standing together, several of saudi arabia's allies back riyadh in taking diplomatic action against iran. you're watching al jazeera live from our headquarters in doha. also coming up, sectarian tensions flare in iraq, the tackers strike at least two sunni mosques near baghdad. sweden and denmark reintroduce border controls to stem the flow of refugees. chinese stocks collapse on the opening day of business in the new year, triggering an automatic suspension of trading.

two gulf states have taken steps to back saudi arabia in its diplomatic dispute with iran. bahrain says it's cut ties completely with tehran, while the u.a.e. said it's downgraded relations. sudan said it's dismissing the iranian ambassador from kartoum. earlier, demonstrators set fire to the embassy in tehran protesting against the execution of a prominent cleric who criticized saudi policy towards its shia muslim minority. >> saudi diplomatics on their way home transversing dubai airport. as they were evacuated came similar action by some allies, among them, neighboring bahrain. after two days of demonstrations by protestors from its shia muslim minority. the gulf state that's closely

allied to saudi arabia accused iran of blatant and dangerous interference in arab countries and support for terrorism. the actions followed the arson attack at the saudi embassy in tehran. saudi arabia accused iran of doing nothing to prevent it. a war of words is escalating. >> we are determined not to allow iran to undermine our security. we are determined not to let iran mobilize or create or establish terrorist cells in our country or in the countries of our allies. >> unfortunately, the government of saudi arabia sees its interest in creating clashes and escalating tensions within the region. it has taken measures and foreign policies in line with that in recent years. >> shia people across the middle east have been demonstrating after the execution of nimr al nimr. he and 46 others including

al-qaeda preacher were accused of carrying out terrorist attacks, targettion civilians and security forces. saudi arabia is animate he got a fair trial. it's not the first time diplomatic ties have been cut but there are fears it could cause more violence. >> the shia dominated iran is at the lowest point with diplomatic ties. we could witness further escalations of what we have seen. people are supporting nimr al nimr's death. the press agency reported one man had been killed and a child injured. al nimr's brother has been told the cleric will be buried in an jaundice closed location, a move that could cause more protests. let's find out if there's been any reaction from the united nations, cross over to

dip editor james bays joining us from the headquarters in new york. james. >> yes, we do have some reaction from the u.n. secretary general ban ki-moon some hours before the latest diplomatic repercussions, he issued a statement where he said he was deeply dismayed by the 47 executions, including that of sheik nimr and deplored the attack on the saudi embassy in iran. no response to the latest diplomatic repercussions and the decision by saudi and some of its close allies to either end or reduce their diplomatic relations. >> a lot of concern about how this wrist initially started between iran and saudi arabia is now going to affect a lot of the regional issues, the regional wars in syria, for example and in yemen.

>> absolutely. the relations between saudi and ran have been strained for a very long time. they are now at a very low point with the cutting of diplomatic ties. i think people don't think that in itself, the relations between the two can go much lower than that. i don't think they think that there's any chance of direct hostilities between the two countries, but remember, these two countries are involved in so much of what goes on in the region and directly involved as you say in both syria and in yemen. remember, what has happened in yemen in the last few hours somewhat overshadows by this row in saudi arabia and iran, the fragile truce which has been broken but was originally in place when they started those talks in switzerland with regard to yemen, that's now completely ended and the saudi-led coalition said it's not taking part in any truce anymore and is

resuming full military operations. of course iran an important player, as well in yemen, because it has some leverage and influence over the houthis, who are obviously on the ground there in this war against the yemeni government and the yemeni government backed by that saudi coalition. the other place this will have a big effect is syria. remember where we are on syria. there was a hope, an effort, diplomatic effort led by everyone in rush to get around the table. they even set a date for peace talks, the 25 of january in geneva. what was new about this effort was for the first time, you had all of the international and regional actors supporting it. you had a meeting in new york a couple of weeks ago and among those around the table, iran and saudi. can their effort go ahead. now these two have got relations that are now so bad, i think it certainly puts thingsings doubt. >> ok, james bays reporting from the u.n., james, thank you. yemeni government forces

