Words of defiance from donald trump as the investigation into his ties to russia moves closer to the oval office. This is. Also coming up yemens former president calls for the countrys civil war. After its president ial election. Vulnerable and abuse there are girls being sold as slaves. Donald trump remains defiant in the face of a snowballing crisis around his presidency of the ties to russia he said he had nothing to hide just a day after his former National Security adviser admitted to lying about his contacts with moscow as dynasty but now reports the controversies overshadowing what should have been a big win for trump and the republicans the senate not only giving his tax bill the green light. Outside the white house saturday morning President Donald Trump wanted to talk more about the new tax plan passed by the u. S. Senate then about his former National Security advisers russian contacts know about what i think showed no solution no coverage its been absolutely has been absolutely no solution so were very happy right away last night with one of the big guys on friday Michael Flynn pleaded guilty in federal court to lying to the f. B. I. About efforts to obtain advance knowledge of how foreign governments might vote on a u. N. Security Council Resolution regarding israel and about conversations he had with russias ambassador to the u. S. During the president ial transition as part of the deal flynt agreed to cooperate with special prosecutor Robert Muellers investigation into russian meddling into last years president ial election mohler is looking into whether the Trump Campaign colluded with russia hes also looking into the president s business ties there oh when when is the fourth member of the president s inner circle to be charged in connection with the investigation and political analyst eric ham says hes clearly the most significant by Michael Flynn was a very high profile target both in the campaign and in the white house and so what hes looking to do is bomb mullers looking to steadily move up the food chain hes looking to get bigger fish and so i think hes looking at possibly jared kosher questioner and maybe even the president Going Forward last winter President Trump said he fired flynn just one month into his National Security advisory post because he had lied to Vice President mike pence about his contacts with russia but the president offered another explanation saturday in a tweet saying i had to fire general flynn because he lied to the Vice President and the f. B. I. He has pled guilty to those lies it is a shame because his actions during the transition were lawful there was nothing to hide dian us to book aljazeera washington. The former yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh has called for a joint ceasefire between his supporters who the rebels and the Saudi Led Coalition at least forty people have been killed in sanaa over the past few days and battles between the who thieves and fighters loyal to saddam challenged bullies has more on the rivals and used to be allies against the Arab Alliance which ended the war in twenty fifteen. Clashes between two parties meant to be on the same size who the rebels and fighters aligned with former president. Dozens have been killed and wounded since the violence began in yemens capital on wednesday. Now the split has evolved past santa to saudi arabia. So has called for talks not just with the but with the Saudi Led Coalition if they stop the air attacks yes i want is that we need to lift the blockade and open the airports and allow food and medicine into the country we will open a new page for the dialogue what is happening in yemen is enough a Coalition Statement welcome sollars move saying it would redeem yemen from the evils of iranian terrorist and sick tarion militias returning it to the pan arab and natural fault but the who things who are backed by iran say they still have support from members of some as Political Party and interests directly. We used to praise your position in the past even though it was one of words only which came with its fair share of backstabbing disappointment discouragement disobedience and many other problems remain patient but that wasnt enough for you shame on you a big shame. They were never a natural allies they fought each other for years but salah struck a Fragile Alliance with the who these after a Popular Uprising ended his decades long rule in two thousand and twelve says he wants a quick into the conflict which is a volved into the Worlds Largest humanitarian crisis but others believe is personally motivated it seems to me that they might be a collaboration between regional powers. And maybe the legitimate government to somehow overthrow the whole thing is first and then have a sort of serious political talk this is what it looks like with the whole thing is headed i dont think so declare this war today against the houthi it without some sort of support from. Our coalition the two sides have fought together for years its widely thought that the who these would never have been able to take over the capital. Without help but now theyre fractured and legions is threatening to. End its people apart. Syrian government asterix have targeted several cities and towns in damascus at least six people were killed in our been while two others died in a restaurant also been attacks in eastern guta been under siege by the syrian army since twenty thirteen when all the Syrian Government says there can be no progress in talks to end the fighting if the opposition keeps demanding that president Bashar Al Assad steps down our diplomatic editor james bays reports from geneva the syrian delegation leaving the talks in geneva its not clear if theyll return their chief negotiator expressing irritation at comments