in two thousand and eight out a zero documented a groundbreaking scheme. preparing some of india's poorest children for entry into its toughest universities. ten years on we return to see how the students and the screen a helping change the face of india. at this time. a u.s. government shutdown has to start about now off to senators block plans to avoid it happening.

this is al jazeera live from doha also coming up pope francis makes a plea to protect the amazon and its people during his trip to peru. a member of the qatari royal family accuses saudi arabia and the u.a.e. of manufacturing the gulf crisis to seize doha's well. i'm charlie rangel in london for the lumia festival which told us it is to transform the city into a no gallery. the u.s. government is shutting down it comes after a senate procedural vote on funding for federal agencies failed it means that only essential offices and services will remain open until there's an agreement to a particle hane joins us and joins us now from washington d.c. party they certainly took this right down to the wild what's the latest with the vote. i have to say during this is extraordinary i can't remember ever reported on anything like this keep in mind it's midnight friday evening here in

washington d.c. and let's take a look at the senate floor and what you see here is the vote started about two hours ago and they've been huddling in small groups ever since what you see right there is senator lindsey graham republican from south carolina and i believe that's chuck schumer the minority leader democrat from new york and a bunch of senators have all grouped together and they're obviously trying. come up with some sort of compromise so exactly what could that look like as you see they're all sitting around talking trying to make out exactly who that is obviously not all of the senators some are just sitting there waiting to see what comes out one of the comprehensive compromises is the senate could vote to extend government funding for four or five year even nine days some of said that's what they're talking about and then it wouldn't actually become law because the the house would still have to pass it and the so it would mean that even for some time the

government would be shutdown so what exactly does that actually mean well it's not as if the public is going to see a massive impact right away that would only happen as far as like an economic impact over the long term but i'm just being handed some documents right now and this is a statement by the press secretary. this is for the trump for the trumpet administration is trying to put the blame for the shutdown. the democrats this and this is a statement from the press secretary again very unique in the trumpet ministration quote from the press secretary this is a viewer of obstructionist losers not legislators kind of here donald trump. voice and that is talk and then he starts to say that armed forces and first responders will be heard. again this is not the case the military the border patrol agents the f.b.i.

people who work highway safety the people who work. at the air traffic controllers they're not impacted this only impacts people who are considered nonessential federal government employees it doesn't even seem as if the park service or any of the museums or any be closed down right away again the only massive impact from this is if it is a long term shutdown but it is politically damaging and that's what we're seeing from the statement from the press secretary. and again senate democrats own the schumer shutdown so that's been the war they've been having on twitter the schumer shutdown or the trump. again this is has an impact on politics now republicans say that they have a winning argument because the democrats are fighting to keep the government. fighting for funding the government because they say what it needs to happen is the people who were brought here as children by their parents with documentation they were protected under president barack obama but then president trump threw it out

he said that's not going to happen we're going to get rid of it in march congress to fix it so the democrats said well we really want this to happen so if you really want to budget then you're really going to give those eight hundred thousand kids young people protection and that's where we're at now so officially the government has shut down partially again it's not going to have a huge impact but it's not over they didn't have the votes to get it done but they can always change their votes while the voting remains open one of those weird senate rules that obviously there is a. very heated debate senator elizabeth warren getting involved there very progressive senator so it's not over until it's over and apparently there may never actually be over feels like and and as you were telling us earlier this is this was only ever a temporary measure anyway which kind of kicked the ball down the road so to speak so how is congress like there was a lot to do result along the funding issue. well and that's the question this is

the main job of the u.s. congress pass a budget figure out how the money's going to be spent if you look at the constitution that's pretty much their main job they are able to do that very often in modern times we've had continuing resolution after continuing resolution basically they say hey we just need six more weeks we're going to figure it out and then the funny will run out and then we need another month and then the funding will run out and that's where we're at now this is the product of yet another continuing resolution they're incredibly far apart on this republican say they absolutely want something like eighty billion dollars additional for the military democrats say we're not going to give it to you unless you add to social programs by that much in the backdrop of all of this is the republicans need to figure out a way to pay for their tax bill you know it's going to at least one point five trillion dollars or possibly one trillion dollars depending on the figures you look at and so the excuse me the republicans have been saying perhaps we'll pay for that by cutting social welfare programs which of course the democrats are going to put up with this is a very toxic environment that's been made so much more so by president donald

