greek orthodox christians are celebrating christmas at the church of the nativity in bethlehem in the occupied west bank latin and eastern orthodox pilgrims hold their christmas midnight mass at the church. acetic they built over a crowd over jesus was born. christians in palestine were marred by demonstrations and people boycott of the visit of the orthodox patriarch entrance into bethlehem or testers are angry that has been selling church land to israelis or faucet was at the protests in the occupied west bank. this is a familiar pilgrimage for the orthodox patriarch of jerusalem he comes here to bethlehem every year for the orthodox christmas to mark christ's birth at the church of the holy it's a pity and usually he would come here on foot proceeded by marching bands or scouts he would be met by officials from the bethlehem and surrounding governments. manger square would usually be thronged with people to welcome him but this year it's very different there is a group within the orthodox community who want this visit boycotted on political grounds because of its policy of selling

all right now it is officially orthodox christmas in all of them time zones of russia the country's main divine liturgy was held in russia's largest orthodox place of worship and moscow's cathedral of christ the savior. most people have finished their winter break in the getting ready to go back to work there are pockets of communities across the world who are celebrating it christmas eve it's one of the most important dates in the diary and people have traveled from all over the country to enjoy the ceremony here at prices you can see behind me and we managed to get a few comments from people who want to go there especially for tonight. to the vice. president. it is just that. despair on board did the most of must create a new beautiful. woman. should someone. to merge to be. strong if the present that there was a right. actually was just because our. own was a word which in which you choose to your. presenter is just right the sound we. just issued with your another you see when i do. buy it the more questions. are not so with us here and it's not just russia the celebrating there arou

and this is the scene now the orthodox will celebrating christmas this sunday is midnight here in moscow for local worshipers the holiday has begun these are live pictures from the main temple because. christ the satan. great to have you with is and merry christmas this is r.t. and. it may be a new year but it's the same yellow vests protests continuing to challenge the french authorities at least fifty thousand of the movement's members once again took to streets across the country on saturday minor scuffles erupted in paris as protesters that set barricades on fire and called for president to resign. and i i i. i i i. the. there is only a few dark and more things were calm at first people were told they needed to declare their gatherings to authorities and that would guarantee our safety we declared the gathering spot where was our security things got out of hand everywhere they used tear gas on us it looked like a civil war they charged us used pepper spray journalists trying to take cover inside building lobbies were thrown out it's a hostile situation and it's terrible in any case w

an orthodox christmas eve the newly founded ukrainian all the docs church has gained formal independence in what is an historic split church leaders formally received aid to korea of independence at a ceremony and it's tricky being the global center of christian orthodoxy for the ukrainian church it marks the end of more than three centuries of russian influence ukraine's president petro poroshenko had campaigned for the break which has provoked anger in moscow. matthew cooper is a journalist with the post and he joins me now from the ukrainian capital this is see you matthew tell us about the build up to the church's break from russian control. well thanks for having me tonight it's actually all happened fairly quickly the discussion hope church independence roughly in october soon it became clear that the ecumenical patriarch of constantinople istanbul would grant the so-called almost autocephaly an independence to the right an orthodox church on december fifteenth two ukrainian reckon to human interactions under acknowledged by constantinople held a. meeting where they unified an elec

later became instrumental in the creation of the country's armed forces the greek orthodox christians are celebrating christmas at the church of the nativity in bethlehem in the occupied west bank both latin and eastern orthodox pilgrims hold their christmas midnight masses at the church the place of worship is over a grotto where christians believe jesus was born. demonstrations maad christmas celebrations by christians in palestine some people boycotted the visit of the orthodox patriarch of jerusalem to bethlehem protesters are angry that he's been selling church land how a force it was at the protests in iraq and piled west bank. this is a familiar pilgrimage for the orthodox patriarch of jerusalem he comes here to bethlehem every year for the orthodox christmas to mark christ's birth at the church of the holy. and usually he would come here on foot proceeded by marching bands or scouts he would be met by officials from the bethlehem and surrounding governments. manger square would usually be thronged with people to welcome him but this year it's very different there is a group within the orthodox communit

fellow orthodox christians and even though it's a very very long ceremony they say that is one of the most beautiful services that they will experience over the course of the year. right tonight's christmas celebration is occurring amid deeper crisis for the orthodox church a newly formed orthodox church of ukraine has been granted independence from the russian church with a few hours ago the patriarch of constantinople handed the head of the church a document formalizing split while many politicians in ukraine are alluded at the decision many orthodox christians are concerned about the potential consequences of the move is within a quarter of a long awaited president has finally been delivered to ukraine patriarch of constantinople has granted its ukrainian are to dogs church and autonomy on the eve of our two dogs christmas special decree was signed officially recognizing an independent ukrainian art adox church and of course ukrainian presidents petro poroshenko was there shedding tears of question shoot. god it would be impossible without god's blessing. i want to thank the millions of ukrainians across the this has become possible thanks to your prayers well sems like for one's happ

