making vague remarks when they're on line the main u.s. response to drug use and the drug trade over the last fifty years has been to criminalize or if you join us on say you know evil person just wakes up in the morning and says i want to cover the world in darkness this is a dialogue that could be worth leading to some of the confusion about people saying they don't actually know what's going on join the colobus conversation at this time on al-jazeera. iran's interior ministry says it will confront disorder after anti-government protests turned violent on saturday. hello i'm still wrong when you're watching al-jazeera live from our headquarters here in doha coming up in the next thirty minutes

a coalition of rebel groups promises to fight on in syria we'll look at what the new year could bring for a country that still mired in death and destruction. also countries around the world increased security as they prepare to ring in the new year plus. on the northern coast of cuba and coming up i'll tell you why the largest island of the caribbean is actually shrinking. welcome to al-jazeera antigovernment protesters in iran the fault with police for a third day despite warnings from all forty's that they'd be breaking the law to protest as were killed in the city of rude on saturday night the iranian government is blaming foreign agents for their deaths saying that security forces didn't fire on the crowd pizza shop possible. for the third day in a row. oh they're out on the streets fighting with police went on into the night

anti-government protesters most of them students facing up to riot police outside tear on university but what began as a protest about rising food prices and welfare benefit cuts turned political on saturday. earlier in the day they chanted not gaza not lebanon my life whereon. don't be afraid we're staying strong together. an expression of anger about claims the government is focusing more on regional issues than economic problems at home. the iranian t.v. showed a display of strength by crowds of pro-government supporters in cities nationwide tens of thousands of people on the streets chanting death to america down with israel in support iran's supreme leader ali khamenei letter that people have protested against inflation other problems but that does not show that our people

have turned on each other or are against the ruling system and their leadership. the pro-government rallies were pre-planned to mark the anniversary of the end of the unrest that shook the country in two thousand and nine for some time now there's been some disparate groups who've been protesting whether it was sabre's who've lost their savings through these corrupt financial institutions with a pension is no longer going their pensions will have to live on pensions as people are worried about the environment this woman is all these groups and they've been testing and testing and you could see that the those slogans are now becoming more radical you could say that the atmosphere is going tense or intense and most of all what you could say is that they no longer seem to have that fear from the security forces there in the other. one this was a huge display of support for the iranian leadership the government will be concerned it just how quickly a protest about food prices could become political pizza shop al jazeera.

or the news that iran analyst on the middle east i know he says the protests reflect the growing divide between all the rain ians and the political elite. in contrast to what happened when there were last major protests in iran back in two thousand and nine in the wake of the disputed presidential elections when the quarrel then was interim regime it was a quarrel within competing factions within the system and this one appears to be coming from the outside articulated by people who ostensibly have been a purely economic motives but i think in keeping with the ring and culture and the long standing for the people culture inevitably these protests become political i think the only thing they can achieve is to apply some pressure on the current administration because the government of president rouhani now rouhani appears to have the right policies in place but if the attitude of the government really riles

up the people this is a very elitist government they are being a cracking elite that technocratic elite they are very distant from the grievances of ordinary people and frankly some of their attitudes for example some of the leading ministers and parliamentarians some of the things that have said recently has come up and social media for instance one m.p. was recently complaining about his low salary and saying that when he was a university professor they used to get almost double and hardly did any work for it really riles up ordinary people who are struggling right now from the economic point of view so is the attitude of government ministers officials and parliamentarians that the real problem here not necessarily the policies which rouhani has put in place in order to turn the economy around the us president donald trump took a matter of leaders on twitter for a second running on friday he tweeted that iranian citizens were fed up with the regime's corruption and the squandering of the nation's wealth to fund terrorism abroad he called on iran's government to respect people's rights to express

themselves that on saturday he said that apart from the u.s. military power iran's people are what its leaders fear the most. now the hostility between the u.s. and iran goes back more than sixty years in one nine hundred fifty three a joint british american plot led to the ousting of iran's democratically elected prime minister and restored the ruling monica sharma home of the reza pahlavi now the resentment of the u.s. meddling helped trigger iran's nine hundred seventy nine islamic revolution on the installment of the anti western rohloff made the supreme leader more than fifty americans were held hostage for more than a year the countries have been at loggerheads ever since in twenty fifteen crippling u.s. led sanctions against iran were lifted in return for limitations to its nuclear energy program the deal was the signature foreign policy achievement of barack obama's presidency but since coming to power donald trump has slapped

