his influences popularity in the end say they have been seen as a threat to president obama forces leadership the party now you could say divided into two main factions the pro zuma group and the roma posek. we've got rough in the paper with us now lecturer at the university of the western cape he's also written a book called rama forces turn cancer will save south africa can he. or well i do think he is just one state at that balancing act in was do not dollar i mean just prison ship was a must and when said of the president i'm a plus so in the in the week he was quite aggressive for speaking against corruption and i think the week he toned down on that realizing that you just cannot go into office if you can cause you do not doubt given president jobs you must continue to ensure the shock and awe thing that he's trying that is an opportunity but i gave him the great impeachment remains the a.n.c. itself and how do they manage so much i mean as we speak yet political tomorrow

continues to be one of the campaign faces of the a.n.c. is campaigning with the party in was will not die but the energies that he's a suspect in it could not a case that involves corruption and he's got on opposite keeps on talking against corruption saw it is a very delicate balance that president obama has assumed to be undertaking in gaza or not out in the listen to the mine or is that probably within them because the problems don't only resonate in was really not dollars in other provinces that are still problems including the province of northwest as well so it's a continued balancing act it almost feels like zuma still on the ballot booth seems to from what you've just described there he sounds so influential and run a force that has to be so careful not to alienate his supporters it's like they're almost still his is still. almost an elected official. it is not continues to be affected within the a.n.c. and members of a n c recently they have been putting together through the party

process is that a list of people who need to go to parliament after they lectured the who will be going to parliament within the a.n.c. they lections and that is the name that is that is the one of the former president jacob zuma and what that means is that it is seen members if some within the sea still believe that there's a lot has something to offer within the party and even within the country because otherwise they wouldn't have put in one day he saw it shows like he's on the ballot and he's quite into a shop and i think there is also realize they shouldn't within the a.n.c. but if you go a lot of us will not die out if you do not a piece of my support toss the province live not poor together with the a.n.c. when it comes to campaigning for these elections so at this point that by all means to manage zuma i mean to say whatever you want to say about what is happening in government at times even reflect on the policies of the government in contradiction with decision president mr i will post one of our viewers on facebook live has just

pointed out and said just in a comment that they n c is the most powerful party in south africa and that's very true where are talking about internal politics within the a.n.c. should we even be talking about the other candidates or is it just accepted that the a.n.c. will win. the a.n.c. continues to defy and sort of it does put it takes and when we look at this election is going to be whether the wheels fall or loses there is not affected here about the opposition we really despise the disaster if you like some of the problems but there is have been content in the past few years under just as much the a.n.c. is still pulling very well and this is a hundred and seventy year organization and the recent polls that were released last week are placing the n.c. at above sixty percent it is very very strange and very odd she just souls also how south africans quite a number are thought of again still have that inclination towards that i did there

is still emotional attachment to that there might be willingness to feel gave the a.n.c. for the past years in the interest of ensuring maybe stability or the pursuit of some of the policies that people might believe will benefit the larger population that is what so you just cannot dismiss the a.n.c. it remains a very defining factor in the forthcoming election it's all about how much the much is up when i get when it comes to believe clearly likely to. take a joining us from cape town pleasure talking to you thank you thank you and here's an edition of up front with the hot sun for you just for a little more background this is a chat with two late modern sarah c. of s. she is south africa's public prosecutor was the public prosecutor from two thousand and three and six thing this interview is from last year but it doesn't really outline the case against jacob zuma and as she says that if you don't feel losing power when you have no reason to do your best up front it is in the show's section a down to zero calm can south africa stop cycles of corruption. now so the story i

was going to tell you about earlier the teenager who fled saudi arabia because she feared being killed by her family for renouncing islam well she's just arrived in her new home canada granted asylum to mohamed el c'mon who gained global attention for barricading herself in a hotel in thailand's to avoid deportation to the kingdom where he was going to have more from her shortly but mike hanna as well be talking to him in toronto but first this report is from john hendren in a desperate plea from a barricaded hotel room run half noon urged the world to come to rescue them still and. you have no choice. they said to have to go to model and. no one can have been right now on friday she got her wish and we have accepted the un's request that we grant her asylum that is

something that we are pleased to do because canada is a country that understands how important it is to stand up for human rights stand up for women's rights around the world the canadian prime minister's announcement ended a weeklong drama that drew worldwide attention the eighteen year old fled saudi arabia accusing her family of physical and psychological abuse but was detained by the authorities in bangkok who at one point threatened to send her back she launched a social media campaign from her hotel room appealing to the united nations high commission on refugees saying she would be killed if she returned i'm not leaving my own until i see it as. i want. the un agreed in turn to canada saudi arabia already faces international scrutiny over the killing of journalist jamal khashoggi in the saudi consulate in istanbul in october that prompted canada to review its arms sales to saudi arabia and.