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 i

you know our western new year we just finished the orthodox christmas yesterday and now we're heading into the chinese new year period soon so this is january is always a you know a crucial month into these the global geopolitics geo economics because all of these things kind of come together at the same point all under a celebrity your birthday is january twenty third if you want to send max anything like that nasty tweeters. like any other day. well here's another reason don trump is not at all happy with the fed and will continue to be frustrated by the world's number two economy he is the first president to suffer the new normal a china becoming more credit worthy than the u.s. that's right america now pays more to borrow money then china does i do want to take issue with that wording from bloomberg because they say china is becoming more credit worthy than the u.s. we don't know because nobody has looked inside their debt pile and see what they actually have it's the definitely the perception by investors is that they're more credit worthy right but the point being that america's

under the russian orthodox lit urge cal calendar, christmas is observed on january 7th. 9 midday shothe fortress has been a tradition since 1865. putin appeared only flinched slightly when that canon went off. >> nothing says merry christmas like firing every weaponry. >>> we have an update on the heartbreak in chicago. the nfl has officially ruled that cody parkey's missed field goal from sunday was actually blocked. check out the video. it shows that philadelphia's treyvon hester tipped the ball that ultimately doinked off the upright and then off the cross bar. that tip likely saved the day for philly really at the end of the game and sunk the bears' season. it might actually give some relief to cody parkey, who has just been hammered these past 48 hours or so. >> you can imagine he can sleep maybe just a little bit better at night with that ruling. >> he can but not bears fans. >>> we all know how much a younger john travolta loved his hair. >> watch the hair. you know, i work on my hair a long time, and you hit it. >> grease as well. now 40 years after saturday night fever and al

now it's officially orthodox christmas in all the eleven time zones of russia these are pictures for you from st petersburg where vladimir putin is attending services honoring the birth of jesus christ the divine liturgy in russia's largest orthodox place of worship that's moscow's cathedral of christ the savior that is also underway ark. is just outside the cathedral and joins us on the line how is the atmosphere. the atmosphere is great here nearly in the center of moscow and while most people have finished their winter break and they're getting ready to go back to work there are pockets of communities across the world who are celebrating christmas eve it's one of the most important dates in the diary and people have traveled from all over the country to enjoy the ceremony here tries to save it to theaters that you can see behind me and we managed to get a few comments from people who wanted to go there especially for tonight. this is a band the best of christ is very important for us but decided to charge children because they're in moscow for the first time and they consider all

just ended our new year special from the you know our western new year we just finished the orthodox christmas yesterday and now we're heading into the chinese new year period soon so this is january is always a you know a crucial month into these the global geopolitics geo economics because all of these things kind of come together at the same point zero interest my birthday your birthday is january twenty third if you want to send max anything like that nasty tweeters. like any other day. well here's another reason donald trump is not at all happy with the fed and will continue to be frustrated by the world's number two economy he is the first president to suffer the new normal china becoming more credit worthy than the u.s. that's right america now pays more to borrow money then china does i do want to take issue with that wording from bloomberg because they say china is becoming more .

pilgrimage for the orthodox patriarch of jerusalem he comes here to bethlehem every year for the orthodox christmas to mark christ birth at the church of the holy it's a beauty and usually he would come here on foot proceeded by marching bands or scouts he would be met by officials from the bethlehem and surrounding governments . manger square would usually be thronged with people to welcome him but this year it's very different there is a group within the orthodox community who want this visit boycotted on political grounds because of his policy of selling church lands which regularly find their way into israeli jewish hands this year the municipality has both of bethlehem and the surrounding cities have decided to join not boycott actually with our position three months abilities we are not going the butts in will coming there but there is another because. actually there are there is documents says that his selling. their lands and the properties of the orthodox but real whereas in most years manger square would be occupied by people welcoming and celebrating christmas with the patriarch here we

