this is deja vu news live from berlin a fragile truce in yemen hangs in the balance the u.n. special envoy is urging rebel leaders to respect a cease fire war and famine help left millions facing starvation and one of the world's poorest countries. also coming up why a police crackdown on gang violence in brazil rest is the first test of

a new president charged also gnarls hardline law and order policies. to thank you for joining us the u.n. special envoy to yemen has arrived in the country to try to shore up a ceasefire agreed to last month since then there have been reports of repeated violations of the truce which applies to the port city of data a crucial entry point for aid shipments yemen's civil war began in twenty fourteen and a saudi led coalition intervened in the conflict a year later it has led to a devastating humanitarian crisis with millions on the brink of famine. he hopes to save what is a fragile cease fire un special envoy martin griffiths knows that the longer they can keep the guns silent the more precious aid can be delivered to the destitute country. yet both sides of the conflict report that the other has already violated

the treaty with gunshots a daily disturbance in a round hole data. and a dispute over the wording of the ceasefire could be its downfall the deal says the port should be turned over to local authorities the yemeni government interprets that to mean their own authorities the rebels however say it means the officials currently running her data support their allies. at stake are the lives of millions of yemenis who depend on aid to survive like the young patients at this clinic in her job in the northwest abraham is struggling to survive. my flat and i don't none of the aid gets to us none of the organizations aid or food supplies reach us. i love them even when they stopped at the registration we didn't get anything. the war in yemen has resulted in the world's worst humanitarian crisis

a short term ceasefire say aid groups is only the first fragile step in pulling the country back from the brink. since two thousand and fifteen the who three rebels with backing from iran have been fighting against the yemeni government which receive support from saudi arabia. the un hopes the kings can be ironed out of the current ceasefire in the next few days but what small progress has been made since december is threatened by the constant sound of gunfire. earlier we spoke to his may see political analyst on yemen we asked him whether it's likely the u.n. special envoy can implement the peace deal which in sweden. there's a lot of international pressure under his arm of the saudis as well to basically maintain the truce that has actually struck and had a that unfortunately have been multiple violations by all factions and for data that spirit of stock comp is being strained currently with those violations u.n.

employees are now also had to come over as the head of the u.n. observation team and to observe the truce is also inside to salvage a deal. there's a lot of hope with the international community putting the pressure on the factions but the thing is that now with the violations with the actions that demand putting new demands on table it's a very very shit he truth. analyst hisham melhem i see speaking to us earlier now authorities in brazil have sent hundreds of military police to end a wave of gang violence in the northern city afford to laser it's the first test of newly installed president sharples scenarios hardline law and order policies the right wing leader has pledged to make the streets safe again. the off them off of intense vandalism in northeast brazil. for a week they will file

a tax on shops banks and buses in the city of fool to listen. so in response brazil's central government stepped in three hundred troops are being deployed across the region to shore up security. the upsurge in violence came as a new government took over in brazil president. who was inaugurated just a few days ago campaigned for a tough crackdown on criminality and as part of his sweeping reforms justice minister. announced tougher measures in brazil's prisons prisons often controlled by gangs. the gangs responded by going on the attack. today i didn't go to work i was scared because i was told that there was no way to guarantee my safety that is what people are living through present both in our is popular although often offensive a derogatory is frank language resonates with millions of brazilians brazilians who

hope he can end the years of gang violence. now at some other stories making headlines around the world at least thirty people have been killed in an accident at a gold mine in afghanistan reports suggest there was either a flash flood or a tunnel collapse at the facility in the northern province police say several others were injured. royal officials in malaysia saying kenya mohammad the sas has stepped down they gave no reason for his resignation which follows a lengthy leave of absence and wormers that he'd married a former russian beauty queen it's the first time a malaysian monarch has abdicated before completing their rotating five year rule. him in march thousands of fled their homes after clashes in the troubled rection state thirteen police officers were killed in court unaided attacks by rebel militants on the country's independence day fresh fighting broke out in the state last month between government forces and separatists. and egyptian police officer

has been killed while trying to defuse a bomb near a coptic christian church in cairo several other people were injured when the device exploded the incident comes just two days before the orthodox coptic christmas no one has claimed responsibility. and ukraine's new orthodox church has formally received a decree of independence ending more than three centuries of russian control the decree was handed over at a ceremony in istanbul ukraine's president petro poroshenko had campaigned for the split which has provoked anger in moscow. pope francis has waded into the deadlock over migrants stranded in the mediterranean sea calling for them to be given a safe port to dock in the pontiff spoke out while celebrating mass in st peter's square he called on european leaders to show solidarity and stop arguing over the fate of migrants rescued last month by two humanitarian ships they are currently

