about people saying they don't actually know what's going on and join the conversation at this time on al-jazeera. where every. palestinians protest the arrival of the greek patriarch at the doc's christmas celebrations accusing him of betrayal. and welcome to. headquarters in doha with

a problem also ahead. if i weren't involved they would be talking about the literature of the us president takes credit for the upcoming talks between north and south korea surviving the war but will they survive the cold wet one to a plea for help from syria's internally displaced and toughest challenge the nine thousand kilometer. under way and. protests against the greek orthodox patriarch of jerusalem have overshadowed orthodox christmas celebrations they allege sale of church lead to israeli spock's ten scenes as muhammad explains from bethlehem. the protests were unprecedented in a display of anger toward the greek orthodox patriarch of jerusalem demonstrators

attacked the convoy of the office the third as it made its way to bethlehem's manger square in the occupied west bank behind all this recent news reports alleging the patriarch has been involved in property sales to foreign tax havens and those properties may end up in the hands of israeli businesses. protesters believe the allegations and say it will make it harder for palestinians to establish their own state but the live now to mount a clear and simple we want the patriarch to resign we want to reform the patriarchate and assign a legal committee to evaluate the situation representatives of the greek orthodox church of jerusalem deny the allegations and the handle of the snow. we did not as they claim to sell our lands to the israeli occupation those are old deals the patriarch wants to rectify and clarify because all those old deals are detrimental to the rights of the patriarch eight and its congregation while this is not the first time the church has been accused of selling some of the numerous properties

it owns in jerusalem the outrage now is far greater than it had been before. in manger square despite the marching bands and music a truly festive atmosphere was hard to achieve. the arrival of the patriarch wasn't just protested local officials also gave him a cold shoulder when they refused to welcome him to the square another issue overshadowing celebrations this year is the decision by u.s. president donald trump to recognize jerusalem as israel's capital in the month since that decision was made there been numerous protests in the occupied west bank and it's really contributed to a growing sense of hopelessness amongst palestinian christians forty year old george was sad says he's never witnessed such a song or mood at christmas as a lot of the ha ha ha if things remain as is opie pool seek to leave who'd stay here if you see it being so and the city is sad have you ever seen. bethlehem like this thousands would usually be here christmas muslims would show up even before christians palestinian christians in the west bank are worried their relatively

small number will continue to do windell and according to a recent study by the daughter of university college twenty eight percent of palestinian christians said they'd leave this region if given the chance highlighting yet again the growing feeling of despair at a time of year when there is usually at the very least a small semblance of hope. bethlehem the occupied west bank. jordan says the arab league will seek international recognition of a palestinian state talk to donald trump's decision on jerusalem some members of the league met in the jordanian capital amman jordan has seen a wave of protests against the u.s. and israel following trump's decision to move the american embassy from tel aviv to jerusalem. our goal is to overturn the american decision to recognize jerusalem as the capital of israel and to assert that it has no it legal effect. we have specific requests the most important of which is the recognition of the palestinian

state with jerusalem as its capital according to the june the fourth nine hundred sixty seven borders but of on to other news now donald trump has reacted to accusations that he is mentally unfit for office describing himself as a stable genius that follows publication of a book that questions has ability to do his job and claims that his stuff you have as and fentanyl as john hendren reports from washington translates as attacks on michael wolff have again overshadowed his policy agenda. and i did a quick interview with him a long time ago having to do with an article this book clearly has donald trump rattled the suggestion in fire and fury that cabinet members and allies to question trump's intelligence and his fitness for office have gotten under the president's skin the book has driven a wedge between trump and his one time closest adviser steve bennett but i don't know this man i guess sloppy steve brought him into the white house quite

a bit and it was one of those things that's why sloppy steve is now looking for a job as republican leaders met the president to discuss their legislative agenda for twenty eight trump began his day with a barrage of morning tweets he wrote throughout my life my two greatest assets have been mental stability and being like really smart and he said that winning the presidency qualifies him as not smart but genius in a very stable genius at that and defending himself against the allegations in this book president trump was knocked off message in it steve bannon says he's lost his stuff media mogul rupert murdoch calls him an idiot and staffers describe him as a semi literate fool but what the republicans who met with trump on saturday wanted to talk about with their plans for twenty eight and immigration reform candidate donald trump's signature campaign promise and we are building a wall on the southern border we need safety we need cameras and i will have mexico pay for that wall it turns out he might have that half right the