the case has drawn global attention district guardianship laws that require saudi women to get a male guardians permission to travel or escape is said to have inspired other saudi women ralph how mad. mock my god is going to start a revolution in saudi arabia go on social media now and watch the accounts off so many young saudis see you have so nice that we can do this refused to see her father and brother who traveled to bangkok to seek or return in the end it might have been noon savvy use of social media that led her to a new life in canada. two saudi official reportedly told the tire thirty's who sees through passport i wish they'd taken her phone instead john hendren. and here is mike hanna now he's the toronto airport i might plenty of cameras and journalists behind you talk us through what's been happening indeed years has been

a massive focus of media attention here the plane from seoul arrived about one hour ago we're still waiting for run of vulcanism to come through the departure doors behind the arrival doors certainly this has been a major story within canada the whole excitement through the week of the drama in terms of getting permission for her to come to this country has been reflected very intensely in the media the u.n. high commissioner for refugees playing a critical role in all of this it was the u.n.h.c.r. that reached out to canada asking them to grant asylum and canada very quickly agreeing to do so as you heard in john's package so here we are waiting now as i said she arrived about an hour ago and no clear idea about when the eighteen year old is going to walk through the doors behind me here how much of it is almost a social story versus a political story here mike i just think about the fact that things weren't exactly

great between canada and saudi arabia already. well this is another massive kink in this particular story remembering back in august massive diplomatic argument between saudi arabia and canada following comments by the canadian are a menace to criticism of saudi arabia the saudi arabian ambassador was withdrawn saudi arabia canceled all flights to canada so this was a massive a diplomatic spat in addition there's a multi-billion dollar arms deal that had been negotiated by the previous canadian government now that arms deal to provide light armored vehicles to saudi arabia is under review as it is said at this particular stage the prime minister insisting that this deal means a lot of money a lot of jobs to canada but there's nothing of pressure on him particularly from the opposition to cut down to walk away from this particular deal so this is just another crimp in the very fractured diplomatic relations between saudi arabia and

canada ok thanks michael come back to later on hopefully when we see actually come through there want to broaden things out just for a moment there and really talk about immigration in canada because the canadian government to set out an ambitious three year plan to increase immigration levels to help with labor shortages in an aging population was put into place in twenty eighteen includes welcoming a million migrants annually into the country by the year or by the end of twenty twenty since justin trudeau came to power in october twenty fifteen canada has opened its doors to almost fifty thousand syrian refugees compare that to the u.s. which was taken in twenty thousand in that period in just eleven people in the whole of last year in canada applications made by migrants in syria eritrea yemen sudan djibouti and turkey are actually most likely to be accepted unlike you would say the united states below with us now a journalist for the gulf matters joining us live from london as well and canadian

yourself so let's talk about the canadian well let's talk about this particular issue first with the half she is just one girl in this what a lot of people are saying to me on social media you know really pleased for her but she's just one girl does she become almost in a sort of perverse way almost a poster girl for what the canadians want to do with immigration. well it's it's possible they do i think canada has a much different view of immigration and the americans are particular don't trump and generally canada and historically has been welcoming of immigrants to the country i don't see it as necessarily making her a poster girl for a new strategy the strategy is is continuing perhaps it emphasizes somewhat her situation i think i would say it is in some ways connected to this ongoing feud that erupted in the summer the canadian foreign minister made comments criticizing the treatment of women who had been arrested in saudi arabia those women are still

being held at no charge is very serious allegations of of abuse of torture sexual abuse being brought against the authorities holding them the saudis have yet to respond to that charge so i think what this does is it reignites once again questions about the leadership of mohamed bin psalm on and the treatment that he meets out to those who criticized him i think in that contest you can see canada reaching out canada's got a strong record of women's rights and of and of rights that deal with freedom of speech freedom of expression so in that sense the canadians are you know sticking it to the saudis and saying ok here's what we're going to do as i look at those who will take we will take this young saudi short summary as i look at those numbers also just looking at the graphic which we read about earlier about the number of people that canada wants to take in it talks about taking in

a million people every year until the end of twenty twenty i can't help but think all germany which took in a million migrants as well and that politically speaking very much back fine is there any parallel there or is canada and canadian society sufficiently different that the politicians and justin trudeau and the like don't have to worry about that . i think it's a much different situation i think that the the right hard drive in germany was able to exacerbate fears that the refugees are going to pour cross the borders similar views expressed here you may recall in the back seat campaign in the last couple of weeks of that campaign there was a huge poster that when i was suggesting that britain was about to experience a vast and plugs of syrian refugees it's easier to run these immigration scare campaigns in in europe i think in canada again because of the canadian tradition of welcoming immigrants most canadians are very welcoming and have been for many many

