look at the distance there's at least twenty thousand or hinder refugees we badly need at this moment leadership and felt since most of the public has resigned donald trump is going to be the next president. should have a guy. she's standing canisters of gas subsidies to the best of. the skeptical that. he achieved something that never happened before. i really felt liberated as a journalist from. getting to the truth as i would that's what this. pope francis uses his christmas eve mass to highlight the plight of refugees.

hello again i'm peter w. watching al jazeera live from doha also coming up a bleak christmas in parts of the philippines the country struggles with the aftermath of two tropical storms in quick succession. in peru a presidential pardon sparks charges of a corrupt political deal. and as part of our special day of coverage on the holy land we'll look at jerusalem and why the city lies at the heart of three faiths. the head of the roman catholic church has used his christmas eve message to highlight shows he used his christmas eve message to highlight the plight of refugees and migrants around the world speaking during midnight mass at st peter's basilica in rome pope francis compared refugees to mary and joseph recounting the

biblical story of how they had to travel from nazareth to bethlehem but found no place to stay the pope stressed that faith demanded that foreigners be welcomed everywhere. the juice a pay. phone so many other footsteps are hidden in the footsteps of joseph and mary we see the tracks of entire families forced to set out in our own day we see the tracks of millions of people who did not choose to go away but driven from their land and leaving behind their dear ones who must see. descend faith impelled. thus to make space for a new social imagination and not to be afraid of experiencing new forms of relationship in which none have to feel that there is no room for them on this earth christmas is a time for turning the power of fear into the power of charity. the guatemalan president says his country will move its embassy in israel to jerusalem making that the first nation to follow donald trump's decision to relocate to the u.s. mission there guatemala was one of nine countries that voted in support of the

united states and israel last week at the un general assembly meeting on the status of jerusalem the country receives an estimated eighty million dollars in annual aid from the u.s. thousands in the philippines are spending christmas in emergency shelters all to tropical storm tembin left a trail of destruction more than two hundred people are dead after landslides and flash floods in the southern philippines a state of emergency has been declared in several areas as rescue efforts continue rupp mcbride has the latest from the capital manila. pilipino christmas day assessing the damage from this storm as it moves away into the south china sea leaving a swathe of damage across a broad area of mindanao one of the worst affected province is was in the north of mindanao which had the highest death toll the second highest casualty rate was recorded there are problems in the south of the island as so much of the island has been affected including of course the area around this is an area where there has

been intense fighting between government troops and also groups linked with i still it was a population that's already conflict affected and that now has to deal with the aftermath of this storm there have been claims that the government didn't do enough to warn people in advance that they knew this storm was coming that mindanao has in recent years been more susceptible to storms around this time of year but the legal authorities they say that they have warned people they did tell diligence to move out and many people simply did not do so. the russian foreign minister sergei lavrov is calling on the u.s. and north korea to start negotiations aimed at deescalating tensions on the korean peninsula he says moscow is ready to facilitate to the talks last month pyongyang's testified before the stick a missile it is capable of reaching the u.s. mainland. peru's former president alberto fujimori has been pardoned because his

health is failing his supporters celebrated the names outside the clinic where he's been since saturday after free for often his blood pressure which he morey was serving a twenty five year sentence for corruption and human rights crimes committed during his ten year presidency from lima mariana sanchez has the story. he spent years in prison campaigning for his release and he never had knowledge most of the crimes for which he was sentenced to twenty five years. the former president always claimed his innocence for the murders and disappearances by a government sanctioned death squad critics say the government was the most corrupt improve in history. mr painter squirted the seventy nine year old former leader with the defeat of shining path rebels in the one nine hundred ninety s. where at the cusp of the conflict that killed thousands of people supporters also safe he helped save the economy from collapse for years his children campaigned for

his release saying he was ill and frail but he didn't have a terminal illness a condition for a humanitarian pardon precedence and. deny him the freedom he craved. my greatest pain is to acknowledge that for part of the population for him or he was able to victimize himself looking for a depressing image as a hostage of the judiciary. an opinion poll in may said fifty nine percent approve favored living go supporters say it's time for him to have a quiet life. to stay at home live serenely enjoys granddaughters enjoy the people who love him and be free to decide to do whatever he wants. many peruvians who for years opposed the presidential pardon were open to release if he asked for forgiveness for the crimes he committed but for the families of the victims gesture

was never enough. families of the victims say they feel betrayed. promised he wouldn't pardon for he wanted to win votes. to win justice for more than two decades. but. they don't care about our stuff about our desolation and the pain we still endure and we will never find peace. he's old well i'm old too and i haven't found justice yet he must complete his. despite his release from facing another trial a case is pending for the deaths of six people if convicted for the money faces another twenty five years in prison. families of the victims say they won't stop demanding justice and hope to see him behind bars again but.

