♪ attackers strike at least two sunni mosques south of baghdad. ♪ hello again and you are with al jazeera, i'm marteen dennis and coming up, in the program. >> determined not to allow iran to under mine our security. >> saudi arabia cuts diplomatic ties with iran after protesters storm its embassy in tehran. chinese stocks collapse on the opening day of business in the new year forcing a trading halt. and a magnitude 6.7 earthquake hits northeastern india and

bangladesh is also effected. ♪ but first at least two sunni mosques we understand have been attacked in hila that is just south of the iraqi capitol baghdad. no one so far claimed responsibility for the attacks and they of course follow saudi arabia's execution of the prominent shia cleric al--nimr and the latest from abraham who is in the iraqi capitol baghdad and tell us what more you know about these attacks. >> according to more than a security source from the providence located just south of baghdad the source said three attacks happened and three separate places, almost at one time around midnight yesterday night. attacked three mosques and one

of them in the downtown of the capitol of hella and the other one in the neighborhood which is north of there and another one east of bobbel and the attacks came as the source said at one time. one of the mosques and the dome of the mosques were totally collapsed. >> and of course this comes at a time of increased tension as saudi arabia cuts diplomatic ties with iran, is that tension being felt in iraq? >> look, there is no tangible evidence according to the sources from bobbel and no tangible evidence to say that these three attacks happened because of what happened in saudi arabia but a statement made by iraqi prime minister minutes ago, he put on his page on facebook a very brief statement. and this is a statement that

it's obvious this attacks came as a link of what happened in saudi arabia. occupied minister said in his statement that he ordered iraqi security forces to chase those people and described them as criminal gangs and said they are trying to hit iraqi national unity and to ignite this in iraq and in other words he wants to say there is nothing between what happened in this earlier and the hella province and what happened in saudi arabia. also there is tension here in baghdad. some talking about a protest in a few hours inside baghdad and expected that hundreds of people may participate in this protest against the position made by saudi authority, the execution of the shia security. this is the situation. iraqi foreign minister put a statement on its website, condemned what happened and said

this was unjustified and un unacceptab unacceptable. >> correspondent in baghdad and thank you very much. as you heard saudi arabia cut diplomatic ties with iran following demonstrators setting fire to its embassy in the iranian capitol and we have this report from gerald tan. >> the saudi embassy a blaze in tehran. iranians lash out after leaving shia cleric with 47 men executed on terrorism charges and saudi government said it made repeated request for iran to protect its embassy but they were ignored. in response the kingdom cut diplomatic ties with tehran. >> we are determined not to allow iran to under mine our security. we are determined photo let iran mobilize or create or establish

terrorist cells in our country or in this countries of our allies. >> reporter: the execution of al-nimr have protests in shia communities across the middle east and nimr and the other man including al-qaeda preacher were charged with plotting and carrying out terrorist attacks, targeting civilians and security forces. nimr sentenced to death for disobedience and bearing arms and did not deny the charges against him but said he never carried weapons or called for violence. riyadh is adamant he got a fair trial based on facts and followed a judicial process. and iran media is warning what they call divine revenge. >> translator: this blood will trouble them without a doubt. i have no doubt about it. policy makers executed them and saudi government decision makers should not under estimate the

blood will trouble them but torment them. >> a war of words and it's not the first time they cut diplomatic relations. >> i think that the ties between iranians and saudis were bound to clash at one point because there are so many challenges facing these two countries and the points of use are die -- diametrically opposed. >> the concern is the widening rift of the two regional powers will have a broader impact across the middle east. gerald tan, al jazeera. iran has reacted to the saudi decision to cut diplomatic ties and accusing riyadh of using the attack on tehran as a pretext to fuel tensions. >> from one process in saudi arabia moves to another and this

indicates its intention and it's wonton of on going policy to create tension after tension and crisis after crisis. >> we speak to the general manager and editor in chief and is live in saudi arabia and thanks for talking to us, the relationship now between saudi arabia and iran has been described as at an all-time low, would you agree with that? >> yes, very much, very much. and, in fact, we should see this because it's not just an embassy issue, it's not just the undiplomatic or unacceptable iran attacks to saudi arabia it's way more than that. it is saudi arabia view of the

