on al-jazeera. india to protest says defy curfews and increase security measures and go grows over a controversial citizenship will. go on mariam moxy and london you're watching al-jazeera also coming up on program 3 people killed in a drone strike in northern libya as the wall fully fof that continues his push for the capital tripoli. 8 wind and low humidity continues to fuel devastating bushfires across australia. and the scars of backlash secretive artist banksy makes his religion and politics in his latest westpac walk.

welcome to the program our top story today the nationwide death toll of those killed in violent protests over a new citizenship lord india has now risen to at least $23.00 opponents say the lore is an attack on the country's secular constitution and it discriminates by excluding muslims the unrest is becoming the most serious domestic challenge to the indian prime minister in a run for modi since he was elected sabina shrestha reports now from new delhi. well yeah right police in the northern state with that but they are not taking chances. did vans while firing tear gas at protesters who are defying a government ban to congregate in large crowds i was every tactic is being used to quash nationwide protests against a new set of chip laws the police are being accused of using excessive force

was what started as a student demonstration has grown into one large a movement to denounce what governments often say is divisive and discriminate trade legislation. the law excludes muslims from neighboring countries from receiving indian citizenship which goes against india secular constitution and rest in india has been discussed at a conference of muslim leaders in malaysia prime minister matti mohammed said the indian law is unfair to x. group claims from becoming citizen even by due process i thing is unfair so we have ways. of. disagreement with this kind of treatment india rejected his comments saying the law doesn't impact the status of any indian citizen or deprive any indian of any faith

of her or his citizenship the malaysian prime minister's remark is factually inaccurate we call upon the to refrain from commenting on internal developments in india without the right understanding of facts. on saturday protesters packed the streets of new delhi despite the government's ban on large crowds was 7. lawyers from india supreme court and high courts joined the outcry we're one called in the discriminated. among the 6 jenny jones and muslims if. the load was allowed everyone would outside the jam many years time your university where the 1st cd is now. still cademy joined by people. at the moon it's one of the.

art students depicted the constitution and the government's attitude to it by painting this street it's amazing that john is united the nation in that sense but . it's also just the idea behind it which is so vicious the idea behind the act it's all visions that everything king human being everyone in this country will be affected and therefore standing up indians here are vowing to continue their defiance revolt against the law and say they won't allow the government to destroy the very fabric on which their nation is built on. to al-jazeera new delhi india. when are we going to developments in libya where 3 people have been killed in the latest round of drone strikes by the warlord fully 5 to his forces attacked the town of misrata in the northwest of libya internationally recognized government says the drones are being piloted by the u.a.e. which supports the warlord last week have to announce what he called a final offensive to take the capital tripoli. mahmud up to why it has more on the

attack from tripoli. 3 were killed the 9 others one did according to military sources with the government of the national accord and the city of about 88 kilometers south east of tripoli is now witnessing a war as iran the rockets are landing in the area and the civilians have been leaving their homes because of the of the fighting we spoke to eyewitnesses civilians in the city of the they say that the city is almost now empty so many civilians have left their homes because of the random rockets launched by have those forces and have been landing in inside the city of as you know that in select as among the cities that have recently declared mass mobilization to defend tripoli against have the forces so it seems that half the forces are trying to

punish the city of them for its affiliation to the government forces well turkey's parliament is back to military dealing creasing cooperation with libya's tripoli government move will allow turkey to widen its activities in the war torn country but as mohamed dougher ports now from istanbul there are still many legal obstacles to overcome before techie can consider to point those troops. these were to fit question is just a relative question of the agreement between libya and turkey but what's happening it was going to happen from now on will depend on a formal request that the d.n.a. in tripoli that's the government that's recognized by the united nations. we know how to send a request to on qatar so that unless they get these that will quest to go back to parliament for another agreement

a nod from parliament and also for the formulation of the monday to what exactly from both troops would be mandated to do in libya once they get there before they can be deployed really hearing from sources that the government here is not expecting a formal request from tripoli until probably february but that could change given the ocean water. when we get general huff that is comprised now coming out against the government installations and positions. another person has died in australia's bushfires taking the death toll to 3 the latest test liz in the south was in the state of south australia fire chief describe the conditions as catastrophic and as bad as it gets more than $100.00 painting around the largest city sydney this jessica washington reports from the