trump's very were seen as very racist comments talking about the immigration reform so how do they get back from this well i think right now we're seeing a whole group of senators on the floor trying to figure out exactly how they do that so far they don't know all right there in washington d.c. thank you now turkey is mobilizing thousands of for you syrian army rebels on its border with syria they were taken in a convoy of buses as part of the military operation against syrian kurdish fighters known as the white b.g. in the town of us i mean turkey calls them a target scroope the army has intensified shelling on a friend in recent days and says a ground assault could happen soon. pope francis has called for the protection of indigenous people who are visiting the heart of peru's amazon forest the head of the catholic church condemned the exploitation of timber and gold in the area which he said is endangering native peruvians. for. the

first stop on a three day tour in. pope francis a champion of clean environment but members of amazonian indigenous communities the pope says they are the most vulnerable people and now they're living in danger there are going to be the native amazonian peoples have probably never been so threatened on the lens as they are at present there is no extract of ism and. by great business interests that want to lay hands on its petroleum gas lumber and gold. more than anywhere else than here in the mother the region the government says the gold rush has destroyed more than thirty two thousand hectares of forest nearly eight hundred thousand kilos of gold are produced here every year the pope once here is placed to stop illegal miners dumping chemicals into the river destroying the eco system to fix some of the poorest communities. the government

says three thousand tonnes of mercury have been dumped indianness of rivers the son that the community depends on the river to survive community leader he says they want the pope to help yes i mean that the river is contaminated with fish a primary this will drinkable water we need to take care of the forest we need fish farmers and we want to stop we have to defend our territory. along the way and mother the peruvians packed the streets to cheer the pontiff eighty percent of peruvians are catholic. at the presidential palace in lima the pope said the environmental degradation cannot be separated from the moral. yes and how much evil is done to our latin american people and the democracies of this continent by this social virus a phenomenon that inflicts everything with the greatest harm been done to the poor

and other. people reference to the allegations of corruption among many politicians in latin america for now prove beyond sport aside their anger at politicians to cheer and welcome their most important religious leader was in a scientist i just muddle reveals. a qatari royal who was a close ally of saudi arabia says the gulf diplomatic crisis has been manufactured in an audio recording obtained by al-jazeera. fani accuses saudi arabia and the u.a.e. of fabricating the rift with qatar as a way to seize their neighbor's wealth he also says he was under so much pressure from the two countries that he wanted to end his life reports the man saudi arabia and the u.a.e. were presenting as an alternative to qatar leadership stepped up his attacks on the blockading countries in a new audiotape shake of the lebanon early earth ernie a member of qatar why your family says the gulf's biggest diplomatic best was

triggered by saudi and imre to crum princes whom he accuses of plotting to take qatar's wealth by force. as well as. i don't like. this one and. one of the. little. in the old you're recording the she says he was under so much pressure from saudi arabia and the u.a.e. that he considered taking his own life he also appeared in a video posted online on sunday where he says he was detained against his will in the u.a.e. a claim which the night but two days later when ali left the u.a.e.

this is the only picture taken of him when he arrived in kuwait his family said his health deteriorated during his alleged detention in the u.a.e. he was told that he can leave to saudi arabia but not to. the end of the day he was allowed. to leave. and he has two daughters with him and it was about twelve o'clock at night that. they told him that they have to go to the airport and then the information changed that you are not allowed to go to the u.k. the u.k. refuses your entry and that is false. and that your daughters can live and you must . stay in the. the little known shape became a central figure during the gulf cooperation council or g.c.c. crisis when he was first received by king solomon but of that as he's of saudi

arabia media affiliated with saudi arabia and the u.a.e. portrayed him as the had of the opposition to the qatari government but soon the shade was nowhere to be seen except for tweets attributed to him the recent statements of the shed more light on the g.c.c. crisis that started in june when sandy arabia the u.a.e. and egypt cut off diplomatic ties and imposed a sea land and embargo on qatar the post from shekau the lebanon early support qatar stands the other west catered and politically motivated has. egypt's president abdel fattah el-sisi has announced he is running for a second term in march elections he swept to power after leading the military coup to oust his predecessor and twenty thirteen a year later he won the election with ninety seven percent of the vote former army chief some annan says he also run. lots more so it's coming on al-jazeera including

