Im Barbara Starr and this is the news hour live from london thank you for joining us coming up in the next sixty minutes. Protesters face off with israeli troops in occupied palestine as anger builds over the u. S. Decision to recognize jerusalem as israels capital turkeys president becomes the first head of state to visit greece in decades but historic disputes still loom large two years after russia entered the war in syria big players its military operation has driven iso from all of its territory and wildfires in california forced hundreds of thousands of people to flee their homes. And im tatiana franchise in doha with all of that i thought that both big names prepared to find out who would be the winner of the twenty seventeen abandoned all that and more coming up later. More than one hundred palestinians have been injured in violent protests across the occupied territories after u. S. President donald trump formally recognized jerusalem as israels capital on wednesday. Demonstrators in several palestinian territories of clashed with israeli troops in ramallah in the occupied west Bank Thousands heeded the call from palestinian leaders to mobilize for three days of rage while the been hunted has more now from ramallah. Anger disappointment and a sense of betrayal. Among palestinians now still they remain defiant saying that regardless they do consider jerusalem the capital of a. Future palestinian state now this march is a show a few usually you would see the many flags of the palestinian factions this time only the palestinian flag is raised. For jerusalem thats the only thing we can do this dump declinations a slap for us here to wake up and realize the Peace Process was just an illusion its the biggest insult to arabs even before palestinians saudi kuwait emirates jordan all of them then to us here in palestine we defend it but we cant do without support but if those peaceful protests there were also clashes across the occupied bus bank usually called fiction point thats when Palestinian Youth come face to face with the israeli army now the military had announced that it has deployed several extra battalion to the occupied west bank because it was preparing for the eventuality. Now friday is another day of rage and more of this kind of violence scenes are expected. So unrest throughout the occupied palestinian territories and a general strike is also in place closing shops businesses and schools herefore secret occupied East Jerusalem. The day after the u. S. President recognized jerusalem as israels capital palestinian residents of its occupied east and a half protested outside the old citys damascus gate the unfurling of the palestinian flag prompted the first of several interventions by Israeli Security forces its less than five months since people here took to the streets in the tens of thousands to protest against the placing of israeli metal detectors at the entrances to the al aqsa mosque compound one activist says these protests could swell around friday prayers. We jerusalem residents we will stand up against this decision every way we can. Exactly as we stood up. Today theres a general strike. A short distance from the mosque a skate inside the old city its clear that most of the businesses here are observing the general strike thats been called in protest of Donald Trumps decision its a pretty big sacrifice for them its a sign of how deeply this is being felt. Bakeries are among the businesses exempt from the strike i had bush he was born here and what palestinians views their capital he says trump has jeopardized its future status can homework and address jerusalem as a sacred place for three religions he cant just give them something that is just for them there was islam judaism and christianity all here this is a city of peace. Donald trump did speak of the need to preserve the rights of all three faiths in this holy city emphasizing that he wasnt taking a position on any final status issues including contested borders but his decision to recognize what he called the reality of its status as israels capital is also emphasized another reality for palestinians life and occupation with the Peace Process stalled for two decades and now thrown into ever greater jeopardy are a force that aljazeera occupied East Jerusalem well for more on this aljazeera is a senior political analyst my one bashara joins us live now in the studio so my when its been almost exactly twenty four hours since the announcement was made what have you made over the past twenty four hours of the palestinian response to this both the people on the streets crucially politically you know barbara were going to start commemorating the anniversary of trumps speech were going to start calling it the trunk the collaboration after the buffer declaration because this is a new both for the collaboration of sort except this time is not Great Britain recognizing a jewish land homeland for the jewish people it is the american president that of the world superpower recognizing jerusalem as the captain of the jewish land when i heard that yesterday you know it just it just haunted me how difficult it must be for the palestinians twenty five years after the Peace Process started and promise them liberation from occupation and selfdetermination and the right of their own state of their own for them to be faced. With the sponsor of the peace talks the last quarter of a century the United States of america basically violating the entire spirit and text of the of the agreements and and declaring what they declared jerusalem being. Kept of his or not only that but embracing adopting emulating an entire israeli narrative about the about the holy land as it were about palestine so they they they they came out of this a bit disoriented shocked there was a lot of shock and shock and awe for sure. The First Impression was we reject this the second impression was we going to do something about it the third reaction came in the form of were going to go to the International Community were going to go to the International Criminal court of justice and then weve heard something a bit more actionable a bit more meaningful our response to the american president is that were going to unite i think thats going to be important that how mustnt fight there and the various factions perhaps now understand the gravity of the situation their situation and the need for them to unite together if they are able to do that there will be one important response to the american statement and hopefully after that they will be able to mount a coherent strategy. Towards israel and towards the right i mean you mentioned going to the International Community