The irish Prime Minister praises the block as the peacemaker europe but still needs. And is rebel troops to spend their last stronghold in syria warnings of a looming humanitarian disaster increased attacks on a live fire saddams Regime Forces are putting millions of civilians that. Im sorry so much going to thank you for joining us the future of catalonia separatist Movement Began today the spanish Regions Parliament is meeting for the First Time Since a failed secession bid yellow ribbons marked the empty seats of former president carlos and other separatist figures push them all remains in selfimposed exile in belgium three others are in jail facing charges of rebellion and sedition last night thousands of cattle on independence supporters marched in barcelona calling for their release separatist parties won the election and should have the necessary votes to nominate a separatist president. Lets bring in journalist steven burch and he joins us for more on the story from barcelona hi stephen what is at stake for the Independence Movement today. Well the first thing is that theyve actually managed to get something passed the first hurdle which they have elected a speaker of the house and a Parliamentary Committee which i mean theyre basically these are parliamentary officials but nothing can happen without agreement on that so lisa maybe weve reached agreement on that. What has to happen now is before the thirty first they have to agree on who is the counter president now although the person who got the most votes was innocent or matters a leader of the center right Citizens Party as you said in your introduction the independents want is between them have the most seats and therefore colors push them on the exile who as you say and selfimposed exile former president is the only candidate the moment however it is not clear. He says it is legal for him to be sworn in as president via a video link up the government says it isnt there is no legal precedence of this that im aware of so theres probably going to be a lot of. Moving around the cleanup of the thirty first were not expecting anything dramatic to happen today that you know not so the future of the mall and other jailed separatist leaders is still unclear can we expect though more confrontation with madrid. One of this seems to be what pushed among ones i mean today published on twitter a video which mixed up images of recent events and trying to learn here with images of hitler and franco and or jorge mario who had the spanish president and hes he basically insists that the republic of catalonia was voted at the end of october and hes the president of the public however most people in both his policy and his part of the party is care for the counter. Would prefer to basically tone things down take a more negotiating dialog position because confrontation with the spanish state has led to them being imprisoned has led to an economic downturn in the face trying to learn here particularly among tourism but three thousand businesses moved out i think the mood apart from the morning is for one its basically played a bit cooler than they were at the end of last year if cattle and representatives were telling things down is there any chance the madrid could also change its hardline stance. I think so i think i think if i think everyone except for hardliners on prosocial would probably be. Agreeable to some kind of conference about the future of the spanish prosecution and slain position within the spanish catalinas position within the spanish study and this is a slow things down there could be lots of meetings and lots of proposals you know not much action. In the immediate future stephen to burgeon reporting for us in barcelona david thank you for that update. Now to some other stories making news around the world former ass guard Oscar Goodman has failed in an appeal for clemency a Court Ruling Said that ninety six year old governor whos known as the book keeper of auschwitz had to serve a four year sentence as an accessory to murder in the nazi death camp has repeatedly expressed remorse for his actions steve bannon the former chief strategist of u. S. President donald trump has refused to answer questions about the Election Campaign is a legit ties to russia band and was testifying before a Congressional Committee reports say he has also been subpoenaed to talk to a grand jury investigating the rush allegations that officials in california have described the thirteen siblings freed from prison like conditions in their home as friendly and cooperative they were saving medical care and counseling police found the family after being alerted by a seventeen Year Old Girl who had escaped the house the parents face charges of torture and child endangerment and needier lit up the sky over parts of the american midwest and canada yesterday evening of the images youre seeing here were recorded in michigan Officials Say the meteor exploded about seventy kilometers north of detroit and caused a two point zero magnitude tremor. Bringing europe closer to europeans thats what the e. U. Parliament is hoping for in a series of debates with countries leaders on the future of the bloc first up to present his ideas was the irish Prime Minister. Card he said today that europe was at a crossroads with the rise of populism and skepticism and greggs that looming he called on the e. U. To ensure britain honors all of its pledges on the future of Northern Ireland. Lets bring in hes been following all of this for us in strasburg hi max good to see you so leo has been laying out his vision for europe but what more did he have to say. Well first and foremost you wanted to convince his audience of the value of the European Union and try to explain why countries that elect populists or even nationalists government have got it wrong now you know that many of those countries that elect these governments are smaller countries mainly in