has very strongly informed me that he will eradicate whatever is left of isis in syria and he is a man who can do it plus turkey is right next door troops are coming home has been following developments from the turkey's syria border and she joins us here on the news. on the face of it it looks like this relationship between washington and ankara is heading into something of an upswing. definitely a new relationship between the two nato allies which over the past few years strained ties really over syria policy now we're seeing statements from u.s. presidents from turkish president or the gun talking about cooperation and coordination and one way or another trump is as if he is you know saying that turkey is now our representative in the syria taking over our interests and implementing our interests in syria now this pull out what we understand is that turkish officials have convinced donald trump really to make sure that this pullout

will be orderly because turkish officials are worried about a possible security vacuum i can tell you what turkey wants and what they want is for this region in north eastern syria which is now under the control of the syrian kurdish armed group the y p g a to be handed back to what they call its rightful owners cities like. these are predominantly arab cities now under the control of the white b.g. turkey would like to see arab representatives take control of these towns now turkish and u.s. officials are going to be meeting in washington on january the eighth to discuss this pullout but definitely turkey is in a difficult situation because some analysts have told us that what the u.s. has done really is tell turkey it's your job now to contain iran so turkey finding itself now having to choose between the united states and its long term relationship with iran and russia in syria i mean that's that's the diplomatic danger but the real military potential danger is following on from this u.s.

withdrawal and turkey going off to i still might mr erdogan do what he's done before which is say i'm going after one group of people but then i might just veer off and go off to the why p.g. p k k. well definitely there is potential for new conflict yesterday we saw turkish military send reinforcements to the front lines north of members of the y.p. g. dominated syrian democratic forces they have sent to representatives to moscow now russia of course being the main player in syria trying to reach out to russia to reach some sort of a deal with the syrian government because what the y.p. two would like to do is maintain control of this area and this really is testing the relationship between russia and turkey and we've been speaking to russian diplomats and russia is also hinting that the deal the cease fire deal in the northwestern province of the deal between russia and turkey could be at stake and they're also worried about turkey's behavior in the ass from

a negotiating process so relationships alliances are now being tested russia and iran of course they've always been worried about this possibility the turkish american red cross more so yes the power of balance could shift in syria this is thirty percent of syrian territory a lot of back door negotiations and like you mentioned yes the threat of military confrontation is real zain thanks very much well as allegation of the syrian democratic forces that helped in the fight against assad has now arrived in moscow to discuss a possible plan to stop a turkish attack east of the euphrates the armed wing of the s.t.s. is the y.p. g y p g controls a strip of territory from iraq to the east and banks of the euphrates almost thirty percent of syrian territory as you know was just saying that turkey is labeled a wipe e.g. a terrorist organization saying they are an extension of an outlawed group that is fighting for kurdish autonomy inside turkey. is

a military analyst and columnist with the newspaper he joins us from moscow puddle welcome back to the news so they're worried that there will be an attack on their forces inside syria. well yes of course i mean that's what the kurds are always afraid of and. i've gone has made it quite clear that he wants to clear the border area of b.g. forces then kind of hundreds of mind the red job of the federation of kurdish enclave in the north of syria and control the border area absolutely and of course the kurds have a long time away sion ship with russia they have the right job kurds have a kind of embassy an official in moscow so they have long connections and they'll be turning to russia and possibly the asaad regime to get some protection against the turks as the result of course of course russia has its own interest in that

place that's now controlled by the kurds that's the. most mostly darroze or province which contains most of the oil and gas deposits in syria ok just to interrupt you there for a second pump. of dollars here and then i would. just interrupt you there pavel russia is reportedly talking about deploying syrian border guards they themselves become a potential target. actually know when there was fighting for free in all of these turkish olive branch operations the outside forces moved some fifo into out free in the third bombed them and pushed them out so turkey is going to go of course and control they are going to apparent we could ends not immediately but after the american we leave there's

going to be some kind of quid pro quo i mean russia is interested in the south part thirty is interested in the north there is a russian turkey and iran and of course the asaad regime are going to find some kind of solution of carving it up who gets the oil who gets the control of the border and the kurds will be trying to get another if the americans let them down they'll be trying to get support from damascus in moscow. thank you very much let's move on still to come for you here on the news hour including we'll be live in bethlehem as christians get ready to celebrate christmas plus. making to be piecing together the venezuelans will arrive in argentina a little except the instruments and the sports news six as they put on the title contending performance in the english premier league details with santa coming coming up in about thirty minutes.