. palestinians face going hungry after the u.s. with holds more money for a crucial the u.n. agency. and we visit an elephant sanctuary kenya that's being more than just improving the animals' lives more in that state. well it's been rubbish rather than levant in the last day or so clouds swept through there bringing cold there for a bit of grain the snow certainly cold running running through the bekaa valley into syria and iraq that's gone through was army see daylight and saturday so the skies should be largely blue and the temperature is not high will be feeling a bit better i think with the southern sky the snow has gone into iran that extends

down towards the gulf with some rain already formed in kuwait probably be a little bit more following that things quieten down a slow rise in temperature but not much eighteen in baghdad cloud filling the sky i think for lebanon for northern egypt and probably a good policy to be as well not a huge rise in temperature was up it's a southerly breeze or the site now throughout the arabian peninsula should be drawn at this time the ever sometimes you do get right in there as bit goes through kuwait it might spark a shower by i don't think so but there's a breeze change written northerly now so rather than the suddenly picking up dust in the last couple of days it will be a noisy might also bring some dust with it's are east and saudi and into cattle twenty two here thirty three in mecca refined dry looking picture which exists or a dancer africa until you get to the proposition of running running from angola to southern tanzania. it is this same. wonderful migration

and generations of. mind altering the landscape is the stuff of mine. a stunning portrayal of life. one woman's determination to save the community. rushes. to see her. welcome back a quick recap of the top stories here on al-jazeera a partial shutdown of the u.s. government has begun the senate vote to fund federal agencies until next month has failed and essential offices and services remain open. so he's mobilizing thousands

of free syrian army rebels on its border with syria they were taken in a convoy of buses as part of a military operation against syrian kurdish fighters known as the white b.g. in the town of three. and a qatari royal was a close ally of saudi arabia says the gulf diplomatic crisis has been manufactured and an audio recording obtained by al-jazeera. fani accuses saudi arabia and the u.a.e. of fabricating the rift with qatar to see their neighbors. or more now on the u.s. government shutdown let's talk to bill schneider he's a political analyst and professor of public policy at george mason university joins us from washington d.c. bill good to have you back on the program this is like groundhog day isn't it here we are back again with the u.s. government close to shutdown is no make is because of a funding deal in surprise though what is the government shutdown actually mean. well it means a lot of the essential functions of government will be discontinued you can apply

for a passport and some other functions you can apply for social security but many of the essential functions that will continue the post office will continue to deliver mail people who have passports they will continue to be serviced immigration will continue to be regulated as normal the one big impact it's likely to be felt is the internal revenue service the tax collection agency we have a new tax law just passed and they're in charge of writing the regulations for enforcing that law a lot of americans are very confused and don't know what to expect and tax this season to pay taxes is just a few couple months away. and bill president trump made this big promise during his election campaign that he was going to fix washington he was going to make big deals and drain the swamp he's now finding out that's not so easy on capitol hill is it no it isn't he'd love to be able to fire congress but he can't do that and

people hold the president responsible for running the federal government look the president's republican the republicans have majorities in both houses of congress democrats are perfectly confident they can put the blame on the republicans for not being able to do what they were elected to do namely keep the government open and so as we're talking to bill we're seeing pictures of the majority leader mitch mcconnell talking on the floor that i mean is it likely they can still find some kind of temporary deal that satisfies the democrats on immigration i mean many experts say this is a problem of tromso making. yeah well it's going to be difficult to make that deal because the democrats feel empowered by this they did take a stand on the immigration issue and actually most americans sympathize with the democratic position that young people who were brought to the united states as illegal immigrants when they were children should be allowed to remain in the united states that's something that's going to be very difficult for republicans to attack so the immigration issue while it's central to the shutdown most americans

will simply see it as a failure of governance and more and more evidence that the united states is becoming ungovernable bill let me get just a final thought for you in terms of the bigger picture even if they do reach some kind of short term deal this only kicks the ball down the road doesn't it so how is congress likely to result along that funding issue is well they probably won't just keep keep kicking the ball down the road but the closer we get to the election in november the more they are likely to want to get this off the agenda because it hurts everybody every member of congress particularly republicans who all the majority so i think there's going to be a powerful incentive for them to make a deal on the so-called dreamers these people who were brought to the united states illegally as children i think republicans don't want that issue to hang over them for the november election thank you us for u.s. vice president mike pence is on his way to the middle east for a three day trip to discuss moving the american embassy in israel from tel aviv to