a unilateral sanctions on iran and the president could pull the u.s. out of the deal altogether in january. now dramatic video has emerged from syria showing children being rescued from rebel parts of damascus following government airstrikes now these pictures of a child been taken from the rubble are said to be from the damascus suburb of harassed at least and cooter at least thirteen people including five children are believed to be killed in the bombardment rescuers are also seen carrying two babies from the ruined building aid agencies say the siege by government forces has caused a humanitarian emergency. more than thirty thousand groups based in northern syria are joining forces under the single banner of the syrian national army the announcement was made by the head of the rebel interim government opposed to the rule of president bashar al assad the new unified opposition includes all factions of the rebel free syrian army the f.s.a.

was backed by turkey to push eisel fighters on kurdish forces from border areas between the two countries. well in the fourth part of our series looking ahead to twenty eighty we examine the future of syria twenty seventy was a good year for president assad with his forces recapturing a larger swathes of territory for myself and the opposition but while the called for debate is to be winding down in some areas the prospect of genuine peace still seems far away as said huldah reports from beirut. syrians in search of safety there may be less violence because of russian brokered local cease fires but there are still active lines in some areas of the country over the past year the opposition lost sizable territory and the syrian government with the backing of iran have also recaptured areas from. the government is stronger than it has been since the conflict began nearly seven years ago but the war is not hearing it's and

. the war is far from. that is for sure and what we're seeing is perhaps a winding down the conflict in some parts. there is a likelihood also an escalation. of the country almost a quarter of the country in the northeast for example is outside the state's control the mainly kurdish region wants a federal system for syria the government wants said it would be ready to discuss this but now it calls the kurds traitors for working with a foreign country and the u.s. decision to maintain a troop presence in the enclave has alarmed russia which says there is no legitimate reason for them to stay. the war is over but the focus is already on dividing the spoils russia's president vladimir putin wants to play a lead role in. the kremlin has created an alternative for negotiations the russian talks have overshadowed.

and now with the plans to host the syrian peace conference in sochi russia's leader says he has the support of iran and turkey countries that are deeply involved in the conflict he also says syria's president bashar assad is backing the peace initiative that may weaken his powers but leave him in office for at least a few years with a reformed constitution. what we will likely see is a syria not divided but the void in terms of spheres of him. and so it will be like a multinational company would countries holding shares and of course russia having the biggest share of political settlement is still a long way off for opponents of the government what is being discussed doesn't amount to peace but priorities have changed in two thousand and seventeen calls for us had to be removed from power were no longer heard western leaders now seem to be more concerned with working with russia to counter iran's growing influence in

syria. be able. now there's increased security of major cities across the world ahead of new year's eve celebrations parties and some public squares are being counseled in the turkish city of istanbul. thirty nine people were killed in an attack on the line of the city because. most of them thought it was fireworks but it was the sound of bullets fired by gunmen during the first hours of two thousand and seventeen he killed thirty nine people in a stumbles popular rain a night club. it is still on known how he managed to bypass high security measures with a long range automatic rifle ali you know was the managing partner all that klopp who witnessed the shooting he lost his friends employees and customers he say's he still can't sleep. his horse can you imagine a bullet passing through your body well your welcome in

a new year and it has been one year but there isn't a moment that i forget about this unfortunate attack it's very difficult to live with the spike his grief all you wants people to celebrate the new year outside rather than a home turkish authorities here in istanbul say they have taken all security precautions one measure was to cancel parties in popular public squares like tech seem you know i am scared and avoid going to crowded places since then to come out and you know you can't swing public parties is a sign of government impotence people should be free but they throw fear into people with these measures what's going to happen will happen we get nowhere if we're scared to show these we will be outside celebrating as always terror threats can't dissuade us from terror threats and become normalized for turd's maybe that's what makes them feel relatively confident despite the highly secure it in wireman

and cancel parties in some public squares it seems turks will not give in to fear this new year soon on kosovo al-jazeera the stumble there's also unprecedented security in sydney where an estimated one million people will turn out to watch its famous new year's fireworks display andrew thomas has moved. hundreds of thousands of people appalling into sydney to gather around the hall to watch the fireworks many of which will be launched from the harbor bridge behind me nothing new about that but happens every year what is unusual is the scale of the security operation put in place to protect specter. it's roads like this one they closed off with barriers elsewhere in city buses not that you later lorries a big part of prostrates to close them off that's because australia's government says in their words that an attack is probable not tonight specifically this is a general level of alert that is a bit insidious such an iconic obvious target for thousands of people in the