daughter spoke to journalists it was we have been with my father just now he's obviously very happy however he will have to stay in the intensive care for a few more days and he will have to stay in the hospital until the doctors say he's fully recovered. m.p.'s in afghanistan of someone senior security officials after at least nine people were killed in a suicide bombing in the afghan capital kabul happened near an intelligence agency building in kabul shushed neighborhood it was responsible. from kabul. that track happened early morning rush hour when people go to their work do their jobs and the suicide attack happened in cheshire our area of kabul this is a diplomatic happens to be near the u.s. embassy in need to headquarters and also the headquarters for the afghan intelligence now the sources telling us that a suicide bomber believed to be

a teenager on foot walking to the through the afghan intelligence checkpoint and detonated his explosives now number of afghan intelligence officers were killed outside. bystanders happen to be. by this attack and and this attack has happened in a time when the afghan interior ministry has launched a week long campaign of stopping illegal vehicles with tinted windows people carrying illegal and vehicles with with no ridges thracian there is very tight security around the city even at checkpoints there are canine dogs searching vehicles but still these measures haven't worked in terms of stopping by our suicide bomber on foot who reached least close to that afghan

intelligence headquarters. the russian opposition. has submitted the documentation required to run against president vladimir putin in next year's presidential election but there are serious doubts about whether his name will actually be on the ballot paper chalons now explains from moscow. in twenty cities across russia from vladivostok to moscow alexina valleys supporters turned out to endorse him independent hopefuls must gather at least five hundred people in such meetings as a criteria for full candidate status. easily got that in moscow alone where he had this message for the man he wants to run against. leaving my senior who didn't but it's you who turned a country into a source of personal enrichment for yourself your family and your friends but why i should not be president any more you are a bad president you don't have opposed the program. then it was off to the election

commission to hand in his application but snowbound me is unlikely to make its own to the ballots for the elections in march he's always said his two thousand and fourteen fraud conviction was politically motivated but the kremlin is using it to bar him from the race the goal has always been to demonstrate that putin is a leader with no alternative uncontested and what they say can take advantage over anybody else and it is very important to keep this super majority this super advantage to demonstrate that putin has so much more power than anybody else another opposition leader was trying to test the system on sunday idia yashin an ally of the valleys was unexpectedly elected head of a moscow boni a simple district in september but his efforts to use the power of the role to approve street events was struck down by moscow city court a few hundred people showed up anyway the election is just three months away now

and as per usual the or thorazine they're making it very clear that even a very small demonstration like this is completely unwelcome they want to allow to put up a stage show or have any bad as here in the police loud speakers are telling everyone that this is an unauthorized rally lasik over the kremlin is confidence yashin and company don't have the mass supports needed to challenge putin but is not taking any chances chalons al-jazeera. still ahead here on al-jazeera a special coverage of the holy land continues with a look at the political influence of evangelical christians in the united states. from long flowing i mean winds to an enchanting desert breeze.

has a rather undulating look to the satellite picture and therefore the cloud of europe a nice big hump a tipping to the black sea and back again now it is a frontal system it's not particularly active and further sac good part of europe is stuck in this area of high pressure no hard pressure tends to mean very little weather this time it does quite often cold and foggy that's been the case in switzerland and france temps are typically single figures of most places but not low single figures it's eleven in london has plus four in stalker this is a bit warmer that should be it is fairly windy in this northern part of europe seeing trees and he saw him push cold in spain as well rains tucking in here otherwise it's not a lot for me out of the sky that castell rain showers possibly around a jet exposed rather more obvious i missed optically cold snow other potential for a long risk still in scandinavia dropping sas and we've had quite a strong wind blowing into the north of libya recently and into northwest egypt

that wind is dark to some degree but the still there how awesome is blowing through north africa and the temps is a steadying round about the middle teens sixteen in benghazi caro's down to twenty one after that warm spell which is not much different in a side of the constant robots that ninety. the weather sponsored by cattle and race . that's not going to get out of a lot about shooting people are not a politician to run themselves and their other countries have managed to solve this problem are you worried that this conflict could erupt into a calm right open war that the city's general security should we all the people who paid the price clearly the right top being prejudiced. setting the stage for serious debate up front at this time on al-jazeera.

