we delve into china's better than expected growth story i'm count the negative publicity. surrounding the cost this time. was different whether someone is going for someone's favorite. tree i think it's how you approach an influential enough that it is a certain way of doing it. he's president vows to crush kurdish fighters in syria as his troops launch a massive cross border operation.

i know i'm maryam namazie in london you're watching al-jazeera also coming up. a taliban attack on the intercontinental hotel in kabul finally ends after a sixteen hour gun battle at least eighteen people were killed. but he's opened fire on anti-government protesters in the democratic republic of congo killing five . to go shooting with president troll is like negotiating with jail. and lots of finger pointing among politicians in the u.s. over who's to blame for the government shutdown the can they fix it. l.o.l. top story troops have entered northern syria to drive out forces on the border the soldiers went into a free day off to turkish jets not to enter units pounded targets belonging to the

kurdish people's protection units or y p g considered a terror group by ankara trying to capture an area controlled by the white peachey in northwestern syria. the region borders turkey and these costs all from fellow kurdish forces to the east president has also threatened to attack kurdish held man bitch and his one pro kodesh opposition parties in turkey not to protest against the military operation. there has been nobody protesting on the streets so far the h.t.t.p. congress has not attended either anybody that he needs those calls a mix the mystical taking to the streets and high price i need to stress this this is a national struggle we will crush any one who opposes our national struggle. well stephanie decker is following everything for us from un taqiyya and so day two now of turkey's military offensive into northern syria what do we know about how the

operation is progressing well the ground offensive started today we had heard that this was going to start yesterday we didn't really move now what we're seeing is some movement of us f.s.a. fighters the free syrian army which is backed by turkey together with turkish troops that have ventured sort of north of africa and west of a foot in this is sort of across the border and also we know that there's been reinforcements to the east of offering this is inside syria they haven't really moved yet but they're scared missions there's fighting already in the northwestern part reports of some villages that have been taken then you hear counter claims by the white p.g. that they haven't taken it is also very much a propaganda war and it's hard to verify the exact moves the bigger picture is certain there was an intensive air campaign which started late yesterday afternoon seventy two planes you did not and now the ground offensive is under way as well so of course it is a concern for the civilians tens of thousands around two hundred thousand the

latest estimates rules a lot of i.d.p.'s because after the throughout this war had been relatively peaceful. right as you say it's very difficult to verify precisely what's happening we know that the turkish government president has said that ultimately he wants to drive kurdish fighters out of parts of northern syria it's long been a priority for him have as the government said much about what this will involve. well no it's been a lot of rhetoric a lot of messages that they're going to you know wipe the terrorists that's the white p.g. that's what turkey deems terrorist organization into the p.k. k. out of awfully they will then move on to member which is a town still west of the euphrates where the y y p g remain there they are more under the influence of the americans and they've even said to go this far all the way to iraq well the problem with that is that the y.p. g. in those areas are part of the s.d.f.

the syrian democratic forces those are of course backed by the americans that force was instrumental and very efficient in fighting eisel pushing them out of their territory in iraq it is still an ongoing fight with the americans so that's not going to go down very well with the americans who've just announced you know somewhat of a border force which didn't go down very well with turkey so you see the international implications the complications when it comes to this war so yes this is what and growth would like to remove the y.p. g. from its entire border it has troops that it supports free syrian army in the middle but there's two to two swathes on each side of the border but i think once you start moving further east it's going to become a far more complicated as you say a lot of tough rhetoric coming from demonic looting a warning to proclaim opposition parties. not to protest is that some fair all concern in the country that they could be unrest as a result of this offensive. well the

turkish government has always clamped down quite strongly on any sort of unrest in the kurdish areas in southeastern turkey we did hear from some people in for example in her which is a predominant kurdish area who are not happy with this operation but i think people are quite cautious to come out and protest in large numbers because they know what kind of response they will get often by the turkish military so people are not very willing to speak openly here when you speak to kurds about their feelings when it comes to this operation even if they do support the white p.g.d. or want to support you know their fellow kurdish brothers inside africa they will tell you that openly on camera so it's very difficult perhaps off camera you'll get a bit of a better idea but that sort of the sentiment in this country they do not feel that they are capable of coming out and making their voices heard loudly on the streets thank you very much stephanie in antakya.

