to the people who were targeted by russia's influence campaign the answer is already clear hi joe castro al-jazeera charlotte north carolina cuba's new president miguel diaz overseeing what's being dubbed as the modernization of socialism humans have weighed in on a draft constitution which will be rubber stamped by the national assembly at a referendum in february you see in human spoke with locals about some of the changes they hope to see. after six decades the signs of decay in the western hemisphere's only communist country are evident and in recognition that nothing is in more need of modernization than cuba's political system ordinary citizens like roberto ramos are being allowed to weigh in on the draft a new constitution of the novels and there's something if there was something interesting is happening in cuba people have the ability to meet to debate publicly not in a physical space but in a virtual space. roberto who runs

a tattoo parlor is an activist who's pushing for the new constitution to recognize same sex marriage expanding those still expensive access to internet is allowing him and many others to make demands publicly at all on. one of the most pressing is for economic reform but it's being resisted by some who are clinging to the old economic model of total state control it's a tug of war i think there is a part of the goal to do to be sure which are people more mordor more open minded looking at the world looking at the type of these model going to be a dummy's bottle i don't that that is because i see that i have heard that musician . many others is making perhaps the most difficult demand of all. the fight and that is for the constitution to give legal recognition for the right of anyone to have different political opinions whatever your political opinion may

be and that you won't be considered a traitor or someone who's trying to destabilize the nation the draft constitution will no longer allow officials including the president to perpetuate themselves in power and it also recognizes limited private property but when it comes to the political system the only change so far is to make it explicit that cuba's communist party will remain as the only party as the supreme and guiding force of society and the state even above the constitution cubans will be asked to approve the final draft in a referendum in february whether it will resemble the kind of constitution that they're asking for is still a mystery when we see in human al-jazeera van. so i have for you on the program just in time for christmas the european space agency reveals a stunning winter wonderland on the bet planet one of the biggest by.

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business updates brought to you by. going places together. usually come to mind but less is. it's the only result in ten. new generation of locals is dreaming of sporting glory. at least. it's one of the most mountainous

countries in the world mountain ranges that defy national borders include the premier's which stretch into northern afghanistan the allée and the chin which reach into kazakstan was becky stone kyllikki stalin china but as you can stand has only one ski resort self it is about seventy kilometers north of the taxi capital ducharme bay it was built during the soviet era but has been renovated and expanded in recent years after the first big snow fall of two thousand and eighteen olympic slalom skia aleesha could also has a lesson to give he represented tajikistan in the two thousand and fourteen olympics held in sochi russia well i think. whenever i'm teaching the kids i feel great because this is my sport i teach them from the bottom of my heart because these kids will become flag bearers of the jig and then. alicia teaches these children for free the kids come from poor families who can't afford the latest warm

clothing but that doesn't in any way dampen the children's enthusiasm. i have been skiing for one year i want to ski in other countries i want to be the best at this poll out there may be only a couple of runs on these mountain slopes but they are enough to challenge these young learners and some who are considerably older now i haven't skate for twenty five years but i cannot tell you how much of a pleasure it is to be skiing again for the first time and especially here in tajikistan. back at the ski school children put their in for another lesson eighteen year old medical bone helps them tighten their boots and ski bindings. from early childhood i had a dream to ski and so now my dreams come true because for six years i have

practicing i've always wanted to represent my country and of course get the first prize. despite the uphill struggle of living in one of the poorest countries in asia these children have the enthusiasm and potential charland for being downhill champions won and all. that al-jazeera suffered as you can stone. let's get all this for now with libya. thank you mariam we start with football and liverpool are set to move four points clear at the top of the english premier league there beating wolves two nil away it will be their seventh league when in a row if in what's been an unbeaten e.p.l. campaign so far mohamed salah and virgil van dyke getting a goal each man city have the chance to reduce the gap to a single point if they beat crystal palace on saturday manchester united's new interim coach ole gunnar sol shire says he wants to manage the club on a permanent basis his first chance to prove his worth will be against cardiff in

the e.p.l. on saturday with united down in six in the table my job now is just for the next six months to do as well as i can and move the club forward as well as i can then i understand that there just so many so many managers that would love to be a manager of mine united so of course i'm one of them but it's not something that we've talked about it they're going to do the process now where for the next six months. real madrid take on you easily and on saturday in the final of the club world cup and while the games give the chance to win the competition for a third time in a row it could also be a landmark moment for captain sergio ramos a frail when it will be the twentieth title for roma's ramos for the madrid club since joining in two thousand and five the thirty two year old's rio honors list already includes four champions league and four titles.

