built on the george w. bush just an hour's drive away from the city and this is how the border looks like we haven't seen any patrol on our way here but anyone can just crawl underneath and on the other side you're in arizona the real challenge is to reach this area that. it was once the territory of now it's under control of the lower cartel. is through here that javier takes asylum seekers on a long trek through the mountains into us he's been doing this job for more than twenty years. it's the same people on the other side they give us the green light to move but it has changed a lot before the journey took three to four hours ten years later it was fifteen to twenty now we can take four or five days it's a big deter it used to be a straight line. these rugged mountains are used to smuggle drugs and people both are done in close coordination but not

a decision time. for sick leaves people trafficking is a business that involves many on both sides. who are going to court you have bodyguards on both sides are no border guards who kept migrants in their homes or put them in the cars and let them go or saw this happen so build woman wall or two walls people will continue to cross and we will continue providing our service. a fortified border added person a new technology has slowed the movement of asylum seekers over the past two decades it will take border in the war to stop it all together. the. mexican us border. plenty more ahead on the news hour including. i after weeks of political turmoil in sri lanka there are signs one of the main players in the drama is backing down to. find out why easing violence in iraq is making it harder for people to build

a peaceful future. and in sports and james harden rockets into n.b.a. history as houston dominates le bron on the lake is sound i will be here with me. after weeks of political turmoil sri lanka's disputed prime minister mahinda rajapaksa has announced he's going to step down the government hasn't been functioning financially two weeks after a court suspended rajapaksa and his cabinet following the loss of no confidence votes and the hayward reports. less than two months ago he was being sworn in as sri lanka's new prime minister but after weeks of political turmoil mahinda rajapaksa has to resign to ensure his son said on twitter the stability of the nation rajapaksa was previously sri lanka's president for decades bringing to an end the country's long civil war with the brutal final assault on the tamil tiger

rebels his appointment as prime minister though has been controversial part of the stars and plunged the country into a constitutional crisis. it began in october when the president matter of policy or a saner appointed rajapaksa and unceremoniously sacked ronald bikram singha within days thousands turned out to show that it's are saying his decision since then there have been demonstrations supporting and opposing rajapaksa. sri lanka has now been without a functioning government for nearly two weeks after call suspended rajapaksa and his cabinet when they lost to no confidence votes i don't see lanka's highest cause the decision by the president to dissolve the parliament ahead of its term and call a snap election early january was unconstitutional rajapaksa his decision to step

down as unlikely to mean that sri lanka's political landscape can return to a kind of normality any time soon mahinda rajapaksa is expected to address the nation on saturday and he would al-jazeera israeli forces have arrested forty palestinians in the occupied west bank it says thirty seven of them are members of hamas including three senior leaders the arrests come as the army intensifies that search for a palestinian gunman who killed two israeli soldiers at a bus stop near ramallah on thursday. and an eighteen year old palestinian man has been shot dead by israeli forces during friday protests mahfood not clear was shot in the stomach at jalazone refugee camp near ramallah witnesses say he was among protesters who were throwing stones at israeli soldiers palestinian leaders had called for a day of rage across gaza and the occupied west bank in response to the violence this week president don will trump has discussed the situation in northern syria

with turkey's president over the phone earlier on friday russia one warned an operation would take place in the coming days if the u.s. doesn't remove kurdish rebels from the area syrian kurdish fighters say turkish threats to attack northern syria are a declaration of war a large part of northeast syria is under the control of the fighters also known as the y.p. ji has labeled them a terrorist organization saying the y. p.g. have connections to groups in turkey that are pushing for independence. police have fired live rounds and used tear gas to disperse crowds protesting in the iraqi city of basra demonstrators threw rocks at riot police vehicles after surrounding a building used by the local government there protesting against corruption and demanding better jobs it's the latest in a series of demonstrations of a poor government services in iraq's second biggest city since july. while in northern iraq several projects are trying to help is easy women become more

independent by teaching them new skills but as funding is being reduced the threat from i still appears to diminish rob addison reports from near the country refugee camp and dough hook in the kurdish region of northern iraq. philos father says weaving a new future for her family which was ripped apart four years ago when i saw fighters swept through her hometown of sin john chan movie if i lost my eldest son who was the sunshine of my life i still remember him every time i work a meet other woman at the camp he was killed on the night he was about to get married. when i was always finally pushed out of synch. five remaining children eventually made their way to a refugee camp and conquer in the kurdish region of northern iraq have been a marriage of two i used to cry all the time inside the tent i didn't have food to

