time. around two zero. and three. a nuclear button is put on the desk in my office at all times. kim jong un threatens the u.s. but office talks with seoul.

sami's a than this is al-jazeera live from don hall so coming up a log just policy in israel's governing coalition calls for the antics ation of parts of the occupied west bank land the palestinians want for a future state. iran's president breaks his silence off the days of demonstrations saying people are free to protest and not to commit violence. while coming in the new year's spectacular fireworks around the world as people celebrate the arrival of two thousand and eighteen. well south korea is welcoming a new year message from north korea's leader those raised the possibility of reopening talks about reconciliation and reunification kim jong un said the path to dialogue is open and improving ties is an urgent issue can also said he'd only use

nuclear weapons if threatened that the launch is on his desk. we should actively create an atmosphere to move forward with the national reconciliation and reunification improving ties between the north and the south is an urgent issue that not only the north and south want what everyone else wants it's a grave matter to which the entire korean nation needs to put its efforts towards resolving contacts and dialogue between the north under south will expand exchanges on cooperation and we should dispel mutual misunderstanding and distrust and take responsibility and a role as the main agent for the unification. of france so he joins us now live from seoul so what kind of reaction are we had there. well we just heard from the presidential spokesman in south korea who says now in south korea welcomes a an offer of a meeting between north and south korea and we have to remember that communication

ties between the north and south were cut in february of two thousand and sixteen after north korea conducted its fourth nuclear test now it's also welcomed kim jong un's hint that north korea may send its athletes to participate in the two thousand and eighteen winter olympics and paralympics that are due to take place in pyongyang just eighty kilometers south of the border with north korea next month so south korean un says these are all very welcome gestures and they welcome talk any time between north and south korea in any form and anywhere particularly if they talk about restoring into a career relations as well as the as well as peace on the korean peninsula now but we have to ask ourselves what is kim jong hoping to gain from this and some analysts have said that he is perhaps hoping to drive a wedge between the u.s. and north korea and south korea because these two are traditional allies and now

and but south korea is now being led by a more liberal president compared to his previous pretty assesses promacta the previous south korean leader it is also possible that north korea is trying to buy more time as it tries to improve its nuclear capabilities all sort of hints that speech give us as well florence when it comes to the sort of nuclear weapons plan that the leader has for going forward. that's right now kim jong un's new year's day address has been closely watched ever since he started delivering them on two thousand and thirteen as to the sort of direction in which he might take the country particularly when it comes to north korea's nuclear ambitions now and he has said that he doesn't seek war but he has reiterated that claim that north korea is now a nuclear power now he's made this claim before in november when north korea tested its most advanced intercontinental ballistic missile and he said it again he's also

called for the mass production of nuclear warheads and deployment of such warheads and missiles now there was no specific mention of any tests or any specific or of any other specific goal and lives were really closely watching the speech as well to see whether kim jong un would mention an atmospheric nuclear tests a test that was hinted at by his foreign minister last september the weapons experts believe that north korea has the capability to strike anywhere on the u.s. mainland using an intercontinental ballistic missile but they don't yet believe that north korea has the technology to miniaturize a nuclear warhead and mounted on in the south that can we enter earth's atmosphere intact but to find out whether he really has the technology to do so he would have to conduct such a test there was no mention of that but there was a specific mention or a reiteration that north korea is now a nuclear weapon state and that america really should think twice about starting

a war with north korea that was the message that kim jong un wanted to pass when it comes to north korea's nuclear ambitions rights and so much flawlessly that. now iran's president is urging calm after four days of anti-government protests has the real honeys appeared on television saying people can demonstrate violence is unacceptable sunday's rallies were smaller than the previous night after the government blocked access to some social media sites peter shop has the latest. after four days of anti-government demonstrations it's the president's first public reaction trod carefully iranians have the right to protest but that can't lead to violence he said. it should be clear to everyone that we are people of freedom and according to the constitution and citizens' rights people are free to express their criticism and to protest however we need to pay attention to the manner of criticism and protest should be in such