streets of the government wants people to know it's taking no chances at all twice in the last year vehicles have been used to mow down pedestrians in melbourne and one of those attacks in january six people were killed and the government doesn't want to take any chances on sydney's most high profile night of the year. in january twenty seventh the un secretary general appealed for peace but for next year he's going one step further i mean going to alert the red alert for our world's conflicts if depend a new they injure is every merged global insight it is about nuclear weapons are the highest since the cold war and climate change is moving faster than we are inequalities are growing and we see only feet volitions of human rights i urge readers everywhere to make these new year's resolution narrow the gaps bridge the divides rebuild trust by bringing people together around common goals unity is the

best i wish you peace and else in two thousand and eighteen. well still ahead here on al-jazeera an uncertain future for tens of thousands of barley falls from their homes by a volcano. also taking all the k. two in winter a team of climbers prepares to achieve one of the greatest feats left it down to the eric. from the clear blue sky of the doha morning. to the fresh autumn breeze in the city . hello there we've got plenty of stormy weather around in europe at the moment the main system at the moment is this one here that swirling its way towards the northeast this one's called dillon and it's already given us when gusting up to one hundred nineteen kilometers per hour so incredibly windy here and those winds will gradually work their way northeast which as we head through the remainder of the

day gradually they'll begin to ease then still plenty of rain down towards the south though that's across the southern parts of the u.k. down through france and into parts of spain portugal as the system sweeps its way eastwards jaring the night we start the new year with yet another storm that will be working its way into parts of france this will give us some very strong winds very heavy rain as well which out for this around the bay of biscay the first thing on monday elsewhere across europe the temperatures generally are a lot milder than they have been so we're looking at ten in berlin and around eight in warsaw still in a cold day there in moscow so on some of which you speak to your griese course the other side of the mediterranean there's been quite a few showers outbreaks recently you can see the latest system is making its way across the north coast of libya and into egypt there quite a few showers out of this it's clearing eastwards though it will be around beirut lebanon there will see the showers on monday for the rest of us in egypt it will be mostly dry the weather sponsored by qatar.

twenty seventeen has been full of stories that have changed the global political landscape and al jazeera has been there to cover them or. join us as we look back at some of our most memorable interviews of the year the special edition of talk to al-jazeera at this time and that is to hold on to see whether someone telling or someone if it really does matter we each think it's how you approach an official and that's what it is a certain way of doing it you can just. get a story and fly out. welcome back you're watching i'll just zero times a whole rob a reminder of our top stories two people have been killed in iraq as

anti-government protesters formed with police for a third day on saturday the iranian government is blaming foreign agents for the deaths saying security forces didn't fire into the crowd. more than thirty rebel groups based in northern syria are joining forces under the single banner of the syrian national army the new unified opposition euclid's all factions of the rebel free syrian army which is supported by turkey. also there's increased security in major cities across the world ahead of new year's eve celebrations parties and some public squares have been counseled in the turkish city of a stumble it's one year since a gunman stormed a popular nightclub during a new year's eve party killing thirty nine people. and said to asia pacific now where in indonesia more than seventy thousand people continue to live in evacuation shelters after a volcano began erupting in early november when he returned to the danger zone every day to tend to their crops and livestock reports. well the muleteer on the

last day of the year is very somber these people's lives have been on hold for three months they're waiting and just watching the focus as you can see it's mostly elderly and children were still at the if. it's very hard and difficult for the government to convince the honest the adults to stay here a lot of people of course have business to do they have no income here they have to send their children to school and as you can see in all reports a lot of people are taking the risk to go up to the volcano very near to the crater instead of sitting and waiting down here. you know mom got that kills time by helping out in an emergency kitchen his family sought refuge in this government shelter after they were forced to leave to fill it three months ago the indonesian government has ordered families not to return as long as the volcano remains at its highest alert level or so not that no one can let up on my future looks pretty