years i can remember living in canada in the eighty's when canadians were taking a lot from olens who were fleeing the violence in that country and walking welcoming them and these were church groups individuals local councils there is very much a tradition of welcoming and receiving immigrants and i don't think that this is going to cause much of a backlash of course kind of it does have extreme right elements but those elements are very very minor in comparison to the sort of experience that germany had built bringing us his unique perspective of both the middle east and canada bill thank you. and actually building so wrote this piece around zero dot com last year as he put it they are putting the spat between saudi arabia and canada in context because as we've been saying relations between canada and saudi arabia have been going south for a while also if i describe down to the balsam an episode of the listening posts and how saudi arabia has been trying to manage its reform program in the public eye at

least if you just search for canada saudi arabia in the opinion section of al-jazeera dot com. let's have just been told we got some live pictures coming in from canada let's have a look there she is she's just coming through the arrivals area at what i think it is interim so plenty of media interest as mike hanna was telling us earlier bunch of flowers as well and wearing the obligatory canada as well. this is ruffo cannot remember protesting from her hotel room in thailand not wanting to go back to saudi arabia for fear that her own family would kill her because she had renounced islam she has since been given asylum by canada and as a rival on a flight by a soldier. touched down a few hours ago and now meets in the me here. today we don't really know what morsi vincent has you had to do was off for a while was in it for about twelve hours but she's been online as well talking

about thanking everybody on social media throughout her journey she recently posted this saying that she'd like to thank everybody for supporting her and also saving her life she is also sick for this as i truly have dreamt of this love and support and you are the spark that would motivate me to a better person now journalist as mike hanna said earlier we're all waiting for her as she was to arrive at the airport what he called a camera frenzy now several countries including australia were in talks with the un refugee agency to care for half asylum australia's governments has been criticized for not acting fast enough elaine peson from human rights watch said that the government seemed to appreciate the urgency of this case she refers to canada while australian officials did not for whatever reason they moved too slowly now were many also talking about canada granting rip-off asylum is on a close buz from you and it's your canada says that women refugees at risk because

of their gender are prioritized for resettlement and we know they can count on canada and it's this video that's generating some praise online when justin trudeau was questioned about canada's immigration policy at a town hall meeting canada is a country that was built by immigration. waves of people. came to this country were welcomed by the folks who'd lived here for millennia the first nations in the folks here entry for land and built this is sided with waves of people fleeing religious persecution fleeing tyranny fleeing to try and build a better life for themselves here then they had back home but perhaps keynes has put women's rights in saudi arabia back in the spotlight last year the crown prince ease restrictions on women driving however the male guardianship system which

treats women as legal minors and requires them to get permission from a male guardian to travel or marry is still intact and the scenes national says that a shelter set up in twenty sixteen for women fleeing domestic abuse also serves as a detention center and those who want to leave may need a male relative to agree to their release unlike one half authorities detained dina room in the philippines and twenty seventeen she was on route to australia to seek asylum she asked for help on social media but was sent back to saudi arabia and placed in a women's shelter and that samia these two saudi sisters fled to turkey of a face that they would be killed and were also sent to saudi arabia where human rights watch has called saudi arabia's guardianship system the most significant impediment to realizing women's rights in the country and this is what their representative told out eamonn a.j. plus. there are so many women who want to be surprised inside me under this

system needing abusive family guardians is incredibly difficult and if they do want to leave and seek shelter away from this they would need to go to a women's shelter which then becomes a force a form of one day becomes a form of imprisonment and they're not allowed to leave the shelter until they finally received them back again which means that they get sent back to the forest . with us your thoughts on the story said tweet us is the hash tag. really giving plenty of thoughts and already in there actually it's really good that you brought up the issue of so many other women and that's what's been said here i'm happy for but i fear there are many women who like who won't have such a good ending to this story that said plenty of support plenty of support for tam it are out there actually on facebook live at the moment robin says once again canada shows itself to be the moral conscience of the world. for canada for standing up for social justice thumbs up for canada from everyone's liking. at the moment your thoughts your questions the hashtag is a.j. newsgroup facebook twitter and once this is the news great if you with us on

facebook live like those of us. only criminologist more than five hundred homicides in the space. and. the wall but how technology could maybe. proposed plan. hello i think lebanon and iraq are probably syria had the worse for the time being the next massive cloud developing is clearly heading that way going cross aleppo but if i take you over the next twenty four hours of service less than that you'll see the cloud itself is just cloud and sudden iraq there comes a gets the higher ground in this is where rain starts to fall yes it will catch northern iraq the magnificence clearly of iraq against

a substantial snow and saying was true briefly of turkey rains gathering for the lebanese coast quite possibly but i don't think it will make much progress inland and i jumped you had to monday here this is still the active area significance there running into west and south of iran right at lower levels stretching down towards cuba and possibly into saudi as well that most of this is a picture of clouds it has induced the different wind direction subtle be probably quite humid twenty seven in riyadh twenty four in die hard more clout than sunshine but a different feeling for sure still plenty of rain to come has been falling fairly heavily throughout madagascar sudden towns there as well running out through zimbabweans are being kept in science in with a bit of a weakness in the atmosphere allowing a few showers in the eastern side of south africa but mostly the weather than his looking beautifully sunny.