and we must mention not a single country is emulating the u. S. Or even mentioned anything about moving their embassies to jerusalem and actually a lot of western nations have called for a special Security Council meeting so there is that International Support for the palestinian cause the reality is that a lot of that support has been there for years and never really materialized into anything thats why the u. S. Was seen as the socalled honest broker i mean if the u. S. Isnt there on a spoke or is can anyone really step into those shoes so so the first thing is since the United States failed as an honest broker already in the past it was during the bush administration. That theyre not so its decided to bring in three other Important International actors in order to be the sponsors of the Peace Process and thats and you called it the International Quartet for the Peace Process and that was the United States the United Nations the European Union and russia so here we are today the three other partners of the International Quartet russia the e. U. And the United Nations coming out against the United States so americas own partners in the Peace Process the international sponsors are not just against it i mean the European Union notably president mcconnell front said this is an a violation of International Law the american statement well and stay with me here in the studio is actually we have some news coming out of the United States so now lets go to the white house our White House Correspondent kimberly how kate is there and shes been speaking with the Deputy Assistant to the u. S. President s you can believe had a chance to talk to someone who knows how the white house is responding i guess to the reaction of this being to the president s clear ration so what did he say. Right we wanted to try and clarify some of the president s positions try to get a finer point at some of the issues that marwan has just brought up i did have an opportunity to speak to raj shah he is the Deputy Assistant to the president and asked him to clarify some of these points on the president s jerusalem announcement. So so help us understand with the president s announcement many have argued that this. Decision to recognize jerusalem as the capital of israel contradicts International Law un resolutions with regard to jurors specifically. With the president s decision conforms with american law since one thousand nine hundred ninety five us law said that the president must declare jerusalem the capital of israel and there have been successive congresses that have continued to reaffirm that law president took action which just affirmed over congress in the will of the American People has stated for decades and look what the policy makes sense weve been you know for now several decades going to israel and negotiating and weve been pretending we dont know where the israeli capital is its in jerusalem its where the Supreme Court is where the parliament is where the Prime Minister resides and its where the capital is so a recognition of reality we think makes the most sense and i try to get a finer point on this because when the president mentioned jerusalem he didnt say and recognize it as that on divided city doesnt mean that in a Peace Process its sponsored by the United States doesnt mean that that jerusalem could be on the negotiating table as part of a Peace Process look borders sovereignty these are the types of issues are going to be part of final status negotiations for all the parties are going to have a role and have to negotiate a final settlement so thats the decision yesterday has nothing to do with that and were going to allow the parties to work out the details so was the language very specific that in terms of the selection of the president using the phrasing that he did of course it was again this is this was about a recognition of reality and not about you know putting our finger on the scale on the Peace Process we are an honest broker and we want the first word of being an honest broker is being honest and recognizing reality that israels capital is risky. But many are arguing that just the opposite is being inferred from this that the us is not an honest broker that its in a sense it has taken a side. Look the peace negotiations that the u. S. Has been involved in now for several months the president is aware of all the details but theyre not public theyve been confidential and the president is optimistic about the possibilities for peace precisely because theyve been kept confidential so i wouldnt assume anything about what happened yesterday and all the context surrounding it were optimistic about the possibility for peace in the president s pursuing it when the president met with fifty islamic leaders months ago. Youll recall that me i mean there was a report that was developed does the president recognize this decision could put those fifty leaders this he met with in a very difficult position with their own populations we think that the United States under this president developed a really Good Relationship with those countries and those leaders and it goes beyond the Israeli Palestinian dispute it goes toward fighting isis and terrorism throughout the region to go toward it goes toward combating irans influence throughout the region so our relationships with countries like turkey and saudi arabia and others in the region expands beyond the Israeli Palestinian dispute and look were we are partners for peace we want to work with both parties and the parties in the region toward a lasting peace peaceful solution but we dont think yesterday decision is a deterrent to that what about the relationship with the king of jordan for example i mean its a u. S. Ally particularly in the fight against i saw there was cautioning by the jordanians for the president not to do this and now that he has the reaction has been that theres a feeling that theyve been deeply disrespected is their concern about maybe some other Foreign Policy goals being jeopardized as a result we dont think so we think that the president s action was clear and again reflected american law and weve seen for several decades you know the opposite we thought for decades that not recognizing jerusalem as the capital would lead to peace it has a right response the. Speak for themselves were trying a different approach and that is being an honest broker being honest on the front end of that and trying to recognize reality which is what we think all the parties need to do to move forward is the concern that the president s decision though may have strengthened or rons position in the region and perhaps some of the extremist groups that hes been