in football you don't have a lot of time to enjoy what you achieved because you keep on carrying on i have to say thanks to all the people that helped me get to the position i'm in right now for every moment i've lived and every moment i've experienced i hope that in the future i could be the player that has won the most titles but around madrid all football star christian are now those due to court early next year dates been set for his child for tax fraud he's expected to plead guilty and receive a suspended two year sentence and pay a fine close to twenty two million dollars proceedings are scheduled for january twenty first last year rinaldo was accused of four counts of tax fraud from two thousand and eleven to twenty four teams worth sixteen and a half million dollars ronaldo was accused of using shell companies outside of spain to hide his income from image rights. now one of boxing's biggest grudge matches just got a bit more personal britain's dillion white and said his opponent derek insulted

his family ahead of their rematch in london on saturday after the british heavyweights made weight earlier there was a scuffle between both camps tensions were expected both fighters have been in war in a war of words for years now choose or even through a table at white at a press conference before their first match in twenty sixteen which white won by decision saturday's fight is expected to be a woman hater for a world title bout with anthony joshua. finding. the front of the media does not mean to say by the minute if. the members of. the. you know i don't think. you can say that to me and i mean. the miami heat fought back from an early deficit in the houston rockets five game

winning streak in the n.b.a. the rockets james harden sport eleven points in their first quarter to help the visitors to a thirty three twenty one lead but the heat fired into life in the second to get back within two and thinks quickly unraveled for the rockets one of their star players chris paul suffered a hamstring injury ruling him out for the rest of the game he went on twenty one zero one to ninety nine. there was also a win for the l.a. clippers over the dallas mavericks that's despite look good on that score in a career high thirty two points in the game. gave the mavericks a three point lead with less than a minute remaining but the clippers won it one twenty five to one twenty. and h.l. the tampa bay lightning extended their point streak to eleven in a shootout win against the calgary flames the lightning came back from three goals down and fought back to make it four fourth forcing the game into a shoot out from the line to come back to tie this game with three tampa goalie

was on fire he made thirty four saves including seven in overtime j.t. miller scored in the seventh round of the shootout to seal the five four win for tampa and elsewhere the philadelphia flyers were in great form against the nashville predators breaking their four game losing streak the game was tied at one one in the second period but the flyers quickly turned things around. with the winner is twelfth goal of the season making it to one. snowboard cross world cup is finally underway after a delayed start to the season because of a lack of snow sports a mix between motocross and snowboarding and luckily there was enough snow for the event to happen in italy germany's omar visitant and took home gold for the men and in the women's event lindsey dick about list of the usa took points for her victory . that's all for sport more later. thank you very much well now in european space agency has posted a christmas card of a winter wonderland on the red planet mars express satellite sent back these

spectacular images this is the car left crater and it's filled with ice eighty two kilometers wide the mission launched in two thousand and three and went into orbit around mars on christmas day all that yeah and this is what it looks like now. well that wraps up the new album all news coming out very shortly in just a couple of minutes. development. progress for. the end of a way of life for others. a clash between corporate

interests and a people who must prepare for the long fight to protect their heritage. the march to progress in the philippines part of the you find asia series on al-jazeera . to cope with driving in kabul you need nerves of steel and a strong heart the afghan capital has some of the most challenging driving conditions anywhere even though women are allowed to drive by law many men say culturally it is wrong that they are but is that me again there are lots of men here that the abuse you they block your car motorcyclists right alongside shouting bad things no one helps us when the taliban were in control women were forbidden to drive but outside of the main cities it is rare even now to see a woman behind the wheel society is changing albeit slowly but for the women drivers of afghanistan there is a long road ahead before they are fully accepted by

a major official every bleakly news cycle brings a series of breaking stories and then of course there's donald trump the town through the eyes of the world's channelise that's right out of a hamas script that calls for the annihilation of israel that is not what that phrase means. listening post as we turn the cameras on the media and focus on how they were caught on the stories that matter the most embarrased a free palestine a listening post on al-jazeera. a major shift in u.s. military policy as president trump announces his intention to pull troops out of syria and afghanistan. and i'm maryam namazie in london you're with al-jazeera also coming up on the