by the opposition side who is still stressing assad must go but the language was not look at the irresponsible politically speaking his position is perhaps surprising his russian allies since their intervention in the war in twenty fifteen have turned things around for assad on the battlefield. And in recent months president putin has also been in the driving seat diplomatically reaching understandings with two countries that had led the campaign against assad turkey and saudi arabia it held an important meeting last month in riyadh in a major reorganization prominent opposition figures quit their posts as members of another group with close links to moscow and derived by some as a sad stooges were admitted to the geneva delegation theres also been an important change of emphasis by the un at previous rounds of talks special envoy stefan de mistura as main aim was a Transitional Government it is clear the political transition is the mother of all ages he was working to the exact wording of his predecessor special envoy the former secretary general kofi annan who drew up the geneva communique which was signed by the International Community in twenty twelve the communique which was later rian dorst by a security Council Resolution called for a transitional governing body agreed by Mutual Consent that last bit is important as the opposition has in the past said it would never consent to a sad being part of a transition whats changed is that demas stora has now drawn up a list of twelve principles that he says will guide the negotiations in the future can i also get clarification that you are still seeking to form a transitional governing body with full executive power agreed by Mutual Consent dear twelve. Bring to the book point when you will be reading them and you will recall that event by and we hope to produce this and if there is a dick come on and if the ending are completely constantly inspired by did you never communicated and it twenty to fifty four. But special envoy ive read them and they dont you know all right you know ive not read them but ive read a version of death and old version weight and you would seem i waited and hours are after that exchange de mistura published his twelve principles nowhere in here is there any mention of a transitional governing body of former leader of the opposition has told our jazeera the whole process has been compromised western diplomats say de mistura is changing the rules of the game and that his plan now is very russian flavored james braze aljazeera geneva the trump ministration has pulled the u. S. Out of a United Nations pact meant to improve the handling of refugees and migrants un Member States are gathering in mexico on monday for talks on the deal which is known as the Global Compact on migration the Us Ambassador to the Un Nikki Haley says the agreement is inconsistent with u. S. Policies. A nighttime curfew is in place in honduras following days of protests Security Forces have been given extra powers to stop the violence thats followed last sundays president ial election one persons died with Dozens Injured after six days a clear winner is yet to emerge in the vote as of now president won the land of nod as is now and ahead of opposition candidate salvador minor apollo has more from the capital. The night hours have closed in the city of we are now in a nationwide curfew and things have quieted down especially compared to just yesterday when riots broke out and demonstrators clashed with Security Forces a wave of looting and violence has really swept the country amidst this political crisis and the response from military police has been the use of tear gas and rubber bullets and people here are still very anxiously awaiting a decision by the National Elections committee its been over a week since the general elections and still no decision now in response to this violence one hundred military isnt forcing a nationwide curfew restrict six p. M. Curfew that restricts some Constitutional Rights for honduran citizens but it also means that anyone out past six oclock is subject to arrest now the concern here remains that the longer the Elections Commission stalls on this decision the higher the chance that violence could spark up again but dont apostolos a spokesperson for the Opposition Alliance he says honduras is in a critical situation. Everyone here in honduras is obviously anxious and awaiting results its been far too long and the country is definitely going into critical critical situation where we have a curfew but by now we last night we had very violent confrontations we have at least seven people within the alliance ranks have been shot at and killed we have plenty of people who are hurt who have been you know affected by by gas and and by bullets so. You know theres vandalism being going on everywhere and of course the situation is very very critical i have no doubt that one orlandos strategy is to create a crisis so that he is able to justify to clamp down to justify repression and probably to argue that he is the one who the only one capable to establish some sort of law and order in the country and thats exactly what what i think has been happening with the delay of the tribunal announcing the results and the and the polarization and confrontation thats been feeding on we are basically being blamed for vandalism we are being criminalized and now we are being repressed and i think thats exactly the guideline that he had been planning on. So to come here in aljazeera including turning over a new leaf how sounding that blockade is giving an unexpected boost to catalyst Publishing Industry. And its beginning to look a lot like christmas thousands gather in bethlehem to welcome the Festive Season in style all of that stay with us. Through tranquil. And