Eastern Europe for example like the hungary and he had this to say about the role of smaller countries in the European Union. Today there is a peace bridge crossing the river foyle bringing together the divided communities in johns native city of derry in Northern Ireland a bridge that the European Union helped to build. Their friends its hard to imagine the good friday agreement being made with as our shared membership of the European Union and its Single Market and in our land we are now having to contemplate our future without that foundation which underpinned it and made it possible. Well that was the wrong sound bite obvious of its important thing he had to say about the role of Northern Ireland there and let me just recap what he had to say about smaller countries that the weight of smaller countries is much higher by being in the European Union because they are treated as equals and he also said this and this is important what a lot of European Union members or even the citizens in europe tend to forget is that on a global context and this is what brought us said this is a union of small countries because if you look at the lists of the biggest cities in the world the biggest countries in the world also the demographic developments for example that all these countries you have here in europe dont make that list so to him at least its very important to keep this union together to be able to have some influence in an ever changing world thats what it is say about brags that you know e. U. Officials recently indicated they would be open to the u. K. Actually staying in the union exit to the brag that if you will was that apparent in todays comments. That was a big topic yesterday and also today because the president of the European Council also the president of the European Commission and today even press spokesperson in france said hey boro open if you decide to change of mind in the u. K. And you dont want to brag that we can talk about that and this question was also put forward to hear during his press conference but he was careful about it he said listen its not my job to ask the u. K. To reconsider here and have a second referendum its up to the parliament its up to that government to do that and yes other problems his main problem of course is the border between Northern Ireland and ireland it was a void at all costs that this becomes a hard border again because it is the only land border between the u. K. And the European Union and its not only a question of economic and trade and culture and also but its a very political matter because. A lot of people in ireland and also across the European Union think that if a hard border were reintroduced be. I mean Northern Ireland and our lead this would cause a whole lot of problems maybe even conflict between the two unions the two countries. Max hoffman for us here in strasbourg max thank you very much. Now at home in austria he governs in a coalition with the far right party today Sebastian Cortes austrias new chancellor is in berlin for talks with america is anti immigration euro skeptic stance clashes with the german chancellor courts has been a vocal critic of michaels open door policy but the two will try to find Common Ground on the protection of the u. S. Borders ahead of his trip to berlin quite stressed that germany is an important partner for syria. Temper business with monica and the ops and downs of bitcoin yeah and right now its down sue me Cryptocurrency Bitcoin has been in a freefall in the last twenty four hours by the end of last year it was trading close to fourteen thousand u. S. Dollars now lets remember that at the beginning of twenty seventeen bitcoin was valued under one thousand dollars but it made huge gains in the second half of twenty seventeen the cryptocurrency soared especially after trading a bit confused as began on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange last month and now it is getting its tumbled nearly thirty eight percent off its highest point trading below eleven thousand dollars rumors the south korean and chinese governments could ban trading encrypted currencies have spooked in this so is this just a dip or is it more serious perhaps lets ask the data at the frankfurt stock exchange. Is this crash. He said the kind of crash that critics had already predicted for bitcoin. Or lets say its a little its least a little crash i would call it like that because of course theres still much more potential because right now off a level of about eight thousand dollars so yeah investors who are not careful they could be even losing more money in the next days if we see the bitcoin really going on more down and we have to remember at the beginning of january the total value of all those krypto currencies were estimated with a value of about eight hundred twenty two billion dollars now its only estimated worth five hundred eighty five million billion dollars so in just one week more than two hundred thirty billion u. S. Dollars were pretty much lost an analyst yeah they are concerned theyre monitoring this very closely monica corridor you just mentioned you know this market with all those krypto occur. And seize because obviously bitcoin isnt the only one that exists but what does because freefall mean for those of us. Here were always talking about bitcoin but there are about one thousand other cryptocurrency in the market lets just talk for both for example about a theory on report card doggle they also went down yesterday and today between twenty and thirty percent it really seems that those rumors that theyre cryptocurrency market could be more regulated in the near future maybe even banned in some countries such as china and also south korea has really resulted in this i guess we can release say free fall of those cryptocurrency all right daniel cope in frankfurt thank you so much for this. What tax havens are on the e. U. s agenda today the block is preparing