program the u.s. inches closer to a government shutdown over a finance bill which includes billions of dollars for a wall along its border with mexico. antigovernment protesters gather once more in the garrion capital voicing their anger at what many have dubbed the slave law and opposition supporters demonstrating the democratic republic of congo after the presidential election. where now for u.s. foreign policy is the question being all stuff to president donald trump's decision to pull his troops out of syria trauma's shift in u.s. military strategy is one of the reasons his defense secretary says he's quitting james mattis becomes the latest high profile member of trump's administration to resign over policy differences his announcement also coincides with reports that trump has ordered the withdrawal of up to seven thousand u.s.

troops from afghanistan which would harm its presence that shopper tansey has more . there's been no shortage of voices in washington expressing dismay at donald trump's decision to withdraw troops from syria and the subsequent resignation of defense secretary james mattis and shaken by the news because of the patriot that general secretary models. and now with reports that the president has ordered a withdrawal from afghanistan republican senator lindsey graham has called for congressional hearings on both decisions the foreign policy establishment is confronting one of its greatest fear is that trump meant what he said on the campaign trail where force in the middle east that we were fifteen years ago i mean right now it's a disaster once trump filled his cabinet with people who did not share that view though the establishment thought it was safe i think it's fair to say that the establishment never wanted this moment to come stablished and that is certainly is a member of that establishment in good standing. is unwilling i think. ask and he's

restored questions about u.s. policy in the region and even if things haven't gone well and they haven't they're going ation is simply to persist there is skepticism about how deeply geostrategic trumps decision was and whether the president will even follow through. but several issues are reported to have been involved in the syria decision including the primacy of the us a strategic relationship with turkey and the avoidance of mission creep. in the last few months national security adviser john bolton has made it clear that the us was in syria to confront iran that was a position explicitly rejected in the tweet that announced the withdrawal we have defeated isis in syria my only reason for being there during the trump presidency the president writes the south is divided there are many senior officers in the military would think the circle deployments over long periods of time just aren't working and they are eroding our military readiness but it's worth remembering that

even with these proposed withdrawals the u.s. still has tens of thousands of troops a massive effort in the region she ever tense the elders are of washington. so what then could they us cost in minute trade forces mean for afghanistan up to half the u.s. forces base that are expected to pull out charlotte palace has mall. but. as much as gridlock is a part of living in kabul so is the presence of u.s. troops for seventeen years thousands of american soldiers have been stationed in afghanistan and now there are reports that may be coming to an end for a magnet and we consider this good luck if they get lost and disappear from here would be very happy with. their own fourteen thousand u.s. military personnel in support an advisory role for more than two hundred thousand afghan troops but the u.s. numbers may be hogged. we would be happy that u.s.

troops are leaving if the if ghana forces were strong enough to defend us but unfortunately we do not have enough power to defend our country similar concerns were voiced three weeks ago by the general nominated to command all u.s. forces in the middle east if we are precipitously right now i do not believe they would be able to successfully defend their country president ashraf ghani and his government remained largely silent in response with organics chief advisor did tweet most analysts believe that afghanistan would collapse with the departure of more than one hundred thousand troops but our brave defense and security forces prove these analysts wrong and defended the nation with great valor president donald trump has flip flopped on afghanistan coming into office he was for a troop withdrawal then last year increase the number of troops and said this there's no talking to the taliban we don't want to talk to the taliban we're going to finish what we have to finish what nobody else has been able to finish we're going to be able to do it but now the u.s.

