on the role model and for a. soft. v.w. szilard in course. terms made easy. this is. makes an offer but it's not. ready to talk with madrid. appears to be playing hardball willing to meet with the leader of the biggest party and. also coming up. the number of people suffering from.

more than a million. has already killed more than two thousand people. and the palestinian. the mood is far from. it was a. mistake. welcome to the program an election spain had hoped would stifle separatist sentiment has further deepened the country's constitutional crisis that's because catalan separatists held on to their majority following a regional vote

a vote that had been ordered by madrid a pro independence leader. is still in exile in brussels where he fled to avoid arrest. after leading october's referendum on splitting from spain separatist parties won more than half the seats in the catalan parliament on thursday but it was the anti independent citizens' party that picked up the largest individual share of the vote meanwhile spain's prime minister mariano rajoy is still refusing to consider independence for the region and now put him on is offering to meet with roy but not in spain. joining me now is my colleague. you're live in spain you weren't spain you live in spain rather and have been observing this crisis for quite some time as we mentioned earlier push him out so he's willing to meet with the spanish government spanish government is holding off on that what's going to happen now well that's the million dollar question of the of course nobody. suspended from minister of course has said that he is willing to

speak to now he hasn't said explicitly catalyst was the man he has said the president of catalonia now because of the election results we know that it's more than likely that if he can if he can form a government with the other pro independence parties will become the president of catalonia but of course we're in a rather unknown precent in that situation in which the man who is you know likely to be coma or it could become the president of catalonia is in exile in belgium so of course. he is willing to speak to the president but of course on their walk conditions and he also did mention under the right conditions could also be a wink or a sort of a nod at the fact that kind of this push him on if he comes back to spain will more than likely be arrested ok so put him on if you return to spain potential arrest exactly but it wasn't his party that won the largest share of the vote that was the citizens party can you tell us a little bit more about the longest party it's actually in fact. the mother who is

the citizens party they vote they were the most voted party and they are actually a unionist party so they're a party that is very much in favor of staying with spain. this is quite a complex situation so all break it down essentially what has happened is that you've got three parties who together are the they're in favor of independence they have the majority but in this out of the mother is the head of citizens party they're the most devoted party now what she has decided to do is take a step back look and see if the pro independence parties are capable of forming a government and if they can of course she will just have to be in the opposition along with other parties that are in favor of staying with spain but once again this is a very complex situation because in order for this parliament or discouragement this pro independence bloc to actually form a government they need to be present in the parliament some of those members are in exile some are imprisoned and some simply just won't be there present to be able to

vote so we're into once again i don't present situation where we don't know whether actual government will be able to be formed a complicated situation even more complicated perhaps by the vote the european union is definitely watching this very closely what's been their reaction well the european union and many ways has sided with spain we've already heard voices from france from spain very more from france germany excuse me as supporting spain and i think it's quite key that we listen to in fact an m.e.p. from germany who sort of gave his reaction very much what germans reaction has been to this. i think mr puts demond is very emotional not exactly realistic and easily carried by the emotions of the moment and the masses of mr a whole is sometimes a bit stubborn and does not have the flexibility or the openness to approach others . well there you have it i mean you can you can kind of sort of gauge exactly what the reaction has been in the european union very much support for madrid in the

fact you know they want to keep spain united but at the same time they have been critical of the government of money on the whole and in particular have every acted particularly in the sense of dialogue with catalonia so we'll have to wait and see exactly what happens but very very interesting times in spain at the moment that's for sure a tricky situation not only first spain but for the european union as a whole. thank you for joining us. and now to some of the other stories making news around the world the united nations has slapped tough new sanctions on north korea and response to his missile test the measures will restrict oil supplies needed for the killing yanks nuclear and missile program the sanctions were proposed by the u.s. and backed by north korea's allies china. a former u.s. soldier has been arrested on suspicion of planning a terrorist attack in san francisco over christmas the man allegedly told an undercover agent he planned to target the city's busy pier thirty nine area in the

name of the so-called islamic state authorities say a search of his home turned up firearms and a letter claiming responsibility. in yemen the number of color of cases has reached one million that's according to the world health organization thousands of people have already died from the disease the international red cross says most of the population lacks food fuel clean water and access to medical care the united nations says the country is suffering the world's worst humanitarian crisis. noren is thirteen years old shrapnel damaged her spine so severely that she's confined to a wheelchair. before i used to walk to school she says now i can't even hold a pencil that the war must come to an end. this as it on the edges of yemen was already one of the poorest countries in the world civil war drought and hunger have