well the taliban is saying it was behind an overnight attack on a hotel in the afghan capital which killed at least eighteen people. gunman stormed the intercontinental hotel in kabul on saturday night the taliban says its fighters were searching for government workers security forces and foreigners afghan officials say one hundred sixty people including forty one foreigners have been rescued the siege last of more than sixteen hours jennifer goss has more from kabul. less you can see it's very dark behind me normally this would be a very brightly lit hotel but afghan security forces turned off the power to the hotel during that sixteen hour siege as they fought floor to floor with taliban militants inside the hotel it has been a very very difficult day for the guests inside the hotel for the staff inside the

hotel and their relatives waiting to see what has happened to them and president ashraf ghani is calling for an investigation of how these attackers got into the hotel the taliban has claimed responsibility for this siege saying that the targets were foreigners or government officials and security forces they say they tried to minimize civilian casualties by holding the attack on this weekend as opposed to last week go and they said there was a large wedding planned at the hotel on the afghan president praised his security forces saying they did their best to minimize casualties it was a very very difficult fight so we saw all through the day explosions and gunfire and grenades going off as special forces fought with the taliban and well guests hid it in their rooms and in areas of the hotel some very desperate guests tried to

get out using curtains using. sheets and climbing down from the higher floors to the lower floors to escape that terrible seat situation the question now of course will be how did these attackers get into the hotel and how did they do so with so many. ins and explosives and were able to hold off the security forces for so long . germany's social democrats have in the last hour voted to go into formal talks about forming a coalition with angela merkel's conservatives party delegates now really approve the step at a conference and some have argued they shouldn't prop up another merkel government she's been unable to form a coalition since the elections in september let's go now to dominic cain who's at that s.p.d. conference for us in bonn and it took some four hours of debate and discussions but they finally reached an agreement why was it so difficult for the s.p.d. to come to this decision. on the point to make here is that yes

this is a victory for martin schulz and the party leadership but at some considerable cost because fifty six percent perhaps voted in favor of that means that forty four percent there or thereabouts of the party delegates at the conference which is finishing behind me now voted directly against it and the tenor of the speeches that we heard in those four hours you were talking about who was quite quite moved there was some pointed criticism of the sort of leadership style that the current leadership of the shops and some of his ministerial colleagues have used in the last few months since the general election clearly referring to the fact that how was it the case that he could be so opposed to another government with angela merkel in september after the election and yet suddenly come the new year came this change of opinion this desire to go into government so division is the word that really describes how the s.p.d. is after that result how could that play out now in the coming weeks and months

could these divisions be exacerbated. well the point to say is that this was a decision a vote by this special party conference of delegates not the entire management of delegates to allow mr schultz to pursue these talks with angle americal and allies in bavaria the sister part of the christian social union the point to make is that the leaderships of the parties are all pretty clear that they want to get into negotiations they want to effectively get back into government as they have been the previous four years but the deal that will emerge has to be put to the party membership of the social democrats and given the level of opposition that he that mr schultz encountered today from just six hundred forty odd colleagues of his how will the party membership perceive the deal that is presented to them the other thing to say here is the way that his leadership style has been perceived i spoke

to one analyst one eminent analyst journalist a few hours ago and she said to me that the leadership that he had displayed is perceived by many as being weak and she even used the following phrase that as of today she said he seems like yesterday's man but if that's the case then the social democrats really have the problem of working out who could take over clearly mr schultz does not want to go but if people are correct in saying he's yesterday's man or who is tomorrow's social democrat leader metaphorically that's another question clearly some very high up in this party might be posing themselves right now right so just to be care about this but without getting to your hypothetical dominic could we see a situation where there's a leadership contest within the s d p alongside a. grand coalition with angela merkel. no let's be clear about it that was just one person saying that she had encountered that feeling amongst other delegates among some people relatively well placed inside the party but there is no suggestion i would say that the leadership as it