announced a curfew in the southern city of aden. it's expected to start at 17gmt monday lasting until early tuesday morning. it followed be a emergency meeting of the city's security committee. the army backed by the saudi coalition captured aden from houthi rebels. at least two sunni mosques are bombed in iraq. no one claimed responsibility for the attacks south of the capital p.m. we have more from baghdad. >> the security source did not elaborate, but they said one of the mosques located inside the town and one to the north, the occupied minister said today or condemned today in a very brief statement put on his page on facebook, this event and he said groups who made this events are criminal groups and he said in his statement that he made an

order to iraqi security forces in the province to chase those people, describing them, they are trying to hit the iraqi national unity. also iraqi in at her mother ministry condemned what happened and said in statement put on its website what happened was a desperate attempt, some groups are trying according to interior ministry saying some groups trying to provoke iraqi sectarian group against each other. >> the u.n. special are a mature for human rights in the palestinian territories resigned. he has been in the role since june of 2014 and said israel has continually failed the grant him access to the territories he was supposed to monitor. he said his efforts to help palestinians have been frustrated every step of the way. he also says he's concerned the lack of protection for palestinian victims of human rights violations. denmark introduced temporary

controls along its borders with germany coming hours after swede be began identity checks for travelers from denmark. newt measures are designed to reduce the number of asylum seekers entering sweden. since september, 91,000 refugees have passed through germany and denmark. denmark's prime said his countries decision is in direct response to the swedish move. >> i think it's pretty obvious that we are in a situation if the european union can't protect the borders, you will see more and more countries which will be forced into introducing temporary internal border control. this is something we need to take very seriously, because it will have a negative impact on prosperity. i'm a true believer of the freedom of movement. this is not a happy moment at all. >> dominic cain has this update

from berlin. >> the news that the danish government and the swedish government have decided to impose passport controls at their borders can be seen as a threat to the schengen zone. many believe it may be in danger. the schengen zone is a system that allows citizens to cross borders without having to show passports and to go through some sort of control. in 2015, this became a major issue with the influx of refugees or migrants. certainly we know that a million migrants, refugees came to the european union by lands and by sea in 2015 and we've heard from the german government today that the spokesperson for the chancellor angela merkel has said that once germany understands that member states must take decisions which are in their own best interests, they

also believe only an e.u. wide solution to this problem will be effective. that perhaps is a reference back to the e.u. summit held in brussels before christmas where these matters were discussed. on the one hand, there are many member states very concerned about the security of their borders, but equally, there are member states who say this is a fundamental element of the rights of european citizens. it's certainly something that these decisions back in sweden and in denmark will be discussed at forthcoming e.u. summit, of that we can be sure. a magnitude 6.7 earthquake in northeastern india struck just north of the city of nepal and affected parts of myanmar and bangladesh. in nepal, six people were killed. a newly constructed building collapsed and several other structures damaged. three people died and dozens more injured in neighboring bangladesh. billions of dollars have been wiped off the value of tock market shares worldwide after the latest signs of economic

slowdown in china. chinese stocks plunged by as much as 8%, automatically triggering a suspension in trading. those concerns are spreading globally. europe be stock prices sharply lower, as well. here's a look the at the scale of that selloff in china. it forced a trading hold in more than $7 trillion worth of stocks, futures and options. it's the new test for circuit breakers designed to shut down trade when losses reach 5%. our china correspondent adrien brown has more from beijing. >> well, this was the worst start ever to the trading year on the shanghai and sheen dozen stocks markets, the blue chip index which measures the performance of china's top companies. a new system was supposed to contain market volatility. when the market's fell by 5%, trading was temporarily halted for 15 minutes. trading then resumed but the