feed my children we barely had anything at all fearless now works at a carpet factory nearby she's never woven anything before. but her newly learned skills provide an income for years of the woman is said to be the backbone of their families but they isolate targets in twenty fourteen shattered many of those families and destroyed tens of thousands of lives for lose like many of the women at this center lost a husband and several relatives the organizers of projects like this one hope that they will help. the women to regain the confidence to become more independent and work towards a more peaceful future. yes it is true that still many women are still suffering what we need is a lot of support from the local authorities and from around the world is a do women still have a long road ahead but you can see hope spreading among them. this center is home to several projects run by local and global aid agencies. but as the threat from eisel

diminishes it seems the world's interest is fading to. the world is no longer paying much attention to our suffering but we should be asking for our rights until we draw our last breath we want to ensure a bright future for our children and generations to come. the future may be brighter no for filosa and her family but there are many other years it is who are still struggling to survive rob matheson al-jazeera the hook the kurdish region of northern iraq one woman and this year's nobel laureate says she'll use have prize money to build a new hospital in her hometown hundreds of people welcomed her at home in iraqi town of friday a member of his eighty minority morag was awarded the peace prize for her work as an activist for women and girls after escaping sexual slavery by ice on militants. with the money i got from the nobel peace prize i'll build

a hospital in sin jar to treat people mainly widows and women who were exposed to sexual abuse by eisel on this occasion i'd like to thank the iraq and kurdistan governments for giving me their agreements to build the hospital emanuel has paid tribute to the victims of the attack at strasburg christmas market which reopened friday the french president later white rose near the scene of the shooting four people died in the attack on tuesday while a fifth victim is brain dead suspected gunman sheriff checkouts with shot dead by police on thursday after a two day manhunt. meanwhile france is bracing for another day of yellow vest protests against the government despite concessions made by president this week businesses in paris of boarding up their shop fronts in anticipation of more violence and damage tens of thousands of police are being deployed nationwide six people have been killed so far over four weeks of protests. serbia has warns that military intervention in kosovo is

a possibility after its decision to tenet's defense force into a regular army because of its government says it has the right to raise an army for self-defense but serbia says it violates international agreements that ended the war between the two countries in the late one nine hundred ninety s. serbia never recognized kosovo's independence and warns that the new army could pose a threat to the said minority in northern cross over yet and i guess that's has the latest from belgrade. kosovo's parliament approved the first read of the draft laws on october and during the process course of the serbian minority remains opposed to the creation of course of the army a position shared by the great which denies course was existence as a state alexander who treated the president of serbia said he did not understand how anyone in the world could approve the creation of course it was army or turn a blind eye to something as he said entirely in the collision with all international documents he added serbia will not the war drums but won't allow

anyone to humiliate the serbs in kosovo superior alleges the army is main purpose would be to ethnically cleanse course of a syrian dominated north a claim strongly denied by prishtina prime minister of course or would i wish had it in i said the tree laws have a want to ask to protect the territorial integrity of course to go and to protect the citizens of all communities in course of syria deputies begged by belgrade which does not recognize course there was independence have blocked and is such a move in the past saying creation of a national army required a change to the constitution and the us led nato alliance which has four thousand troops in the balkan country has also in the past urged course ago not to create a national army unless the constitution was amended with the support of the syrian minority but true laws promoted by the call. civil government and paralyzed by a parliamentary vote other greeted the mandate of the domestic also

a security force is said to transform into an army something which the government said by thursday needs to make changes to the constitution cadre of the cell is the speaker of the cost of an parliament and leader of the democratic party he denies the cause of his army could be a threat to sabs in the north that is a tactic of serbia just to provoke a the situation on the contrary. because there are security forces when you armies in malta the army. the one good neighbor who would be one to have a good piece of you three public of serbia very soon you'll be spider-man people pause there is allusion to to have their love to serbian nor to to have michelle eric of nation be trying kosovo and serbia as you best interests of the republic of serbia and it will be compressible to have one final like open a new era of partnership in the region result for to load on the pause that is not

the interest of course awards on the republic of course of what we have complex on serbia has to stop it's in their parents' umbrella cation to not part of my country that is all what i can say no british prime minister to resign may is insisting she can get the extra clarification she needs from the european union on have breck's a tail to ensure it's passed by her own parliament and comes off the heated discussions in brussels more talks than our plans but the e.u. is showing no sign of moving from its current position china has more from brussels . all the talk was of a disastrous summit for to resume a tense exchanges rebuffed by e.u. leaders her pleas for help fallen on deaf ears but the tone from the prime minister reflected none of it the e.u. is clear as i am that if we are going to leave with a deal this is it but my discussions with colleagues today have shown that further