currently stands has any intention of doing anything other than going into formal negotiations because. they truly believe that this is the best deal that is available and they think that their role in a german democracy where there is a situation such as this where there's no clear winner in all vs a majority other than a grand coalition they believe it's their duty to pursue that option and that's what they're going to do so clearly mr schultz while he was really indorsed as party leader very recently substantially he believes he has the mandate to carry on and has given no indication whatsoever that he would consider leaving the question is more metaphorical about where the party goes further down the line are they happy about the idea of governing with a party from the opposite end of the political spectrum thank you very much dominic cain with all the latest from that meeting in hong. still to come for you on the program how this year's sundance film festival is casting

a critical eye on global issues. and we're going to be live in peru where pope francis is due to fly home that has been overshadowed by a scandal in chile he. hello again weather conditions across much of southern china and taiwan are looking fairly good at the moment temperatures not too bad hong kong very close in the twenty four degrees fine across a good part of indochina and always seen some fairly decent temperatures not continued as head on through into choose a bit more cloud developing but otherwise remains fine sunshine across much of me i'm over thirty three as a high in yangon now across into south asia here weather conditions generally looking fine and so lot of visibility problems still across northern parts of pakistan india and through towards bangladesh but otherwise pleasant enough in

terms of the temperatures mumbai looking at highs of twenty nine degrees but as we head into choose there we're going to find this area of low pressure developing across northern parts of india so it could be quite wet and quite windy in delhi and the temperatures of just sixteen degrees is going to be decided the chilly not particularly nice i think of twenty four hours for the arabian peninsula we've got quite a brisk wind which has brought dust through catch of last twenty four hours but it's clearing away and the winds are easing right down so but timing it through to choose day the wind to be very light indeed twenty three degrees quite pleasant here and it should be fine across much of the rest of the potential we're looking at twenty six in riyadh and never saw the potential of temperatures just dipping below thirty a high of twenty nine in mecca. asia's largest catholic country is witnessing a dramatic rise in teenage pregnancy. when used investigates why so many filipino children are being beat. at this time when al-jazeera.

where ever you. can buy. a taliban says it was behind an overnight attack on a luxury hotel in the afghan capital in which at least eighteen people were killed . and germany's social democrats voted to go into formal talks about potentially

striking a deal with angela merkel's conservatives. at least five people have died in anti-government demonstrations organized by catholic church leaders in the democratic republic of congo around sixty nine people have been arrested the protest to say president joseph kabila is violating the constitution by staying in office beyond his term two people were killed during a similar protest in the capital on new year's eve catherine saw. this streets in the capital kinshasa has now been cleared but it has been heavy all day huge presence of police and president the presidential guard against stone throwing protesters we saw priests and washes from this main catholic church in the city despotic by police using tear gas as they marched along with the rules are by walls and tweeds in their peaceful protest in the east police lopes tear gas

inside a child several people injured there is while a lot of people are very frustrated with the political situation in the country and they're looking want to charge for guidance and leadership if you remember the charge brokered this political deal between the opposition and ruling parties back in place to sixteen the deal was to see an election a presidential election in the last december that did not happen the deal has expired that's why the catholic church leadership he's so angry and saying that they are going to continue calling on their faithful to come out in peaceful protest. demanding for electoral justice demanding full of politicians to respect the constitution and also for president joseph kabila to peacefully step down because he's minded has expired and he is not illegal to run for a third tom. jordan's king abdullah has appealed to the u.s.

vice president to rebuild trust and confidence after the trumpet ministrations decision to recognize jerusalem as israel's capital and says the u.s. still believes in a two state solution to the palestinian conflict bens is now on his way to israel where he's expected to receive a mixed welcome it has more from occupied east jerusalem. on the second leg of his regional visit the u.s. vice president was keen to offer assurances to a major middle east an ally and by extension to the palestinians who refused to meet him on the issue of jerusalem we are committed to continue to respect jordan's role as the custodian of holy sites that we take no position on boundaries and final status those are subject to negotiation and and as i make clear to you and the president make clear the world united states of america remains committed if the parties agree to a two state solution. through the arab world's public outrage with a recognition by u.s.