is talking to the taliban in peace talks again in momentum earlier this week u.s. taliban saudi pakistan and afghan representatives mit and the united arab emirates talks covered a possible cease fire and a complete u.s. troop withdrawal something the taliban says is non-negotiable maybe we could look at it as a confidence building measures. or requesting. ambassador. for a schedule to draw their forces this could well be one of those signs where they're committed to would draw from of understand if the good. because the the no one song . afghans anxiously wait for clarity what president trump and do what it will mean for the china ballasts al-jazeera. the u.s. government is heading towards a shutdown the senate is currently debating

a finance bill which includes more than five billion dollars for a wall along its border with mexico but it has very little chance of passing president donald trump says his administration is prepared for a very long shutdown unless it gets its way. so now it's up to the democrats as to whether or not we have a shutdown tonight i hope we don't but you're totally prepared for a very long. this is our only chance it will ever be your opinion because of the world the way it reaches. you yet the great order. mike hanna joins us live now from washington for more on this story and the deadline is fast approaching isn't it president trump's position is pretty entrenched entrenched how likely is a shutdown looking at this point. well there is some developments that would appear a delegation from the president consisting of the vice president mike pence jarrett

questioner and the newly appointed chief of staff mick mulvaney of shuttered shuttling between the house and the senate they've just had a meeting with the house speaker paul ryan they are now on their way back to the senate for discussions there it's understood that they are trying to get some kind of compromise deal together in a bid to avert the shutdown the democrats have been absolutely clear they will not vote for any legislation any funding that includes money for president trump's war president trump is equally clear as you heard that if that money is not forthcoming he will not sign off on any funding if that does not include money for the wall so it did appear that the positions were completely entrenched but now there are signs coming from the hill that there may be some progress there may be some form of compromise being batted out just tell us briefly mike how a government shutdown would work what the consequences would be and who would be

impacted by that. well this is a partial shutdown funding for a number of branches of government was passed through earlier in the year but this is mainly funding for homeland security things such as air transportation national parks a security law and order now these are issues that what does happen is that a number of workers are laid off a number of workers are simply not paid even though they carry on working because they are deemed to be strategic of in strategic importance it varies from agency to agency each federal agency will make up its own rules in terms of what happens when there's a shutdown but just to give you some example of how far reaching this could be postal workers who will be affected they will not be paid although christmas packages are going to be still delivered the post office insists transportation agencies coming into airports the customs people checking passports etc they will

not be paid they are not going to be in a very good mood should the shutdown go ahead and very importantly homeland security president trump speaks about security at the border but the ice agents the homeland security agents working there will now be working without pay until if this shutdown does go through and finally president trump secret service staff will be going with him on his christmas retreat in florida they will not be paid for the duration of the shutdown so the ramifications are immense a few days of shutdown not much impact but if it goes any longer it would have a devastating effect on the country all right thank you very much mike hanna in washington. now in all the stories we're following the palestinian health ministry says israeli forces have shot dead three palestinians including a sixteen year old boy close to the gaza fence all the one hundred fifty other palestinians are thought of been injured the teen who was shot in the neck has been named as muhammad two palestinians have been holding weekly protests for the right

of return for refugees dubbed the great march over time along the gaza israel area for almost nine months well now to the un security council having voted unanimously to send observers to yemen to monitor a fragile truce between the saudi that coalition and the rebels the vote concerns the implementation of a cease fire and yemen's keep or city of data and the withdrawal of rival forces from the area it comes after a un brokered peace negotiations or yemen's warring parties agreed to a cease fire in sweden last week on diplomatic editor james bass is at the u.n. headquarters in new york with the latest. this resolution passed unanimously endorses the deployment of u.n. monitors to yemen i'm told the first advance team could be there in her data in a matter of hours they will then decide how many monitors there should be i'm told mission they were talking about thirty but they could go up to a figure of one hundred sixty seven the other thing the security council hopes this

will do is bring momentum to the peace process with more talks to you in january the u.k. ambassador was the one who drafted this resolution the most important matter now is that we turn to urgent implementation it's vital that the parties finally thier neck commitments to pave the way for a formal mean launch of negotiations and at the same time mr president delivering real improvements on the ground that make a tangible difference to ordinary yemenis there were some tough negotiations to get this passed including an unseemly ryle between two allies the u.k. and the u.s. i'm told it even went to the office of the foreign secretary and the secretary of state one of the things that's come out of the original draft resolution drawn up by the u.k. is the provision of accountability for crimes under international humanitarian law

that something that would have targeted the saudi led coalition it seems the u.s. has been doing the coalition's bidding and got that section removed. it was a life from london still ahead for you. between police and protesters as the spanish national cabinet meets in the capital and regional capital. and thailand's military rulers defend the economy as a new report names the country is the walls of inequality.