jerusalem the u.s. decision to recognize jerusalem as israel's capital has provoked widespread international opposition pence will go to egypt and jordan and spend two days in israel where he'll address parliament that palestinians have made it clear he's not welcome the u.s. is withholding another payment to the un's relief agency for palestinian refugees forty five million dollars pledged for food is now frozen well that's in addition to sixty five billion dollars which was cut back earlier this week under simmons's in the occupied west bank where he spoke to people who rely on this money to survive. it's not the most needy case but use of sharia speaks for millions when he questions why palestinian refugees should face more hardship because of politics his family's forty three dollars a month food allowance has already been lost in general cuts he worries about his children's education because some teachers are now having to be laid off in schools

and he's unemployed because his place on the agency's jobs program has ended and won't be renewed. how do you feel if we hadn't been kicked out of our homes in the first place there wouldn't have been the need for un agency to give a services they're not doing us any favors we lost our land and everything it would be under if there were no palestinian refugees. covers every aspect of life refugees in need yet it's already facing a deficit estimated to be between one hundred twenty and one hundred seventy million dollars the palestinian authority says donald trump is trying to pressurize it by hurting those most in need. this u.n. agency with its role in helping deprived and vulnerable people is nothing to do with any attempt to get talks going again between the israelis and the palestinians yet it says the u.s. action is making its situation almost impossible some predicting the possibility of it actually collapsing this is not out of charity from the e.u.

us or any other donors at all or this aid is borne these funds are borne from a responsibility that the united nations and the international community as a whole has took upon itself following the adoption of a solution one eight one which resulted in the ethnic cleansing of more than half of the palestinian population lived in historical palestine only three days before this decision to hold back forty five million dollars towards an unwelcome emergency food aid program the u.s. withdrew sixty five million dollars from the agency's general funding the state department says the latest action relates to a pledge it had withdrawn it's not a cut and so it could be reversed at some point those words are lost on this family in poverty and struggling to make ends meet. andrew simmons al-jazeera jenna's own refugee camp in the occupied west bank. now

a community run conservation project in northern kenya is working to keep young and vulnerable elephants safe locals are embracing elephant conservation while working to improve their own livelihoods from the miller has more. this two month old cough is like any other baby she demands constant attention but a few weeks ago it was a neuro almost drowned in a flooded river in northern kenya she's now at this elephant sanctuary where russian linen yank it is helping to settle her after the rescue all of the cars here have either been abandoned or lost their mothers to draw out poaching but unlike any other sanctuary this one is entirely community owned. you know nikkei is from the some blue tribe there are nomadic herders who rely on goats sheep and camels to help provide a livelihood before. their community to discourse to do dislike.

but for now to come to. bring her certain benefits linea k. goes on to say that what kept a century means a better life for many here and so his community appreciates the animals more. money from tourists who visit the sanctuary also helps to provide local villages with much needed water health care roads and financial assistance for students the sanctuary is run by a board of trustees made up of elders who employ local people to work there in a new cases these days people from surrounding villages are increasingly helping with conservation efforts community members are often the ones tipping off the sentry when there's an animal in need. off to a cough is rescued it's a four to the sanctuary and kept separate from the other coughs for five days once

the keepers know the new elephant is healthy it's introduced to the nursery and its temporary family the sanctuary falls under the number conservancy which is home to about fifty thousand people the cymru of always lived with. life and although the population has grown and the number of livestock or the amount of livestock in this valley has grown they still are happy to co-exist with wildlife because they're not natural hunters and they're not porches and so they feel like it's there. it is their role to take care of the environment here. it's estimated that between five and ten elephant calves a risk you didn't think in the. wild the return of the century is just over a year old keepers here say their conservation work will leave a lasting impression from al-jazeera some county. fifty five thousand homes are without power in poland after storm fredricka caused heavy snow