trade unions in sudan a calling for a general strike aimed at paralyzing the government's protests and trying the six they know on saturday night the police fired tear gas to disperse hundreds of protesters in the capital khartoum they gathered in the city center after a football match chanting freedom songs and demanding the president omar al bashir stepped up the protests were triggered by a shortage of bread and fuel ever morgan has the latest now from khartoum. there's been five days of protests across the country and more protests are expected today the doctors' union also issued a statement last night and said that they are going to hold a general strike and that they calling for people of other professions to join in on a nationwide strike the terms of fifth of december now it's not clear yet if this strike will happen it's not clear if the strike will take place but what we do know is that last night after a football match people came out of the stadium and protested against the

government they've been chanting slogans like down with the government we don't want the government anymore we want a new regime so it's very obvious that what started i was at was started out as an economic protest has turned into political protests that started all last week in the city of daraa in never in our state but that quickly escalated and went across the country now we've seen people protesting from different parts of the country and including the capital khartoum yesterday the police had to use live ammunition and tear gas to disperse the protesters there were reports of some injuries including a child who has been killed that brings the death toll to eleven if we go with the government death toll and it brings it down to twenty brings it up to twenty eight if you go with activists it's not clear yet if this process would ever stop the people seem to be demanding a new government they don't seem to be willing to listen to what this government is willing to offer solutions to try to ease them out of the economic crisis that began the whole thing. palestinians and pilgrims from around the world will be celebrating christmas in bethlehem this year as usual preparations underway in the

central square where the stuff he's about the patriarch of jerusalem is about to arrive but four hundred christians from gaza were given permits to attend the celebrations invest him in the all requests were rejected by israel stephanie joins us live from bethlehem so staff what's the atmosphere like so far. right. if you. want somebody. like you why because of course not because i think that would be preaching church here either and then you would be answering the charge of the nativity which is of course for the person. jesus christ born in the grotto in the cave underneath the church so there's a real atmosphere of senate i mean maybe we go to the other side just show you

a bit of there's families here a lot of palestinian israelis have come here from across the west but particularly so in israel as you were mentioning that was to some christians in gaza so they're gathering here waiting for the arrival of the archbishop and also it's worth mentioning the tour this year we are seeing more people because the ground was relatively quiet compared to last year there are more numbers expected to celebrates here today we're marking the birth of jesus christ over two thousand years ago ok steph thanks very much. two reuters journalists are back in court in me in ma to appeal against a jail term handed down in september while alone unsure soul will give them seven years behind bars for breaking the official secrets act they've been investigating the killing of ten ringin islamists in rakhine state their lawyers say the pair were set up their convictions are being globally condemned with their trial regarded as a sham. the south korean government is facing german carmaker b.m.w.

with a ten million dollars fine and is filing a criminal complaint against the company b.m.w.'s accused of deliberately covering up technical issues that led to several engine fires b.m.w. recalled one hundred seventy two thousand models and issued an apology earlier this year south korea's transport ministry says they didn't act fast enough. after thirty seven years nigeria's parliament has finally approved a billion dollars to go to rescuing one of africa's biggest steel plants the approval came after an exclusive al-jazeera report on how corruption was blocking the company's revival and interests as revisited the steel company. dusty he hangs over one of africa's biggest seeded brands as an eagle flies overhead surveying the scene below. for more than three decades i don't just forty one plans that include steel electricity cement and footless appliance i've been

idle despite the soviet era mattress a little being ninety five percent complete but change appears to be finally on the way we've tried to put the governance structure of the structure in place it compact on my efficient structure to enable us carry out our responsibilities and what we're sure we're doing is to ensure that there is a video of the dryer on a monthly bill the parliament has pushed legislation through to fund its completion this government is on this mission and the route through a show that. walks before the end of this administration it's estimated that six hundred to seven hundred million dollars would be enough to complete the project but parliament has approved one billion dollars that has also triggered a sudden interest from investors whether their funds come from decide the government or lot there are a special interest for so many companies on ten ukraine russia. are some other