you're watching al-jazeera live from your headlines so far this hour the head of the roman catholic church has used his christmas eve message to highlight the plight of refugees and migrants around the world speaking during midnight mass pope francis stressed that face demanded the foreigners be welcomed everywhere. thousands in the philippines are spending christmas in emergency shelters after tropical storm ten been left a trail of destruction more than two hundred people are dead after landslides and flash floods in the southern philippines. peru's former president alberto fujimori has been pardoned on health grounds the seventy nine year old was taken to hospital last saturday after a big drop in his blood pressure he had been serving a twenty five year jail sentence for corruption kidnapping and human rights violations. turkey says is hiring more than one hundred thousand new public

servants next year it comes a day after almost three thousand state employees and soldiers were sacked over alleged links to so-called terror organizations now in total one hundred fifty thousand have been dismissed or suspended from their job since last july they are suspected of having ties to the movement of the u.s. based cleric for two local land who's accused by turkey of organizing the failed coup. turkey in sudan have agreed to set up a strategic cooperation council and boost trade after a visit by the turkish president rush up type to khartoum turkey is aiming to increase its presence on the continent with a focus on the horn of africa from the sudanese capital has had a mortgage. for the first time in more than sixty years a turkish head of state is visiting today the aim to strengthen economic and political relations between ankara and how to. with this visit our

relationship with sudan will be stronger than we've agreed on strategic cooperation between the two countries in our relations with africa sudan has a special place the turkish president arrived in sudan with more than two hundred businessmen and women he stressed that turkey in sudan expects increased trade volume from the current have a billion dollars to ten billion dollars dollars description needed by sudan which recently came off the worst crash and burn after more than two decades. yes we welcome this visit by a brother the turkish president we've seen it. we also agreed to form a strategic cooperation council headed by the presidents of the two countries this visit is a leap in the relationship between us but sudan is only one of many african countries turkey is building stronger relationship with the visit to sudan by the turkish president maybe it's first by a turkish head of state since it and gained independence in one thousand. but it comes in line with turkey's policy in strengthening its influence in basan africa

economically politically and militarily turkey opened its first and largest military base outside turkey in somalia last the pember and over the past three years it has expanded its diplomatic relations with more than twenty seven african countries the turkish government says it's determined to clear africa of the influence of. the man it's accuses of orchestrating last year's coup attempt in turkey. run many schools in the continent nearly all have now been transferred to the recently established model foundation. we think that if there are relations between the two countries these schools will be the bridge between them if there are schools this should strengthen it and the people as well and that's what we want with the president or do want to visit to sudan ties between the two countries seem to be growing indeed as turkey has influence and role in the african continent people morgan are just there. soon as he has banned emirates airlines

flights the decision comes two days after a number of chinese he and women say they were barred from boarding their flight for dubai port the u.a.e. says that happened because of security reasons but didn't go into any more details . the chess competition shuttle to begin in saudi arabia on tuesday is sparking international controversy israel had planned to send a delegation to the world speed chess championships in riyadh but visas for the group haven't been a seed and it's now unclear whether they will be an israeli chess official says the saudis have still not responded to visa applications despite repeated attempts now meanwhile katak has been allowed to compete in that tournament organizers have also said the team will be able to display the national flag the cattery players are eligible for visas on arrival in saudi arabia. as christians worldwide celebrate christmas the impact of u.s.

president donald trump's recognition of jerusalem as the capital of israel is still being felt around the world it has been widely denounced by the international community be un general assembly vote is declare trumps jerusalem recognition as nolen void and now there's a real fear that a place that's so important to so many religions is being used as a political tool perry forces from occupied east jerusalem. founded by its ancient walls this tiny patch of land has for millennia borne a power that has spread far beyond the. want. the stories of the three abrahamic faiths have jerusalem at their heart and the history of their sometimes tolerant often bloody relationship has soaked into the stones. and walk westward along the via dolorosa where christ carried his cross brings you after some twists and turns to the church of the holy sepulcher it's