bleak if i have to stay here in the shelter how can i pay for my children's education i've got no work here at least seventy thousand villages in the danger zone have been forced to leave their homes three months have passed and boredom has kicked in local authorities are struggling to keep them away from danger. every morning like many others goes up the mountain back to his village a thirty kilometer journey by motorbike. nearest to the crater and no man knows exactly how dangerous the full kaino can be just five kilometers away. with mount after moving dangerously near the old man and his neighbors are mining stones and sand spewed from an eruption fifty four years ago the villages are getting some benefit from the natural disaster then. i force myself to be brave enough although the government doesn't allow it i'm fed up in the shelter how long do i have to stay there so while only

a little smoke comes out of the volcano i take my chance to earn some money in case there's a major eruption neeleman hopes he will have enough time to run while the government continues to urge people to stay out of the danger zone its policy has recently become more lenient because the answer. than can would be if it does because the situation is taking so long and because of all kinds activities not always high people to get back to advantages during the day time to work and come back to the shelter at night. but newman decides not to return to the shelter and spend the night at his house trying desperately to get his old life back hoping and praying that i and i go will go back to sleep very soon step fasten al-jazeera so bloody village barely know the impact of climate change is being felt all over the world especially in low lying on the islands scientists say the rise in water level is causing cuba to shrink or latin america editor lucien newman reports from the

coastal town of hi many to us we have an a. what a kid really is and his wife have lived by the ocean for nearly sixty years long enough to notice that something is changing especially when they look towards the key in front of them. forty or even thirty years ago during low tar you could walk over to the quay over there and you wouldn't get wet it was totally dry now the target is never lower than this it's all because of climate change. my daughter grew up here we didn't have this wall and i would lower down there to play on the rocks because it was dry. in high many of us a coastal town you're have vanna everyone notices at the water level is rising on this no lying island it's hard to believe but i'm actually walking on top of what was a swimming pool some forty years ago removed about thirty meters away from a beach that no longer exists it's yet another undeniable example of how the ocean

is eating away at much of cuba's coastline. a report prepared by the ministry of science technology and environment warns that by two thousand and fifty coastal levels will have risen twenty seven centimeters and by the end of the century it will be up by eighty five centimeters causing the island to shrink significantly. scientists argue the climate change is also provoking more frequent and stronger hurricanes flooding and at the same time prolonged periods of drought inland. the climate experts who prepared the report tell us a major action plan is being implemented to confront this new reality. we are applying new practices like planting corals to increase and reproduce coral reefs and more mangroves which are key barriers for protecting the coastline and we need to adopt new construction practices in the caribbean we have experience building on

stilts the list is long but scientists concede that inevitably many people will have no other choice but to leave their homes and move in. you see in human how many ask you about. in kenya a head on crash between a bus and a lorry has killed at least thirty people other passengers who are trapped in the wreckage are critically injured and they've been sent to hospital a government spokes person in the rift valley region says the bus was on the wrong side of the road as it sped downhill investigators are at the scene of the incident . tens of thousands of people have rallied in togo demanding an end to the fifteen year rule of president for a gas engine be. it's the latest in a string of demonstrations organized by opposition groups they want new rules limiting presidents to two terms in office. the mob and we've been claiming our

rights for four months now they don't even see or so it looks like the current regime doesn't even consider us with the march it is necessary that at least the state or the government knows that we are tired we want to see definite change. now the former president of catalonia has urged the spanish government to accept the results of the recent regional election the december the twenty first poll gave a slim majority to party seeking to split from spain. had been in brussels since then has been forced out of or forced out as catalonia as leader and threatened with arrest by madrid. but no deal she would have on. the spanish government has a new opportunity to be here as the european democracy it clear to be and therefore recognize the results of the election that took place under twenty first and in this way to start a political negotiation with the legitimate government of catalonia. but in a way that's why as president of catalonia i demand that the spanish government and

the ones who back them rectify those things that no longer work restore the damage caused and replace everything they have removed without the legal permission of the cattle and people the ballot boxes have spoken democracy has spoken everyone has been able to express themselves what is really waiting for in order to accept the results to accept the will of the catalan people now the greek government is seeking to reverse a decision to grant asylum to one of a turkish soldiers who fled to greece showing last year's failed coup saturday's ruling by a greek asylum tribunals and get turkey which has repeatedly called for the soldiers' extradition the greek supreme court has argued the soldiers wouldn't receive a fair trial at home. here's one of the lawyers supporting these soldiers asylum claims and she says the judge's decision shows they are truly impartial from the government. there is not an ongoing dispute between the greek government and the greek judges the last three weeks and the greek government is trying to win friends