headlines warned the streets of melbourne australia are biased to its citizens under threat by african gangs. but how real the displaced. when one east investigates another zero. zero where ever you want. to be a child has to be innocent and careful but it comes to an abrupt end with the burden of younger children. with a mother behind bonds for siblings misspend for each other and decide whether to stick together. with the family in the hope of a chance across the us mexico border the other side of the border a witness documentary on al-jazeera.

headlines that al jazeera dot com and what's trending that's a really interesting story as well at the top. to think about announcing twenty a twenty. didn't run she is

a senator or congressman i have to double check actually to really ask but she's from hawaii and is one of the earliest democrats along with elizabeth warren to lynch a twenty twenty bit more on the half moon there and the us federal shutdown which we will be talking about shortly here in the great that is what's trending this saturday i don't see red dot com. playing the donald trump was investigated by the f.b.i. for working with russia against america has been predictably turned into an attack on the agency by the u.s. president now this was first reported in the new york times front page here under the headline nothing ambiguous about this f.b.i. opened inquiry into whether trump was secretly working on behalf of russia a headline which arguably and any other presidential era would have been the only story in town and for some time the article says investigators had to consider whether the president's own actions constituted a possible threat to national security and that agents at first during suspicious

during the twenty sixteen campaign but were forced into action after james comey firing in may of twenty seventeen for more on this we bring in our expert it is bruce fein he is a former us associate deputy attorney general and a constitutional lawyer in washington d.c. for us hi bruce. the word i haven't seen i'm for i don't think i've read anything on this story today that hasn't used the word unprecedented. yes that would fit like a glove here no other president has ever done anything that skates close to the line of acting on behalf of foreign intelligence service or a foreign country it would necessarily constitute treason which under the united states constitution requires a leveling of war but certainly the evidence that was accumulated suggesting that there was some kind of collaboration between president trump and russia to obstruct

prevent full inquiry into russian support for president two thousand and twelve twenty sixteen campaign is truly truly unprecedented and remember that we heard testimony from michael cohen mr trump's lawyer that there were flirtations with building condos and hotels in moscow and giving mr putin the president of russia million dollar condo or suite for nothing as well as other statements by the president himself saying that he fired mr komi because of this russian thing and also mr trump openly saying that he hoped that the russian intelligence would break into hillary clinton's e-mail. spread more information damaging to his opponent all those things and collaboration truly on precedent so knowing that go to the lines in some way persuade us that go from here because at the moment i do the reports in the newspaper which predictably donald trump in the white house will say is nonsense wait a minute constitutionally i will gladly go with them and this is where it goes will

we now because the house democrats you know now control the house of representatives they can undertake an investigation issue subpoenas to those at the f.b.i. and even though this wasn't you know a crime necessarily it certainly bears on the fitness of the president for office and which means impeachment covers actions that are short of criminal activity of. where does this go next i can guarantee you that the house government affairs an oversight committee will probably issue subpoenas on monday to get the bottom of this why did the f.b.i. think the evidence was credible enough to suggest that mr trump was actually spying on behalf of say one tree of russia so then this is the new reality for donald trump then with the democrats in charge of the house because you know over the last two years you could argue there were any number of things which could have landed them in trouble the lights the versatility of said that that they are impeachable offenses already but now the republicans sorry the democrats can actually make life

difficult for him that is correct with subpoena power and you look at the case law if the president tries to resist i think he will lose and so i think that's the next step we're going to see i'd be stunned if it doesn't happen as early as next week that the committee chairman will have authority to issue subpoenas and begin the investigation forthwith not go to keep a close eye on this one that reaper is fine joining us from washington thank you. and while the list goes on the u.s. government is now officially in its longest shuts down around eight hundred thousand federal employees have now been going without paid work for twenty two days here it is at the top a day longer than during the clinton administration shutdown which was back in one thousand nine hundred five and well ahead of anything that we saw down here during the president sees all of well ronald reagan george bush sr even trump himself has