a way that it will lead to be improvement of the people and the state. he was also quick to criticize president trump for his tweet about iran. this man who today in america wants to simplify people has forgotten that a few months ago he called the nation with. this video of protests posted on social media has been blocked by the iranian government the ban follows nationwide demonstrations since thursday government ministers said the video encourage more people to join the rallies. we all saw how they misuse cyberspace and promoted violence trained systematic riots toward weapons and explosives crafting simulated protesters to fight the police and encourage the burning of houses and stores these people are surely not part of our people iran's state television has reported that some social media sites and messaging apps have been blocked to maintain more termed peace and from the government warnings that iran's revolutionary guard corps

was prepared to deploy what was described as an iron fist if the demonstrations continued their commander said the protests have degenerated into p. . chanting political slogans burning public property. protests took place again on sunday but the extent of those is still unclear video posted from the city of durham on saturday night showed demonstrators dragging away one of those injured state television in terror and said two people were shot dead but denied that police or the army were involved. in the clash that took two lives no bullets were shot from police and security forces the people gathering was meant to end peacefully but the presence of the agitators unfortunately this happened and resulted in the deaths of two protesters. the protests will have rattled the government they weren't just limited to tehran but took place across the country

the only question now is whether they can gather momentum and how long the government is prepared to put up with this challenge to its authority peter sharp al jazeera. the largest party in israel's governing coalition has passed a resolution urging the party's leaders to push for israeli sovereignty over parts of the occupied west bank and palestinians want for a future state one hundred german june joins us now live from west jerusalem so what does the prime minister do next with this decision by his party. well so i mean this is really the key question here right now because there has been no statement issued from prime minister benjamin netanyahu at one point yesterday there were reports that he was going to issue a statement but that never happened i suppose what was most important about what occurred yesterday was the fact that binyamin netanyahu might have tried to block this vote but he did not he let it happen that being said though the fact that he's

been silent ever since the vote took place leads a lot of the analysts here to believe that this isn't really something that been jamin netanyahu wants to try to push through to the knesset right now there were also a lot of questions in the run up to this vote about if it was actually binding there were members of the likud central committee that were saying in the days leading up to this conference yesterday that this vote on this resolution was going to be binding for the likud party meaning that if it passed which it did that that would force prime minister netanyahu as well as other members of the crude to try to take this to the knesset to get it passed into law but at this point again according to many of the political analysts we've been speaking with nobody really believes that this is something that that mr netanyahu really wants to pursue vigorously at this point in fact most of the analysts that we spoke with were saying that in essence

this was a bit of political theater this was a way for the central committee to really rally the faithful to really get support from the hardliners in their party at a time when israel has come under so much criticism and there's been so much uncertainty. i wonder if there's a feeling that the recent u.s. support for israel's position on jerusalem is part of what's. i guess you'd call it the right wing of the right wing here. there most definitely is in fact several members of the likud central committee in the past week told local media outlets here that if the time wasn't now than when would the time be right meaning that in the weeks after u.s. president donald trump formally recognized drew slim as the capital of israel this was the right time for them to try to finally have this vote to really make a stand and show the members of their party that this is what they want for the

future of the kugan for the for the future of israel that all being said though this also becomes a delicate dance for prime minister netanyahu because of his relationship with the u.s. of course this vote is something that that is not going to fly with the international community is certainly not going to fly with all the countries that have condemned the u.s. is decision to formally recognized him as israel's capital if it were to go in its current form this resolution to the knesset that would bring even wider condemnation upon israel and it would certainly cause a political headache for mr netanyahu not just from other countries but also from the u.s. and really the conventional wisdom here is that mr netanyahu really doesn't want to expend this kind of capital and risk further souring relationship with other countries and maybe even risk souring the relationship a bit with the u.s. at this really precarious time sami. jim that thanks so much the palestinian authority's recalling its and void to the u.s.