trying to fight we dont think so at all we think that the coalition against iran and against their influence throughout the region in many countries is strong i think that many of those countries are frankly more self interested in combating iran and its influence in the United States is going to work with them in that process we know that the Vice President is headed to the region later this month what message is he going to send in some of those bilateral meetings that hes going to be holding well hes going to send the message that the United States is pursuing a Peace Agreement that we are partners in peace and that the United States and the president cares as much about the future of palestinian children as a care is about the future of israeli children we want a peaceful so settlement that is in the best interest of israelis the palestinians of jordanians of Saudi Arabians of every country in the region peace is the goal that we all want we know the president is an avid watcher of Television News has he been watching the International Reaction and what is his take on what hes been saying well i think that the president has been happy with the reaction has understood that obviously theres going to be some disagreement but when you recognize reality and you speak honestly to friends and are and are a straight forward with you know the the reality on the ground in israel you know we have better prospects for success. And once again that is raj shah the Deputy Assistant to the president speaking exclusively to aljazeera one day after the president s jerusalem announcement giving the trump administrations views on take on how things have developed since that announcement positions that will likely be echoed by the press secretary sarah sounders when she holds her press briefing in the next hour and we will of course be checking in with that and you later can really help at the white house can really thank you and we come back tomorrow when we share here in the studio so we just heard i guess you know voice close to the president especially now that hes seen the global and local reaction what did you make of what he had to say did he add anything to what we heard last night look its important the way he underlined what trump tried to say and what americans are saying that support trumps decision its the idea that this is the reality we are honest about it we need to recognize it and we just did previous president s that in do so this whole idea that this is the reality and we must come to grips with the reality well guess what this is exactly what weve been warning against when we talk about illegal israeli settlements in legality of our next saying territory occupied by force occupied during war is jerusalem was occupied it was illegally and next and it was illegally settled just like the rest of the west bank so when the United States says once you start bashar reality then you should be recognized why do they then recognize the stronach state in iraq and syria. I mean they have the capital it was called rocca their charge taxes and the you know Health Services and Educational Services but the United States did not recognize Islamic State in iraq and syria and the levant when Saddam Hussein occupied kuwait and considered it a province of iraq the United States did not recognize that as a reality so why why dont they do that well simply because its illegal you dont simply recognize the reality because the reality done through through illegal means you say this is a legal has to be changed the important bit of it here barbara is that israel did exactly that it created new realities on the ground it created what they called facts on the ground meaning some two hundred important settlements illegal settlements in the west bank and now they want to use the same logic that they use for jerusalem and that trump embraced and say look we have all these jewish communities on the west bank its a reality we need to recognize that moment just one last brief and i mean in all of it in the past twenty four hours now raj shah is well i mean they dont seem to exclude the statement doesnt seem to exclude the possibility of East Jerusalem so a divided jerusalem with East Jerusalem as a capital a future palestinian state i mean i know it seems like a stretch but from what youve heard is that option excluded of no its the logic of force israel force itself on jerusalem it calls it now undivided capital of israel and thats why no one from the us is use that will it not trump recognize jerusalem and trump israels own capital. And called its capital the united undivided. Capital of the jewish people and thats what. Drum drum did not recognize his own definition of a jerusalem utilize israels capital and israels capital is a greater jerusalem it basically occupies but a string into dorrys that in compresses Something Like three hundred thousand palestinians is just utterly false and illegal shara senior political analyst thank you and we are going to have more on the story a little later in the program now lets go to another developing story the Russian Foreign minister Sergey Lavrov says that north Korean Leader kim jong un wants direct talks with the United States to seek guarantees for his security lover who said he had passed on pyongyangs desire for direct talks the us secretary of state Rex Tillerson when the two men met on the sidelines of a conference in vienna on thursday. Now still ahead on this aljazeera news hour u. S. Senator al franken announces his resignation over allegations of Sexual Misconduct and takes a parting shot at the president. To resumes a race against time the e. U. Gives the u. K. Until sunday to Reach Agreement on a major breaks it issued the irish border and is therefore matic tensions run high between north korea and japan three footballers face divided loyalties on the page thats coming up in sport. But first to turkeys president is on a historic two way two day visit to greece the first by a turkish head of state for sixty five years however old disputes are overshadowing the state visit there to type the hunt said the one nine hundred twenty three treaty that settled turkeys borders after world war one was not being applied fairly the greek president. Rejected any change to the treaty of luzon the nato allies also have territorial disputes in the a g n c n disagree over the reunification of the Divided Island of cyprus John Psaropoulos says more from athens. Turkish president. Set the tone for his visit to greece by disputing what the greeks see as the bedrock of the greek turkish relationship the nineteen twenty three treaty which set the border between the two countries no one