region free of iran and iran expansionism and that is what is being and what is clashing right now, expansionism versus saudi arabia's view of a three-region. >> it's been suggested that this rift between shia dominated iran and sunni dominated saudi arabia could infect if you like the entire region and the rift, the rift between sunni and shia will become inflamed. >> it could. sectarianism is already there. we are living in sectarianism. we are living in malitias killing other minority or majority of people over different sects and happening three, four, five years in iraq

and syria and see how ugly the malitia and shia malitia is doing and it's too late to complain of sectarianism because it's already there and should feel for the wars because the saudis and iranians obviously don't like each other and we are just like fire and dynamite and we are living in a very close proximity. what we need for the international world is to give attention towards peace and try to put an end to those differences in the middle east. the question of iraq should not continue undecided and un distributed puted like that and we need the war to finish the intervention there with people and let them decide for themselves and what i like is saudi arabia and our understanding with this side of history while the iran are

there with assad and houthi and understanding of the people and we think the war should stand with us. >> and you bring us to of course one of the major conflicts in the region right now, syria. riyadh is currently hosting an opposition meeting. >> yes. >> and how will this impact the rift between the two major powers in the region, how will this impact upon scheduled talks that are due to take place at the end of the month? >> that is what i was referring to. saudi arabia is for a peaceful solution in syria while the iranians along with the russians are killing syrian people and syrian fighters and people who are demanding freedom and they are putting obstacles to the future and political peace process, that will take place in geneva and they begin to object to this party or that party who

to present the true syrian people and at the same time they are continuing their fire power, their atrocity against the syrians. it is a dilemma but saudi arabia said that and not only saudi arabia. we have other muslims, other abrag arab countries with us and the international war talks about bringing peace to the region and they must understand what is going on in the region. it is a fight for freedom. a fight between people who want their freedom and a sectarian view of iran. >> reporter: thank you very much indeed, jamal and some breaking news just in, we just heard that bahrain has announced that it is cutting its diplomatic ties with iran so following in the footsteps of saudi arabia and breaking diplomatic ties with tehran. now members of syria's

opposition as we've already mentioned a meeting in the saudi capitol riyadh and trying to agree on who exactly will take part in talks with president assad's government. those talks are due to take place two weeks time and staffan de mistura is expected to meet the opposition members. now yemeni government forces announced a curfew in the southern city of aiden and will start at 17grenich monday and last until early tuesday morning and followed an emergency meeting of the city security committee and army captured aiden from houthi rebels. chinese stock markets plunged but 8% automatically triggering suspension in trading, investors reacted to the latest signs of economic slow down in china by selling shares and begun to spread globally and dragged down

the european markets. here is a look at the scale of the sell off and the worst ever start to a year for chinese shares forced them to trade $7 trillion of stocks, futures and options and it's the first test for the country's new market circuit breakers designed to shut down trade when it reaches 5%. adrian brown is in beijing for us. >> reporter: it seems that a survey which was carried out by a private group showed that manufacturing out put in china has contracted for the 10th straight month. also the chinese currency is continuing to weaken. now the reason why manufacturing is declining here in china is there is a drop off in demand for what china makes. the reason for that, the economy is slowing elsewhere in the world, why is the economy slowing elsewhere in the world? well because china's economy is slowing and that is creating a vicious circle. added to that right in the middle of all this china is carrying out a big experiment at

the moment and wants to transition the economy from big industry like steel and coal and wants to focus on an industry that is more service lead and that is creating a very painful transition just a few days ago the president xi jinping addressed the nation on new year's eve and said fruitful gains come with persistent efforts and i think by persistent efforts he was referring to the fact there is possibly going to be more pain this year. a magnitude 6.8 earthquake in northeastern india killed at least nine and injured more than 200 and the quake was north of the city and also affected parts of myanmar and bangladesh. and six people were killed and the newly constructed building collapsed, several other structured damaged and three people died and dozens more injured and in neighboring bangladesh. still to come at al jazeera, the u.s. government prepares for a

show down with the president to control some firearms. ♪ and we take a look at a century old tradition with a towering presence in indonesia's capitol. ♪ the only way to get better is to challenge yourself, and that's what we're doing at xfinity. we are challenging ourselves to improve every aspect of your experience. and this includes our commitment to being on time.