following president trump's decision to recognize jerusalem as israel's capital the foreign ministry says his his return to discuss a future palestinian strategy it insists he will return to washington d.c. to resume his duties of to the holiday season. still ahead on al jazeera losing their faith in south korea churches and temples trying to find new ways to bring people back to religion plus. two thousand and eighteen is election year here in brazil and a country that struggling with its corrupt politicians and economic strife will be hoping that something is going to change. by this guy never. more off the coast of the italian riviera. hello and a happy new year to year is

a stormy start to the new year across western parts of europe cloud and rain piling in from the atlantic some very very wet weather coming into a good parts of france at the moment and that will continue to make its way further east with timmy's around. for london and paris some really heavy rain there across much of france as you can see some snow a little further eastward savor the alps and to the south of that pushing across northern off of italy just edging into the balkans will see some rather heavy downpours from time to time and bit of a wintry mix there into the northeast if that will make its way over towards western russia as you go on through chews day by the state still looking pretty wet across western parts of europe but incredibly well thirteen degrees celsius for london and paris and a very windy day when it is going to be very very wet indeed that rain stretches its way right down into the pyrenees the possibility of some snow over the higher ground here as well for good measure meanwhile it doesn't say about across much of north africa but some lively showers just pulling away from egypt to the moment

pushing towards the levant where families have plowed just easing us went to central parts of algeria but so much about the area just a fine and dry a cane northeast reason l.g.'s with a high of eighteen. the weather sponsored by qatar and he's. just looking real good. about shooting people are not able to shoot to burn themselves and their other countries have managed to solve this problem but you worry that this conflict could erupt into account right open war the city's general security sure the people who paid the price clearly their writeup been prejudiced setting the stage for serious debate up front at this time on al-jazeera.

they're watching al-jazeera time to recap our headlines now south korea has welcomed comments by north korea's leader who said the path of dialogue with seoul is open says he hopes will improve kim jong also says he's only used nuclear weapons threatens to launch button is on his desk. the largest party in israel's governing coalition has passed a resolution calling for the annexation of large parts of the occupied west bank the palestinians want for a future state. rainy and activists are calling for a fifth day of protests on monday thousands of rallied against poverty and corruption in the biggest demonstration since two thousand and nine present house the rouhani is warning the violence is unacceptable. pro-democracy

campaign is in hong kong have held their annual new year's day march to demand votes for all the cues that government leaders in china of eroding freedoms which were guaranteed when british colonial rule and twenty years ago correspondent difficult holland so some in hong kong think it's futile to continue the fight okayed spading and twenty fourth there was a. whole lot of hong kong part in the demonstrations expressed their views and hope that hong kong could become a democratic. part of china as was promised when the handover happened in one thousand nine hundred seventy two term from british colony back to mainland china but over the years there's been a systematic erosion of democracy here people's rights here many of the democracy activists say they're just seen as heightening tensions on the city and each time they push back the authorities have been pushing back harder and so yes people are

still passionate and wondering about their future people i spoke to said they're ok but they're worried about their children in the future but many people think it's absolutely a few trial now to be shouting and marching because it seems that every time they do express their views china pushes back harder against them. now south korea's clergy is going to have to start paying income tax this year religious leaders have been exempt for more than six decades some priests and monks have been paying income tax on a voluntary basis but others are resisting calling it interference in religious affairs the reforms are coming into force at a time when south koreans are moving away from religion with the church being seen as archaic and out of touch the tourney berkeley reports from saul you efforts are being made to reverse that trend. well it's no bigger than an office but this is the soul baptist church there are almost eighty thousand protestant churches in the

country many a small is this for the last fifty years christianity has been a big part of south korean life along with the united states south korea is the biggest exporter of missionaries in the world more than ten thousand south korean preachers are active in one hundred sixty countries for me and for my my own and for my pastor said in dream. to preserve the first in the planet's first then next one is a retard to communicate. in south korea though that message is being ignored christianity is the major faith followed by buddhism but young people are moving away from all religions the latest survey shows that fifty six percent of the population now describe themselves as non-religious. i think people need someone to rely on but i usually go to my family friends and girlfriend so i don't really feel the need to be religious. some believe church leaders and