index then fell by more than 7%, so it seems that a system that was brought into try to calm things down actually had the reverse effect. why is the market down? a number of factors, data monday showed that manufacturing output had contracted for the 10t 10th consecutive month, also china's currency is continue to go weaken. there's another important reason. what china is producing isn't being bought by the rest of the world. the economy is slipping because the economies in the rest of the world are also slowing. why are they slowing? because china's economy is slowing. it is a vicious circle. in the middle of all of this, china is carrying out a a vast experiment with its economy right now, trying to shift away from heavy industries to an economy that is service led. it's going to be a painful transition. monday says performance on the shane high and sheen dozen stock

market are the reason why. >> lee bow is it is fifth employee from a publishes company to go missing. the company specializes in political books sold in mainland china. still ahead on al jazeera, the u.s. gun law that and tighter controls on firearms. we take a look at a centuries old tradition with a towering presence in indonesia's capital.

the top stories on al jazeera, bahrain and sudan cut diplomatic ties with iran and u. u.a.e. downgraded relations after demonstrators set fire to the saudi embassy in tehran. two sunni mosques have been bombed in iraq. no one claimed responsibility for the attacks south of the capital ball dad. billions of dollars wiped off the stock market shares worldwide after the latest signs of an economic slow down in china. that. gunman attacked an indian consulate in northern afghanistan. they tried to storm the building in the city but were stopped by afghan security forces. the fighters then took over a

house next door. victoria gattenby reports. of a fan special forces target armed fighters near the indian consulate in the northern city. the gunmen try to enter the compound but 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. >> our special forces and co hand doughs have been deployed in the area and i assure my country men they will eliminate the insurgence. india has long supported having a to become a stable democracy. they have given $300 million in aid. the support for afghanistan has made it a target for armed fighter witness links a the taliban. in may 2014, gunman attacked the

indian consulate. in august 2013, 9 died when the indian consulate in jalalabad was targeted. the indian embassy in kabul was attacked in 2008 and 2009. efforts to restarts talks with the taliban are being made. last year the head of the afghanistan taliban were in talks with the afghanistan president, ashraf ghani. americans are rushing to buy guns and ammunition before an expected crackdown is announced. barack obama says it's too easy for criminals to get a gun and wants to use his presidential power to impose new restriction. gun enthusiasts vow to fight any attempt to change the

constitutional right to bear arms. >> with so many gun stores in the united states like the blue ridge arsenal gun range in virginia, gun and ammunition sales are up as americans rush to gun stores to buy before new rules are put in place. >> not having, not being able to get is making people want to get stuff before their abilities are taken away. >> many are concerned about president barack obama's announcement that he is meeting with his attorney general on monday to discuss using presidential power to impose new restrictions on u.s. gun sales. >> we know we can't stop every act of violence, but what if we tried to stop even one? >> obama says executive actions are necessary after either to

are 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 are required to conduct a background check before a customer buys a gun, but some firearms sold privately at gun shows do not require the same scrutiny. it's called the gun show loophole and is what some see as the white hgun ouse now seeks to the white house now seeks to close. >> the n.r.a. says increased background checks will do little to increase public safety. >> all they want to do is blame the guns. >> top republican presidential candidate donald trump says owning a gun or the right to constitutionally protected rights. >> i don't like anything having to do with changing our second amendment. we have plenty of rules and regulations, there's plenty of things they can do right now that are there, they don't do them. >> it is a view seen by many as nothing more than a power grab

from the people that violates u.s. law. >> i raise my right hand to support and defend the constitution, not dismantle the constitution. yes, i do find it an affront that some people would choose to circumvent that. >> there's a lot of people who do feel passionate about it. it's not just the fact of the firearms but the government telling them what they can and cannot do or can and cannot have. >> presidential actions to make it more difficult expect to come as early as this week. al jazeera, virginia. armed protestors continue to occupy a government building in the u.s. state of oregon. the group is demonstrating against an order for two farmers to return to jail. the father and son were convicted of arson on public land in 2012 and served some jail time but a court ruled that their sentences were too lenient and ordered them back to prison.