told a Television Interviewer the night before he came that he believes that treaty needs to be updated or revised the greeks have reiterated on thursday to mr one of their standard position that treaty is working perfectly well it is perfectly adequate in terms of territorial delineation between the two countries in dealing with the respective minorities in the two countries and it doesnt need to be touched at all so that difference between the two has set the tone for talks here during the day and other disagreements have also chief among them mr demand after eighteen eighteen months since the july twenty sixth in coup that eight officers who have sought refuge here in greece in the aftermath of the coup be extradited to turkey for judicial processing the greek Supreme Court has considered that extradition request and turned it down in january this year saying that there is a danger that these men would suffer possible torture or even be put to death if turkey were to overturn. Banning of the Death Penalty as mr has at least on one occasion publicly threatened to do so that remains a thorn in the relationship between the greeks and the turks also greece reiterated today that it will not extradite those officers however despite these difficulties the greeks and the turks also have mutual interests and they are trying to stress those financing for example their plans to build a high speed rail link between the northern greek city. And istanbul and also to declare how willing they are to talk about their outstanding differences and to smooth them over. The Syrian Government delegation will return to geneva on sunday to resume talks aimed at ending the conflict after walking out last week the eighth round of u. N. Backed talks have been on hold while the Syrian Opposition waits for government to go see a truce to return the delegation left the talks blaming the opposition demands that president bashar assad should play no role in any interim postwar government meanwhile russias military says that i saw as being completely defeated in syria it says there are no remaining districts still and there i saw control but the syrian observatory for human rights which monitors the conflict says i saw still holds about eighty percent of that as a province russia began its bombing raids in september two thousand and fifteen and support of syrian president Bashar Assads beleaguered forces say the holder has more now from beirut. The Russian Military saying that the military operations against eisel in syria have now been completed knowledge in that there are pockets of resistance but overall their mission has been completed now the statement wasnt clear whether the military operations will seize and the whole of syria or just an area where i still used to operate because the Russian Military has engaged in military activity in other areas helping the Syrian Government fight the opposition groups but what is clear in that statement this what russia wants to happen next and that is to start the political process it mentions the need for this political process to start and russia really has been launching a Diplomatic Campaign its own initiative really very separate from the u. N. Sponsored geneva talks it wants to hold what is known as the Syrian Peoples Congress but it seems that it still doesnt have the backing of all powers because that congress was supposed to be held in the vendor and now it has been postponed till early next year it doesnt just have doesnt have the support of of players that oppose it really in syria but even within its own camp its own allies its still not clear whether the Syrian Government and the iranian government is on board to actually make the necessary concessions because what is clear is that this has been a very costly war for russia it is looking for an end game its looking for an exit plan it wants to translate its military successes into a diplomatic victory so it wants to push this forward but still little progress has been made. More than Twelve Thousand homes are under threat from huge wildfires in the u. S. State of california two hundred thousand people have been ordered to evacuate their homes as the fire is now into the city of los angeles hundreds of homes have been destroyed many in the citys richest neighborhoods firefighters say that just five percent of the blaze is contained with more halt dry winds forecast. We are dealing with a number of flare ups doubt the wind has come back thats the big story at this point we have as you can feel theres some strong winds and steady wind and strong gusts occurring we do have some flare ups up in the ability to crest road airbender crest area same area the fire was. Burning earlier today so we do have our l. A. City crews as long as well as i we have helicopters air operations are up there theyre making nighttime water drops well gina kim is a reporter with the u. S. Network n. B. C. News she joins us live now from ventura northwest of Los Angeles Gina thank you for joining us i mean its incredible just five percent of the blaze actually contained how much force could it get. Well so far we have about one hundred between one hundred and two hundred homes structures various businesses and buildings that were destroyed or damaged in this fire i am standing in such an area right now these are homes that were completely leveled here two homes down from it look just like this the hills behind it scorched and then you come to this area right here and the home right next to it wasnt touched at all i think a shed might have had some smoke damage but thats it that is the nature of these very erratic fires that we have in california they literally just skip homes sometimes will fly miles away and ignite a whole new fire and today is very dicey because we are experiencing eighty mile an hour gusts as we speak its expected to last throughout the day these are the kinds of conditions that we had at the beginning of the week when all of these fires hopscotched around in the winds just pushed them all the way about throughout los angeles and ventura counties and now we have four massive wildfires burning out of control as you said and this entire region including now San Diego County is an unprecedented territory according to firefighters we are in whats called a purple flag zone youve heard of red flag warnings well purple is a step above from that its somewhere weve never gone before and that indicates the absolute highest fire danger one could get in and as a result firefighters say they have a very uphill battle ahead of them today and many people have been put on alert that they need to be ready to evacuate at a moments notice jeanne