great orthodox christians in palestine have also been celebrating christmas but some of them boycotting the visit of the orthodox patriarch interisland to bethlehem because in the church of selling land to israelis very fast it was at the protests in the occupied west bank. this is a familiar pilgrimage for the orthodox patriarch of jerusalem he comes here to bethlehem every year for the orthodox christmas to mark christ birth at the church of the holy it's of it's easy and usually he would come here on foot proceeded by marching bands or scouts he would be met by officials from the bethlehem and surrounding governments. manger square would usually be thronged with people to welcome him but this year it's very different there is a group within the orthodox community who want this visit boycotted on political grounds because of its policy of selling church lands which regularly find their way into israeli jewish hands this year the municipality has both of bethlehem and the surrounding cities have decided to join not boycott actually with our position famous abilities without knowing the

people were injured when the device exploded the incident comes just two days before the orthodox coptic christmas no group has claimed responsibility. 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 has campaigned for the split which has provoked anger in moscow. and union leaders in hungary are calling for a national strike later this month stepping up the pressure on hardline prime minister viktor orban opponents have again taken to the streets to protest at a so-called slave law the measures would allow employers to demand hundreds of hours of overtime from workers. braving icy conditions thousands returned to the streets of budapest with a message for hungry president stop over they want his right wing government's new overtime law to be repealed it allows a massive increase in how many extra hours employees can ask the staff to work from two hundred fifty to four hundred hours it also lets employees take up to three years t

known as the thomas will be taken back to crane on sunday the orthodox christmas scene a celebration is to be held in kiev the following day a celebration the church as leaders in russia may not share what matters are just. thousands of families have lined the streets of the spanish capital madrid to catch a glimpse of the annual three kings parade that's carrying the kings by the procession which marks the christian festival of a penny so it's returning to the crowns to represent the gaps prop by the biblical three wise men to jesus and the spanish consider that celebration more important than christmas. turkey has introduced a charge on single use plastic bags in an attempt to clean out the mediterranean sea its waters are polluted with thousands of tons of plastic every year the manufacturers say that tens of thousands of jobs are now at risk because hell has more from istanbul. like many come trees worldwide turkey has a major problem with plastic waste turkey is your second largest plastics producer and six in the world. millions of tons are thrown away every year. often ending

people were injured when the device exploded the incident comes just two days before the orthodox coptic christmas no one has yet claimed responsibility. in myanmar thousands have fled their homes after clashes in the troubled record state thirteen police officers were killed in coordinated attacks by rebel militants on the country's independence day fresh fighting broke out in the state last month between government forces and separatists. authorities in brazil have sent hundreds of military police to end a wave of gang violence in the northern city of for today there have been dozens of attacks on banks shops and vehicles security chiefs say organized crime groups are trying to block government plans for a crackdown on prisons. ukraine's new orthodox church has formally received a creative independence and in 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. union leaders in hungary of calling for a national strike later this month stepping up on t

people were injured when the device exploded the incident comes just two days before the orthodox coptic christmas no one has claimed responsibility. for thora he is in brazil have sent hundreds of military police to end a wave of gang violence in the northern city of forth. there have been dozens of attacks on banks shops and vehicles security chiefs say organized crime groups are trying to block government plans for a crackdown in prisons. in the united states the pentagon's chief of staff kevin sweeney has stepped down saying you plants returned to the private sector his resignation comes just weeks after defense secretary jim mattis denounced his departure both resignations following president donald trump's surprise move to withdraw u.s. troops from syria. talks aimed at ending the partial u.s. shutdown in a government shutdown in the u.s. are expected to resume later on sunday president donald trump says the standoff could go on for several months or even years if he doesn't get funding for a border war with mexico they feel very strongly scores when union leaders in hungary a calling for a

of real world orthodox christians are celebrating christmas including all across the russian federation country's main divine liturgy was held and it's the largest orthodox place of worship if you drop of christ the savior. most people have finished that winter break and they're getting ready to go back to work there are pockets of communities across the world who are celebrating it christmas eve it's one of the most important dates in the diary and people have traveled from all over the country to enjoy the ceremony here at prices that you can see behind me and we managed to get a few comments from people who wanted to go there especially for tonight's. vice. president. receive just. as much more present. despair on board did the most of my screen and you beautiful. woman. you should someone. to merge to be. sure strong if it's present that there was a right. at you will still be listening because our. own lives are worth watching where should you store your. price meters just right the sound we. just issued with your another you'd see when i do. buy it i'm with virtual sex with them p