plume mountains west of sydney their affairs the west could still be to come. this is usually one of sydney's most popular tourist attractions the normally picturesque blue mountains bordering the outskirts of the city. much of it now decimated by bushfires. they've been burning across large parts of australia for months now with flames as high as 70 metres the fire in this region alone has destroyed an area 7 times the size of singapore. but this isn't just bush land it's home for thousands of australians fire crews are working tirelessly to protect residence robert beecroft is a former volunteer firefighter he's seen many bushfires in his time but this one is different for being here for 67 years i've seen a lot of for sure the mountains actually might have to rise for quite a few forms but. i haven't seen so many out of control back to the b.

crops like so many families here face a difficult choice leave everything behind or stay and potentially put themselves in danger it's a little bit stressful but you just got to remain positive us boys it's hard to think of what you want to keep in everything but just get what seems important at the time to go and i'm sure there'll be other things that you think about later but just be prepared i guess it's just bad timing obviously around the holidays but what can you do really. it's cause it's pretty confronting. volunteers for such a strain felicia some of these fires have been burning since july but authorities are warning that these are catastrophic conditions it's the combination of extreme heat strong winds and low humidity that makes the situation on the ground incredibly dangerous firefighters are battling the blaze on the ground and from the

air the intense heat has even generated its own thunderstorm healy. all the men and women fighting the fires are volunteers some haven't seen their families in days the locals who risk losing almost everything some are just trying to do whatever they can and it's just been difficult having their older get much sleep so. anxious to be problems as ward this is just the beginning of summer and many of fearful of what lies ahead for the rest of the bushfire season just to washington al-jazeera blackheath. well now in syria at least 11 people have been killed there in as strikes carried out by the government forces and russia on syria's last rebel held stronghold as their ongoing offensive in the northwest province of 11 it's already forced thousands of people to abandon their homes and flee for safety the latest attack on the town of sarka comes as government forces captured 2 new villages on

the southern edge of it led the u.s. secretary of state said russia and china had blood on their hands after blocking a u.n. security council resolution to allow aid into syria on friday mullard father is on the ground in syria and says that tens of thousands of people off. that's a little bit about how real. russian and syrian government military jets continue to target many towns and villages and it lives countryside. here in the town of sara keep a popular market and residential homes were hit many civilians were either killed or injured by the strikes. at the same time other towns and it leaves eastern and western countryside were targeted. is on the highway connecting aleppo and damascus tens of thousands fleeing areas under attack such as marital newman use this road the targeting of the main towns and highways used by the residents now worsens the

humanitarian situation. with al-jazeera live from the. and and more still ahead on the program desperate wait is over after nearly 9 years of war international aid finally makes its way to want to sit down this remote rebel held areas. and going along for the ride bicycles get paris moving off the 2 weeks of strikes. again welcome back to your international weather forecast well here across europe it is still a very messy scenario we are talking about one area of low pressure pushing across the central med and now into the balkan peninsula with some very heavy rain as well as some very gusty conditions it is going to be greece here on sunday that sees the bulk of it and that's going to continue as we go towards monday night as well heavy

rain extends to the north across much of central europe as well and then as we go towards monday that system slowly slides over here towards parts of turkey really the heaviest rain in the winds will be across that southern coast of turkey as well out towards the west though it will be the winds across the u.k. crossing over towards parts of the netherlands and into germany very gusty winds at times not a lot of rain but it will be cloudy across much of that area berlin we do expect is the attempt if you have about 8 degrees there a new 3 day forecast for athens looks like this expect to see the rain as well as the winds increase as we go towards monday but by the time we get towards tuesday improving conditions and the winds do come down well here across the northern part of africa we are looking to not too bad here as we go towards sunday but it is on monday expect to see some windy conditions across parts of egypt as well as into libya but gazi it is going to be a cloudy day with a temperature of 21 in corona at 22.