administration's plan for an immigration overhaul would spend eighteen billion dollars over ten years and add five hundred five kilometers to an existing border with mexico and the u.s. congress would pay for the bill is expected to restore some protection for the so-called dreamers children of undocumented immigrants who were brought to the u.s. by their parents trump recently rescinded an obama era rule protecting them but democrats fear the new immigration funds could be used to deport dreamers who registered for the program or their families they don't have resources. the eight hundred thousand dreamers it's not at all clear that the information that the dreamers volunteered to the government to establish their right to be legally work at work and otherwise could be used to identify and detain and then deport the dreamers but immigration was not the top question trump addressed on saturday john hendren. washington. well as well as proclaimed his genius the us president said

he's open to talking to north korea trump said he's hopeful next week's meeting between north and south korea will go beyond the participation in the winter olympics i would love to see them take it beyond the olympics we have a very good relationship with south korea i would love to see it go far beyond the six absolutely just kind of the appropriate time we're getting right now they're talking to us it's a story it's a big story if i weren't involved they wouldn't be talking about olympics right to be doing you know to a few words it would be much more serious. well larry korb is a former u.s. assistant secretary of defense and senior fellow at the center for american progress and he says trump cannot take credit for those upcoming talks basically what's happened is the south koreans have been upset at president very very bold what costs stands and they've told them they don't want you doing

anything without talking to us the north koreans i think want want to use the olympics as a way to begin negotiations to see if there's any way that they can work together with or without trump the president was initially opposed to them talking to each other now corsi saying i'm taking credit for it but the key thing is that they are talking and they're using the olympics as a cover to really deal with more serious problems. italian coast guard says at least eight migrants have died and eighty six others have been rescued from a boat off the coast of libya rescue agencies say many more are still missing there for the death toll as high as twenty five the international organization for migration says the mediterranean sea is the world's deadliest border it says almost one hundred twenty thousand refugees and migrants arrived in italy by sea last year talks between germany's two major parties to form a new ruling coalition are resuming on sunday

a potential sticking point between angela merkel's christian democrats and the social democrats is the refugee crisis the divided over whether to allow relatives of people who are already in germany to join them from bavaria dominic kane reports it's time for nine year old michael to do his homework and as in many families his big brother is on hand to help in fact twenty two year old mahmoud is more of a father to michael than an elder brother. because as years eally refugees these two have been granted asylum in germany but for the past two years their parents and siblings have been stuck in a holding camp for migrants increase. the. germany told them they could come join us here but then a few months ago we were told they could not go to the official said you have no documents that prove your brother is related to your parents paid for the papers to

come from iraq then they said they needed to test michael's d.n.a. and then finally they said ok your parents can come. but the brothers' hopes of a reunion have been dashed twice before and their situation is not unique since twenty sixteen germany has put a temporary hold on reuniting the families of people who are not classed as refugees the bavarian christian social union and go to medical system party in the southern state says while genuine refugees should be allowed in those with subsidiary protection and these claims for asylum are rejected should not we are objecting to the right of so-called subsidiary. accept that if you choose to bring their family to terminate because to be honest this would. exhaust our capacities what makes this view more interesting is that stefan meyer speaks on this issue not just for his party but also for angle americans christian

democrats but this particular point of view is not shared by the social democrats and with coalition talks between the three parties now intensifying in the new year the question is might this issue be a sticking point because the social democrats believe that where possible families who qualified to be reunited should be allowed to do so the political fight in germany is now about how to bring a government together from parties with such differing views from mahmoud and michael matter it's how to bring their family back together dominic can al-jazeera in bavaria. still ahead as the temperature drops in south korea ahead of the winter games the hopes spies for for one of the nations for the north and many and also drops christians celebrate christmas around the world.

