fronts twenty full. watching my comparison for us twenty four the headlines this hour. but the protests in venezuela as nicolas maduro pulls out elections before twenty twenty five this is washington. to hand over control of venezuela assets to selelf p proclaimemed prt one white oak. the u. k. and the e. u. lockcked in n a standoff ovr brbricks it's one day off to theresa may want backing a petition piece to amend. totool agreement european leaders say it once again land not open to further negotiations. andd t the deep freeze comeo the midwest millions of people across the united states. dealing with temperatures as low as minus thirty degrees.

double checks rings in cold winds from the but as well as president nicolas maduro has ruled out fresh elections before twenty twenty five speaking to russian mediaia the embatatd socialist. said he was s lling to holdd talks with the opposition but would not step down the us canada and twewenty other countries have recognized aa positition they don'tt wanty does as president. and today his supporters took part in a walk out to the beach to put the pressure on the jury's government calls tango has the latest. he's willing to talk but not to step down. speaking to a russian news agency a venezuelan president nicolas maduro said he's prepared to hold negotiations with the

opposition. it would be very good to conduct parliamentary elections at an earlier stagage it would be a good form o of political discuss. presidential elections in venezuela have taken place and if imperialists w want w elections but them wait until. twenty twenty five opposition leader kwan whit- has beenen recognizezed by e united states and by several latin american c countries s been as wewell as new w heaf state. but menudo counts on his s n supppporters at t home. like in a working class been to trace their nato district west of caracas. they're angry at what they view as a coup. okay okay seattle we wilill defend ourselves tooth and nail. and if the americans are others put -- it's on venezuelan ground we will face off against each other. it will be likee a war thati get by the media. the americans want to do the same thing they've done to otheher countries. which is to appropriate that well. the case. for today my door

also appeared with thehe militatary a and a base in cararacas. a show of strength. in amman going seven st addressing the troops on the energy kurds them to defend the constitution and his prpresidency. harsrsher view of the opposition. which is called on security forces to abandon the government. let me i spoke to a hundred velasco he's a professor of more than it less in american studies and why you and i lost him what he made of washington's unwavering support for corn why do. it's been especially surprising just how vocal and muscular on the united states has been leading this charge -- certainly a given that the long history of us intervention in the region and also the the rich world call kind of charges at the venice one government in particular as long as i did at the united states in terms of its -- attempts to destabilize the country the united states is basically --

on all of its eggs into the basket of regime change among us why not it's more more brazenly start meeting to that -- over the last couple o oday- it's really left itself no viable outcomes beyond a quick and rapid -- a change of government as an outcome that it's going to be ablble to tolerate certainly it's very hard to imaginine somebody like. yvr instead appointed a as special envoy or even somebody like and nicholass my lotus immediate ousterr o all cards right now going to escalation. and two journalists have been detained in venezuela they were reportedly making a program for the channel tf on the network has refuseded to comment on the reports. now the british prime minister theresa may has been meeting with o oppositn leader jeremy corbyn today for the first time since her brexit do was defeated in parliaiament a fortnight ag. last night mps voted to amend the irish backstop

part of the agreement the only thing the only. have agreed on since the crisis began. to set specia. seven could. i set out the labor case for a comprehensive customs union with the european union in order to protect jobs in this cocountry and tried. and of course very importantly to protect -- the conditions that we have the regulations on the environment consumersrs and workrkers rights. alaska promises shores that we will not back into the territory of threatening no deal as a way y of getting support for her. failed deal with she listened i listened to her replies of course and within didiscuss various issues surrounding the problems. of the backstop which she is going to talk to the u. backs. of i may be talking about two and to the negotiating table even as the likelihood of another deal exit seems

greater by the day his approach in ca. we've doubled agreement remains the best info media policy. to be in your room said so in november. we said so in december. so after the first meeting vote meaning for vote in the commons in general. the debate it unfolds in the house of commons yesterday do not change that. to weave the old agreement to be not be with the fifty and he never said. well joining me now to talk about that is henry newman he's from the group open eurorope thank you for being with us so frustrating force not now. at europe is -- kaylee not going to give that to reserve a an easy ride on this but do you think behind the scenes the re seriously considering revisiting the backstop if that means avoiding. no jail. i think they need to because the legal position is clearly that there's going to be no deal unless we can find a way of agreeing to

deal. i'm president younger consultants say many times that that this is the deal and the grease got to take the deal. ultimately if parliament doesn't agree with him what is the prime minister is supposed to do other than come back to brussels and try and find a way through. what we saw last night was the parliament in the u. k. voting that they wowould bak the deal i if there were changes but the irish faxed all that's the insurance policy to keep the? irish border open in all circumstances well to look at it another way what is the e. you supposed to do if that theresa may has self signed off on that irish backstop following eighteen months of negotiations -- if no i've heard multitude i think wait a bit bizarre position a with it the irony of the current brexit impulse is that that the main blockage to dodo. isis the backskstop insurane policy for the irish border without a deal i'm without a backstop they could be a hard irish bordeder and that of c course is the very thig thatat the backstopp is designed to prevenent. i think itt behooooves botoh

