and there challengers. this seventy seven percent. platform for security. this is t w news coming to you live from berlin present donald trump loses another key cabinet member that he once stood shoulder to shoulder with now defense secretary jim matheson is stepping down you know it's been comes after the president's abrupt decision to pull u.s. troops out of syria also coming up planes are flying again at britain's second

biggest airport but authorities still haven't tracked down the drones that forced london gatwick to ground its flights causing holiday travel chaos. and threatened for their faith christians in pakistan prepare for christmas but they're increasingly the target of deadly attacks we find out how one family has suffered but sorbonne says. hello i'm terry martin good to have you with us u.s. defense secretary jim mattis has resigned over president donald trump's decision to withdraw u.s. troops from syria the four star marine general will leave in february after holding the job since trump took office reports indicate that not just decided to go after a last ditch attempt to persuade the president to reverse his decision on syria.

u.s. secretary of defense james mattis has widely been viewed as a stabilizing force both within the unpredictable us government as well as internationally the four star marine general has been defense secretary since president donald trump took office but now he's on his way out the door the two reportedly clashed on several major policy issues trump surprise announcement to withdraw troops from syria appears to have taken their differences one step too far in his resignation letter mattis stressed the importance of the u.s. maintaining strong partnerships my views on treating allies with respect and also being clear eyed about both malign actors and strategic competitors are strongly held and informed by over four decades of immersion in these issues. that is also points to opposing policy views but the white house press secretary refutes the idea that the two had a strained relationship. secretary mabus has served the president and with the

president for two years they have a good relationship i've seen it up close and personal on a number of occasions and again they agree to disagree at times but that doesn't mean you can't have a good relationship with somebody he was laying out the reasons that he was stepping down from his post and beyond that i think it's absurd to try to question the fight when they were together for two to marietta. house democratic leader nancy pelosi said the departure of mattis is a further blow to the stability of u.s. partnerships and also sends the wrong signal to the nation's military. and shaken by the resignation of general mattis what it means to our country for the message it sends to troops our troops looking. as a leader and now he is going to be leaving them very serious for our country. and it appears trumps decision to reduce u.s.

military involvement goes beyond syria now u.s. officials say trump is also considering limiting the u.s. presence in afghanistan cutting troops by half u.s. forces deployed to afghanistan after the september eleventh attacks in two thousand and one. since then twenty four hundred u.s. soldiers have died fighting the taliban in america's longest war. the timeline for either troop withdrawal is unclear some officials say a syrian pullout could be completed within sixty to one hundred days but first president trump needs to appoint a new secretary of defense. in his letter outgoing defense secretary mattis told the president quote you have the right to have a secretary of defense whose views are aligned with yours. for more now we're joined here in the studio by middle east analyst mark is calling from the german institute for international and security affairs good to see you mark good morning

let's start with the resignation of u.s. defense secretary jim mattis what impact will that have on america's military operations and what's or so of it will have an impact on the military operations but it's a clear political signal i mean with two representatives representing very different schools international folds all international affairs president trump representing multinational it's true strain of u.s. foreign policy and in memphis representing well the internationalist strain of u.s. foreign policy and the nationalist obviously has long and therefore i think it's not only a withdrawal militaru withdraw from the rule but also political withdrawal from southern cross is faults around the world so much as it was seen as a stabilizing force in an administration that was often unpredictable that is often unpredictable from a european perspective what does it mean to lose him. or has been huge concern

about the commitment of the trumpet ministration to transatlantic security relations and that has been regarded as a guarantor of traditional transcendental security approach and with him leaving office the consensus. leaving even more growing in the european capitals he emphasized it's a matter of resignation pretty clearly bay you both appreciating the transatlantic partnerships and devalue of allies and rejecting the approach of you know as president i'm deaf i think in european capitals the idea of resonating it's just that european allies kind of maligned the president on the united states president losing a multilateral list in the administration as it were now this all started with trump's decision to pull troops out of syria what do you make of that decision the guy is not defeated in syria think we have twenty top twenty thousand to thirty

thousand fighters on the weapons with seventy to seventy five attacks on a daily basis in syria as well as in iraq so it's a terrorist organization and being pretty active so on it's just simply premature to argue that behind isis has been defeated and it's undermining the international effort to come but to continue to comment on this is therefore undermining be a u.s. internationalist approach and i expect allies to follow germany the u.k. and france also withdrawing its troops from iraq as well as you know so what will this mean for syria for what's going on there right now because it is a very complex proxy war with many interests involved absolutely nothing it's pretty obvious that the united states has left some kind of strategic break room and i would think it's less a commitment or withdrawal from the middle east not only syria but i would say what are you from the middle east in general and this is true today from the soap all of