countries the plan steam powered electricity generators will soon contribute seventy megawatts to the nation's grid it will become one of africa's biggest deal plans producing up to ten million tons of steel each year. while this massive plant lay dormant a south korean company with a similar sized plant built a year later by the same soviet union engineers has grown to become one of the four largest two producers in the world with revenues of about fifty billion dollars a year but after more than three decades corrupt government officials and their lobbyist make sure but there is still a company never took off. the machine tools section is the busiest here engineers are designing and producing machine spares but customer demand especially from government on factories is for externally though most facilities including the

conveyor belt need an overhaul of the rail system including the locomotives and trucks are still waiting to be used although the bridge riverport two hundred kilometers of rail link two hundred kilometers of internal roads and rail networks have been completed access to some iron ore mining sites is still a challenge. while the company with still more government support many nigerians wonder why a country which currently has a foreign reserves of forty five billion u.s. dollars cannot find a way to complete such an important project and kickstart the industrialization process how many agrees. a jacket and nigeria. now just a few moments staff will join us with the weather forecast but also still ahead here on al-jazeera sporadic fighting continues in the yemeni port city of data as the head of a u.n. team arrives there. last christmas on the moon we look back at how the first you know voyage made history in more ways than one. sports find out why this bill

keeper was having a cracking time details later what sound. from i mean we. tune in chanting as it breathes leave. as it is very wet for some of us in new zealand at the moment we've got this pitch air from the bay of islands that shows rather a murky scene actually that was as good as it got the weather went downhill after that until thanks to this weather system here he is stretching across the north island and then gradually edging eastwood's and it has given us an awful lot of wet weather the wettest that i've seen is nearly one hundred forty millimeters of rain there and for cleanse itself we gots to fifty eight millimeters of rain that's the wettest christmas eve that we've had for the last fifty six years

a very very wet day that we've had this system is still going to be spiraling around as we head through the day on tuesday so plenty more where that came from actually is going to be bright and dry our warmer for the south island with the south of the south island maybe getting to around thirty degrees so real change for us really warm in the south and really miserable in the north by the time we get to wednesday that system would have pulled away and then all of us will be enjoying some fog drier and calmer weather over towards australia and there's plenty of dry weather here at the moment i'm not so it's going to stay as we head through the next couple of days as well if you're looking for a shallow best chalices in the phone all the consequence on maybe across into the northern territory but forced down in the south is fine and drawing temperatures in melbourne royson as we head through into what's. the way sponsored by the time. a policy imposed decades ago pregnant woman part that she could selectively goods

and have only boys changing demographics across asia with far reaching consequences creating a pool of socially disadvantaged young men so you have the system where people at every level are bigot being given money money to agree to start our money to get other people to agree to sterilization al-jazeera examines the politics of population control. as this year old threats it. comes to an end. we examine what the top stories might be to try to be very results. in the new year. join us. as we take a look ahead to twenty nineteen. on al-jazeera. welcome

back you're watching the auxilary news hour live from doha these are your headlines of course in pakistan a sentence the former prime minister now is sharif to seven years in prison sharif along with his daughter and son in law which elderly others on corruption charges relating to the purchase of luxury properties in london. at least two hundred eighty one people have died after saturday's tsunami swept along the saundra straits and crashed twenty meters inland without warning rescue teams are working around the clock in search of survivors president has promised to upgrade the tsunami detection system. and trade union. ensued on a call in for a general strike aimed at paralyzing the government this comes after police fired

tear gas to disperse hundreds of protesters in the capital khartoum on saturday night. the head of the u.n. mission tasked with monitoring the fragile cease fire in yemen as arrived in the port city of data the retired dutch general patrick comair met government representatives in the southern city of aden before talks with who feel leaders in the capital sanaa over the weekend now the ceasefire in who data is largely holding since it came into effect last tuesday but there has been sporadic fighting between both sides yemen's warring parties agreed on a truce in the port city during their peace talks in rimbaud near stockholm the swedish capital earlier this month the u.n. mission now in yemen has been based in neighboring djibouti our correspondent has been covering the story extensively from there he joins us here in the studio so these u.n. observers they're not armed they're not uniformed what can they achieve. well they're basically the would act as the eyes and ears of the united nations and the rest of the international community because international pressure is what is