priests live affluent lifestyles with no financial transparency and are out of touch with modern society. it seems south korean religions have failed to maintain the moral and ethical trust of the you know what happened many especially young people have decided to leave their religion that that's one of the main reasons for all denominations in south korea wrestling with the problem of how to stop the religious decline and how to adapt to a fast changing world without sacrificing their principles and values that's won't be easy but faiths are desperately searching for ways to modernize and become an important part of korean society once again. less archaic methods are being adopted including discussions and lectures in informal settings and technology is being introduced. phone apps have been developed so sermons and scriptures are easily accessible and more and more modern thinking churches are using live streaming

video of services. once more popular than christianity here has suffered the most only fifteen percent of the population actively follow the faith now temples are offering temple stays for people to enjoy good food and meditation in peaceful surroundings as a way of reintroducing them to the faith. they may be considered gimmicks and gadgets but it may be the last chance for faith to stop koreans from losing their religion completely tony berkeley al-jazeera soul. now protests demanding the resignation of the president of the democratic republic of congo have tons of violent at least seven people were killed and dozens arrested by security forces after catholics called for peaceful demonstrations shelob else explains. the in the democratic republic of congo catholic worshipers pray this sunday they pray with a political purpose they want president joseph kabila goal crackling was

asked was very good it was very nice nothing to do was trying to say i. was. there prayers were heard by security forces in kinshasa twenty seventeen ended as it began kabila second term as president ended in december twenty sixth saying he refused to step down and the un says congolese security forces killed forty people who protested the decision four hundred sixty were arrested. one year on they marched after mass twelve a lot of boys and priests were among the dozens arrested tear gas was fired into churches was the hospital is filled with protesters once more so goes the human that always says if your term is over give opportunities to others to run your son of the country you belong in the senate give others the

opportunity to lead maybe they'll do it better than you did. catholic bishops brokered peace talks between the opposition and government with the agreement that could be low would leave office at the end of twenty seven tame but he's still in power and now the catholics and the opposition are united you see me coming in shooting one because it is not just simply because we are coming we have come here in order to the way to pray for all we mission. opposition voices can be heard by now in the fractured country from all corners even in the troubled east a thriving battleground between rebels security forces say they use of force is justified one police officer was killed and this police station was torched by protesters it only got there so we are in need of peace i assure all of our government authorities that our city government is in peace people should sleep

calmly because we as professional police we are doing our job. the president kabila says he was staying in power until december twenty eighth because of delays in voter registration. meanwhile motions appear to be becoming increasingly impatient challenge dallas al-jazeera the zambian military has been deployed to help fight the spread of cholera which has killed more than forty people in the capital asako president go along go as ordered to fire a cleanup of the capital some markets will be closed down after investigations found contaminated food was helping spread the disease there have been more than fifteen hundred cases of cholera in the past three months and the next part of our series looking ahead to two thousand and eighteen we had to brazil now the country is emerging from a recession and struggling with the fallout from corruption scandals but there's hope that next year's elections could bring renewal john heilemann reports from

receive fame brazil. brazilian politics is in the doldrums forty percent of the congress are under investigation for corruption the president's ratings are in single digits and his reforms a stock but this year brings elections and the promise of change. i think to many of brazil's fullmoon feast that means hope for the return of former president luis inacio lula providing he can be corruption charges his leftist government was known for helping the working class is visible supply media for us with lower income the best president with. he did more for us he offered us social programs like most of our media improvement in the region for the schools for the children and peace. in more affluent south paolo many echoed that view of months ago they see both lula disclosed his chum and judge i had balsa not to

a right winger who's pro-gun an anti gay is dangerous populists. but imo it was that the biggest concern is the polarization these days i work in the financial market and all that really a fact shares in commodities prices and we're worried because so far there is no other candidate that could challenge those two. that worry has reached professor cram of the sousa as he walks the corridors of power in the brazilian congress he sees a stagnant political scene so we need hill personally offhand then about all of these corruption and about the fact that all of these called all of these speeches up all talk a and you kind of society ideal kind of brazil one you kind of perspective it it all feels that ok deadline this is only the third decade of democracy in brazil after a military dictatorship and people say that in the early is election night it was like