clarification and discussion following the council's conclusions is in fact possible. there is work still to do we will be holding talks in coming days that's how to obtain the further assurances that u.k. parliament needs in order to be able to approve the deal prime minister may's brave face probably preempts the furious reaction she's likely to receive at home having delayed a vote on her briggs a deal this week promising assurances from the e.u. the dreaded northern ireland backstop isn't the trap many m.p.'s fear it is she returns from brussels all but empty handed and e.u. leaders aren't doing much publicly at least to help but have. we have. open. mrs may's insistence that legal assurances could yet be forthcoming seems contrary to

the events of thursday night the e.u. twenty seven removed language in their pre-agreed conclusions that had pointed to the possibility of future discussions reportedly some simply don't believe there's any way may can get her break the deal through the british parliament the northern ireland backstop is intended to ensure that there can be no hard border on the island of ireland until a future trade agreement is in place between the u.k. and the e.u. it is an insurance policy it has to be open ended can't be unilaterally breached want to resume a once from the e.u. therefore a legal issue and that somehow the backstop isn't what it is is a legal assurance that can't be given which is why all that was ever on offer from the e.u. were clarifications not renegotiation to resume a still hope some legal sleight of hand can be performed to persuade doubting in peace to back her deal the message from this e.u. summit is probably not join a whole al-jazeera brussels. still ahead. at the u.n.

climate summit talks are extended for at least another day the main sticking point . i told. stronger and who's going to win an unholy rift. with russia. and canelo is facing a tall order as he looks to add to his collection of titles. in the big. hello there we're seeing some heavy rain push its way across parts of north america at the moment but satellite picture is showing that area of cloud away we're seeing the worst of the weather is in the southeast corner a few days ago we saw a very wintery system has so many snow that surround is likely to melt as the rain

falls on it so lots of water around here as we head through the day on saturday by sunday the system should be pulling away so the southeast should be a lot draw it cooler and for the eastern parts here will see some rain and some snow on its northern edge as well for the western parts is worth a mention here as well because in the western parts of canada as the incredibly west over the past few days more wet weather expected here as we head through the next few days as well now here's that system that was over the southeastern part of the u.s. you can see it stretching down a bit further south too and it's going to bring some wet weather for honduras there as we head through saturday and some showers a little bit further towards the south as well not system still with us as we head through sunday to the north of it it's a bit cooler than it has been the southeast documents and hot if we head down towards south america we can see plenty of showers with us but that very heavy outbreak of rain that we've seen over parts a year ago i and argentina has now eased a little bit so a little bit brighter headed still plenty of showers for the north stretching from

the north east towards the west. in countries like mine people have been killed and to me we in the united states have privatized the old money public function for this was a deal with saudi arabia things were done differently saudis and other arabs when they came to britain to be all to help the past bombs do you will rumsfeld this meeting sit down isn't that interesting their shadow coming soon. to.

the final senator. welcome back on the star and a reminder about top stories this hour there are reports of fighting on the outskirts of the yemeni port city of data just a day off to warring factions agreed to a cease fire on friday aid agencies took advantage of the truce to distribute food and humanitarian supplies. donald trump's former lawyer michael cohen says the u.s. president directed him to pay hush money to two women during the twenty sixteen

presidential campaign cohen has given his first interview since being sentenced to three years in prison on multiple charges. the u.s. and canada say they want to keep politics out of the extradition case involving the chief financial officer of chinese tech giants chua way china has called for men mungo's immediate release following her arrest in canada on december fest. more now on the situation in yemen and those talks between the warring sides some of the hamdani is a yemen analyst and a visiting fellow at georgetown university she joins us now on skype from washington d.c. thank you for being with us sama we're already seeing fighting and how data and u.n. envoy griffiths is calling for the deployment of u.n. monitors what do you think we actually need to make the steel work. so the most important thing is to follow up on what happened today at the u.n. where are the u.n. envoy to yemen's demarking group has talked it's really important to pass a resolution that will inforce the peace and they that we are all focusing on today

that just because it's the port city in which the the majority of the humanitarian economy into yemen goes through and we know for a fact that if the fine continues and if the port stays closed we are going to face one of the most devastating famines that's already taken place in yemen and so it's really important from a humanitarian perspective to up hold that agreement and place and so what the sweden talks are supposed to do is initiate a peace process at the end of january they're going to come together the yemeni sides that are fighting in the conflict are going to come together and they're going to continue talking about other things because the conflict isn't just about data but it's a sense that the u.n. security council has a resolution that would employ the protection of that port so that humanitarian aid he would go in and to kind of indorse the peace process and to show their blessing to the yemeni sites that they want to see peace happen in yemen and that they will