here where jesus said to have been brought down from the cross his body cleaned and in tuned with all his resurrection three days later george gently and took over from his father a secretary to the armenian patriarchate one of three denominations that manages the site he's had a bond with the place since boyhood but this is the central wonderment of the christians in the world i think the billion christians whether they are protestant or orthodox and catholic see in this place as the most important place where rightfully so because the defining moments of the last week of cries took place within this building but he says it's part of a larger religious monument to the city itself one that shouldn't be politicized suddenly this signature or. makes the issue of jerusalem contest the been so it's our duty and our mission as the residents of jerusalem both israelis and others. to link this issue of jerusalem

outside contestation in his recognition of jerusalem as israel's capital the us president spoke of continued freedom of worship for all faiths with final political borders to be decided but many here see in the president's unabashed backing of israel's claim a cementing of israeli control over islam's third holiest site. so this is one of the main entrances to the al aqsa mosque compound the mosque itself is run by the jordanian backed islamic works but the entrances to it are guarded by israeli forces and they can restrict access at their will palestinian academic marty ago heidi likens it to a room being let out and withdrawn on a whim a feeling magnified by the trump declaration that he had a thing which is my nightmare if israel today is going to translate such a declaration to implement what they claim solvent the over the city meaning to

take over the site and to abort my presence and. kick us out of the of the city was. for the muslim faith this is the most closely connected place to heaven prisoner made here at the shortest route to god that's because it's from here that the prophet muhammad himself is said to descend to have we believe the prophet muhammad came all the way from mark extend to heaven the received his evaluation coming through jerusalem is experience historical religious message to us and to the world we belong here it's part of us it's really when you get up to the level of the skyline here in jerusalem you get a full idea of just how concentrated of the markers of the hundreds of years of religious history here those great domes behind me are the church of the holy sepulcher where jesus christ is believed to have been laid to rest in just a few hundred meters walk away you can see the gold of the dome of the rock which is in the al aqsa mosque compound where muslims come to pray every friday and just

beyond that is the western wall. for jews the dome of the rock sits upon the temple mount site of the first and second jewish temples the western wall is the closest point in which they can pray it stones themselves said to be vested with divinity a rabbi and former opposition member of the israeli parliament the knesset lippmann says this place embodies the jewish connection to god and to jerusalem after two thousand years we would exile went from country to country cuts at the continent but three times a day jews turned towards to receive them to pray twice a year in the most important moments we said next year in jerusalem. since seizing east jerusalem in one thousand nine hundred sixty seven israel has been trying to cement that connection with archaeological work that it says proves the temple's historical existence which the united nations has ruled illegal in occupied territory. it's a necessity to counter rejections of jewish history here what we hear president trumps that collaboration we celebrate the fact that someone somewhere in the world

is giving recognition to the capital which has been our capital for three thousand years the heart and soul of the jewish people our right as an independent country to declare our capital but he left room open for those negotiations to figure out what exactly that means when we say jerusalem is the jewish capital the thousands of years to slim is changed hands the subject of a continuing struggle for control this latest chapter in that history has had its narrative shifted by the us president its eventual resolution seeming only to slip further into the future in this holy city are a force that al-jazeera occupied east jerusalem. evangelicals are the largest group of christians in the us they've led the campaign to align the u.s. more closely with israel from washington tom ackerman explains the influence of old beliefs in modern day american politics. you polls have shown that no other american demographic group not even jews stand behind the state of israel

more staunchly then christians support grounded in their reading of the bible especially those passages regarding jerusalem christianity's holiest city it's fitting that it should be the capital of israel again as it was many many years ago and has been in the hearts of the jews for millennia some avenge aliquots even believe jewish domination of jerusalem must be the prelude to the second coming of christ the messiah is the future of the prophetic vision of a new jerusalem where god will create a new heaven a new earth and a new jerusalem and he will inhabit his throne though many palestinians are christians too. event jellicoe those who make up one quarter of the u.s. population place their faith in israel's promise to protect the pilgrimage to the holy places it's an untouchable part of the christian faith and christians can have access to it under jewish israeli control that's not guaranteed when there is a form of government in control of jerusalem. so donald trump's recognition of

jerusalem as the israeli capital has only reinforced his broad backing by evangelicals regardless of what they may think about his actual religious convictions was a promise that he made on the campaign trail that he has delivered as president i think for american christians this is one of the reasons why we elected him but not all christians agree sign islam is a rebellion against judaism itself a perversion of it stephen french is an episcopalian who says muslims along with the other faiths must share control of jerusalem the very. seat of christianity not to mention the prince of peace stand. with the utmost clarity against any kind of possessiveness towards drislane one protestant denomination of the presbyterians has gone so far as to support a boycott of israel and divest thing from companies involved with the jewish state repros so this would be really really your hard sell for the