welcome back as we look at weather conditions around the eastern side of the mediterranean and western parts of asia we've got a few showers to contend with on the southern side of the caspian sea but folks around it's ten degrees are largely dry decent temperatures for kuwait and baghdad indeed it's looking rose to be fine around the eastern side of the mediterranean and heading through into monday not a great deal of change eighteen and bright in beirut so let's head down into the arabian peninsula where it's a largely fine picture much as you'd expect but having said that so a chance one or two showers stone towards the southern end of the red sea woman off a meco thirty two degrees plus enough in doha twenty four enough a breeze to show we have no visibility problems and then heading through into monday turn a little bit cooler highs of twenty two here in just eighteen four riyadh's now as we head into southern portions of africa we have this circulation this tropical

cyclone aver which is working its way very slowly only east coast of madagascar it is has got a lot of moisture within it and it's dropping a vast amount of rain in excess of a meter of rain in some areas of flooding has got to be an issue houseware fine conditions across much of south africa through botswana and into bia northern parts fungo through into zambia seeing a few showers to come southward into zimbabwe should be fine with highs of twenty nine degrees in harare. in russia many cuddy's migrant black. gold grazing. echoing an increasingly familiar global trend. of labor force left vulnerable to exploitation and xenophobia. people in power investigates.

little pakistan. at this time around is there at. the to a loaf of for it. good to have you with us on al jazeera these are our top stories protests against the greeks. have overshadowed. the battle ahead. demonstrators say that could make it hard to stablish their own state the italian coast guard says at least eight have died and eighty six others have been rescued from. the death toll as high as twenty five.

u.s. president says he's open to dialogue with. a follows a recent escalation in rhetoric between the two leaders added that he. said next week's talks between north and south korea. or tensions on the korean peninsula had cast an early preparations for the winter olympics next month but as host south korea get ready for talks with the north on tuesday many are hoping for a thaw in relations before the games and the next part and looking ahead to the stories set to make headlines this year. reports from. the mountain town of. the site of south korea's first ski resort and it's preparing for . to host the country's first olympic and paralympic games some of these slopes closed. for the event across town finishing touches are being made and people are looking forward to the opening ceremony in february. i'm excited and

a bit nervous that i'll be able to watch such a big event taking place here. it's been such a long time since i. have learned it's a good opportunity to promote the country and especially this area. it could also be a chance to improve into korea relations north korea has recently said it may send its athletes to take part in the event something south korea says it welcomes but security concerns over the north's nuclear weapons development remain organizers however say this isn't the first time a huge sporting event is held against the backdrop of heightened tensions but of course again safety and security are part of all of the olympic games and so it's a part of our preparations that we do but every other olympic committee has also had the same measures in place so we're working to ensure that everything is in place in time for the games. but an even more unpredictable factor is mother nature

for costa temperatures on the day of the opening ceremony could make it one of the coldest in thirty years and the stadium has no roof a deliberate design to save time and money officials say to counter the cold they're installing when she and will give out hot packs and blankets to spectators . this is a hot tub a pocket sized portable heater to give it a good shake the chemicals inside react this packing generates heat loss for at least ten hours put in your pocket you hands out warm and toasty. for those willing to brave the cold it's now easy to get to the venue with a new high speed train from seoul to p.r. china. south korea also plans to use the upcoming on the pics to showcase what it says will be the most technologically advanced games which i mention. there's a camera placed on the helmet to competitors and spectators can watch the event from athlete perspective in real time on this tablet which uses five g.

technology. no efforts being spread to make the two thousand and eighteen winter olympics and paralympics a success florence li al-jazeera south korea and in the next part of our series we'll be reporting from moscow with vladimir putin on course for a fourth term as president will explain why russian politics is still a one man show you can see that here on al-jazeera on monday. at least fourteen people have been killed in estrus and artillery attacks in rebel hell suburbs near damascus there's been a spike in violence in eastern guta and recent weeks activists say it's coming under a near daily bombardment and elsewhere in syria people who fled the fighting are facing a battle of a different kind surviving the cold winter has more. in syria's southern province of daraa those displaced by war face a new threat the weather. this is. one of the largest in the region.