been to other ones with donald trump there the most recent shutdown of such a longer duration at least twenty thirteen on the iraq obama that was sixteen days of course the shutdown persists because of an impasse over don't transporter wall demands he wants that five billion dollars for a wall between the u.s. and mexico which the democrats want agreed to the robredo is our correspondent been finding out at the consumer electronics show in las vegas that the answer to his worries could be virtually right in front of. the screen i'm standing in front of could someday be an alternative to a physical barrier at the us mexico border it's made by the company quander g.e. and basically uses laser technology that's the laser device up there to identify and track any people who are entering through a certain perimeter so in this display each one of these green trying or or diamond shapes are an actual person who is moving through the exhibit area here now

in practical application our border this could allow officials from law enforcement to track individuals crossing the border and while each individual unit can only monitor an area of about two hundred meters and a ray of them could go a long way and in fact. a bigger array stretching the entire length of the u.s. border from the gulf of mexico to the pacific ocean according to the company quantity would cost only about. one point five to two billion dollars considerably less than the physical border that's being in discussed in washington and this would work night and day according to the company and be able to determine or distinguish rather between human beings and animals that are out there in the desert so it's possible someday that this could be an alternative in the company has been in touch in talks with politicians in washington and federal officials to

make that someday a reality and if you're wondering why just to go back to the u.s. government shutdown why it isn't shutdown what is a shutdown really mean it is all that al-jazeera dot com and this one article how long who's been affected why did it begin it is all included and updated here for you if you just search for us government shutdown plenty of coverage to. now we're seeing a nice weekend of the yellow vest protests underway in towns and cities around france paris is where the main protests of happening but these are live pictures from borish which is another area local authorities apparently had forbidden gatherings in the town center clearly they've happened the tear gas has been brought out we saw at least. police firing tear gas as well so this just goes on and on doesn't it and you've got the thousands of police as well and vehicles deployed in a forest demonstrators are again protesting against things like rising fuel taxes

and president emanuel micron's leadership these some of the pictures from a little earlier in paris natasha butler is there following the story for us. thousands of protesters marched across paris and they've congregated tear the altar trail just behind me which has become something of a symbol of this yellow vests movement and police are at the moment firing tear gas they're trying to move people away from this area dispersed the crowd so if you look behind me you can see the police that there are eighty thousand police deployed across the country security has been boosted as the government tries to crack down on what they say some of the most violent elements in the protests so far have been peaceful most of the protestors are of course peaceful and that's why the police are here to try and control and manage the situation but it has been very difficult for them over the past few months to see these protests have been very unpredictable now the government response has been politically to try and

offer protesters more concessions more financial concessions they don't think big national citizens to date to get people move of course and politics next week but people here say that's not enough what they want a more taxes to be scrapped they say they want move to be done for poor people they say the president only cares about the rich. yellow. vests crossing the channel as well apparently that's right people online are calling for some of the protests in the u.k. a several groups from across the political spectrum are involved joining together under the umbrella group called the people's assembly against austerity and they've been organizing the britain is broken campaign in london on facebook using the hash tag yellow vests against austerity they calling for an end to homelessness and also a new general election to his one of the u.k. protesters explaining why they're wearing yellow vests they've been fighting

brilliantly in france and taking on the french government against austerity and privatization and cuts and winning and we want to take some of their. energy and be inspired by their movement and do the same here because the absolutely fed up of the tories we can't afford the cuts that we've had to face as a result of them and they want to try and keep everything looked around briggs's so that we can't do anything about it. we're here to fight back now this is the second time we've seen people wearing yellow vests protesting in the u.k. last week around one hundred pro bragg's of protesters in london but flags blocks traffic and also clashed with police and among the group members of the far right anguished defense leak as well. well if you are currently in the u.k. let us know if you are actually at those protests is the hash tag aging is get thanks for haleigh just here at the live we're looking at some of the live pictures

coming in immigration minister from canada is actually speaking at the moment on the case of a half a can and has just arrived at the saudi teenagers just right there i just noticed someone filming quite happily on their i phone there with a camera attachment a lens attachment there to show you as we always say you can film you can send in to us quality is great these days on any of these smartphones we're always looking for your content as well so let's roll through some of the other stories making news around the world right now and syrian state media says israeli forces of five several missiles at targets in damascus and that includes the capital's airport syrian air defenses reportedly intercepted some missiles but one of them damaged an airport warehouse at least fifteen hundred syrian refugees in southern lebanese camps are being displaced again a snowstorm is adding to the misery of more than three million refugees who fled the conflict in syria snow and ice blanketed many of the tents at this camp in the bekaa valley for many it is their fourth winter living in makeshift camps with just

plastic sheeting for warmth the lebanese government doesn't allow permanent refugee settlements in this particular area we're going back to toronto now to actually hear from the canadian immigration minister. they'd be. playing come to the knees but you. didn't moon will be doing this need cool enough. so it's hard to comprehend she's speaking french and my french translation ability isn't brilliant i'm just going to hope for one second and just so you if in an extensive she does speak english obviously kind of it is a bilingual country the media does operate in french and english this question sounds like it's an english. appeal that that change is the message you're the kindest regards to you and it's well if you think you want to know something the please to be free. as the prime minister said yesterday canada believes very