if. The weathers looking at it right now across much of the middle east little bit of cloud over towards his back to start easing over towards the Higher Ground headlamp gently settles and sunny for the most part temperatures starting to recover once again well see temperatures around twenty three celsius the beirut in the sunshine for sunday but it will cloud over as we go on into monday just spilling across. Cyprus could see a few showers elsewhere and were going to be settled and sunny in temperatures getting up into the low twentys over the next few days itll be a touch woman thats across the right information here carter were getting up to around twenty five celsius a stiff breeze. For sunday lifted just a sad sad a possibility im hopeful it will ease as we go on through monday and temperatures picking up to around twenty seven degrees celsius with present sunshine coming through a sunny twenty seven on the cost of a durban over the next sundays picture what it was there in the botswana up towards zambia should be fine and dry there for zimbabwe over the next day or so want to see showers a possibility into madagascar but the cloud just draping its way out of the congo basin with some lively showers on the cost was there some showers to into cameroon and the possibility of want to showers from liberia. The weather sponsored by cateye place. Shooting people are not sure to burn themselves and their other countries have managed to solve this problem are you worried that this conflict could erupt into an outright open war that the citys general security sure the people who pay the price clearly their writeup unprejudiced setting the stage for a serious debate absent at this time on aljazeera. Welcome back a quick reminder of the top stories here this hour u. S. President donald trump has again insisted there was no collusion between his campaign and russia during the twenty sixth election he tweeted that while he fired his National Security adviser for lying to the f. B. I. Microphones actions were lawful things pleaded guilty to making false statements about his contact with russia. Yemens former president Ali Abdullah Saleh has called for a joint ceasefire between his supporters who the rebels and the Saudi Led Coalition has forty people have died in battles between forces loyal to saddam and the who these in the capital sanaa. A nighttime curfew is in place in honduras hauling days of protests Security Forces have been given extra powers to stop the violence thats followed last sundays disputed president ial election after six days a clear winner is yet to emerge from that. Now as you mentioned earlier while President Trump is feeling the heat of the russian probe he has managed to achieve his first big legislative victory the u. S. Senate now only approved the biggest tax ever hold since the one nine hundred eighty s. The bills slashes taxes for corporations but democrats complained it only benefits the wealthy and big business is tameka after last minute changes to appease some holdouts the tax bill passed by the narrowest of margins the yeas are fifty one and the nays are forty nine. All republicans with one exception voted for the bill which their leader hailed as a tonic for the u. S. Economy we have an opportunity now to make america more competitive and to keep jobs from being shipped offshore and provide substantial relief to the middle class but democrats called it a bonanza for multinational corporations and the ultra rich while adding more than a trillion dollars to the u. S. Debt there is a trail of broken promise broken promise to working families. To pass this bill and the American People understand this is that was a fired up of continuing attacks on medicare and medicaid and social security. Most economists have been skeptical that the tax cuts will generate enough growth to make up for the loss in government revenue as the republicans have promised Public Opinion polls show that voters largely oppose the bill based on doubt it will amount to a net gain for most households but its passage would be the biggest republican legislative achievement since donald trump became president we got no democrat help but i think thats going to cost him very big in the election because basically they voted against tax cuts and i dont think politically its good to vote against tax cuts the senate and house which already passed its own versions of tax cuts must still agree on bridging the differences but trump said he looked forward to signing a final bill before Christmas Tom ackerman aljazeera washington egyptian president ial hopeful ahmed shafik has reportedly arrived in colorado after being arrested and deported from the United Arab Emirates should he have been based in the u. A. E. Since losing the Muslim Brotherhood candidate Mohamed Morsi in egypts twenty twelve president ial election a former Prime Minister and force commander announced last week he plans to run for president in twenty eighteen incumbent president sisi as one expected to seek another term well so high as easy a professor of law what an m. University she says its like it is some truth to shift these claims of being god from leaving the un. He clearly has been deported and presumably the reason why he was deported was in retaliation for his claiming that he was barred from departing the u. A. E. For france and a european trip or he was going to be campaigning among the egyptian diaz for there and then presumably heading to egypt so i dont think that he would take such a big Political Risk of insulting his hosts for over five years who effectively gave him refuge while he was facing criminal charges in egypt that he would do Something Like that publicly on a if at least it was there was some truth to it so i think he probably was kept