and her grandchildren arrived here after escaping fierce fighting between syria's opposition groups and i saw a water logged field is now home if the rain continues they'll be forced to leave where can they go in them and then a moment when they left on homes without any possessions you can see the rain water around us you can see for yourself how bad conditions are and we do helpless. the camp likes basic infrastructure there are no paved roads no drainage people feel forgotten there are you rubble this used to be farmland it was unfit for people to settle in the first place become hasn't been supplied with any of the basic services no one has lent has or will lend a helping hand none of the relief agencies either serious long civil war has triggered one of the worst humanitarian disasters in modern history eleven million

syrians have been displaced by fighting heart of the whole population most around six million are internally displaced it is a bleak existence. park and al-jazeera the government of saudi arabia says eleven princes have been detained in b. album after staging a protest outside the royal palace they're being held in a toy as high security prison which is in contrast to dozens of other high profile figures who were detained at a luxury hotel last year during what the crown prince cordon anticorruption drive his shop has more. eleven saudi princes were arrested outside the royal palace in riyadh where they've been protesting about the kingdom's decision to make saudi royal to pay their water and utility bills as part of a wider austerity plan. the princes were transferred to the high security prison of a high yeah and i expected to go on trial be lugged visuals oafish we were arrested

. back there there are scores of city school water electricity for some reason they were doing our other reports. back there were presidents of brits who was executed in october two thousand and sixteen and come to us who are you sure it's very conflicting at this point we don't know exactly what is going on saudi arabia has introduced a string of austerity measures to boost revenues and cut spending as the global slump in oil prices led to balloon ing budget deficits slapping a five percent sales tax on food clothes electronics water and electricity and raising fuel prices significantly ex patrick workers who also caught up in the price rises but careful not to complain and spend seven hundred sixty eight something. in the city no they shouldn't buy percent that's one thing that this is

the. police officer. there helping so there may be. more than two hundred princes were arrested in november in an anti corruption led by the crown prince mohammed bin solomon which also served to strengthen his power many of the country's richest and most influential princes struck deals for their release while a few remain here at the palatial ritz carlton in riyadh described as the most luxurious prison in the world saudi arabia's oil based economy has taken a battering with the fall in oil prices balancing the books will be a long and protracted task that will not prove popular with ordinary people here or at very least ordinary princes peter shop al jazeera. the ecuadorian government elected a new vice president to replace jorge glass who's been jailed for corruption chose forty year old money of a cool year in

a vote on saturday she's taking over after her predecessor was sentenced to six years in prison and connection with a bribery scheme brazilian construction giant old bridge has admitted to handing out nearly bribes worth nearly eight hundred billion dollars to secure lucrative public contracts. now thousands of people have rallied against the reelection of under one president orlando and then days they were led by opposition leader salvador nostalgia who now only lost the election on the twenty sixth of november his supporters believe the vote was rigged the organization of american states has called for a repeat of the poll citing irregularities seventeen people were killed on the rest of december sparked by the void. now as christmas for off a duck's christians around the world thousands of attended midnight mass from better versed. in orthodox christians fall of the old julian calendar and celebrate the birth of jesus christ on the seventh of january a solemn been reports. the him from what's perhaps the largest

cathedral in the middle east should in midnight mass. this egyptian church with a capacity of one thousand people open its door for orthodox christmas many of the faithful prayed for a better year ahead after multiple attacks on the gyptian christians in recent months. we hope peace will prevail over the world in general and especially in egypt and that will get rid of terrorism and troubles. wishing egypt and all the region to live in peace and god to protect us from any kind of terrorism or anything which might hurt us. the tens of thousands of security personnel were deployed across egypt to ensure safe celebrations and there were reassurances from the president more than one hundred christians have been killed in attacks in recent months the latest just a few days ago. you are our family you are part of us we are all one

questions and muslims and no one can ever divide us. from the roost with the opiah the orthodox follow the old julian calendar and celebrate christmas on january sixth and seventh. each celebration is unique to celebrate the tradition of burning of old branches and bright. leaves many preserve some pagan traditions inviting dead ancestors to their homes. new green for instance some fabric be destroyed all the ancestors of the state some families also spread straw to emulate the nativity scene. since. thousands attended midnight masses across russia more than a third of the world's orthodox christians russian leaders including president vladimir putin but in attendance. for years were also hold of the church of nativity in bethlehem in the occupied west bank a place at the heart of many conflicts in the middle east and beyond and here they