canceling a lease and experience the world like no other business. is going places together. combine a look at the headlines claims of excessive force have been leveled against the

police in india as they try to break up nationwide protests at least 23 people have died as anger over the new citizenship rule spreads 3 people have been killed in northwest libya in the latest round of drone strikes by the world 25 to the un backed government says the u.a.e. which supports have to is piloting the drones. and another person has died in all straight is bushfires taking the death toll to 3 more than $100.00 bushfires burning around the largest city sydney and there are fears the worst is yet to come . a court in pakistan has sentenced a university lecturer to death for blasphemy tonight hafiz was arrested in 2013 accused of displaying anti religious content on facebook he spent nearly 6 years in solitary confinement awaiting trial pakistan's controversial blasphemy law carries an automatic death penalty they've yet to actually carry out a death sentence for the challenge but the law has drawn widespread condemnation from rights groups okemo hyder is in islamabad for us and he says that united how

fees came to pakistan from the united states was hide as an english literature professor. it's a fulbright scholar enough god said go to go. and prayed for did a good day make however a group of students then you objected to a facebook page accused him of blasphemy and printed 30 words. and charged with blasphemy under bug a stone law 295 of the penal code i did the buckets on penal court anyone who defies the name of the property. provided for the sentence of death in this particular case. a number of the judges have already been and today they were big words read out under maximum security inside the prison record back in britain before. his lawyer

was gunned down and. according to reports was kept in solitary confinement because of the adverted live by that particular judgement coming out inside the jail on now russia are saying the construction must continue on its gas pipeline to you have to fight the imposition of u.s. sanctions president ronald trump signed off on a bill on friday that imposed sanctions on laying pipe than will stream to the u.s. on tuesday night and a half $1000000000.00 plan would increase germany's reliance on russian gas that was already prompted a major contract at suspend that work russian president that famous putin has threatened reciprocal measures on a 1200 kilometer pipe can run from the russian port of slew companies the baltic sea to greece filed in germany with the existing allstream one pipeline it gives russia's state owned company gazprom people 80 to explore 110000000000 cubic meters

of gas to europe per year. well earlier i spoke to doug bandow a senior fellow at the cato institute who works as a special assistant to president ronald reagan he said the sanctions are only going to make relations more fraught between trump and his european allies germany france britain and others are already upset with american policy towards iran the same things that are being applied that affect european companies you know europeans have tired of the united states imposing through its financial system sanctions on europeans this is going to add to that you know to have the united states announce the germany is making a bad decision and therefore cannot be allowed to make it i'm afraid it's going to affect cooperation on issues of china issues of iran in the middle east and others as europeans you know basically want to resist this administration evermore and gas from says that it will pay ukraine $2900000000.00 to settle

a legal route for its gas exports that runs through the north stream one pipeline a gas transit agreement was mediated by the european union and announced in principle in berlin on friday on the 5 year agreement ukraine is expect its withdrawal all outstanding legal claims against gas problem. well 2 days of talks that started in sudan's capital aimed at resolving disputes over the largest hydroelectric dam in africa which is nearing completion officials from egypt ethiopia and see donna discussing the rules fulfilling and operating the crown the ethiopian renee sounds damn egypt and sudan fair all significantly diminish the share of the river nile supporter will say in sudan an aid has reached a remote rebel held area for the 1st time in more than 8 year is here but morgan reports to us from blue nile state about the welcomed arrival of food and other essentials and how it coincides with talks and years of fighting. when she heard

that aid would be arriving in the blue nile state says she walked for more than 8 hours to queue for it after more than 80 years the area controlled by sudanese rebels known as the sudan's people liberation movement north is finally receiving humanitarian aid and did not want to miss out as. there's no food most of the time and because of the constant bombardment in the 1st years of the war a lot of terrible things happened they didn't care where their bombs are being dropped on people farms or live stock some of us fled to ethiopia but i could go because i didn't want to leave my home and become a refugee. the war between sudan's government and the s.p.l. and north erupted after the government refused to allow the states of south kordofan and blue nile a referendum on whether to be part of sudan or the newly created south sudan as part of a 2005 peace deal the s.p.l. and north also accuse the government of impeding democracy in the united nations