needed most to make not only this is for succeed but also the purchase commit corral that commitment off with drawing troops from the city of course today there is a key plank in the conflict in yemen the most important issue with it is because most of the aid and commercial goods of passing through the ports there in a day it's vital for the survival of millions of yemenis and if this is fire and the troop withdraw from the city succeeds then that can be extended to places that is for example where there's been years of both the siege on it and other places where fighting still rages on and part of the pressure is that a distillation if you will of what we heard from martin griffiths and also from good terrorists when he where they were in sweden saying look between now and the next round of talks at the end of january if you feel the need to pick up the phone

we will talk she will talk to anyone and everyone for as long as you want because we want to maintain what we've achieved so far because they did achieve an awful lot in sweden they did then that surprised many people no one expected such. this much progress in such a short time they were limited for eight days and they came up with. an agreement that needs a lot of compromise from both sides for example the whole face losing that city of the one doing it and living it taking out their troops is a huge setback for them and their plan because of how important there was to them that is one of the reasons why the international community the u.n. feels that they need to guide the parties through the case as a measure of goodwill from both of them that they are willing to bring that all for calm. in they can do twenty and above where they say we are here and that's why the deployment of this morning to us has been one of the quickest by human standards

and they've already hit the ground running. and his team visited the port today they also holding talks with hoofy leaders they've already constituted that a deployment coordination committee which is being led by the general and but the real test. in all what is happening now is whether the parties who ordered the deadline buckle up since at the end of the first week of january for a complete troop withdraw from both white or point you get the feeling that these look quite low level skirmishes in and around to date will fizzle out and disappear ultimately over the coming couple of days or so it's yemen and nothing is simple and i don't think anyone is brave enough to say they will fizzle out but again nobody is expecting their guns to go silent all of

a sudden because of the amount of suspicion and bad blood between the two groups so this coming as were expected and they're not causing much worry about it but as the deadline nears draws near the would be moments when people would be really fearful about the whole cease fire collapsing that's what it depends on understood thanks very much. the democratic republic of congo is gearing up for a long delayed election to replace the president joseph kabila one of the most powerful players calling for change is the catholic church welcome web has more from st josephs in kinshasa. in the democratic republic of congo the catholic church has clout. nearly half of congress eighty million people going through its church services like this one in the capital kinshasa and president joseph kabila didn't step down at the end of his second and final constitutional mandate the church stood up. john bell i was one of the key coordinators of the protest for

democracy which eventually led to an election being called for sunday two years late. three days ago it was postponed again until next week and. until today we are aware of strategies to not organize elections we are not surprised that we don't have elections even though there was enough time we were informed about the perspire moment of elections until the thirtieth and we think that for seven days let us not burn the whole country. the priest asks people to pray for the elections to be peaceful. the last two years were not dozens were killed by police in the protests the catholic church brokered a deal for a delayed election to take place when it was finally announced more were killed during the campaigns mostly at opposition rallies the government promises it's delivering democracy because. the president of the republic is the one who has

brought democracy in this country we've had difficulties organizing elections on time and the president is the one who is conscious of the fact that his two mandates are over that's why the electoral commission has all the means to organize elections. since the commission and nouns the postponement there have been pleas and soldiers on the street near the university activists tried to organize a march they were completely out numbered so they gave up. the catholic church is powerful here they can speak up when others can't it's political works northover people are now waiting to see if next week's election really will happen a lot of people are wondering if the ruling party and the electoral commission intend to hold any election at all. most people here say they want change they still don't know if they'll get it malcolm webb al-jazeera kinshasa in the

democratic republic of congo. homelessness in the u.k. has reached a record high with about one hundred seventy thousand families and individuals affected british government figures show nearly six hundred homeless people died over the past year and a barber as that story from london. remembering a friend who died too young jeweler a mesh a rough sleeper from hungary was found dead in this london underground station right opposite parliament bore a fellow hungary and is still traumatized it's come down to say goodnight to my friends and i saw him laying on his stomach it was when i was telling my friends something not right he's not reading this will do for the only turn him around the league if you sit on. jr was just forty three his death came in the same week as government figures reveal the total number of deaths among people sleeping rough or in temporary accommodation the estimate almost six hundred homeless people died