were prayers for better times from injury al-jazeera the malaysian government has approved a new attempt to find the wreckage of flight m h three seventy in the indian ocean despite a three year search for the missing plane its disappearance remains of one of the walls biggest aviation mysteries it was on route to beijing from kuala lumpur when it went missing with more than two hundred and thirty people on board malaysia has accepted an offer by a u.s. based company to resume the search. around fifty fires have been reported around the australian state of a toy as temperatures soar above forty degrees firefighters have been battling dry and windy conditions to contain the flames three hundred firefighters and two aircraft are tackling one of the biggest fires at its peak police investigating whether this latest blaze was deliberately lit. the world's biggest annual off road rally race has got underway and the opening stage of the dachau rally was won by

a driver. who has won the title twice before. the challenge as hundreds of competing cost trucks and bikes. reports from. the first hours of journey more than three hundred pilots are on their way in one of the toughest. in the world they will be negotiating hills dunes and rocks high altitude and steep cliffs than one thousand kilometer. and argentina has found competitors along the way. we've travelled by road from our company our pilots are very happy to be here six of the fourteen stages will be completed before competitors move into the first help from paris to senegal its capital the car in one thousand nine hundred eighty nine has taken place in south america for a decade it's the third time in but not everyone here is cheering. the

six million fans. audiences. pressures. to remember that. the first dakar in peru was a disaster archaeological sites in the southern region that on signposts that have been irreversibly damaged. government has limited important sites organizers say it will be an eco friendly rally. one of the toughest parts of the race statistics say only fifteen percent of the vehicles reach the finish line that is greatest hope the thirty four year old took us for a drive for a feel of the terrain. t.v. news anchor is the first female peruvian pilot she says driving is just part of the competition in my house. i've driven

a lot of this year in june which is the most difficult part i've learned mechanics and also trained my mind because you will lose if you get tired seven years ago she didn't even know how to drive now she says she already feels like a winner when the girls a lot of the moment i start i would have proven that dreams big dreams can come true with the rally ends in the city in northern argentina but she already crossed the victoria line. again imo there's a problem and the headlines on al-jazeera protests against the greek orthodox patriarch of jerusalem have overshadowed orthodox christian celebrations and bethlehem the edge sale of church land as really sparked a tense sings demonstrators say that could make it harder for palestinians to

establish their own state now jordan says the arab league will seek international recognition of a palestinian state after donald trump's decision to recognize jerusalem as israel's capital with some members of the league met in the jordanian capital amman jordan has seen a wave of protests against the u.s. and israel following trump's decision to move the american embassy from tel aviv to jerusalem donald trump says he's open to dialogue with north korean leader kim jong un it follows a recent escalation in rhetoric between the two leaders trump also said he's hopeful the next week's meeting between north and south korea will go beyond the north's participation in the winter olympics. i would love to see them take you beyond the olympics we have a very good relationship with south korea i would love to see you go far beyond the rethinks absolute with the return we're getting wrong right now they're talking to us it's a story it's a big story if i weren't involved they wouldn't be talking about olympics right to

be doing you know to a few words it would be much more serious the italian coast guard says at least eight migrants have died and eighty six others have been rescued from a boat off the coast of libya rescue agencies say many more still missing and put the death toll this high as twenty five the international organization for migration says the mediterranean sea is the wolf deadliest border. at least fourteen people have been killed in airstrikes and artillery attacks in the rebel held suburbs mia damascus there's been a spike in violence of recent weeks activists say it's coming under a daily bombardment about four hundred thousand people remain trapped under government seizure running out of food and medicine. eleven princes have been detained in saudi arabia protesting against austerity measures at the royal palace they're being held in a toy is high security prison in contrast to dozens of other high profile figures who were detained at a luxury hotel last year during what the problem crown prince called an anti

corruption trial was the headline people in power is up next. zero explores prominent figures of the twentieth century and how influenced the course of history with the giants of the struggle for civil rights. rose over. chris. and continue to keep the negro to be defense. and martin luther king to free speech at this time on zero zero. migration whether for safety and freedom from conflict and repression war for economic benefits has become one of the dominant things of our time but this huge flow of people is a.