says more than 2000000 people have been affected by the conflict with more than have a 1000000 displaced several rounds of peace talks between the s.p.l. and north and the previous government of ahmed rashid collapsed when they failed to agree on many issues including humanitarian access. since the was also more than 8 years ago yeah both have been cut off from the military angle problems of people but they bring. but many remain behind what missing the horrors of the civil war now with aid coming in for the 1st time they're waiting to speak up for all of these years things are really starting to change the. most trouble held areas in the country are nearly impossible to access from the capital hearts whom so dan's new transitional government which is in talks with armed groups including the s.p.l. and north changed that in december allowing aid workers to head in for the 1st time a major day a great breakthrough in an area that has not received the help that is needed none

at all from the united nations in over 9 years and when you compound the war the conflict with the flooding that just taking place these people are in need i've been extremely impressed with the openness and the willingness of the leadership of bilking others to do what we need to do without getting in the way and they have given us just unimpeded access talks between sudan's people liberation movement north leader abdul aziz and hello and the sudanese government are going on but many issues need to be resolved before a peace deal can be signed calling for an answer down oh for. justice. democracy and equality of the busy problem is the issue of the sharia sharia islamic law for repeating of sharia islamic you know we were on a secular democratic. state and this is where the government is there like as

the issues continue to be talked through hundreds of thousands wait and hope that whatever the outcome be age will continue to arrive he will morgan al-jazeera. denial. argentina is now officially suffering an economic emergency new laws are being introduced to address the crowd. with the government again deep in debt as inflation and poverty levels rise economic problems are nothing new in the country but opinion is split as to whether the tax rises and other reforms are going to work this time. it's. a sweeping new economic law has been approved by argentina's congress it's essentially officials declared a public emergency to prioritise the worsening debt crisis gripping the nation's economy. it does necessary to solve the debt problem in order to bear you need the ability to pay and in order to be able to bear the economy has to cover. argentina's debt crisis has put the government on high alert the new economic

measures seek to combat worsening poverty and to curb back inflation estimated to reach as high as 55 percent by the end of 2019. the plan will also implement higher taxes related to farm products tourism and exports. on wednesday thousands protested outside argentina's congress calling for a rejection of the economic plan to go if you're going to join the crowd here the president of the nation said last week that if we don't like something about them we can go out in the street well here we are mr president and we're asking for serious news. for those in favor of the law the measures are a crucial step toward restoring economic stability in our country was left of concrete steps are not taken to curb hunger and poverty things will only get worse . if the government says 70 percent of revenues recovered from the new taxes will be directed toward housing infrastructure and social projects but some analysts

believe the measures go too far it's more of an imposition by consensus building strategy so you know for the for the government it's really important to show that it has all the tools to negotiate with the i.m.f. to bring in more funds through taxation that chad. interests that the powers are so broad that it effectively reduces the quality and effectiveness of the ma crecy and for any investor looking at the country from outside the be wondering how long will this last for will it only be in 2020 or will this administration seek to extend such powers beyond that day. the public debate over argentina's economic policies takes place as the nation's central bank is engaged in talks with private creditors and the international monetary fund over the nation's debt estimated at $50000000000.00. now people in

paris are getting on their bikes to be the 3rd week of strikes by french transport workers cycling to work is becoming even more popular as metro rail services remain at a standstill because of a dispute over pension reforms. as more. weaving through traffic in paris on a bike can be daunting at the best of times for more than 2 weeks of public transport strikes against the government's planned pension reforms has made cycling around the city particularly challenging with most metro train and bus services cut many people opting to cycle vinyl tied to old runs a shop in the city center that sells and repairs recycled bikes he says his staff is inundated with work we've seen far more people coming in lots who want an old bike fixed some who want to buy a cheap secondhand bike because the only plan to cycle temporarily lots of people bring in dusty bags that have been in their center which proves they don't normally cycle power says city council says the number of cyclists on the road has doubled