but now hes going to pay a higher price and now i think he is going to face Serious Problems in egypt where we dont know if hes going to be detained and i dont think theres any knowledge right now of where he has been sent to in egypt i think fish if he is a formidable contender and the president ial elections primarily because he has legitimacy as a former general and because he represents the barak era and six years now after the socalled revolution of two thousand and eleven there is a significant number of egyptians who reminisce for the mubarak era and they would like that era to come back and thats what he represents and presumably there are people in the military and other parts of the Security Apparatus who have signaled to him that they would support him if he announced his candidacy pope francis has defended his silence and minimal of the plots of revenge or refugees saying he spoke the truth in private hes been facing International Criticism for not directly addressing the crisis during his visit to me in amman earlier this week the pontiff didnt mention the ethnic minority until he was in bangladesh where he met ranger who escaped the military crackdown across the border i mean. I was interested in my message getting through so i saw that in my speech if id use that word the door would have slammed shut but i describe the situation the rights that no one should be excluded citizenship to allow me in my private meetings to go further i was very very satisfied with the discussions i was able to have made all aid agencies in bangladesh say young ranger women are being sold as sex slaves people trafficking is common in refugee camps where hinges have sought refuge for decades the recent arrival of six hundred twenty thousand ranger is adding to the profits of the trafficking guns so stratford reports from coxs bazar in bangladesh cartoon is not her real name were calling her that to protect her identity the fifteen year old ranger refugee says her mother father brother and sister all killed by a multi shell fired by the me and mom military at her village three months ago she says after she escaped by boat to bangladesh two women approached her on the beach saying they could help her instead they sold her into sex slavery. They told me if i went with them they would look after me and help me find a husband. Says that up to three weeks of being locked in a house alone she was sold to a bangladeshi man she says the man took her to another house raped and sexually abused her for twelve days. He said i will choke you i will stab you i will kill you do you want to be killed the way the military killed people in me and ma i wont let you go a local aid agency the latest a cartoon but doesnt want to be named said its staff working with trafficking victims have received Death Threats from criminal gangs operating in the refugee camps the head of the organization told us riggins you girls some as young as thirteen are being taken by the traffickers its thought some have been smuggled abroad. Hasina begum and her family have been living in a refugee camp in bangladesh since fleeing an early a crackdown by the mia military in the one nine hundred ninety s. A teenage girl was kidnapped on the way to school the kidnappers were wearing a womans neck out to cover their faces thats why they went recognized. Sex and labor Trafficking Networks have existed in the camps for years but more than six hundred twenty thousand rangers have arrived here in the last couple of months and at least sixty percent of them are children and aid agencies having to focus on the delivery of vital humanitarian assistance at this stage so the trafficking situation is getting worse. With so many Vulnerable People coming into a small area in such a short space of time. Its definite almost but its increased theres been recruiters here in this bizarre bank that us previous to this influx and we know that theyre getting more business and that new criminal networks have sort of kicked into action we have to start addressing us and we have to do it now urgently after twelve days the man who brought culture returned her to the two women who sold her they left her in the refugee camp where she now lives with a woman who found her alone and afraid its all stuff that aljazeera coxs bizarre and with their show. Venezuelas government says its close to reaching an agreement with the countrys opposition the two sides have been holding talks about the economic and political crisis thats gripped venezuela for almost a year the meetings in the Dominican Republic are the first negotiations since antigovernment protests ended in july and. Apart from being difficult i should say that we are close to reaching an agreement we will return on december the fifteenth to seek to lay the foundations for a definite of Political Economic social and cultural agreement we are deeply satisfied we want to thank all those who made these procedures possible that the blockade by four arab nations has sharpened qatars focus on preserving its heritage and identity and thats given an unexpected boost to the countrys Publishing Industry so ok read reports from one of the regions biggest book says right here in doha. When a smile for dollars father died two and a half years ago she became determined to tell his story so she wrote a book i thought is about the whole diving industry in qatar before the gulf country discovered oil when i started collecting data and information and i did a lot of reset. I looked at the School Curriculum in the gulf region again there is disconnection and lack of resources for such stories so im hoping. I will start and forth about it and hopefully it will attract other in that region as much as one of several cats authors to emerge this year previously many