certain great judges and also the justice and the greek judges respond to a very ferociously and that is a very very strong answer after this our ongoing dispute so i'm extremely happy over them without actually because the judge is the great judge this unbiased and in part in an impartial way i announced this decision i have also to explain to you that this is not a judicial decision this is an administrative decision of the committee however they called me at this hour parted by three members to all of them i administered to of judges from the critics justice and one of them is that a prison that they have of the un they'd see our. palestine has recalled its ambassador to pakistan ottery attended an event with the main suspect in the attacks nine years ago palestinian envoy provoked and gave india for appearing

alongside half a who's accused of planning the attacks the rally condemning the us recognition of jerusalem as israel's capital well staying in the region and indeed soldiers being killed at least two others injured after a storm the paramilitary camp in indian administered kashmir police say the attackers threw grenades and fired automatic rifles as they tried to seize the training center in the town of. the poll has banned solo climbers from its mountains including mt everest in an attempt to reduce the number of fatalities the decision came as climbers began admission to assess the world's second highest mountain to it's the only major peak which has never been conquered jury in winter months despite first being submitted in the one nine hundred fifty four ok to is part of a mountain range on the border between china and pakistan a charlotte dallas reports. a team of poland's best climbers is in

pakistan reached take on k two in winter it's one of the last great feats lift in mountaineering and we all have been under supervision of college we had a decision we had a doctor so we made all the medical exams all for all the exams to shake how feet we are and what we can improve. k. two is the second highest mountain in the world but it beats mt everest in danger and difficulty only three hundred six people have reached its peak compared to four thousand on mt everest it's in and tori is for hurricane strength winds its steep slopes and i see a saint for every four people that summit k two one dies. the team has been preparing for two years and will spend up to three months on the mountain prepping the route before making near a saint they will lay out ropes and store supplies of food and fuel then wait for

a break in the weather to misquote life various by because. we have to pray for. the lidsky was the first to climb mt everest during winter nearly forty years ago he's one of five people to have climbed all of the world's highest peaks three teams have tried to climb k two in the winter before no one has been successful. for more than six of those who survived those will be though. they hope. to stay so long. as. the team expects to establish a base camp and early january charlotte bellus al-jazeera. you're watching al-jazeera hub's the whole robert these are all top stories antigovernment protesters in iran fault with police for

a third day on saturday despite warnings from authorities that they'd be breaking the law to protesters were killed in the city of the road on saturday night the iranian government is blaming foreign agents for the deaths saying security forces didn't fire into the crowd. dramatic video has emerged from syria showing children being rescued from rebel held parts of damascus. following government air strikes these pictures of a child being taken from the rubble are said to be probably damascus suburb of harassed or in eastern guta at least thirteen people including five children are believed to have been killed in the bombardment aid agencies say this siege by government forces in eastern guta has caused a humanitarian emergency. more than thirty rebel groups based in northern syria are joining forces under the single banner of the syrian national army the new unified opposition includes all factions of the rebel free syrian army which is supported by turkey there's increased security in ages cities across the world ahead of new

year's eve celebrations parties and some public squares have been canceled in the turkish city of istanbul it's one year since a gunman stormed a popular nightclub during a new year's eve party killing thirty nine people in kenya a head on crash between a bus and a lorry has killed at least thirty people other passengers who were trapped in the wreckage are critically injured in hospital a government spokesperson did the rift valley region says the bus was on the wrong side of the road as it sped down a hill investigators are at the scene. the greek government is seeking to reverse a decision to grant asylum to one of eight turkish soldiers who fled to greece during last year's failed coup so today's ruling by a greek asylum tribunal and get turkey which has repeatedly called for the soldiers extradition the greek supreme court has argued the soldiers would receive a fair trial at home the asylum appeals authorities still considering the cases of

another seven soldiers those were the headlines and back with more news in thirty minutes to stay with us here on al-jazeera. the offense being a journalist the crime practicing journalism. must go to same detained for three hundred sixty five days without charge. journalism is not a crime mamata sane is not a criminal. free mahmoud hussein. you. were. to say two thousand and seventeen has been an important year for new.