acumen for sure with the u. S. Network n. B. C. News jenas thank you. Saying in the u. S. Senator al franken has announced his resignation after repeated accusations of Sexual Harassment the democratic senator from the state of minnesota has lost the support of many of his Party Colleagues as a series of allegations from women have emerged franken who was a well known comedian before he entered politics took a parting shell to President Trump in his resignation speech. I have all people am aware that there is some irony in the fact that i am leaving while a man who has bragged on tape about his history of Sexual Assault sits in the oval office and the man who is repeatedly preyed on young girls campaigns for the senate well that with the full support of his party much more to come on the news hour including a why a judge in argentina has ordered the arrest the former president Cristina Cuba plus vote counting begins in the polls election as the country moves towards a fully fledged democracy plus in sports the n. B. A. Becomes the latest u. S. Sport me get to target mexico. Welcome back as we take a look at weather conditions across western asia and the levant you can see a massive cloud moving through weve had some snow showers developing some rain at lower levels so its an unsettled picture at the moment back to windy heise just eleven degrees and you see some snow up over the caucasus further towards the south its generally looking dry but temperatures nothing special to run there struck at nine degrees bank sixteen couple should stay dry with highs of fourteen and cooler conditions around the eastern side of the mediterranean two sixteen that beirut recovering slightly as we head on through into saturday and generally the snow risk moves away further towards the east eighteen degrees in what should be a fairly bright day and across iraq be in potential see lower temperatures generally riyadh struck me a seventeen degrees in front just working its way through the gulf just taking temperatures down a fraction with it as it goes so twenty two in doha with the friday. Wind its going to feel quite chilly here relatively speaking on the other side the potential light winds and thirty three degrees in mecca medina quite chilly that twenty two across into southern portions of african see a massive cloud giving some showers and had some heavy rain across more eastern parts of south africa that remains a threat certainly for durban sure in the course of friday but it should be fine in cape town and pretty warm at twenty seven. People are not. Themselves and their countries have managed to solve this problem are you worried that this conflict could erupt into a right open war with the cities. There writeup introduced setting the stage for a serious debate up front at this time on aljazeera. Al jazeera is Award Winning programs to take you on a journey around with the. Expert analysis. Its all about whos in charge who controls the resources and documentaries the people in your eyes its a Technology Story its a business story its a social story and its a political story all wrapped into one its unpredictable television that truly inspired us only on aljazeera. A reminder now the top stories on aljazeera at least one hundred eight palestinians have been injured in violent protests across the occupied territories after u. S. President donald trump formally recognized jerusalem as israels capital turkeys president is on a historic two day visit to greece the first by a turkish head of state for sixty five years but all disputes are overshadowing the state visit two hundred thousand people have been forced to flee their homes because of raging wildfires in southern california. More on our top story now the u. S. Decision to recognize jerusalem as the capital of israel its got some Historical Context to explain why drusilla is so central to the Israeli Palestinian conflict the events of the past seventy years have been crucial in one thousand forty seven the United Nations agreed to split Palestinian Land into jewish and arab territories jerusalem was granted special International State status under u. N. Governance a year later during the first arab israeli war israel captured more land leading to the division. Of jerusalem the citys west fell under israeli control while jordan took over the east then in one thousand nine hundred eighty seven Israel OccupiedEast Jerusalem after its victory in the six day arab israeli war this ongoing occupation is regarded by the world as illegal the International Community also rejected a law passed in one thousand nine hundred by israels knesset or parliament which declared jerusalem to be israels eternal and in the visible capital palestinians see East Jerusalem as the capital of their future state its also important to note that jerusalem holds a huge religious significance or just for muslims and jews but also for christians well the palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas says he is rallying International Opposition against president toms decision calling it an unacceptable crime they have also been protests in gaza against the situation from where burnitz misreports. This is a scene being repeated across the palestinian territories we are like a Palestinian People we will not accept this. State to fight and fight and fight to get jurors all i am have a telephone to sign. But beyond protesting palestinian leaders are now trying to come up with a unified action plan to respond to Donald Trumps recognition of jerusalem as the capital of israel most say the oslo accord is dead its been the basis of twenty five years of u. S. Mediated off negotiations between the palestinians and the israelis and your corner and telling my brothers in the Palestinian Authority that the situation should be clear we will go out of the. This decision has killed a hawk. The Prime Minister was in gaza on a prearranged visit as hamas hands back control of the territory well before announcement polls showed two thirds of palestinians wanted his boss president Mahmoud Abbas to resign because theyre no nearer a deal on statehood now theres even more pressure on the p. A. To come up with a new strategy. We will confront this decision by having our own National Unity the justice of our case we will establish on sixty seven borders. Is a demonstration of. Demonstrate because political leaders here realize. They want the focus of palestinian anger not to be on the situation in gaza but to be on whats happening to jerusalem. And the rest one has been issued for pristina the former president of argentina one thousand nine hundred ninety four bombing in one desirous judge has