president donald trump ob jerusalem as israel's capital the jordanian king offered a conciliatory tone your visits here i'm sure is to be able to trust confidence not only how we move forward two state solution on june fourth next six or seven lights and issues as a kept looking at policy state but living side by side with a secure regulates israeli nationals yet you say that's far from the line being taken by the palestinian leadership its president mahmoud abbas declaring that the u.s. had given it the slap of the century reiterating his position that the u.s. could no longer be involved in the peace process the u.s. vice president isn't meeting the palestinians but he does have a message publicly apparently tailored towards them reiterating u.s. support for a two state solution if that's what both sides agreed to of course for the palestinians that message is entirely overshadowed by what donald trump said over a month ago declaring that the u.s. view jerusalem as israel's capital thanks to many the messenger himself is part of

the problem the shift in u.s. policy with which pence was closely associated was welcomed by his evangelical christian base many of whom believe the return of the jews to the holy land is a precursor to jesus' second coming. and gender that is extremist fundamentalist look to the list. this term absolute is the geology which goes against all the believes and commitments of the arab and palestinian christians and particular and they feel that they have been betrayed by somebody who is dealing with them to mend this injustice using dillard's an as a justification. for israelis it's a different picture hence represents the u.s. administration to recognize what they see as an uncontroversial reality drusilla's status is their capital. a great friend of the state of israel and. i was here this evening a true friend united states vice president mike pence we welcome him here and i'm

looking forward to our discussions we will discuss the trumpet ministrations efforts to hold iran's aggression the iranian nuclear program and ways to advance peace and security in the region after a morning meeting with the israeli prime minister on monday peds will address the israeli parliament the knesset israeli palestinian representatives of vowed to boycott the event all mass will sit al-jazeera occupied east jerusalem. well pope francis is due to lead a final mass in lima as his tour of south america comes to an end to a million people are expected to attend the service as an airbase in peru's capital pope francis spoke out against violence shown towards women amerikana sanchez has been following the pope's visit and she joins us now from lina. marianna while the reception there in peru has been overwhelmingly positive towards the pope still a great deal of focus on the comments he made about the sex abuse victims.

that's right here and there's not been much echo to those goldmans. just the other than a few hours before the pope was leaving. he told reporters that the bishop of a sort of no one but also there was no proof that he had covered up for a paedophile priest something that has angered very much. we've seen a lot of protesting in chile there's been churches burned before and before and after that we've seen people that were detained about eighty people were arrested for protesting and of course a lot of very strong response from the victims there saying that the pope is showing another phase because first the pope said that he felt a lot of pain and shame for the victims of the abuses but then he he he tells reporters to reporters this here in britain it's been different we've seen

thousands of people going up this way and there are many other entrances to the air base where the pope will be keeping a mass here in britain we've seen thousands of people in different areas of the amazon in the northern city of tokyo attending those religious celebrations and there hasn't been much response to the abuses here in big. people have been telling me here i've been asking around and people say well the pole perhaps is under a lot of pressure and maybe he said. there has to be more investigations before he takes more action to extradite it if you got to which is the man who is accused of perpetrating the abuses here in beirut thank you very much mara sanchez in lima. the u.s. president says republicans should change the senate rules if the government shutdown continues money for federal agencies was caught off on saturday off to

congress failed to pass a funding bill despite the republican party majority donald trump is pinning the blame on the democrats who in turn pointing the finger at the republicans also in jordan explains from washington. on the second day of the u.s. government shutdown there doesn't seem to be any indication that this crisis between congressional republicans and congressional democrats as well as with the white house will be resolved quickly that's because both sides are seeing real political benefit from sticking to their guns as it were congressional democrats saying that the white house has not been negotiating in good faith and so they don't see any incentive in trying to provide more short term funding to keep the federal government operating until they have assurances that the white house isn't going to change its mind when they get through with rounds of negotiations congressional republicans for their part are trying to blame the shutdown on

congressional democrats essentially saying that they need to basically get on with the business of making certain that u.s. troops get their paychecks that essential government operations can continue and that health care particularly for the most vulnerable including young children can be restored however the debate is playing out on the sunday public affairs shows here in the united states and whether it's an administration surrogate or a member of congress it's pretty clear that this won't be resolved by the end of the business day on monday which is when federal workers across the country and around the world would be expected to go back to work to their jobs. at least one person has died in fighting between protesters and police in honduras is demonstrations continue against the reelection of president on orlando hernandez defeated opposition candidate salvador joined demonstrations on the streets of the capital to. a q.c.