to remove several countries from its recently published a blacklist of tax havens seventeen countries were named in the list published in december and many of them were small islands in the caribbean and in the pacific eight countries are now expected to be removed from the list next week after making new commitments thats what the e. U. Is saying they include south korea one of the Worlds Largest economies the United Arab Emirates one of the largest arab economies and panama long a haven for offshore accounts now critics say that the e. U. Is backtracking by allowing the countries off the list so soon and earlier i spoke to a whole shadow net e. U. Policy advisor on inequality and taxation for Oxfam International and i asked her just what those two commitments are. Well i really wish i could answer to your questions but the problem with this blacklisting process is that turns france is lacking and we do not really know what kind of commitments other countries making to be have the list it was already the case with what we called the greatest for all countries which could have been blacklisted but just committed to reforms the problem that we never dared to have a chance to so those commitments and im afraid it will be exactly the same for those eight countries which are soon going to be removed from the u. Blacklist all right so even if those commitments are really really great is there going to be some sort of control mechanism in order to shake if they really go to change their tax schemes. Well we hope so we are always hopeful but the problem again is that if we dont know what the commitments are to whom are really relying on to know if theyre really fulfilling their commitments were just relying on the willingness of you Member States including some e. U. Tax havens to make that judgment whether the commitments ive been fulfilled or not thats a bit worrying thats why were asking for more transparency regarding the got those commitments well below what you just mentioned sort of evil tax havens i mean how does the e. U. Tax system the various countries actually fare in comparison to those well known tax havens. Well if you talk about the impact of tech sevens on the e. U. Countries and their tax revenues we believe the e. U. Tax evans are way more impact than the tiny island has been able to pressure to commit to reforms so what were asking is not that they stop asking to other countries to reform but that they also look weve in the you to also investigate their own countries and to ask. Tax event such as looks number island in the evidence on marta to also reform. I mean this blacklist that were talking about with those seventeen countries it was only released in december now its january what was the point. Well its true its going very very fast i have never seen such a fast decision on tax issue that european level so far some of the countries we believe never really deserve their place on this blacklist such a country has moved what is a friend of a country has moved on the u. Tax revenues but its true that for those who are wondering why going so fast and not so all those countries will just be moved to the gray list so its not really that they are compliant is just that theyre making promises at the same time if the u. S. Able to go so fast then were also wondering should their sources other countries that just adopt new were firms and im thinking for example about the us who just of the very worrying tax reform. Other than the theyre from Oxfam International speaking to us from brussels thank you so much for your views thank you. Well now leaving europe behind and to what could be a turning point in the ongoing war in syria monica president Bashar AssadsRegime Forces are stepping up attacks on that as the countrys last rebel held stronghold thousands of fighters and civilians fled there during the fall of aleppo in two thousand and sixteen when the long a siege is in modern warfare with tens of thousands of casualties and now intense fighting has pushed people to leave it live aid agencies war that a massive humanitarian disaster could lie ahead. But. Rebel counter attacks against the Syrian Regime of. President Bashar Al Assads forces have stepped up their assault on this last opposition stronghold in the north of the country in recent weeks. Against them this coalition of generalities and moderates dont stand much of a chance. Troops backed by russian airpower launched intensified attacks on northern hamas and southeast about a month ago. Thats led to the biggest wave of migration weve ever seen. A little just one hundred thousand people have already fled the fighting in southern this is raised fears of yet another humanitarian crisis in syria were extremely concerned that amid this escalation in finds him up to two Million People may be at risk this is an area where tens of thousands of people have already been displaced on their own going fighting could provoke even further displacement of civilians. That means more suffering the regimes campaign has included attacks on hospitals according to the u. N. Those so far left unscathed ill equipped and doctors. Are exhausted. And. There are so many injured people we can take care of them all. No hospital in the world could treat the number of patients that come here after their neighborhood has been bombed. It is a war zone and thats all they russia iran and turkey designated it as a deescalation zone last year more than a Million People have fled here from other former rebel controlled areas fighters as well as civilians but theyre no longer safe the Syrian Regime and russia say theyre targeting terrorists but political analysts disagree. The Syrian Government wants to bring all the remaining rebel held areas under control and wipe out the opposition that doesnt care what happens to them he wants to take control of the whole country before peace talks again. So i thought just a few weeks ago this market