accused her of covering up the alleged involvement of iran in the bombing of a Jewish Center twenty three years ago eighty five people died in that attack has more now from. Well it was a very busy morning here and one of site is with a judge to tell you one of your ordering the arrest not only of former president Cristina Kirchner but also of her former foreign minister export of the amount of money and other people close to her administration kirschner is being accused of treason of trying to cover up an attack against the Jewish Community say enter here im going to cite is back in one thousand nine hundred four that killed over eighty people most of the accusation is based on the what is called a memorandum an agreement between the argentinian government and the iranian government that would have allowed arjun time judges to interrogate iranian officials who were allegedly involved in this attack but prosecutor ive got a body for man who appeared with a shot in the head back in two thousand and fifteen its not clear yet whether he committed suicide or he was murdered accused Christina Kirshner that the real reason between behind this agreement was a trade deal between both administration that argentina would get cheap oil in exchange in iran would get cheap grain from this country Cristina Kirchner has been elected as argentinas president twice and she was elected and senatorial last october so shes right now she has immunity its not possible that she could be arrested for this the senate would have to vote on whether to lift this immunity and its unlikely that this will happen anytime soon not only because of the winter recess but also because of the deep divisions that exist in the senate today because kirshner has not been tried in fact and this is why question is saying that shes being politically persecuted because many of the members of her administration are currently detained on preventive detention most of them accused of corruption kirschner is saying that the accusations against her are ungrounded that they are politically motivated by the administration of mauricio marketing. Now the e. U. Has given the u. K. Until sunday to reach an agreement on the island. Border so that breaks of negotiations can bring progress to the next stage the British Government is trying to work on a solution which will satisfy both the republic of ireland and Northern Irelands democratically even Unionist PartyPrime Minister to resolve a relies on the support of the u. P. A. To govern the u. K. Needs to reach a joint position with the European Commission before next weeks european summit what ashmore is news editor at Politics Home dot com enjoins us now in the studio to try to explain this a little bit so first of all briefly just why is the issue of the irish border such a toxic one well theres two things i think the first one is a purely sort of economic one in that if the u. K. Is leaving the Single Market in the Customs Union then that would appear to necessitate a hardboard with both customs checks and checks on passports going effectively in and out of the you but its so much more than that its an emotional issue for both republicans and unionists in Northern Ireland both sides of them with a history of violence not exactly and weve seen a lot of that in speeches in parliament this week about that very keen desire not to go back to the violence of the past so the real sort of sticking block has been the d u p effectively ten members of parliament from Northern Ireland but who the reason may needs for her coalition how likely is it that she could call their bluff the thing well i think its going to be more a case of trying to find some sort of negotiation that appeals to all sides because. On the one hundred d. U. P. Dont want to countenance the prospects of Jeremy Corbyn becoming Prime Minister because hes always been much more than in his political career so in that sense they dont want to do anything that would risk bringing down trees the ways government on the other hand trees my has to think about not just the g. D. P. But also the Irish Government the good will in the negotiation with the you and shes also got its almost like a game of whack a mole every time she deals with one party and not the one springs up and we also have to bear in mind that she has to deal with the hard euro skeptics in her own party as well as the remain as in her party who arent necessarily happy with the way shes going about things so i mean if you could create a political impasse it would look Something Like this and so in light of that i mean she has until sunday to come up with some sort of solution otherwise they dont progress the next stage and you know the clock is ticking large two thousand and nineteen is meant to be when the u. K. Exits the e. U. So what what realistic options do you think shell go for i think at the moment theyre looking at something that the language were hearing from ministers now is about regulatory equivalent so earlier in the week we were talking about alignment and it all sounds rather technical and that would just mean the equivalence thing would just mean that we have systems that are mutually recognised rather than keeping the same rules and that would appear to kind of get over the issue that the the brics to tears have about being a rule taken from the u. But it would also potentially remove the issue over the the custom of the hard border with ireland so i mean that sounds simple on the surface of it in reality i suspect it will take some very clever lawyers a very long time i think the reality is that a lot of it sounded simple when people were arguing for breaks that are now even the most ardent rexs here is would perhaps be surprised at just how complicated its been and this is just one issue the latest of the mean do you think that the u. K. Is going to meet its deadline of march two thousand and nineteen. I mean i have always suspected that the deadline is far too short to conclude an agreement of this complex to especially given the pace which the you know they have a result thing about trade even know precisely i mean if you bear in mind for instance that it took seven years to conclude a trade deal with canada which only only went through after some wrangling with the while loop in parliament in belgium you see just the kind of complexity that the British Government is up against but i mean to listen to some of the ministers they make it sound like its simply a case of signing a few you know ticking a few boxes and will be fine but i suspect it will be far from simple very busy fifteen months or whatever it is ahead for the government john ashmore news editor at Politics