as you may know, joshua, today is russian orthodox christmas. has been trickling out of moscow rather slowly given the huge holiday. yesterday whelan's brother spoke to "the guardian" newspaper. he said he was being used as a pawn and he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. paul whelan wasn't just an american travel aing abroad. he had four passports. it complicates the issue of consular responsibility when it comes to which country needs to sbreerd intercede on his behalf. they have all applied for consular access. so far the u.s. is taking the lead because whelan entered on his u.s. passport. john huntsman has visited him in prison. the other issue raised is the possibility that this is part of a larger scheme, perhaps a prisoner swap to exchange him for a russian who's being detantd in the u.s. you mentioned maria batina who pleaded guilty to conspiracy in the u.s., but there's also reports that a russian man was arrested in the marianna islands, which is a u.s. territory. so, joshua, as you can see, this story just gets weirder and weir

russian president vladimir putin celebrated orthodox christmas by firing a howitzer at a fortress inpetersburg. christmas is observed january 7th there. this midday shot has been a tradition since 1865 you can see putin appeared to only flinch slightly when that canon finally went off there you go in russia i guess there's no better way to say merry christmas than firing high-powered weaponry. >> we had a pool here as to when the first day of the year would be that you said howitzer. i did not have january 8th i think kayla chadwick won that pool here. thank you for that thank you. >> ding, ding, ding, and congratulations to the winner. >> exactly and won't you be my neighbor thank you. >>> here's how money and investments look as we're halfway through the 5:00 a.m. hour stock futures solidly in the green. dow futures up just about triple digits mixed to higher day in asia where japan and hong kong markets did rise as well shanghai pulled back just a bit, though the european markets are showing green on the screen as well. i don't want to call it a rally, but certainly the markets ha

i'm soo nice to have you with us the newly founded ukrainian orthodox church is holding its first christmas mass in the capital of the service comes just hours after church leaders formally received a decree of independence at a ceremony in istanbul ending more than three centuries of russian influence and ukraine's president petro poroshenko had campaigned for the split which as a provoked anger in moscow. let's bring in matthew cook for a journalist with the kiev post he joins us from the ukrainian capital for more on the story matthew thank you very much for joining us now this is a pretty significant day of the first mass of an independent ukrainian orthodox church after more than three centuries of russian control tell us more about the lead up to the split. good evening thank you for having me this is been a very significant event and it happened actually quite quickly when you consider it discussion started around october very quickly it was it became clear that ukrainian orthodox church would receive this decree of independence that would give it independence from moscow then the tw

document authorising disapprobation known as the thomas will be taken back to crane on sunday the orthodox christmas scene a celebration is to be held in kiev the following day a celebration the church as leaders in russia may not share but modest algis in. thousands of anti-government protesters are out on the streets of hungary again calling for an end to new labor laws the ones which allow employees to demand up to four hundred hours of overtime every year position groups union workers students they will pledge to make twenty nine thousand a year of resistance protestors are also angry over changes to the country's judiciary which they say could threaten the dependents of judges or to zero as many recolors more from budapest. a few thousands of people took to streets of look at this today protesting against so-called slave law or do overtime act that was passed in the hunt gary in parliament last month they're criticizing that law they're saying that we did this law people in hungary were even six days per week in this overtime. two hundred fifty overtime hour of hard work on up to four hundred o

christmas eve. diving into the cold waters to retrieve a wooden cross is one way of celebrating the baptism of christ that's how orthodox christians celebrate their christmas eve in istanbul the city that's been the center of the orthodox church for centuries. the i.c. did it came after a more somber ceremony here marking ukraine's historic break from the russian orthodox church which it had to answer to for centuries. patriarch bartholomew the first orthodoxies global leader signed a decree to make it official the ukrainian church has severed ties with the moscow affiliated church united some former schisms and could create a few more of ukraine's president petro poroshenko was present at the istanbul ceremony he had pushed for the move seeing it as a further act of ukraine's independence from russia but. it will complete the assertion of the independence of the ukrainian state strengthen religious freedom and into confessional peace it will strengthen the rights and freedoms of citizens. but it pulls us to go on you. but the break has provoked a furious response in moscow where supporters of the russian church see ver

russia was handed over in the turkish city of istanbul they were all greek orthodox christians have been celebrating christmas at the church of the nativity in bethlehem in the occupied west bank platinum eastern orthodox pilgrims hold their christmas midnight mass at that church place of worship is said to be built over a crowd where christians believe jesus was born. and so the headlines keep it on al-jazeera much more news to come and cited story as that next. deadlock in the u.s. says the president threatens years of government shutdown a few doesn't get money for its border war but is the face off about the war or the presidency and how's it changing american politics this is inside story. hello and welcome to the show i'm sammy's a than that wall was a regular slogan from u.s. president donald trump jury and after his campaign now he's demanding over five billion dollars from democratic controlled house of representatives to keep his promise the democrats have refused to give in which is led to a partial government shutdown that began on december the twenty second it's affecting their eight hundred thou