sides to think very carerefully about whether ulultimately we gotot six hundred pagess of a treatyy that's ready to go that's what we spent eighteen months on what we all care about is two lines. it'll there's six hundred pages whihich is.. thee u. k. wanting assurancs that it would be stock permanently in the backstop anand the e. u. is also say. there are no a alternatives the bacackstop you've got to acaccept the bacackstop butf that's thehe case then the uk's rigight to be concerned that it could be trapped that. if you're a hold it's ground and want renegotiate with theresa may up what then delay all school fifty second referendum. one of the options on the table i think second rest of what i think is a second referendum is looking more and more unlikely before. i in the run up to christmas it was beginning to look as if it what might be possible theyey're certainlyly not anything like probable that he gets an enormous amount of attention vertically on the international media. but actually the support for amongst mps is very low a ad the opopposition l leader jy corbyn is s still not b bact and calculations a all that

even if you did. it would be well short o ofa majority in the house off commons so i don't think that brussels should be gambling on the u. k. changing its mind abobout brexitit. and then we left with either deal will net i think it's the both sides to find a way to have a prime minister in good faith. made the agreement signed up to in november and dececembr i think she's tried her best totoet it throrough the comments b but uses suffered suffereded the biggest debae so the biggest defeat. in british history so the deal has to be change she called just we introduceced the exact same deal but it's not gonna fly. it's a risky strategy is it not because if you listen to a british business leaders have been saying. that the united kingdom has a great deal more to lose from another deal brexit than the e. u. does. well all give me that that is true butut i did i think both sides would losee a great deal n not just econoc of course but this would mean by definitionn but all relations have broken down. in all kinds of areas dedefense foreign policy

security intelliligence sharing a goal to be particularly damaging for our closest neighbors arlingtonn fronts and whihie people some people in britain might accept that pain and think well look. we did vote to leave the european union and ultimately we couldn't reach agreement with the year i think thahat that might note divisive and u. k. but at least you can have the political mandate to leave. ofof coursrse frogs in arlin all the neighbors didn't want to leave they didn't like the brexit so they be suffering an enormous destruction without having all spread. all right henry newman thank you very much [inaudible] thank you. dozens of migrants have been stranded at sea for ten days now have been granted permission to disembark in a silly it comes after the european court of human rights ordered road to provide those on board with the medical assistance food and water. they will now be shared among several european states is there in a a goodd car pools. afterr more thahan ten days stranded at sea the asylum seekers aboard the sea watch three rescue ship may finally have a place to go.

italian prime minister giuseppe call date said the forty seven people aboard including at least ten unaccompanied minors will be split among seven c countris that have agreed to take the men. that wil d do it he said i know thatt the disisembarkan operatioions will begin witn the coming hours. maybe you'll always have t e factcts that luxemembourg to join the list of friendly countries not accepted --- request i want to thank the premier better. i don't know ifif other countries will joinn that lost. a six countries positively or seven countries size and say that. germany portugal romania multi t to seek asylum m on their territory. migrants were rescued f froa sinking b boat off the coast of libya on jajanuary nineteenth. the number of asylum seekers atattempting to o reach eure has fallen significantly since the height of the migrant crisis in. twenty fififteen but t the journey has gotten deadlier. into the united nations more

thanan twowo thousand people died t trying to cross the mediterranean and twenty seventeen twice more than the previous year. two thousand and eighteen six people per day in average lost their lives in the mediterranean. these are leave aside any other analysis this in itself. in my opinion. is s something that should make all europeans. reflect. you governments have attempted t to hinder the operations of rescue ships claiming they encourage people to try their chance at crossing. only two ngo rescue boats now operate in the mediterranean sea. down from ten last year. investigators say to seat cushions believed to have come from the plane carrying the missing football emily on a sauna have been found british authorities say their french counterparts made the d discovery on a beach nestle savvy in northwest france. the first traces of the plane to be fouound since ii disappeaeared overhe english channel o on januauary tweny

first on route to wells from france. saleh had just been signed by premier league club cardiff. carlos ghohosn has accused s fellow nissan execucuves o f scheheming against him the former chairman of the senate read a and mitsubishi made the comments in his first interview. since he was arrested o on charges of fraud he's been incarcerated in tokyo since november. largely john has the story. carlos ghosn says he has no doubt that he's behind bars because of a quote plot and treason by nissan executive. for the first time since being detained november nineteenth the auto tycoon has spoken to the press roughly twenty minutes from his detention center he sat down with journalists from the japanese paper indicata. in an exclusive interviviewn both the j japanese and english language platfororms go need knowledge a plan had been in the works to integrate renault nissan and mitsubishi. under one holding company but that such like it is