Home dot com thanks so much for letting europes expertise with us thank you. Now thousands of supporters of catalan secession have been rallying in the belgian capital brussels the ousted Catalan Leader careless with them and joined the demonstrators who have come from all over europe for the gathering the former president of catalonia is facing arrest and spain organizing an illegal session referendum you know tobar on wednesday he said he was going to stay in belgium for the time being. Qatar and france have signed a memorandum of understanding to combat terrorism the two countries also signed commercial contracts worth more than fourteen billion dollars the deals were announced as french president of ireland mccrone visited doha where he met the emir shake him a lot of money. And. We have adopted certain procedures to not allow any funds to go to terrorists and we have had investigations into all the claims against god since day one the arab and muslim countries are the ones who have suffered most from terrorism and we are committed to fighting terrorism with our friends and allies. France and qatar have decided to sign today a declaration for a road map to strengthen our cooperation against the funding of terrorism and radicalization it will help to facilitate the exchange of intelligence and Technical Information to be more effective when faced with the danger of extremism. Its going to zimbabwe now where the government of president emerson has announced its first budget includes a pledge to reengage with International Lenders curb spending and attract investors has the latest from harare. Zimbabwe as finance minister Patrick Chinamasa says the twenty eighteen budget sainz a clear message to the world that zimbabwe is now open for business he says theres now a new economic order in the country you see is the way the former president Robert Mugabe ran the country randy carney is now a thing of the past he says the new administration will restore market confidence theyll be a consistency of policy he will deal with the cash shortage of the government to try to tackle corruption and to be a reengagement with the economic International Community he also says that the key thing is to try and restore Investor Confidence and he knows that most of our brains wants the government to create jobs the Unemployment Rate here is right now more than ninety percent but he sees the also knows perhaps the biggest test for the International Community for the bobbins at large were watching to see what happens in next years elections if those elections are free fair and credible it could be indication that things really are changing on the ground which could increase Investor Confidence and more people come into the bar we reengage the country after so many years of isolation. Vote counting is underway in the polls election for national and provincial assemblies the final step in its transition to a federal democracy security was stepped up for the elections with thousands of police and soldiers the ploy to the voter is the first to since the implementation of a new constitution in two thousand and fifteen which the clear a republic subpoena reports now from the capital katmandu. Moves the party voters seem to be undeterred by a series of explosions which marred both campaigning and election day queues started for me and got a menu from Early Morning to tuesday. And National Assembly this is the second phase of elections with more than twelve million eligible voters from forty five districts taking part now living in more remote mountainous areas voted late last month and soon after polls open weve found a ninety eight year old cultural historian who had just cast his ballot people who want steady the government of stubbornness to go back to the most Important Role we want to change some new change produce was written that both Political Parties have regrouped themselves for these elections into two major alliances the super Left Alliance of my was former fighters and the communist Party Unified marxist leninist is competing against the socalled Democratic Alliance of Nepali Congress together with former royalist and other small parties new Political Parties have gained attention they claim to champion a new ethical style of politics in a country which has grown sick of endemic corruption however the new constitution sets the bar high for newcomers parties have to win at least three percent votes in the proportional system and one candidate has to win by the first past the post system. Why should we look at the same old faces we need to give new people a chance collecting the votes from all over the country and counting them is expected to take several days as i was elected members of parliament for the first time voting state Assembly Members however a federal system of government remains controversial federalism received little attention during political campaigning and how the newly elected state governments will function is one of the Big QuestionsGoing Forward several devices were diffused around the country and an explosion in the south of nepal injured six people they Lection Commission says voting has been mostly peaceful. Aljazeera. Al jazeera is the man being the release of its journalist Mahmoud Hussein whos been in an egyptian prison for over eleven months hussein is accused of broadcasting false news to spread chaos which he and al jazeera strongly deny hussein has repeatedly complained of mistreatment in jail he was arrested on the summer the twentieth while visiting family still to come on the news hour the year is almost over but theres still time for one more award for saying that see you at the end it will be year to tell you what it is. Going to do her now attack yeah they are standing by with all this court. Thank you very much barbara the ballon dor ceremony in paris has begun as we wait to find out who will be awarded the accolade of wild player of the year for twenty seven thousand the refer to see men on the shortlist but there are some perennial favorites one of them is vis a man here Christiana Rinaldo the current holder whos want to a total of four times he helped around madrid to a second a Champions League title in a row last season also on the list is the rival from botha lonna the n. L. Messi isnt silva a five time winner messi was the leading goal scorer in spains legal last season with thirty seven strikes and the thirty nine year old italian goalkeeper john luigi the phone was an outside bet he has just been announced as number four in the on his list he was part of the event as team that won this area a title will find out soon who the panel of one hundred seventy three