since the strike began the mayor has long been encouraging people to bike rather than drive to help fight air pollution there's a vast network of cycle lanes and a widely used bike share scheme i would say use them quite regularly that would strike i use them. what they're after because there's not really enough there if there's enough to stop it would say drivers are definitely more stressed and because i have to cycle further on busy road it's not easy there are lots of benefits to cycling it's often much faster on small to journeys it's more environmentally friendly than driving and also it's good exercise for since the beginning of the strides the roads have been so busy the city officials say that the number of accidents involving cyclists has surged emergency workers say the number of accidents involving bikes has increased by 40 percent this expert says that inexperienced riders are often ill prepared or poorly equipped. to point you

need a basic level of fitness if people are they may not have balance of they can fall down and risk functions to the head shoulders and body also too much biking if you're not fit can cause a multitude of health problems and pain in the knees and back it's clear that many people will be relieved when the city's transport services returned to normal but with trade unions threatening to continue their industrial action throughout the holiday season that's unlikely to happen any time soon until then and despite the risks cycling remains one of the best ways to get around the tasha butler al-jazeera palace. a new piece by the mysterious street artist banksy has been unveiled in bethlehem in the occupied west bank and the piece has appeared in the walled off hotel banks his property which overlooks the border wall in a divided city the work aims to highlight the reality of life on the occupation for the palestinians and the ever him want to see it. the score of. a play on

words on the star of bethlehem the store that is believed to have led to jesus is grow to over 2000 years ago banksy says it's a modified take on the traditional nativity set and it's been unveiled to here today in what is known here as the largest collection of banks his work in the world banks is trying to be a voice for those who cannot speak simply like this. he's trying to cope. our situation through art to make palestinian voice reach a word through art where a few days away from christmas here in bethlehem which is the traditional location many tourists come to to celebrate the occasion this hotel has been here since 2017 and it is to bring more tourists here and to show them the life of palestinians specifically near the separation wall it's called the walled off hotel and definitely more work by banksy is the hope here by palestinians that it can drive

more tourists to come to palestine right well there's more in everything right here al-jazeera dot com is the address. recap of the headlines for you now claims of excessive force that being leveled against the police in india as they try to break up nationwide protests at least $23.00 people have died as anger over the citizenship the new new citizenship law spreads opponents say the law discriminates by excluding muslims in libya 3 people have been killed in the northwest of the country in the latest round of drone strikes by the warlord. is forces attacked the town of misrata in the northwest of the country the un backed government says the u.a.e. which supports have to is piloting the drones bomb a doctor why it has more on the attack from tripoli. 3 were killed the 9 others

one did according to military sources with the government of the national guard and the city of about 88 kilometers so the east of tripoli is now witnessing a war under rockets landing in the area and the civilians have been leaving their homes because of the of the fighting we spoke to eyewitnesses civilians in the city of birth they say that the city is almost now empty so many civilians have left their homes because of the random rockets launched by have those forces and have been landing in inside the city of as you know that insulators among the cities that have recently declared mass mobilization to defend tripoli against have those forces so it seems that half the forces are trying to punish the city of them for its affiliation to the government forces in

our other headlines another person has been killed in australia's bushfires taking the death toll to 3 fire chiefs describe the conditions as catastrophic and as bad as it gets more than $100.00 push fires are burning around the largest city sydney and there are fears the worst is still to come a court in pakistan a sentence to university lecturer to death for blasphemy junaid have fees was arrested in 2013 accused of displaying anti religious content on facebook pakistan's blasphemy law carries an automatic death penalty. the listening post is coming up next on al-jazeera that the more news after that in 25 minutes time i'll see them.

hello i'm richard gaisford and you're at the listening post on this program we track the global news media examine dominant narratives and spend more time critiquing journalism and celebrating it were not an award show but to mark the end of 2019 we wanted to examine a few cases where quality reporting the kind that speaks truth to power exposes wrongdoing and helps rectify it has made an impact taking just 4 examples was not easy we wanted to get across geographies different kinds of stories various forms of media we settled on west africa and a documentary exposing sexual harassment on university campuses hong kong 1st person videos cap.