of sexually abusing children vatican officials that later appointed him to run a major basilica in rome a move that was widely condemned the boston globe's investigation into the scandal was the basis for the academy award winning film spotlight barbara doris is the executive director of snap that survivors network of those abused by priests she told al-jazeera they're still anger in the u.s. over cardinal law's actions nothing basically has changed cardinal law left boston in disgrace and yet ended up in the vatican in

a position of power and prominence i think it's time for pope francis to send a very strong message by burying cardinal law quietly quickly and without pomp and circumstance a man who protected child predators who allow predator clergy to continue to be moved from parish to parish just not deserve to be buried with high ours case time to get all the sports news now here is peter. barbara thank you so much russian paralympians will need to wait until january before learning if they're allowed to compete at next year's winter games in pyongyang chang an decision was expected from the international paralympic committee on friday but while the ban on russian competitors has been upheld they've been given an extra month to meet the criteria required to lift the suspension this includes the world anti-doping agency reinstating russia the international olympic committee only allowing russian

athletes to compete as neutrals in february is the big games. chelsea will be looking to break their pattern of quarter final defeats when they face bournemouth in the english league cup in about an hour's time the blues have reached this stage on five occasions being defeated each time and boss antonio concert is certainly keen to change that stick for sure obama wants to go through to the next round like us and therefore disease and we must be focused and. i think we we're prepared the game very well. under different times but. the mentality and. under our laws but now we had to play with to play and to try to tool to go to the next round the other game will see bristol hosting defending champions manchester united

that's kicking off in the next hour or so man city and arsenal have already booked their spot in the semifinals with their wins on tuesday elsewhere x. arsenal embassy or dortmund player thomas was that ski has decided to hang up his boots the thirty seven year old who currently place will sponsor prague announced his retirement on wednesday was that he won two f.a. cups with arsenal he was also kept one hundred and five times by his native czech republic former world cup winning brazil striker romario is planning to run for president of these countries football confederation in if it to help clean up corruption in the sport the fifty one year old is currently a senator in his home state of rio de janeiro and has played an active role in leading corruption investigations the news comes just days after marco polo del narrow the current c.b.s. president was given a ninety day suspension by fee for it's alleged he's involved in an ethical behavior twenty thirty wimbledon winner marion bartoli is coming out of retirement

to give professional tennis another go the frenchwoman played her last event at cincinnati about a month after winning her only grand slam title since then she has found a career in television covering the sport but early is now thirty three years old and is targeting the miami open in march as her comeback event now for more on this earlier i spoke to sophie her former player from france who now commentates on women's tennis she says bartoli faces a tough physical challenge to get back to the top but after her shock retirement we shouldn't be too surprised she's coming back. i think mentally we know that she's a warier and she's proven this day in and day out on the tour winning a titles winning a grand slam title and i think that physically with all she went through the last two years especially year ago with the illness and the weight gain and the weight

loss i mean it's been like so difficult for her she's. she's still plying and you know the funny thing is you know i interviewed her about two weeks before she retired and that was after wimbledon back in two thousand and thirteen and there was absolutely no reason for her to quit she didn't have that in our mind so it was such a shock for everybody so surprised i don't think we should be surprised by anything that happens these days on the tennis tour with the likes of all the older player i would say like the federer and the cyrano williams who is now trying to come back after giving birth to her of her first child so young bartoli is a great story again for the woman stays association i think. embracing this what we have to expect in two thousand and eighteen is you know an amazing field from the number one up to number ranked mario or to a leader who is going to look for well card to get into tournament's and it's

exciting i mean what's not exciting about that i mean you have pretty much a lot of players who are looking to maybe be the contender and be the new winners here in grand slam we had four different grand slams winner last year which is pretty amazing and it's a testimony anything to the depth of women's tennis and how good it is and how good they are out there. turkey's state run news agency says that prosecutors are seeking a four year jail sentence for n.b.a. player in a scandal he's accused of insulting turkey's president through president richard towle you've heard a one in a series of tweets last year cancer plays for the new york knicks and would be tried in absentia he is a known supporter of the u.s. based cleric blamed by turkey for last year's failed coup well north korea is largely isolated from the international community football is one area where they have been trying to stay in touch they women's national team won the east asian

football championship for a third straight time last week and the north korean news agency supplied this footage of the team being greeted upon their return at pyongyang international airport north korean teams remain active in asian club and national team competitions and that's all the sport for now another update coming up again later but it's back to you in london barbara thank you so much and that is it for me and the rest of the team here for the news hour do stay with us though julie macdonald is going to be with you in just a few minutes with all of that pays for watching things.

you are making very pointed remarks where on line the main us response to drug use and the drug trade over the last fifty years has been criminalized or if you join us on sex no evil person is wakes up of in the morning and says i want to cover the world in darkness this is a dialogue and that could be what leading to some of the confusion on line about people saying they don't actually know what's going on join the colobus conversation at this time on al-jazeera conservation is helping kids stove to recover and snow leopard population to see the results i traveled up to the remote nature reserve of saudi chat at a touch camera traps have identified a healthy population of up to twenty snowed up it's just the technology improves who are finding all these ways in which our guesses are are getting corrected the

latest evidence suggests that more cats than previously acknowledged but the snow leopard trust believes it's premature to downgrade the cats on the international list of threatened species in two thousand and one vs spreads around the. arab australians accused of being enemies within. and attacking the aussie way of life we were treated like we had full suspects we would all under suspicion struggling to adapt to their new found home. al-jazeera expose the history of the lebanese community in australia. once upon a time in punchbowl and this time on al-jazeera. let them vote against us will save a lot we don't care but this isn't.