strongly in standing up for human beings around the world and people need very strongly that women's rights are human rights that something people even kept on hearing and that's something we believe in acting on the grounds of the world as. it is absolutely the case that there are many women far far too many women who are in dangerous situations both canada and around the world for a single woman or girl to be in a dangerous situation is going to need. and it's also obvious that the oppression of women is not a problem that can do the salt intake. but rather than cursing the darkness we really believe i believe in lighting a single candle come down where we can save a single person where we can save a single thing that's

a good thing to do and i would like to also emphasize that this is part of a broader canadian policy of supporting women and girls in canada and around the world and i also want to emphasize we as canadians. should not waste there are women and girls. right this minute who are in dangerous situations and have a responsibility to them. are given the clothes she was not who they are from. chrystia freeland is kind of this foreign minister money stake there kind of his foreign minister speaking on the arrival of the half. the saudi teenager who has been granted asylum and. grab another break but for the team on facebook live you can watch the newly sworn u.s. congresswoman ayana presley calling out president donald trump in her first speech on the house for that's from a plus and then sport the n.f.l. divisional playoffs are upon us we're looking at just who is the team to beat

that's coming up in a moment. you know that corruption has reached a level like ever before in our country. rank outsider. to president of the united states. the power was in the data we will honor the american people with the truth and nothing else discovered. for winning the white house unfair game on al jazeera one of the really special things about working for others here is that even as a camera woman i get to have so much empathy and contribution to a story i feel we cover this region better than anyone else would be for this is you know it's very challenging but in the particular because you have a lot of people that are divided on political issues we are we the people we live to tell the real stories are just mended is to deliver in-depth journalism we don't

feel inferior to the audience across the globe. a yeah we've got mascots we've got cheerleaders we've got a guy with red it's playoffs and things are really heating up and we're just a few hours away from this year's divisional playoffs in the n.f.l. only eight teams remain and only one can be champion the first two teams in action are the indianapolis colts and the kansas city chiefs the indianapolis colts have been braving some pretty cold conditions as they prepare for the trip to kansas senates a good thing to a winter storm or me mourning in missouri for today and despite the freeze the

colts will be hoping their postseason hot streak against the chiefs continues they've never lost in four playoff games against kansas city hall that's not the only game on saturday the l.a. rams welcome the dallas cowboys who are looking to get past this stage for the first time since one thousand nine hundred eighty six when they went on to win the super bowl and on sunday the l.a. chargers will be at the new england patriots and champions the philadelphia eagles travel to new orleans to face the saints all the teams have been hyping things up on social media and here's what they've been putting up on twitter ahead of saturday's games.

well joining us now from chicago is robert maze he's a writer at the sports and pop culture website the wringer dot com what start off with tonight's games any realistic super bowl contenders absolutely i think the chiefs are good we are the super bowl contender they're the best team in the end of seeded on field advantage they have the presumptive m.v.p. and quarterback. the best office in the n.f.l. that's typically what wins you games this late in the season and i think that if you were calling most n.f.l. fans they would definitely be the favorites come out of back conference and at that point anything goes so i expect them to win today i probably expect them to go all the way to the super bowl but what about the dallas cowboys you know they're having

a really great season but they haven't gotten past the stage for a long long time what are their chances i think better chance than people probably would have thought six or seven weeks ago this is a team that was really floundering out with the deceased they were three and five really latin identity even times and then their defense just picked it up and they beat the saints in a primetime game on a thursday night when the saints really rolling over everyone they were planted and at that point that went on the count worst offense is really liked and they became kind of the heart of this even if you mean that chance and game in game out there playing against a team that has the second best opposite of all the l.a. rams the most effective running game in the n.f.l. but with dallas events playing right now they're well suited so that team down so the reds are expected to win but economists have a better chance than i would have thought as bruce ok so sending the reigning champions the philadelphia eagles are in action and so are the new england patriots

any possibility of either team being upset. i think it's absolutely going to upset the chargers are very talented roster on both office and defects they have very few saves so rivers had a very nice season race but fifteen years ago he's playing in a high level still a great running game and defensively joey both winning them was the best player on the field last week and the ravens in the patriots advantages really boil down to tom brady bill belichick and playing it all in that recipe has worked out for them in the past constantly but this time around it just doesn't seem like they have as much roster town as the chargers their favorites only by points and that essentially says the teams are even considering the patriots are all so i don't charters were that game and the other side of the eagles winning that would be an upset you know they're not supposed to win this game maybe the defending super bowl champions but they've had a middling season has struggled times and were not far removed from them getting blown out or water by the saints in new orleans so i just feel like it belittled