of them would have had to have found publishes a broad there are twenty newly published books on the shelf alone theyre all written by cats trees in arabic and published by cats house first privately owned Publishing House and there seems to be an emphasis on the countrys identity as well as society if you take this book for example youll see its called cats are different but us cattle remains under a blockade put in place by saudi arabia the United Arab Emirates bahrain and egypt theres never been a better time to nurture homegrown talent last year eighty five. And this year almost the. And i think the interests of the minister he chose for us and encourage them and the. Facilities that encourage us to come while the blockading countries arent attending this Years International book fair many other nations are taking part now there is no. Direct effect on our book here. Except in one way that a lot of. Our guys are just felt that they have to do much better this year and tens of quantity and quality as new authors are published old invaluable manuscripts are digitized qatars working hard to preserve its heritage and its relevance in an ever changing world so at a high you know aljazeera doha. People are preparing for christmas and whats believed to be the birthplace of jesus christ the Christmas Tree lights in bethlehems manger square next to the church of the nativity have been switched on Christmas Eve is a major event for bethlehem and draws thousands of International Tourists sorry force it is that. The thousands here in bethlehems manger square getting in a big round of clothes into their local boy in the king our vital when a twenty seventeen that goes in is an event about much more than that its about the standard of the Christmas Season the lighting of the Christmas Tree but as our politics arent far away the marabout when talking about how the bethlehem is besieged on all sides by illegal Israeli Settlers the Prime Minister of the palestinian or martin iranian and alan also here and talking about an issue not high on the agenda in the news the possibility the likelihood even the United States is going to recognize dearest limited as the capital of israel. But. If america declares true slim as the capital of israel or moves the u. S. Embassy to jerusalem the whole region will be plunged into further instability and it will destroy any chance of peace. The palestinian Prime Minister went on to light the Christmas Tree making the point that there had to be space optimism and happiness even in such circumstances and there is a good deal of that on display here tonight the december season the Christmas Season is vitally important here for the tourist numbers for the economy and the four thousand beds that there are here no tells all of them are booked out for the december that is a scene thats been seen across the occupied west bank where tourist numbers are significant so there is some optimism here and officially the start of the Christmas Season. A quick recap of the headlines here on aljazeera u. S. President donald trump has again insisted there was no collusion between his campaign and russia during the twenty sixteen election he tweeted that while he fired his National Security adviser for lying to the f. B. I. Michael flynns actions were lawful flynns pleaded guilty to making false statements about his contact with moscow has admitted he lied about contacting the Russian Ambassador in december. Yemens former president Ali Abdullah Saleh has called for a joint ceasefire between his supporters who the rebels and the Saudi Led Coalition at least forty people have died in gun battles between forces loyal to saddam and the who these in the capital. The trump ministration has pulled the United States out of a u. N. Pact meant to improve the handling of refugees and migrants u. N. Member states and are gathering in mexico on monday for talks on the deal which is known as the Global Compact on migration the u. S. Ambassador to the u. N. The haiti says the agreement is inconsistent with u. S. Policy. Pope francis has defended his silence and min maher of the plight of ranger refugees saying he spoke the truth in private hes been facing International Criticism for not directly addressing the crisis during his visit to myanmar earlier this week the pontiff didnt mention the ethnic minority until he was in bangladesh where he met ranger would escape the military crackdown across the border i mean. I was interested in my message getting through so i saw that in my speech if id use that word the door would have slammed shut but i describe the situation the riots that no one should be excluded citizenship to allow me in my private meetings to go further i was very very satisfied with the discussions i was able to have a nighttime curfew is in place in honduras following days of protests there and Security Forces have been given extra powers to stop the violence thats followed last sundays president ial election one persons died with dozens more injured after six days a clear winner is yet to emerge from the vote as of now president one orlando land is is now only ahead of opposition candidate salvador. Well those are the headlines the news continues here on aljazeera after upfront statement that so much of africa. News has never been. But the message is simplistic and misinformation is rife the listening post provides a critical counterpoint challenging Mainstream Media narrative at this time on aljazeera Benjamin Netanyahu called it a very bad deal donald trump says its the worst deal ever both leaders would love to tear up the Iran Nuclear Agreement but will doing so lead to a new war in the middle east thats our debate but first ill talk to the former president joyce banda about corruption and democracy in africa