continue to support them moving forward some i want to ask you about this u.n. resolution but before we move on around the port of her data i believe the the trainer says supposed to involve local forces controlling the ports and can you tell us a little more about that and just the likelihood of deployments of u.n. monitors there's a lot of different moving parts here and could everything break down before everything gets put together on the ground. look the city of has been witnessing changes a lot of changes that that transformed from one day to the other when they talked about the peace agreement they stipulated that the forces that were originally in charge of the port in two thousand and fourteen when the war started are going to be the same forces that are going to run the war and what they agreed upon as well is that the money from the port city of per day that is going to go to the central bank that is located in the city and then dispersed equally everywhere and so they were kind of giving some sort of autonomy to the local people there to kind of run

and manage the port the way that it was run before two thousand and fourteen when it comes to the sides that are involved in this conflict they would have control of some parts of the port city of today that and then they would lose it the other day so the dynamics are continuously shifting there i think that although we are witnessing clashes there it's really important to keep in mind that these parties are going to have to come together again in january and we're also going to keep talking about the port of today because again it's the only way that humanitarian aid goes into the majority of yemenis so the subject of protecting does not going to go anywhere but it is important again and this is where you go to the u.n. resolution that's going to important pieces that were mentioned and this in this document that they just signed in sweden that says hey you know what the port city of today that needs to be run as usual and i think the more the achieve in the future in january the more they agree on other things you're like me to see one day

that they will live that cell and start running in a way where aid and medicine and other supplies can go in through the port city summer when you talk about a u.n. resolution you're talking about a u.n. security council resolution right so. in that in that case. do you think that's actually likely i mean within the u.n. security council we could see a potential veto from the united states they have vested interests in this conflict despite what's going on domestically what's likely to happen at the u.n. security council. i think that everybody is aware of the humanitarian situation the sickies place in yemen u.n. agencies have been very outspoken about what's happening there and i think even before when we look at the united united states the former u.s. ambassador to the u.n. nikki haley was very aware and very outspoken about the humanitarian situation in yemen she's very much against iran's involvement in yemen and has issued very

strong statements against them and the posies but she also is very aware of the humanitarian disaster and has spoken to the floor to kind of say that the u.s. would like to protect yemen from that and protect the world from the devastation that's about to come in and so it is likely based on what i'm hearing that the u.k. is going to press for a resolution of that sort and i think that we never know what happens what the outcome is but if the security council does not have a resolution then we can say that that would not leave the u.n. might have some blood on its hands and might be even complicit in the disaster that's about to answer because they know they are very well aware of the fact so i un resolution is just going to solidify everything that they're working for and i think that a lot of the countries the p five member the permanent member countries are very interested in seeing the humanitarian disaster be alleviated in yemen some of all

hamdani speaking to us there from washington d.c. thanks for your thoughts and insight thank you. ethiopia is set to begin moving its troops from the border with eritrea it's the fulfillment of a pledge made by ethiopia's prime minister back in september in order to ease tensions between the two sides eighty thousand people died during the two year war between ethiopia and eritrea which ended in two thousand. the un rights chief has denounced a democratic republic of congo's security forces for targeting the opposition just days before a tense presidential election six people have been killed at all position rallies this week including a teenager who was shot in central ca region separately a fire has destroyed thousands of voting machines and electoral material at a warehouse in kinshasa voters will head to the polls on the twenty third of december to choose a successor to president joseph kabila the youngest survivor of a boat has officially recovered from the virus baby benedict was just six days old

when she showed symptoms of the disease her mother who also had died during childbirth health workers gave the baby round the clock care for weeks and what as she's now been allowed to return home to her family. zimbabwe's ruling party is holding its first annual conference since former leader robert mugabe was forced out many zimbabweans hope it will provide solutions to the many issues that persist reports from harare. some people here say zimbabwe has become the tenth province of neighboring south africa inside this trailer brought across the border are thousands of dollars worth of products zimbabweans are the kind of find in shops or are too expensive to buy in south africa country variances crazy as well just awful if you can afford it i like here in zimbabwe desk so expensive so it's better for me to go into a process is it closer make experience of africa than to play in survival as