in england and wales last year that marks a rise of twenty five percent in five years more than half of those deaths were due to drug poisoning alcohol abuse or suicide the vast majority have died in recent years were men and their average age was forty four for women it was just forty two in this city whether you live here or you're a visitor it's virtually impossible not to notice the shocking number of rough sleepers was not so easy to grasp is just how difficult it can be for those people to get off the street even when they're determined to do so. in the run up to the new year the charity crisis is running drop in centers for homeless people in several u.k. cities at this one they're offering not just hot meals and medical treatment but somewhere to sleep at night and advice on housing. that's become a national emergency because of a fall in social housing stock and other cuts in services over decades failed to build the social housing that's needed so now more and more people are relying on

the private rented sector which isn't a bad thing in itself but is rents go up and benefits all freeze and then more and more the cost of housing isn't covered by the social security system so that's been driving home is the case with david's one of those who fall in through the cracks he returned to the u.k. in november after decades abroad with no savings in no way to stay for now he spends his days on the street whatever the weather it's a miserable day like today it's a good question. so having no cushy duty to. be based here for several days and don't have to worry of both. strike you both you belong in is history. this charity says the real challenge is stopping people becoming homeless in the first place but for now it's trying to attract more donations so it can provide alternatives to life on the streets the al-jazeera london. the body of a seven year old girl who died while in u.s.

border patrol custody has now arrived back in guatemala jackson calls body will be handed over to her family and relatives at home village for lost by a father says jackson was sick when they were taken into custody by the u.s. border patrol earlier this month. a deafening political crisis in nicaragua from to the president daniel ortega to step up a crackdown on his critics now a national law banning dissent has pushed nicaraguans to find alternative forms of protest such as. means one such as from the capital a man who since had his studio raided by members of the national police. at a private studio in the nicaraguan capital political cartoonist is sketching out an idea well the sketch is coming along it's a legal to protest against the government here but bedroom says with few civil liberties many government critics have turned to art. despite how bad the crisis has been the positive side is that it has spark creativity in people because spaces

for freedom of expression have been closed off not letting people march or anything else people are now looking for an alternative way of expressing themselves. the violent clashes of a few months ago on the streets of mine i want have stopped at least temporarily a photography exhibit and you can i was university of central america highlights the increasingly repressive tactics by national security forces to silence critics of the president. good deal curator of the exhibit says simply having these photographs on display creates a high risk of reprisal from the government. doesn't mean much to me if india. were all definitely very afraid this isn't easy but the university wanted to take this risk which may or may not be prudent and it could have consequences.

across town local artists have put together another exhibit showcasing thirty paintings representing the thirty articles of the universal declaration of human rights are to scandalize yet to be read says art gives people a way to express themselves when there is no other. alternative would have been set up by law that if it words can get you thrown in prison in this country i don't think i would be arrested for a painting or maybe so but that's a reality the moment we can no longer make art what's the point of living when i can and i. am out of it i know you mean. artists in my now was a few places are willing to host art exhibits if they're perceived as anti-government since the start of the political crisis hundreds of people in the guy will have been sent to prison many for voicing their opinions or sharing them online back in the studio is finishing his sketch depicting the guy was president. and his wife the vice president as two puppets scattered on his desk are the

portraits he's drawn of children activists and journalists who've been killed by government forces since the start of the crisis an artistic statement in a country where words of dissent are not allowed. and. more than two million venezuelans escaping an economic crisis resettled in countries across south america and argentina some are resulting to music to cope with the difficulties of being away from home to his apartment some of them in berlin as ira's. tradition an argentine tango music with a venice when twist. of the news came to win a scientist who escaped the crisis in venezuela now a member of this band it makes her feel just a bit closer to home i mean isn't that i'm out of my left because when my baby was born i was afraid he could die because we couldn't find medicine that's why we came here now playing here helps to stay united and we will all take care of each other as a family. this is the latin vox machine the band members met him when

a site is made hands in venezuela they were part of a program known as the system it was set up by her in the one nine hundred seventy s. and used to. music to attract thousands of innocent children away from my life in crime and poverty. and so forth the message of this band is that in spite of the difficulty and the suffering and all the problems we have faced we never have to stop fighting for what we love and we are all musicians at heart. many of those in the band got their start in argentina playing in they want to cite us metro system six months ago says out of creating some arrived in the capital he still plays in the metro to help make ends meet. it was part of my destiny we all left for different reasons but finding ourselves is part of the miracle in the band no there's also.