a huge party but corruption and mismanagement of really ground that down and now. many here the country's political dinosaurs have taken over that party for themselves. it was the will footage is trolling to get fresh talent vote he said opera program which public policy experts who train would be congressman from all walks of life it's paid for by own true producers crowdfunding the only rule though career politician of the political system is very entrenched so our plan is through this program is to help to challenge the status quo and break this vicious cycle of decline in brazilian politics. that will be tough the candidates from still have to run with this stablish parties in brazil the pendants are allowed but if a discredited political class is to change diski it could at least be the stone john home and. now the world is ringing in two thousand and eighteen with

spectacular fireworks displays across the globe the u.n. secretary general antonio of a tad as use the occasion to urge world leaders to hail division amongst people christian salome takes a look at some of the most colorful celebrations. two thousand and eighteen got off to a colorful start down under in new zealand and australia there are a rainbow of fireworks lit up the sydney harbor bridge in celebration of that country's legalization of gay marriage. in tokyo the color was white japanese revelers released helium balloons each one containing a wish or a prayer for the new year. they were looking ahead to the two thousand and eighteen winter olympic games in south korea and hoping for peace with their neighbors to the north where ballistic missile tests have aroused international fears of

a fireworks display of another kind it's one of many international conflicts the united nations secretary general called on world leaders to solve. i mean lurks a red alert for our world's conflicts if the point a new they have emerged global in science 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 fit for all asians 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. there were a few signs of conflict on this holiday in the middle east just a spectacular laser light show in dubai. and no obvious divisions in europe for hundreds of thousands of people came

together to party from london to rio de janeiro with its party on the copacabana beach. or mexico city with its fireworks. i and no one knows how to celebrate new year's like new york new york the revelers braved bone chilling cold terrorist threats and a blizzard of confetti to ring in two thousand and thirteen sharing one thing that is universal this holiday the hope of even better days to come kristen so many al-jazeera video. let's take you through some of the headlines here now the syria now south korea is welcoming a new year message from north korea's leader those raised the possibility of reopening talks kim jong un said the path to dialogue is open and improving ties is

an urgent issue. we should actively create an atmosphere to move forward with the national reconciliation and reunification improving ties between the north and the south is an urgent issue that not only the north and south want what everyone else wants it's a grave matter to which the entire korean nation needs to put its efforts towards resolving contacts and dialogue between the north under south will expand exchanges on cooperation and we should dispel mutual misunderstanding and distrust and take responsibility and our role as the main agent for the unification of the iranian activists are calling for a fifth day of protests on monday thousands of rally their gates poverty and corruption and the biggest demonstration since two thousand and nine president hassan rouhani is warning the violence is unacceptable. the largest party in israel's governing coalition has passed a resolution calling for the attic sation of large parts of the occupied west bank

land palestinians want for a future state the prime minister isn't bound to follow the vote by his in the khud party. protests demanding the resignation of the president of the democratic republic of congo have turned violent at least seven people were killed and dozens arrested by security forces after catholics called for peaceful demonstrations they want joseph kabila to hold new elections. pro-democracy campaigners in hong kong are holding their annual march to demand votes for all cues the government leaders in china of eroding freedoms which were guaranteed when british colonial rule ended twenty years ago several politicians in favor of a more open system recently disqualified from positions in the legislature. and the world is ringing in two thousand and eighteen with spectacular fireworks

displays mexico city became the latest one to welcome in the new year. it's out front next stay with us. we understand the differences. and the similarities of cultures across the world so no matter how you take it al-jazeera will bring you the news and current events that matter to. al-jazeera. has been a year of control for c.n.n. crises of breaking rules and telling lies so how do you cover how do you hold to account a president as unique as donald trump and from special. promoting

us near nazis retreating british new fascists peddling.