made it situation even more dire the country is now on the verge of collapse epidemics of cholera and diptheria have broken out those who receive no medical care have no chance of survival. the air attacks continue as does a widespread blockade some aid has finally arrived but it's rare and doesn't reach many locations villages in rebel held areas have been isolated for months that means people are forced to eat leaves because no food is available aid organizations have sounded the alarm. for a living million people who are what we declare in the need and that's one million more than last year and the some four hundred thousand children under the age of five. in a very severe acute moment modest situation the war has raged for more than a thousand days leaving ten thousand dead most of them civilians because it has fallen steeply in value after nearing twenty thousand dollars on

sunday the digital currency has now plummeted below twelve thousand analysts are saying the bitcoin bubble has now burst and a warning investors to stay away but not everyone is listening. it's almost an affront. just a block away from singapore so natural authority an opponent of digital money a cafe has opened to our customers pay with crypto currency. we just want to make sure that people understand cryptocurrency second to stay i don't think it is a question the way technology goes right now is no doubt about that development rep it. and the government's maybe you have a little bit of an issue too to to follow through. so far there haven't been any problems in the cafe people there don't just pay for drinks and snacks with bitcoin that can also use the cafes own currency known as the dukakis that's also the name

of the cafe still experts warn that crypto currencies are very volatile bitcoin for example is down sharply this week that's a problem for investors experts see the trend soon coming to an end. the second. we don't progress with connecting it with the retail world so if you can't speak crypto currencies or if you can't redeem them for cash if you can't get rid of them back as cash. people are going to lose interest and when that happens the heat will come out of the market and people move onto to other things and that's when we'll see that crash come but the owners of the dukakis cafe are not so sure about that on the contrary they want to expand opening cafes hotels and travel agencies were only digital money is accepted. christians in the palestinian territories are preparing to celebrate christmas but this year is the spirit is less than festive

but the christian minority feels a responsibility to keep the christmas spirit and its colorful traditions alive and bethlehem one of those traditions is the game of bingo he. joined in for a round. christmas time is bingo invade at the auditorium of the orthodox christian community there keeping track of every number on people here play bingo all year round but during the festive season the atmosphere is extra special. palestinian christians see themselves as a custodian of christmas and it's often colorful traditions and bingo is one of them that tumble as they call it and they jhala friends and family gather to play every sunday after going to change. it gives us a break from everything going on with all the checkpoints the situation is difficult and people can't go anywhere they want that's why we opened the community

hall so we can play bingo over the holidays and have a good time. being groupings everyone together. on a very vigilant look we really have a good time. for. listeners would be christmas here without being go maybe christmas day wilfredo way it we we have a nice holiday atmosphere that's why we meet here who has business. instead of sweets the winners get practical hosts want items like rice detergent or toilet paper it's been like this since intifada times this spirit of helping families is strong but this year when it's been more somber living i mean say anything at all when in a crisis situation this is about the future of to a city that's holy to us too it's about our homeland that we are losing. a message for surround speech and bethlehem cutting off the roads to jerusalem images of

trauma familiar sight palestinians from the west bank need a special permission from israel to visit jerusalem. bethlehem the birthplace of jesus is decked out for the. christmas holiday here too the mood is far from festive but locals and this is just try to make the best out of the situation. as well to sit looks like this christmas will be bad after what happened in the west bank following trump's decision so everyone here is against italy and tourism is down to what they're. like to come to bethlehem today to show the baby the atmosphere the city i love and the circumstances we are in is dishonest dress because of the occupation at the. back in beit jalla it's just third round of the big game everyone's enjoying the long evening and trying to forget the uncertainty casting a shadow over this christmas. is for it's now or the winter olympics are

a little over a month away and alpine skiers are busy honing their skills for the flagship discipline and south korea the latest world cup event took place at the italians a resort of madonna. but it was a different kind of manslaughter the night race took place under floodlights there's more. calculation night race and madonna is one of the most eagerly anticipated of the ski season and it didn't disappoint switzerland's new cut and he was well placed in third after the first run of the men smile on his second run was even better. any powered down the course with perfect technique to grab the lead. and wasn't he happy. but austrian great moss so here shall be the man to beat at the winter olympics

however a mistake halfway down the second run meant this was by no means a flawless race for the six time world cup winner a compost hershon managed to bounce back though he triumphed by just two point zero four seconds to win his. twenty nine one tough race and reclaim the lead in the standings. you're watching the news live from berlin and join me again at the top of the hour if you can thanks for watching. when i'm traveling to be comfortable.