the eagles going in and beating drew brees after the saints of the season that they've had that would surprise me so i think the seeds take care of business and i think the chargers do pull ups and i thought that t.v. ratings for the n.f.l. they've been pretty this season why do you think that is. i think the product is very good right now you're looking at just the system and to really go over all that's much more statically pleasing than it's been in years we had what once were this year of an n.f.l. history you look at a scene like that she said couch moms the third layer n.f.l. and the history of the leap to throw that these actually are asked the other two are eight manning and tom brady you look at the other side of the brands in the best it's the n.f.c. it's one of the young stars there are more in the whole players and the game itself is marketable if you look at the monday night game that the rounds played against the chiefs yes pm and we the lead and that game was just high why it was exciting it's the type of product you have not seen in the n.f.l. except of me we got seated and i rest sort of i'm so sorry and i'm so sorry robert

thank you so much for your time but we're at a time thanks again thank you thank you ok santa will be back with more at eight hundred g.m.t. but for now hand you back to come up thanks i'll be back at eight hundred g.m.t. as well with the news us that we will both see you then the house i don't use good twitter facebook what's up in the meantime telegram as well for that number and we will see you back here as well studio forty now down to zero fifteen hundred hours g.m.t. tomorrow to see. thank. you .

five families fight to survive in twenty first century america i live off my credit cards when i don't make enough money the last couple months it's been minimum balances can only keep their heads above water in a tough economic climate companies have had to lay off thousands of workers if he wants to go to school he'll be paying for his classes and books and all of that he can do that on a walgreens allard called. on al-jazeera. it's the first day of school in bob an elementary school in mosul. this was a military base firing rocket propelled grenades on multiples of nearby and out that falsus. most helpful but then what it is like to be in school up to three years old war. six year old does house of survived an ass like that it is home and almost wiped out his entire family he now lives in the public destroyed houses with his father and grandfather. solace for the past his son for the first day in school

is hopeful new friends would hope is that a company. that could be the biggest line in history. as powerful nations or a crane for territories under the ocean twenty one geologists are secret board. as the struggle for resources in pensacola. some of the world's most powerful scientists speak out. oceans manakin on a zero. that if they are fabricated down the all seas presidential runner up also the country's top course to order a recount of the election results. out

of al i'm going to stay far and you're watching al jazeera naive from london also coming up the u.s. government shutdown enters its twenty second day becoming the longest in american history and with no end in sight. the teenager who fed saudi arabia fearing her family would kill her touches down in canada all for inspiring saudi women. paris police fire water cannon on tear gas to break up a night saturday of yellow vest protests. we begin in the democratic republic of congo where the runner up presidential candidates most in fire has asked the constitutional court to order

a recount in the disputed elections fire who is challenging the victory declared to his opposition rival felix just a k.d. saying vote counting by catholic church election observers shows he is the winner of electoral commission president has said that if the results aren't accepted the vote votes will be a null to keep him president joseph kabila in power until another election is held while the official results of the presidential election gay felix the security thirty eight percent of the vote four percent ahead of who says his own figures show he actually got sixty one percent of she's a katy just eighteen percent and now the electoral commission says president kabila is ruling coalition has won a large majority of national assembly seats under the constitution the president must appoint his prime minister from whichever party come ons a majority now but it's likely to feel suspicions of

a backroom deal to maintain could be less influence al-jazeera is how demitasse has more now from the capital kinshasa. martin for you lee says he really hopes the court will be independent he was supposed to arrive at nine o'clock in the morning but he showed up just before two pm local time saying that he was busy in meetings it was a day or drama for some of his supporters they really wanted to come with him to court to give their support but the police said that will not be allowed because they will not be able to control the crowd those who did try to come we're told were beaten and dismissed by the police the police think closed over roads leading to the courts they went to file you lose house and they told him they won't stop him from coming to court but he cannot bring his supporters for you we told wasn't happy about this and threatens not to come to court in person and instead send his lawyers eventually he did show up to the court and he said he really feels the election was stolen. bring it down to the court we.

can't help us because that's what the law says we totally disagree with it is not to see amongst their our friends their family kid turned down nothing to do with the truth and i want this room that through for us to come from . any kind of development so what happens next judges will meet on monday and tuesday go over the evidence after ulysses proves that he won the election if they decide there is no case and they throw the matter out that means felix that katie will be declared president elect and will be sworn in as president on january eighteenth so what we're finally do it is not happy with the outcome the author has he could tell us supporters to go onto the streets and protest and if that happens some people are really worried they could be violence in kinshasa and across the country most political leaders are calling on people to be calm and wait for the court come in many people are watching the court watching the judges waiting to see how independent they're going to be.