falls and also brought gale force winds and icy conditions to the roads the storm cause traffic chaos in europe earlier in the week at least eleven people have been killed in the netherlands and germany. london's bleak winter is getting a bright make over unbox in the city have been adorned with lights and installations as part of the four day lumiere festival the works of dozens of british on international artists are also being put on display and some of the capital's best known buildings challenge the reports. a tunnel of triangles lighting up london's dark winter nights. a line of. weaving through the streets this is london's lumiere festival a chance to see the city in a different light for four nights only with the capital as there canvas some of the fifty artists have transformed it by conic buildings with large scale projections

westminster abbey with its martyrs painted in glorious technicolor that the original architects could only have dreamed of audiences have to wrap up warm but organizers say it's a chance to change into something other than a screen company that i run that produced the event it's really dedicated to creating moments in people's lives that are away from screens you know whether that's a phone or tablet or a computer or a tele you read all of those things you can be anywhere you can meet anyone you like but actually it's not real the free festival hopes to more than a million visitors at a time of year when most stay at home some of the works into active and stick to it like this sculpture called control trolls. the more playful ones like impulse get adults a chance to play in a public street like children once did leicester square is overrun with nocturnal animals a reminder that we share this city with others that we don't always see we tend to

be very self centered and actually we have a much broader picture and everything is connected artists and scientists collaborated for this piece cosmos scope a chance for viewers to contemplate our universe to be quite a kind of holistic or total statement about the history of our understanding of the cosmos and the cosmos itself and our place importantly within it and what it means to think about the universe in terms of one's own individual existence some of the pieces do pose a question like this one by dutch artists the idea is that we are underwater after the effects of choir. rising sea levels have taken their toll and it is eerily surreal. you can take out your phone download the soundtrack that goes with it and plug in your headphones. illuminating spaces that people would normally passed by without a thought is a rare chance to see london in

a new light. the russian president is brave subzero temperatures for his traditional generally deep putin took off his thick coat and boots in a chilly minus five degrees centigrade for the icy plunge jumping into a hole cut in the frozen lake in northwest russia a spot of orthodox christianity celebrations and then bringing the baptism of jesus known for his exploits in the wilderness but this was the first time he publicly took part in this ritual. all and of course on our website there it is on your screen the address dot com. dot com. let's get a quick check of the headlines here a partial shutdown of the u.s. government has begun a senate vote to fund federal agencies until next month has failed. the essential

services and offices will remain open the white house is blaming the democrats for blocking the bill calling them obstructionist loses not negotiate not legislators particle has more from washington d.c. ten o'clock on a friday night in the senate convenes to take a vote on whether they should try to fund the government for a few more weeks while they didn't have the votes last some republicans picked up some democrats but still not enough to pass it but it didn't end there they continued to talk on the senate floor trying to come up with some sort of compromise whether keeping the government funded for days possibly weeks well they tried to figure out some sort of compromise in this very polarized situation. secretary royal who was a close ally of saudi arabia says the gulf diplomatic crisis has been manufactured in an audio recording obtained by al-jazeera shake up the lebanon the fanny accuses saudi arabia and the u.a.e. of fabricating the rift with qatar to seize their neighbor's wealth egypt's president abdel fattah el-sisi is running for

a second term in march that former army chief sami annan has added his name to the list calling for state institutions to be neutral towards candidates. pope francis has met peru's president pedro public as he wraps up his south america talk earlier he called for the protection of indigenous people while visiting the heart of peru's amazon forest the pope condemned the exploitation of timber gas and gold area. turkey is mobilizing thousands of free syrian army rebels on its border with syria it's part of a military operation threaten against syrian kurdish fighters known as the y p g were based in a three in the army's as a ground assault could happen soon on the lebanese army has found the bodies of nine syrian refugees they froze to death in a snowstorm trying to cross the border into lebanon and u.s. vice president mike pence is on his way to the middle east for a three day trip to discuss moving the american embassy in israel from tel aviv to jerusalem u.s. decision to recognize jerusalem as israel's capital has provoked widespread

international opposition well those were the headlines the news continues here on al-jazeera after risking it all stated that so watching. news has never been more as they lable but the message is a simplistic and misinformation is rife the listening post provides a critical counterpoint challenging mainstream media narrative at this time on al-jazeera. the touch up our river and i'm sorry.