every time. that's why if we're ever late for an appointment, we'll credit your account $20. it's our promise to you. we're doing everything we can to give you the best experience possible. because we should fit into your life. not the other way around.

hello again and you are with al jazeera and reminder of the top stories, at least two sunni mosques attacked in the province south of iraqi capitol baghdad and no one claimed responsibility for attack but come after saudi arabia executed

the prominent cleric al-nimr and bahrain followed saudi arabia but cutting diplomatic ties with iran and severed relations after they stormed the saudi embassy in tehran and were protesting against al-nimr's execution on saturday and chinese stock markets plunged by 8% as investors react to the economic slow down in china but selling shares, those concerns have begun to spread to europe where stock markets opened lower. now in afghanistan the suicide bomb ner a car has blown himself up at a police check point close to kabul's airport and the blast caused no other problems but where a taliban bomber killed one and wounded 33 last week. gunmen attacked an indian consulate in northern afghanistan and tried to storm the building in the city with sharif and stopped by afghan security forces and fighters took over a house next door and

victoria reports. >> reporter: afghan special forces target armed fighters near the indian consulate in the northern city of sharee. the gunmen tried to enter the compound and failed. afghan army commanders say the fighters are now hiding in a house in a nearby street and at least one civilian has been wounded. >> translator: our special forces and comandos have been deployed in the area and ensured the countrymen they will eliminate all insurgance. >> reporter: they signed a strategic partnership in 2011 and since then india has given more than $300 million in aid and it's support for afghanistan made it a target for armed fighters with links to the taliban. in may 2014 gunmen attacked the indian consulate in the city.

in august 2013, nine civilians died when the indian consulate in jalabad was targeted and the indian embassy in kabul was attacked in 2008 and 2009. the latest attack sharif coincides with a raid on indian airforce base on border with tack pakistan and efforts to restart talks are being made. last week the head of the army was in kabul with a meeting with afghan president ashraf ghani and they are capable of causing chaos, victoria with al jazeera. gun fight in the indian airforce base we mentioned is going on for a third day, two gunmen are still held up in the base. officials say they are in a residential building. seven indian soldiers and six fighters died which started on saturday. india says it secured all the major assets at the base.

the gunmen expected of killing people in an israeli bar also met a taxi driver and massive manhunt is underway after fighting in tel aviv and the motive remains unclear and alleged gunman is from an arab town in northern israel and it is thought he hailed a taxi to escape the scene of the shooting and then killed the driver. a police spokesman says he is still armed and may strike again and venezuela opposition coalition has chosen an out spoken leader as the next president of the national assembly and henry is due to be sworn in on tuesday. the opposition coalition won a two thirds super majority of congress in december. the socialist party dominated congress for the past 16 years and the opposition is vowing to go ahead with the inauguration of all the new mps despite a supreme court ban on some of them. lopez has more now from the capitol caracus.

>> today the opposition coalition elected the new president of the national assembly. for many here he is a politician and one they consider is meeting the needs at the moment. this is the first time in 16 years that the opposition here in venezuela will have control of the national assembly. despite being formed by several different factions the opposition has vowed to stay together which is particularly relevant also because the supreme court has just ruled that four of the legislators that were scheduled to be sworn in on tuesday might be blocked from assuming their post. the opposition said they will remain defiant and all 112 of these legislators will be sworn in and both called on supporters to join them in on tuesday when they go to the assembly to be sworn in which has reawoke enfears that the streets of

venezuela could be the stage of clashes in 2014 saw 43 people dead. americans are rushing to buy guns and ammunition before an expected crack down is announced. president obama says it's too easy for criminals to get a gun and wants to use his presidential power to impose new restrictions. but gun enthusiasts are vowing the right to change the right to bear arms and kimberly explains. >> reporter: with gun sales in the united states at the blueridge arsenal gun rage in virginia gun and ammunition sales are up as they rush to buy firearms before strict new gun regulations are put in place. >> not having, not being able to get and making people want to get stuff before their abnormalities are taken away. >> reporter: many are concerned about president barack obama's announcement he is meeting with his attorney general loretta