in it lip was bustling. That was a sense of normality but thats over now. Stallholders have nothing to do anymore no one dares come here because of the asterix people are staying indoors. After seven years of war in syria peace is no closer it appears that the sad ones victory at any price. Hong kong court has sentenced prodemocracy activist joshua wang to three months in jail one was found guilty of contempt of court relating to his role in the two thousand and fourteen prodemocracy Umbrella Movement street demonstrations it is the second time he has been imprisoned over the rallies and of the hearing one made a brief but defiant statement. Saying i will go again but they come out oh i really hope to do it is different we need to face the prison sentences are still quite you know the fight for democracy in the future right here. Now how to deal with north koreas Weapons Program that was the question of the day as the Foreign Ministers of twenty nations met in canada despite signs that pyongyang and seoul have found a Common Ground the diplomats warned the International Community against easing up pressure and called for a new sanctions china and russia lambasted the meeting but for the ministers gathering in canada at least pyongyangs Nuclear Program still poses a clear and present danger. Allies Standing Shoulder to shoulder against what they call a growing threat from pyongyang the Foreign Ministers of the twenty powers that supported south korea and the u. S. During the korean war continued their push for a denuclearized Korean Peninsula during talks in canada neighbor japan called for new sanctions on the north. North korea continues to advance its Nuclear Missile programs even as we speak and we should not be blinded by north koreas Charm Offensive in short it is not the time to ease pressure or to rework north career. The Charm Offensive comes ahead of next months Olympic Games so when p. R. Nyang recently agreed on a deal which would see the north take part in the games. The direct talks came in the face of International Pressure to only engage once it abandons its Nuclear Program. While the diplomats in canada said they welcomed dialogue with the north the skepticism remains. And with respect to whether americans should be concerned about a war with north korea i think its we all need to be very sober and clear eyed about the Current Situation we have to recognize that threat is growing and if north korea is not does not choose the pathway of engagement discussion the goetia asian then they themselves will trigger an option that option is reported to be a preemptive strike on a weapons site in north korea china and russia did not attend the meeting to choose the ministers of embracing a cold war mentality. While the International Community discusses sanctions talks between the north and south continue on the Korean Peninsula delegations once again met in the Demilitarized Zone on wednesday to discuss participation in the upcoming winter Olympic Games in pyongyang significant progress is being made but in south korea reactions have been mixed. Delegations from north and south korea met for the third time in ten days a sign of progress but on tuesday their plans for a joint womens Ice Hockey Team got a somewhat frosty reception from south koreas coach sara mari adding somebody in north korean or south korean i think somebody in supposed to be ok because its a little bit dangerous im just watching history consider also been together for so long its not just a sporting di lemma the political implication split opinion among south koreans. Reify that you would have had i am worried about how the International Community will react if we were to set the north korean proposal for the olympics get there so i personally hope that we will not agree to its nothing is a joke at that i think. Im going to go so which it is can improve our image as the International Community has been worried by the tensions that its a. Meeting then to talk about sports first provides a Good Platform for talks on politics and other issues that is going to be done. That sentiment is echoed by experts who feel the olympic cooperation may pave the way for comprehensive peace talks. Between the Building Trust between the two koreas can make for Six Party Talks possible. I believe this might also have a positive influence on the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and sets a foundation for peaceful talks which are beneficial for south korea. Whether or not they join force on the ice the talks have already provided a tentative thaw in the strained relations between the two koreas i. Recapped now of our top story that were following catalonia has newly elected parliament is meeting for the first time in december snap Regional Elections yellow ribbons marketplaces have separatist lawmakers in jail are forced after exploiter karl. And irish Prime Minister. All its. Been participating in it. Will leave you with pictures from the u. S. Where record cold temperatures have transformed the city of chicagos lakefront into a magical landscape of Ice Sculptures and. For. Food. It. Is attaining the maximum profit justifiable when its at the cost of human lives. The newest medications and groundbreaking technologies are taking over the Health Care System and generating billions unfortunately health care actually cost. The business of medicine. Made in germany next on the teetotally. Card floyd. Card culture. Hair. Color superman. Superfood stylish top dog car and go where those. Life style zero. Zero in sixty minutes on. Are you to speed on the latest technology. Know when it may be time for an upgrade become part of the future to become a cyborg. Sidewards and design my perception of reality implants that make every day life easier. I use my implants on a daily basis that optimize the human body and connect people more effectively. 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