the group says it wants the federal government to stop interfering with the rights of land owners. puerto rico is in desperate financial trouble. the island in the caribbean is expect to default on some of its $70 billion worth of debt on monday. there is also a looming food crisis. most food is imported and island farmers are urging the government to help them increase local production. from san juan, robert ray reports. >> four years ago, tara rodriguez sosa opened this small organic restaurant in san juan. people are packing the tables. a farm to food market. >> we've become the porter child of something everybody wants on this island which is to have good food and good farming

practices. now we're leaving san juan, heading up to the mountains. it is the second highest elevation in puerto rico where her sister, daniella is farming on two acres. her sister is growing organic produce for the restaurant in san juan. >> time is running out and it's either now or never. >> time is running out, because is there really a food crisis on the island? >> in terms of self sustainability, yes. studies show that we have enough food to last us two weeks if the ships were to stop coming. >> two weeks. >> two weeks, and that's including canned food, probably even including dog food. race and beans and coffee mostly come from the u.s. mainland. neighboring latin american countries and china, as well. puerto rico's agriculture sector is stumbling along representing 1% of the gross domestic product. puerto rico's agricultural

secretary said they are working towards more local food being produced. >> we developed a plan where we understand that we can increase the local production from 50% of our consumption to near 25%. >> while the government has implemented a plan to redevelop the island's agricultural sector, that includes providing farmers with subsidies and new equipment. farm to table entrepreneurs say things are promising but they need more collaboration from the government. two sisters are trying to revitalize the agriculture of the island, farming and offering organic food for residents with the hope that people here become less dependent on imports and more ambitious with the soils of puerto rico. robert ray, al jazeera, san juan, puerto rico. venezuela's opposition coalition has chosen an outspoken leader as the next president of the national assembly. henry ma'am rose is due to be sworn in on tuesday. the opposition coalition won a

two thirds majority in september. the socialist party dominated for the part 16 years. >> today the opposition coalition elected the new president of the national assembly henry ramos alupe. for many, he is a seasoned politician and one that they consider willful fill 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 posts. the opposition has said that they will remain defiant and that all 112 of these legislators will be in fact

sworn in. bolt sides have called on their supporters to join them in on tuesday when they go to the family to be sworn in, which is reawoken fears that the streets of venezuela could again reach the stage of the violent clashes that in 2014 so you 40 people dead. building lasting peace in myanmar is a priority for the newly elected government. the leader of the national league for democracy spoke at celebrations to mark 68 years of employee's from british colonial rule. myanmar is struggling to reach peace agreements with various minority groups fighting for greater autonomy and recognition. giant sized puppets are a centuries old tradition in indonesia. they are no longer used to ward off evil, but are thriving in other ways as we have been discovering in the capital,

jakarta. he spruces up his puppet. the frame is made of bamboo and hallow, allowing the puppet master to crawl inside and bring his puppet to life. they were originally made to represent ancestors who could ward off evil spirits. the puppets are mere decorative roles. they are still extremely popular and saw the after for weddings and inauguration of buildings. children get a kick seeing the puppets walk the streets. >> it's more fun and there is a lot of laughter. it's entertaining. >> on weekends and public holidays, they are usually at

the square in the heart of the old city, flanked by that colonial buildings. it's where families come for a bit of street entertainment, a slice of color, an alternative to a day out at the mall. >> there are at least another five pairs in the square but even with the competition, the curiosity and tradition for the puppet owners to make a living. >> people pay to pose for photos with the puppets. he can earn up to $20 a day. his ambition is to one day make enough money to own at least 10 puppets. >> that it is a tradition. i want to take a picture with them. >> i think it is important that we preserve our culture. it's the pride people have for these eye cops of jakarta that will ensure they keep dancing,

entertaining generations to come. al jazeera, jakarta. you can read much more about that story as well as the day's top stories on our website, there it is on your screen, aljazeera.com. not backing down, anti-government demonstrators seize a federal building and say their prepared to stay for years. rising tensions in the middle east, saudi arabia cutting dip ties with ran and more countries join after the violent response to the execution of a shia cleric. president obama pushes gun control center stage as he tries to find a new way to curb deadly shootings. global markets nose dive after