leading them to cooperarate with tokyo prosecutors. ghosn said the plans it also been discussed with nissan's president roh to psychoho o. the franco brazilian lebanese auto tycoon also fought back against accusations that during his nineteen years at the helm of nissan he acted like a dictator. he said quote people translated strong leadership to dictator to distort reality for the purpose of getting rid of me. following the interview nissan spokesman refuted the claims of a coup. sittining that nissan's presesident had already categorically refuted that notion. of his attention goans said there were ups and downs sunni reiterated that he's innocent and financial transactions were signed off within the song. as he did in court he also said he's not a flight risk vowing he would defend himself. no longer chairman of the alliance he spearheaded and created going refused to speculate about the future of that alliance as he awaits his trial.

at least six people have died as a result of freezing temperatures in t the united states temperatures as low as minus thirty of course cities across the midwest. to grind to a halt it's part of a polar vortex is blowing freezing n. in from t the arctic. rush with has no. chicago these services rescue a man from an icy lake michigan. he jumped in to save his daughter who had fallen in love the two were out for a while. the demand to safety the dog to was able to get out of the woods. for others such as this parking enforcement officer in milwaukee work continues. pretty much as normal though in extreme conditions. your goal on your in a warm comfortable cheap you can get out and it's it's a it's just. brutal change. illinois michigan and wisconsin agencies with snow

plows in action on warming shelters set up. amid warnings people could get frostbite in a matter of minutes. in chicago the mayor announced plans to make sure the homeless and not let doubts in life threatening - cta and family services at the bus. to pick up homeless people -- to make sure that if they do want to go to a warming -- center that are open. that there be a boss to make sure that they can be off the streets andnd a warning for us and she gave us. two thousand flights have been canceled hundreds of schools closed. bold to toto a stream of cod that knownwn as t the polar vortex that spins around the stratosphere. over the north pole. my captain is a meteorologist with the fox thirty two tv in chicago and he told us more about how. the polar vortex works. polar vortex is a permanent feature in the atmosphere it's more intense in the

winterer that it is in the summertime it is a permanen. belts wins it goes fairly clclose to the all of the border all its operating underr clockwise if you were looking down at the polar vortex more or less govover. we're t the extreme cold tetemperatatures arere whene this lot little piece of that old work. and some of it cortex start- to art itselff. f for text s displaced more towards eueurope or northernrn egypt siberiria. the scandinavian even that you'll be transferred. inin the past few days that worked excellelent didid ths lot through canada and now is moving through a big portion of the united state. so the c coldest air. relative to o what would be normal conditions is right in chicago.

the star of the hits us tv show empire was the victim of a chicago police are investigating as a hate crime a thirty six year old jussie smollett. was subjected to racist and homophobic abuse before being beaten and doused in an unknown liquid. is attack is also tied a roperound his neckk maximize belkin has the story. it seems his celebrity was no protection agagainst ract and homophobic violence. police in chicago have opened a hate crime investigation of to jussie smollett and acts in the u. s. tv series empire reported that he'd been verbally abused and beaten up by two men in mosques. they also allegedly pulled an unidentified liquid onn smalall it's face before wrapping a rope around his neck. the actor told investigators that his attackers had shouted that he was in magga country. a reference to us president donald trump's make america greaeat again slogan. cicivil r rights activist al sharptonon to condemn the

factions if theyy had on making ameririca great again hat or said that verbally. the president ought to come out and say. if h his brand does not represenent these k kind of alleged attacksks thatt he stands to say that is brandd represents somethingng else his silence is deafening. investigators say they have not yet succeeded in identifying any witnesses in the case. and that despite going through hundreds of hours of private surveillance footage they've not found significant leads. the chicago police department announcing they've now expanded the search area along t the chicago river front. in the hope of finding surveillance footage that would enable them to publicly release a description of the offender. as police tried to catch the perpetrator is support for small it continues to pour in on social media. presidential hopeful kamala harris decried what she called a modern day lynching while house speaker nancy pelosi said that no one

should be attacked for who they all full who they love. musician john legend echoing many in praying that justice is eventually served. let's get in positions right okay media is with us in the studio how to kate color and that there is a causal about seventy surrounding venezuela at the moment out one of the consequences of that. at is an intentional prices yeah we see oil prices rising fairly steadily since the us imposed sanctions on cracks the state run oil giant. us wti closed up one point 7% on wednesday that's the fifty four dollars and twenty three cents per barrel its best closing price since late november. the sanctions mean the venezuela will have a harder time exporting its oil lower supply levels tend to lead to higher prices. despite having the biggest reserves in the world the debt to o the economic and humamanitarian catastrophe that scene at three million people fleece since. twenty fourteen suffer when present one quieto may offer a clean break from the