us rushing around turkey these al the policy ruling questions on. influencing the president will polls toll all before the middle east falls here and the middle east trump has also announced his intention to pull. american troops half of american troops out of afghanistan what are the implications of not that on the minds needless and for if it's in the afghanistan i think the need to speak for secretary general. has been law has not been informed about the decision as well and. i mean the secretary of defense the i'm insecure of that of defense triples just enough against him recently announcing that the money will continue to be present in afghanistan i cannot really imagine the mission would get made to a mission in afghanistan without the united states so i think the signal he gives as well as in syria you know for withdrawal and this commitment that undermines the

credibility and legitimacy of the of government as well marcus thank you very much for your analysis marcus column from the german institute for international and security affairs here in berlin thank you now to some of the other stories making news around the world today cattle on pro independence groups are out on the streets in barcelona to protest a planned cabinet meeting in the city chaired by prime minister pedro sanchez the weekly meeting usually takes place in madrid but sanchez's government decided to hold it in the cattle and capital in an attempt at reconciliation. and that methane explosion in the czech coal miners killed thirteen miners a blast more than eight hundred meters underground is said to have destroyed large areas of the coal mine which is near the town of karbala eleven polish nationals and two checks are among the dead flights have restarted at london's gatwick airport after repeated drone flyovers shut down the operations there for

thirty six hours some one hundred twenty thousand people have been delayed but now many will be able to fly out on the seven hundred departures scheduled for today. this is one of the first planes to land at gatwick since wednesday drone sightings paralyze the airport leaving thousands stranded hungry tired and frustrated the chaos is taking its toll i have yet to have lunch breakfast dinner coffee anything else since yesterday and i say i go to the left home at three o'clock yesterday moon i'm heading out to sleep and it's now. five o'clock in the morning here is twenty six hours so one feeling mr rush terrible tired and i just want to go home. authorities are now confident that planes can fly safely britain has called in the military and snipers to intercept the drones.

i work with our partners and with their full story see we consume options around the airport a place in a much better position to respond so i think it's right before the host on these president bush press a position to respond to takes and to track the drug should it reappear. the airport says it aims to have one hundred ten thousand passengers travel out of get wake on friday the unprecedented incident has highlighted the threat drones pose to airports the international airline body. has called first steps to reduce rogue drone operations near airports to pakistan were christians are increasingly the target of deadly attacks partly motivated by a harsh interpretation of blasphemy laws in the islamic republic the most high profile case involves a b.b. a roman catholic woman recently acquitted of blasphemy with christmas approaching

we decided to take a look at what life is like for pakistan's christians sabaidee amir met some of them in islamic law. christmas is a favorite time of year for this christian family in islamabad the cougars appreciate being together especially as their lives were completely turned upside down seven years ago shot of cool kid was falsely accused of blasphemy jailed and acquitted five months later in that time he lost his job and home but is grateful he didn't lose his life to live a free man now shot its detention continues to haunt him. you always live in fear because of this we feel insecure. when we talk about your future i think what kind of future can we have it all explained the law and policies here need to be implemented properly. blasphemy is an extremely dangerous and emotive

subject in pakistan and name will forever be associated with it the catholic laborer spent eight years on death row after being accused of insulting islam she was recently acquitted of all charges respond to violent protests across the country some hardliners called for r.c. i mean judges involved in the ruling to be hanged. no one convicted of blasphemy has ever be legally its accusers about to start but there are plenty of examples of people who have been killed by lynch mobs just after being accused of it and its religious minorities it was disproportionately affected by the controversial laws. pakistan's christians make up around two percent of the population and have been the target of escalating attacks in recent he is human rights groups claim accusations of blasphemy is seen as an easy way to settle disputes as a hard to disprove but the acquittal of ossie bibi also provides

a ray of hope for this pastor. the fact that an innocent woman can be sentenced to death has made a scared it will set a bad precedent where they can arrest anyone and prosecute them so when we heard that b.p. was finally acquitted you cannot behave how happy we were we were the two churches and offered prayers thanks to god. for failing make up on but we were into fearful when we were young but we do have some fears now for example if there are gatherings we don't go outdoors when children go to church and they see armed guards they do ask why is there so much security security. attacks will continue to happen here no matter what will remain united under the name of jesus. for many christians the facts that he has been freed is a christmas miracle only could not. and even though she remains in hiding in the

festive period provide some seasonal change and obscene isn't for what the future holds. you're watching g.w. news still to come just recently opec oil exporting countries agreed to cut production in the hope of boosting prices but they use prices. new to fall to record lows will be here in a moment it with business take a look at that and much more all still to come here on the. natural riches of precious resources. and a rewarding investment. farmland has been called to ethiopia's green gold. the country has an abundant supply and leases it to international giants.