the u.s. government shutdown has become the longest in the country's history of to reaching its twenty second day more than eight hundred thousand federal employees haven't received their latest paychecks some are using food banks taking on other jobs or simply selling their possessions the shut down was ordered by president donald trump after he was denied money to build a wall along the mexican border well meanwhile the new york times says the f.b.i. opened an inquiry i'm a twenty seventeen to find out if president trump was secretly working on behalf of russia against u.s. interests it was triggered by transactions over the firing of former f.b.i. director james comey counter intelligence investigators were assigned to evaluate whether trunk was a potential threats to national security the f.b.i. also sought to determine whether the president was deliberately working for russia

or has an intentionally been influenced by will stay or trump has blasted that report in a tweet saying wow just learned in the faily new york times that the corrupt former leaders of the f.b.i. almost all fired or forced to leave the agency for some very bad reasons opened up an investigation on me for no reason and with no proof after i fired lying james komi a total sleaze let's go to washington d.c. and get the latest now from al jazeera as rosalind jordan and rolls first let's deal with that extraordinary story in the new york times what more is being said. well the president is still on twitter on saturday morning and he basically is saying that not only is the new york times story basically fabricated but he is also attacking the washington post for us suggesting that his administration is in chaos in part because of the ongoing investigation into russian influence in the

u.s. political system and more specifically the two thousand and sixteen election as well as the investigation into whether he had been cooperating with russian officials or acting as an agent of the russian government so the president clearly not happy at all about this story for his part jim comey the former f.b.i. director quoted a former u.s. president saying that he basically is asking the public to judge him based on the enemies he has made so rather a saucy retort to the president's outrage over this new york times story it is significant because this started really as a probe into what the russian government was doing in the u.s. political system. and under current rules for the f.b.i. as i understand it you don't need to have proof you simply need to have what is

called a suggestion that something illegal might be happening or could be happening or could potentially happen in order to start an investigation many of these investigations apparently don't ever come to anything but the f.b.i. does have the ability to start these investigations if there is a suggestion a bit of evidence suggesting that there's something not only open up happening in a particular circumstance right of course the other big story in the u.s. right now is the partial u.s. federal government shutdown now the longest in u.s. history twenty two days and what more than eight hundred thousand federal employees not being paid is there any sign of an end to the stalemate. well certainly not this weekend and again donald trump the u.s. president has been tweeting about that in the last thirty minutes or so he has said felicity that it's really up to congressional democrats to end the standoff even

though the fact is even though members of the democratically controlled house have been passing spending bills that would reopen the u.s. government none of that legislation can be considered in the u.s. senate because the majority leader mitch mcconnell who is also a republican is refusing to allow those bills to come to the floor he says it's because he believes that they would all be vetoed if they were then sent to the president you can't pass a bill in one chamber without having the other chamber pass the same bill and so it seems that the bottleneck is in the u.s. senate of course there are members of the democratic house who have already responded to the president saying you need to get your party leaders in line if you want to have a discussion but really it doesn't matter felicity both senators and representatives went back to their districts or their home states for the weekend they won't be

back in washington until midday monday at the earliest. in washington thank you. an eighteen year old saudi woman who fled her family over fears for her life after announcing islam has arrived in canada for half mohammed al concerned for flew from thailand to toronto via sold off to canada agreed to give her asylum this after she barricaded herself in a bangkok hotel to avoid deportation and grab the global attention by mounting a social media campaign for her asylum. or a half story has emboldened many saudi women who've been tweeting under a hashtag translating as saudi women demand to overthrow the government one of the rights many women in saudi arabia on an able to leave the country yes women can drive but most guardianship laws remain and this was a feminist campaign at mona eltahawy who campaign for a half and translated her tweets into english raf. mark my

words is going to start a revolution in saudi arabia go on social media now and watch the accounts of star many young saudis think you have shown us that we can do this while many pointed out that it was social media that led to rescue this twitter user says social media gets denigrated but is just is like this on veils it's positive role in empowering voices speaking truth to power and bringing about social change. there is mike hanna joins us live now from toronto arriving more in the last hour or so so what sort of reception has she received. well it was a massive media contingent here which is reflective of the massive public interest that this particular case has generated and not every refugee gets met by the foreign minister that puts the case the foreign minister was here to meet

a runoff when she arrived at the airport and walked through the arrivals gate with making a statement saying that she did not wish to talk at this particular stage she just wanted to go and rest for a while no indication as to when she will talk to the media however the foreign minister then returned a little bit later and made very clear candidates believe that run up was in very real danger this was one of the reasons why sanctuary was granted so quickly just to walk back home that she tweeted from a hotel room in thailand pleading for sanctuary the un high commissioner for refugees got involved approach canada and canada very quickly agreed to grant asylum so now run off here in canada she stated before that what she wants to do is go to college become an architect and that might just fill us in give us some context.