now greek orthodox christians have been celebrating christmas the church of the nativity in bethlehem and the occupied west bank both the latin and eastern orthodox pogroms held their christmas midnight masses of the church a place of worship is over a grotto where christians believe jesus was born the and on sunday egypt's president of the fatah has sisi open the country's largest church in largest mosque on the eve of coptic christmas celebrations it's being seen as a gesture of tolerance in the majority muslim country which has suffered a string of attacks on christians the fattah one lean mosque in cairo can accommodate over fifteen thousand worshippers. a saudi teenager has barricaded herself in a hotel room in thailand to avoid deportation saying she fears for her life or half was detained while in transit on her way to australia as she wants to claim asylum on line she expressed fear of being killed the she was sent back to saudi arabia this is not the first time saudi women have been detained for deportation one trying to request asylum and she posted this message on her twitt

millions of orthodox christians are celebrating the christmas holiday the eastern orthodox faith follows the old julian calendar which puts the birth of jesus christ on january the sufferings celebrations are taking place in bethlehem in the occupied west bank the city celebrates christmas three times a year for different denominations. the cranes new orthodox church has been blessed by the global orthodox leaders based in turkey ukraine's church was officially granted independence from the russian orthodox church on saturday the decree was handed over during sunday's service in istanbul this move has angered moscow brazil's new government has deployed troops to the northern city of to counter a spike in violent crime nearly eighty robberies gun attacks on fires have been reported this week across the states of sierra reports suggest drugs gangs were responding to tough new measures in the prisons of former military bunker in hong kong the played a crucial role in world war two has been given a new lease of life instead of bullets and bombs it's now home to some of the world's best wines

great also docs christians are celebrating christmas at the church of the nativity in bethlehem many occupied west bank both blacks in an eastern orthodox pilgrims hold their christmas midnight mass at the church the place of worship is set to be built over a grotto where christians believe jesus was born. a centuries old musical tradition is being kept alive in mauritania with some help from modern technology involves the use of an instrument only played by women nicholas reports from the outskirts of the capital. it is an invitation no man can refuse. in this conservative region of mauritania men dance for women. and women play for men at the heart of this tradition is this instrument the dean more than a harp it's also a drum. and produces note that do not exist in western music. only women can play it it's a tradition passed on from mothers to daughters since the thirteenth century. when i see. it gives me joy i give them rhythm and the time they dance to my beat and the men love it. and that's mitt and her daughter for a tour grio a cast of musical storytellers and poet they mostly sing praises to god and their absolute love for th

gets on and other cities in montenegro held christmas bonfires many orthodox churches go by the old julian calendar putting christmas thirteen days later than the holiday as observed by other christians. stressed out urbanites in st petersburg russia can turn to a new therapeutic treatment involving raccoon says. the program is quite popular both with local people and tourists they can play with the raccoons or feed them and altogether relaxing experience one hour of raccoon therapy costs between twenty five and forty years. after opening the show with some hard rock it's time now to get our groove on with a completely different take on music the swiss sculptor john tangle was a pioneer of so-called kinetic his creations move independently and even make their own sounds one of them called need to has now been restored so that one small creates uniquely intriguing sounds without without the help of a musician playing it. it's up and running again. swiss artist john tank lee's sound sculpture metal harmony too has been restored to its former glory after forty years of rattling and clattering

and the orthodox world is celebrating christmas including all across russia.

and dependence was handed over in the turkish city istanbul meanwhile greek orthodox christians have been celebrating christmas at the church of the nativity in bethlehem in the occupied west bank a place of worship is said to be built over a crowd over christians believe jesus was born the. president headlines keep it on al-jazeera next the crusades an arab perspective. in the history of conflicts between east and west. the mightiest battle between cristiana to slam. a holy war in the name of religion. for the first time. the story of the crusades. from an arab perspective. love. love. love. the beginning of the eleventh century. a dramatic muslim revival is building under the come on the salafi dean. known in the west a solid. may no man can offer latin and again in the election if you missed. any sion. with american on an island for a while. the soccer will. be headed for. faith which brought the great muslim victory in the battle of but this is the great military victory that will open the way to recapturing jerusalem itself. and sell off the dean's famous struggle for the holy city of jerusalem with richa

and that the orthodox world is celebrating christmas including all across russia we have coverage of the service in moscow the largest church the cathedral of the.

and the orthodox world is celebrating christmas including russia we bring you pictures of from the service in moscow's largest church to feed .