stuck off the coast of malta as e.u. members decide which country should take them in our next report looks at the grim conditions on one of those votes. for two weeks fifty two refugees have been living in limbo stranded aboard a german risky ship the sea which three. the maltese government is refusing to let it dock until other european union countries agree to accept them so far none have . to see which three is just off the coast of malta due to rough seas many including children are suffering from sea sickness they feel like they're imprisoned and they worry about what lies ahead just internet analyse it i spend on the international who are of the sea requires that we're provided with a safe haven as soon as possible. just supplies are being shipped out to the sea watch three the crew now exhausted is replaced by

a new team building with them members of the german parliament. there's a. there has to be a solution whether these people are allowed to land in a spanish italian earth even maltese port they'll be redistributed to countries that are ready to help but it's. italy has agreed to let the women and children currently aboard the sea watch three disembark but the rest must wait was european government struggled to gree upon a plan. the plight of migrants at sea may be making headlines but many asylum seekers also travel by air and land from turkey to reach the european union on the mediterranean island of cyprus even that their problems are still far from over. it's just a ninety minute flight from istanbul to turkish occupied northern cyprus from there it's a short drive through the buffer zone to southern cyprus and the european union more

and more asylum seekers from iraq and syria are making the journey because shelters are overrun many have to live an overpriced hotels or on the street. a family of four receives seven hundred thirty five euros in aid per month. the number of asylum seekers arriving in cyprus has shot up fifty percent since twenty seventeen authorities are angry with turkey for allowing them to travel freely to the north of the island. some of these nationalities are exploited the fact that there are turkey for certain or agreements with these countries little cover movies are cool tools the u.n. refugee agency says the three to five year period for processing asylum applications is creating major problems because migrants are forbidden to work during this time it is extremely challenging for them to find employment and self

sustainability and that has led to situation of homelessness and destitution that has set their e alarmingly increased. only five percent of the asylum seekers in southern cyprus are housed in this camp the rest have to find a home for themselves and pressure is growing to find a solution and quickly. football now and the opening game of the asian cup almost provided the first shock of the tournament with hosts the united arab emirates needing a late goal to secure a draw against bahrain the lower ranked visitors opened the scoring to mohamed al behind me but with just two minutes remaining converted a penalty for the one all final score and today sees syria face off against palestine players from both sides have plenty to deal with off the pitch with turmoil in the palestinian territories and the continuing conflict in

syria but they're using those issues as motivation. sometimes football and politics simply cannot be separated the asian cup match between palestine and syria sees two of the most troubled and controversial teams at the tournament faceoff several of the palestinian players were born outside of the territories they see the asian cup as a chance to show solidarity with people in their ancestors homeland and. it's something very nice to defend to the people. to represent these people that are in a constant battle out on the pitch i think it's good that we'll be out there to defend them. likewise the syrian players are focused on bringing a small sense of relief to people in a country ravaged by civil war. we have to keep going with sports in order to put smiles on the faces of the syrians whether in football or any other

game sports bring syrians together in spite of their suffering during the crisis. syria's german coach band shun is avoiding talk of politics he wants aside to concentrate entirely on the sporting task at hand it's a great challenge all assume football player from for lower fans for the syrians to play the greatest asian cup ever with twenty four teams and for at least two of those squads they know how much more of these matches mean to the people watching back home. in basketball turkish n.b.a. player n.-s. contour will not travel to london with his team the new york knicks out of fear for his safety the knicks will play a league game there a country that is a vocal critic of turkish president. and believes traveling to europe for his club's match against the washington wizards could be dangerous he said he believes turkish security forces are active in the british capital his turkish passport was

revoked and twenty seventeen which country claims is due to his political views. today is christmas eve for orthodox christians around the world in turkey the day is marked by the traditional diving for the cross in the bosphorus dozens of hardy swimmers who braved the cold for the honor of retrieving the sacred prize from the murky waters in istanbul of this year patriarch bartholomew did a fake out before flinging it out to his left and caused some grief confusion for the lead swimmers but they found it in the end it's traditional cross throwing is also practiced in other countries including greece and cyprus just. a reminder now of our top stories here on d w a fragile truce in yemen is hanging in the balance the u.n. special envoy is urging russia leaders to respect a cease fire in the key port city of ho data. and riot police have been deployed to

crack down on gang violence in brazil the rest is the first test of new president jarboe scenarios hardline law and order policies. thank you for watching to that you will be back at the top of the hour.