authorities of manipulating the results of november's election dozens of people have been killed and hundreds more jailed since fernandez was declared the winner last month. and i don't volcano and papa new guinea has erupted again triggering tsunami warnings from nearby coastal communities plumes of steam and ash being shot into the air from our island nearby flights have also been cancelled the volcano first erupted early this month causing thousands of people to flee from surrounding islands papa new guinea sits on the pacific ring of fire an area of intense seismic activity now the sundance film festival is the world's leading showcase for independent films and it's underway in the u.s. filmmakers around the world use this festival as a platform to tackle difficult subjects ranging from political leadership the environment and the human condition well brunell's looked at some of this year's films. at a time of rising nationalism and rising oceans. almost

unchecked capitalism and individual isolation the films at sundance reflect the arrow we live. by the. new president is a film about the election of donald trump as u.s. president told entirely through excerpts from russian television reports and clips from russian social media. timeshare is a mexican movie about luxury resort workers and wealthy guests caught up in a corporate conspiracy that the horrific comedy stephanie speaks about like globalization and just like cat savage capitalism it's you know a critique on what we think you know we need to be happy filmmakers sebastian hoffman reflects on how mexican media views trump who called immigrants from his country rapists and criminals i think through humor i mean i think you know we

think of donald trump as this you know crazy but the biggest clown in the world and everything that's happening everything it's like a big circus the trump administration's rejection of climate change science is in the background of a notation are about the people of the pacific island nation of here about facing destruction from rising water the climate change for me i saw always been about whose lives are being affected by what is happening former president no to tone. with the policy of america. but what about the rest of sometimes wondered in my mind. if i was to extend that policy is to america first and the rest be damned but the question is and the challenge that i continue to pose for the international community i you're going to allow this to happen to us. multiple crises looming disasters and personal tragedies how can an individual respond one answer is sadness the theme of pity a film from greece about

a man who is happy only when he is an. independent films are casting a critical law on the world as we know it and asking where we're going. well you can read lots more about the sundance festival and all the stories right here al-jazeera telecom. so let's take you through the top stories now turkish troops have entered the northern syrian enclave of a freend to drive out kurdish forces the soldiers went into africa day after turkish jets an artillery units pounded targets belonging to the kurdish people's protection unit so why peachey turkey wants to prevent a kurdish car door being opened on its border with syria views the matter as an issue of national security. there has been nobody protesting on the streets so far the h.t.t.p.

congress was not a target either anybody got heeds those calls the mix the mistake of taking to the streets their high price i need to stress this this is a national struggle we will crush anyone who opposes our national struggle. afghanistan's interior minister says for afghans and fourteen foreigners were killed in a siege on a luxury hotel in the capital kabul. the taliban have said they were behind the sixteen hour attack on the heavily guarded intercontinental hotel they say they would tell getting government workers security forces and foreigners. at least five people have died in anti-government demonstrations organized by the catholic church leaders in the democratic republic of congo around sixty nine have been arrested the protest to say president joseph kabila is violating the constitution by staying in office beyond his term.

germany's social democrats have voted to go into formal talks about a grand coalition government with angela merkel's conservatives body delegates narrative approved a step at a conference and phone some would argue they shouldn't prop up another merkel government she's been on able to form a coalition since the elections in september. jordan's king abdullah has appealed to the u.s. vice president to rebuild trust and confidence after the trumpet ministrations decision to recognize jerusalem as israel's capital mike and says the u.s. still believes in a two state solution to the israeli palestinian conflict. and pope francis is wrapping up his south american told with a final mass in lima up to a million people are expected to attend the service acts and advice and opinions. over him on that story and everything else at the top of the next hour in about twenty five minutes time after i want to waste.

in the philippines biggest maternity hospital a baby is born every few minutes and often the new mothers are just children themselves. with the legal age of consent.