lynch to impose restrictions on u.s. gun sales. >> we know we cannot stop every act of violence but what if we tried to stop one. >> reporter: it's necessary after efforts to work with congress stalled following the sandy hook school shooting in 2012 which killed 26 people obama proposed congressional measures to tighten gun laws but that effort failed in congress. licensed gun stores like this one are required to conduct a background check before a customer buys a gun and some firearms sold at gun shows do not require the same scrutiny and called a gun show loophole and some see it as a gap in u.s. gun regulations that the white house now seeks to close and the national rifle association and gun rights group says increased background checks will do little to increase public safety. >> they want to blame the guns and republican president donald trump says owning a gun or right

to bear arms in the united states is a constitutional right. >> i don't like anything to do with changing the second amendment with rules and regulations and plenty of things they can do right now that are already there and don't do them. >> a view shared by many who see obama's potential actions as nothing more than a power grab from people that violates u.s. law. >> as a veteran myself i raise my right hand to support and defend the constitution of the united states of america and not dismantle the constitution so yes i do find it in the front that people do circumvent that. >> people are passionate about it and it's not just the firearms but the government telling them what they can and cannot do or can and cannot have. >> despite opposition the white house says it's too easy for someone who wants to commit a crime for a gun and presidential actions to make it more difficult expected to come as early as this week, al jazeera,

chantilly, virginia. hong kong urging the government to investigate the latest disappearance of a book publisher and the fifth employee from the same company to go missing. the publisher specializes in books that are ban in mainland china and he is a journalist and says the disappearance raised concerns of a crack down from the main land. >> this is very, very chilling indeed because the assumption always was that in hong kong you could publish what you like and that there would be problems if you are on the other side of the border but if you are here nobody would come over here and nobody would arrest you, the hong kong authorities are keeping very silent and say they are investigating what is going on and it's not clear but the popular reaction here is one of quite considerable discourse. the reason we know about this is because of a phone call made to his wife in which he sort of indicated that he was on the other side of the border.

she says she had no idea that he was leaving. i mean he has been missing since wednesday. the other colleagues of his have been missing a much longer period of time so why are they on the other side of the border and unless there was some kind of operation launched by the chinese authorities. if there is another explanation we certainly have not heard about it. he says building lasting peace in myanmar is a priority for her newly elected government and the leader of the national league for democracy has been speaking at celebrations marking 68 years of independence from british colonial rule. myanmar is struggling to reach peace agreements with various minority groups fighting for greater autonomy and recognition. now to indonesia and we have more on giant sized puppets that are a century old tradition. >> reporter: spruces up his

pair of giant puppets or ondel-ondel as they are known and this is a tradition on the island and the frame is made of bam boo and hollow all allowing the puppet master to crawl inside and bring the puppet to life and they were originally made to represent ancestors who could ward off evil spirits but they evolved to near decorate tif roles in the muslim country and they are extremely popular and sought after at weddings and ceremonies and even for the inauguration of buildings. children get a kick out of seeing the puppets walk through the streets. >> translator: going around the village, it's more fun and a lot of laughter. it's entertaining. >> reporter: but on weekends and public holidays the puppets are at the square in the heart

of the old city flanked by colonial buildings and it's where families come for int entertainment and an alternative to a day out at the mall. at least five pairs of puppets in the square but with the competition there is enough curiosity and interest in the whole tradition for the puppet owners to make a living. people pay to pose for photos with the puppets. and he says he can earn up to $20 a day. his ambition is to one day make enough money to own at least ten puppets. >> translator: it's a tradition. so i want to take a picture with them. >> translator: i think it is important that we preserve our culture. >> reporter: it's the pride people have for these icons of jakarta that will ensure the puppets keep dancing, entertaining generations to

come. ♪ florence with al jazeera, dakarta. remember you can keep up to date with the day's stories on the website, al jazeera.com. i'm ali velshi. on target tonight. homeless on the home front. let's get those who fought so bravely for america off the street and into stable housing for good. 49,933. that is the government's most recent estimate of how many american veterans are homeless on any given night in this country.