a phantom forward it's another signs of baba's economy is in trouble people can get foreign currency because of cash shortages shot in local stores where prices are more than tripled in recent weeks fuel is also in short supply and now the frustration for struggling somalis a shortage of essential drugs and equipment in public hospitals has crippled the health sector some junior doctors are on strike over pay and working conditions if you visit in your street all right now nothing is happening and the do they know it in for the employer is the grievances affecting the doctors and the patients. the ruling party is on it is holding its annual conference in issaquah dealing with the economy is not the only topic on the agenda reports of infighting within the leadership are again being heard on the first anniversary of the ousting of veteran leader robert mugabe general sectionalism will be stronger than here in d.c. i think there was a big discussion he got he said. he discussed the need for unity within the

party they need to be for everyone to rally behind the the current of bridgegate badhe imagine not that. his biggest challenge is the economy the president keeps saying the country is open for business but others the bobbins want to know how and where he plans to turn things around al-jazeera. delegates at the cup twenty four global climate change conference and parlance will be staying on for at least another day as they still haven't reached a final agreement the united nations event is now stretching out at least until saturday as representatives from almost two hundred nations continue talks on how to implement the paris agreement environmentalists and that clark has this update from kassovitz. so we were due to be out of here at six o'clock tonight but now they're making preparations for the conference to carry on into saturday people

even taking bets that it might go on into sunday but to be fair is not that surprising because these things often run late and this time around it's particularly complex remember delegates from one hundred ninety six nations trying to oversee the complexities of this paris rulebook to implement the paris agreement in two thousand and twenty three things they need to achieve to oversee how nations reduce carbon emissions the issue of climate finance especially for the more vulnerable nations and then to make sure the people do what they promise to do as a massive oversimplification is lot more complicated than that and then you throw into the mix the perennial problem between the developing nations and the developed nations who shoulders the financial burden and you have what we have here which is at the moment stultifying progress. one of christianity is biggest splits in century it will be formalized this weekend as ukraine creates a new church independent from russia's influence since the fall of the soviet union

ukraine's dominant orthodox church has been divided into factions pro russia and pro ukraine out of there as charlotte best reports. a place to worship god or russia the cathedral of nativity is it the same to all of a theological rift in ukraine the orthodox faith is split into factions russian lives and ukrainian laid priests and tonics churches one of more than twelve thousand that aligns itself with russia on saturday he must pick sides orthodox priest will meet in q. to civil same trees on ties with russia and creates a new independent church. we will not recognize its legitimacy this is not a council this is a gang of bandits who have gathered to take over the temples and destroy the church what kind of counsel is a. leader. up to the meeting ukraine's religious rapture has had consequences the cathedral of nativity and other production churches were accused of whipping up

religious hatred and raided by ukrainian security services years in school thought i told them you serve the devil and i serve god let's see who is stronger and who's going to win. russian clergy are outraged labeling it the biggest split in christianity in a thousand years. they say it's a ploy by ukrainian president petro poroshenko to shore up support ahead of elections next year pushing coded champion the split he signed a cooperation agreement with the head of the church intervene that. there's rabbitohs the state and the russian church some in clergy robes some in military uniforms or not afraid to commit sin in an effort to disrupt the decision but god is with us because we are fighting in iraq just battle for our independence from. pushing co has accused of using the church to spread propaganda supporters of the churches split agree which is a gentlemanly course of course we want the ukrainian church to not be on their

moscow so that russia does not employ when sarah decisions. it goes off the three hundred year old st andrews church. the pro ukrainian orthodox church survived an arson attack last month but it's not clear if regional politics will be as resilient very. shallow ballasts zero zero zero. the presidential palace in mexico is usually off limits but that's changing with the new president on this manual lopez obrador is opening the residence to the public down home enjoying the tour in mexico city. the presidential residence los pinos has always been shrouded in secrecy sealed off towards. larry mexicans last week that suddenly changed new president under his money the door opened the gates since then crowds have been swarming in to take

a look at the imposing buildings and to even roam around the president's private office. it's excellent a privilege for all mexicans to go in here enjoying the wonders we were all missing out on because it was always close palatial tiles these cabins and look tree conference hall with all the fittings of the ground of alaska's was taking full advantage for a fifty birthday photo session the all important can see on us the way. this is ours really we built this with our own money so it feels good that they've opened the doors. the new president says most people's will become a cult true center you live instead of his own house it's part of his of spirity drive which is also seen him selling the presidential plane and traveling to his inauguration in his old folks' wagon jetta epifanio who traveled from two hours away to visit thorley approves.