socialisistolicies of nicolas maduro and hugo chavez. analysts say it will take more than a regime change to revitalize the economy. no behind one way it'll is the main opposition coalition integrated by us significant group or political parties. you news at the church a business assocociation s. sl society which have been working. through the national assembly the only democratically elected institution in the country control labels you should. eat an economic plan cold but i'm based which is basically the proposal eating crews are low hydrocarbon which provides better terms and conditions. of forty based or two coming to country. and a way to increase -- old production. and other key measures to attract for raining but direct investment and to restore the rule of law which is absolutely key to refuse political. and economic risks are in

the country. two more of my interview the jagermeister compasass in at this week's people and profit. it's n not negotiated from e world's two largest economies of kicked off a second round of discussions about the trade war that's been brewing between them this wednesday. donald trump will be meeting with the chinese vice premier on thursday. hanging over the talks the internrnationall scandal surrounding tech giant while way unfnfair practices in te techch sector. this week it filed charges accusing me of stealing technology and trying to violate sanctions on iran. the accusations as well and an effort to extradite hallways chief financial officer from m canada as in rage chinese officials adding another source of tension. these already difficult negotiations. uncle is been looking back at the heart of the dispute. the e clock is ticking justa month left before the end of a ninety day trade truce agreed by the world's two biggest economies. wawar has s seen the u u a d chinaa slapp* for tat terrace on some three hundred and sixty billion

dollars worth of each other's guts. washington is imposed up 225% trade duties on a total of two hundred and fifty billion dollars worth of chinese goods. from a aircraft to zirconiu. beijing resesponded with its own targeted tariffs on a hundred and ten billion dollars of american goods. washington's demands ahead of the talks are clear. first the china by more american goods to narrow the trade deficit between the two countries. more contentious is the list of quote structural changes to china's trade practices. viewed as unfair by washington. like ending forced joint ventures with chinese companies reducing chinese government support of domestic industrtries and stopping the transfers of american intellectual property. it's a challenge to china's economic model. in which the government plays an outsize role to shore up state owned companies against foreign and even local privately owned competition. even if china agrees to the

demands enforcing them will be difficult. the us also wants a mechanism to ensure both parties abide by any deal. that help facilitate those talks and as a sign of good faith chinese lawmakers are fast tracking a new law that will allow more foreign investment in the economy. she one news agency reports that the measure will ban forced technology transfers and limit government interference in international business deal. vote could come as early as march by pass take up to a year. as you can on the day's trading action now wall street has been rising steadily accelerating those gains as the us federal reserve pledge to be patien. in its future interest rate hikes within the dow jumped five hundred points that since those remarks by fed chief drum powell at the nasdaq up 2% there. strong earnings have also been boosting trade boeing shares of soared nearly 7% after it reported a 14% jump in revenue. apple shares are up 6% this hour. it was a mixed close earlier

for the major european indices the frankfort tax a slippingng slightly on weak consumer sentiment across the block. from fashion group lvmh trading near the top rising 7%7%. here in france new official figures show the country's economic growth slowed to one and a half percent last year from two point 3% and twenty seventeen that was in part to the yellow vest protests which started in november. consumer spending was stagnant in the final quarter of twenty eighteen which is usually sees a boost over the christmas shopping period. ubs has downgraded its forecast for the uk economic growth saying that uncertainty over briggs it is weighing on investment and business activity. agriculture industries also bracing for a people many farmers fear the prospect of tariffs and reduced access to the e. u. market may cripple their industry. a rush has more. but what happens is family has been farming this land in wells for five hundred years the government's inability to agree on a withdrawal deal has cast

doubt on his family busines. there is a very big lack of confidence in the industry at the moment because you know -- i talked to machinery dealers -- feed legends -- and the live actually invest in the business is. because farmers don't know exactly what's going to happen. the basic confusion ways especially heavy on u. k. sheep farmers. nearly 30% of u. k. lamb and mutton is exported and of those exports some 90% goes to the e. u.. and these previouslyy tear free she backs boards may now see tariffs of up 250% in t the event of f a no del brags it. potential terrorists and restricted access to the market could land a devaststating blow to the industry the european market is the best market place in the world it has over five hundred million of the richest consumers in the world. and it's absolutely vital that we maintain access to that market place. for a british parliament report

has warned that such terrorists could make the u. k. sheep sector less competitive in the e. u. market. all right okay thank y you veryry much indeed that's te business we're gonna take a right on going much most of the time

♪ amy: from the sundance film festival in park city, utah, this is democracy now... government is preparing fofor a u.s.. military invasion of venezuela. amy: venezuela accuses the united ste