true answer to the morals it's all right. but for most of angelic sympathy for the state of israel remains an article of faith tom ackerman al-jazeera washington . though this time of year is always difficult for twenty six men who've been exiled from bethlehem they were involved in the two thousand and two siege at the church of the nativity hiding there from israeli forces for thirty nine days the men were allowed to walk out but in exchange they had to agree to leave their homes and move to gaza never to return to citrus and fisher met one of them. callid lives in gaza he's been here for fifteen years but he wouldn't call it home on the walls of his apartment in gaza city there are no pictures of the place he grew up where his family lives nor the mind of his life in bethlehem they're all in my head he tells me. he was one of a number of people fighters soldiers civilians who sought sanctuary in the church

of the nativity in bethlehem in two thousand and two israeli forces camped outside is part of a security operation the siege of bethlehem lasted thirty nine days eight palestinians were killed in a mini and monk was wounded as part of the deal to end the siege. and twenty five others were exiled to gaza and he state. i will never forget five months ago when my mother died and her dream was to see my little kid my wife and daughter she didn't have the opportunity to see them my father my cousins my clan are all eager to see me but they can't get pictures through social media but that isn't enough while we're talking is joined by two others who were sent to live in gaza with no prospect of return. i still remember when we were kids in bethlehem we would go and join our christian friends and wish them a merry christmas would go to manger square and see the christmas tree with all its decorations and lights. khaled's daughter is fourteen she was born in

gaza she goes to school here but she thinks of bethlehem as home. and. then for me is my hometown the home of my father my family and of civilizations as well as. khaled salaam has spent time in israeli jails they call him a militant a criminal but he still believes one day he will return home. one of my cousins was given a double life sentence by the israelis and he never thought he would be freed but a deal was done and he was released and he's back home i hope some day there will be a similar deal and i can go home to bethlehem until then all the friends. it is memories to remind him of home alan fischer. more news on if you want it on the website al jazeera dot com they're our top story quite a modest move the embassy to jerusalem as well.

here in doha with your headlines on al-jazeera the head of the roman catholic church has used his christmas eve message to highlight the plight of refugees and migrants around the world speaking during midnight mass pope francis stressed that faith demanded that foreigners be welcomed everywhere and he just say p my idea. is so many other footsteps are hidden in the footsteps of joseph and mary we see the tracks of entire families forced to set out in our own day we see the tracks of millions of people who did not choose to go away but driven from their land and leaving behind their dear ones who must see. descend faith impels us to make space for a new social imagination and not to be afraid of experiencing new forms of relationship in which none have to feel that there is no room for them on this earth christmas is a time for turning the power of fear into the power of charity. thousands in the philippines

are spending christmas in emergency shelters all to tropical storm ten been left a trail of destruction more than two hundred people are dead after landslides and flash floods in the southern philippines a state of emergency has been declared in several areas as the rescue efforts continue. guatemala's president says his country will move its embassy in israel to jerusalem making it the first nation to follow donald trump's decision to relocate the u.s. mission there. was one of nine countries that voted in support of the u.s. and israel last week at the u.n. general assembly meeting on the status of jerusalem the country receives an estimated eighty million dollars in annual aid from the u.s. . peru's former president alberto fujimori has been pardoned on health grounds the seventy nine year old was taken to hospital on saturday after a severe drop in his blood pressure he's been serving a twenty five year jail sentence for corruption kidnapping and human rights violations. m.p.'s in afghanistan of some and senior security officials after at

least nine people were killed in a suicide bomb attack in the capital of afghanistan kabul the attack happened near an intelligence agency building in the neighborhood of shushed iraq in the capital kabul beisel says it was responsible those are your headlines the news continues on al-jazeera after up front more news in thirty minutes see that. we are living through a technological revolution but are the machines taking over if the piece of machinery goes wrong is there a chain of litigation through which we can bring in legal system to bear oxford university professor of machine learning stephen roberts talks to all disease at this time he's the former somali refugee who now serves as canada's immigration minister under justin trudeau but how good is the canadian government out all record on immigration and asylum issues and what does this muslim minister make of donald trump's muslim man all ask after that hussein.