football journalist actually voted for while Fernando Messi and be fun could all come up against english opposition in the Champions League last sixteen history has been made with five clubs from england through to the knockout stage and a strong line up of eleven of the teams theyll be facing with barcelona eventis and by munich all in the mix as well as paris. Dread chelsea man city money united tottenham and livable all the english teams that have progressed and liverpools manager is expecting a tough draw on monday as they take part for the First Time Since two thousand and nine. Sixteen generally the only strong sides but its quite special i dont think that you can face really often by im unique and i am out of it in this and the last sixteen if you win the group. But and you. And all the others and so that its quite interesting. To note on this said yes. No is your balance and i dont think anybody is happy when they. Get us in the draw so we will not be happy in a moment when we see who we will face in the next room but we will be ready to show just over a week since north korea fired a missile into japanese territorial waters the two teams are preparing to face each other on the pitch in the final round of the east asian championship on saturday but three players will face a clash of loyalties at the gang beyond john lee on kick and kim were born in japan but have north korean nationality through that parents to line up for north korea against the country they live in japan and are preparing for a hostile reception muscle uses the. I think the wonderful thing about football is that you can boldly compete against each other without politics being part of it all i will be doing is to represent and fight for my country as a Football Player willing that i can get it bring on the boeing i think the boeing watch they fire me up i dont have anything to lose although i may have my flaws skill wise i do not want to lose mentally form a team usa gymnastics doctor laurie nasa has been sentenced to sixty years in prison on child pornography charges by a federal judge on the first day the fifty four year old was given the maximum allowable sentence by the judge in july he pleaded guilty to charges of attaining and possessing child pornography as well as attempting to destroy evidence he also pleaded guilty to charges of criminal Sexual Conduct classes accuses of included members of the United StatesOlympic Gymnastics Team including any raisman. The Brooklyn Nets are going to be a long way from home when they host Oklahoma City later on thursday in the n. B. A. The match is being played in mexico city the nets visited a school on wednesday. It was affected by septembers earthquake in the city this is the first year where for regular and gay season games have been played in mexico that is will also play the miami heat on saturday u. S. Sports leagues the targeting the mexican market an n. F. L. Game it took place there last month. Just overall just so you know just. The n. B. A. Fan out in mexico just you know. Just trying to show the games here by that we that we love playing abroad to be honest i love when love playing at Different Countries playing in front of different here with. You know some people there we see as it might be kids out there that most of those places of us are going to give them the opportunity to see if that will support masters champion Sergio Garcia has been named to the European Tour of the year this caps a great year for the spaniard who won his first major title this year at the age of thirty seven in twenty seventeen the spaniard won three tony minutes apart from the masters he was also victorious in dubai and other. He also got married in fifty thousand and seventeen. The final European Tour event of the calendar year got underway on thursday in South African cannon overcame recent illness underspent in hospital was caught a sixty three and take a one shot lead off to the opening round in joburg a group of six other players all right in a style van dam of the netherlands shot a seven under par sixty five on first a jumping up six places to take the lead of the Half Way Point of the divine lady classic she is now ten under par and title and holds a two shot lead over scotlands kathy mcdonald. We want to leave you with this coachs Champions League celebration shot manager paolo funds kept his promise of donning a costume if the team made the knockout stage which they did and so he dressed up as zorro a fictional vigilante whos known for being cunning as a fox. This is the most joyful press conference of my career i feel great joy i think not only shocked our supporters but all the cranes have to be proud of our team. Points in such a group is fantastic and if i see tatiana thank you for that and that is it for this news hour and all for me remember you can get more on our website i think its coming up on your screens right now and you can see we have a lot more detail about our top story which of course is Donald Trumps announcement that. The u. S. Considers jerusalem the capital of israel or that in a few minutes with donald. You are making very pointed remarks where on line the main u. S. Response to drug use and the drug trade over the last fifty years has been criminalized or if you join us on sad to know you will first just wakes up of it in the morning and says i want to cover the world in darkness this is a dialogue that could be what leading to some of the confusion i like about people say we dont actually know whats going on join the global conversation at this time on aljazeera news has never been more available its a constant barrage of it where every day but the message is a simplistic you have this brain a good logical rational people versus crazy monster and misinformation is rife dismissal and denial of well documented accusations and evidence is part of genocide the listening post provides a critical counterpoint trying to bring Mainstream Media narratives of this time on aljazeera the International Campaign to abolish Nuclear Weapons has been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in an exclusive interview with the winning delegation from the Award Ceremony in oslo al jazeera asks whether banning these devastating weapons could finally lead to complete disarmament on aljazeera. He was born in ireland but had seventeen found himself in the middle of a Political Revolution in egypt i went on stage and i spoke about democracy i was put in a cell if your pockets little appear sixty people up with a hundred and twenty people and so after four years imprisoned in cairo ibrahim holloa talks to aljazeera at this time. Well. Protest this face off with