it between the rich and the poor needs a very big guy and in the. change i am getting i am. us military reinforcements arrived in baghdad after the embassy compound is besieged by angry crowds. i am. i'm home i had seen and this is al jazeera live from doha also coming up. more people confirmed dead as bushfires rage across to a straightly in states at least 200 foreigners and i burning. protests on the streets of hong kong frustration over china's political influence

over the territory shows no sign of dimming. i am was another hour and another city welcomes in 2020 new yorkers here to celebrate the new year in times square. i am. the u.s. marine reinforcements into its iraqi embassy after supporters and members of iranian backed popular mobilization forces broken see the components. of this video shows u.s. army helicopters releasing flares over the embassy the pentagon says it's deploying $750.00 soldiers to the middle east in response to the protests president donald trump is blaming teheran but says iran denies any parts innocent soul there's

widespread anger over u.s. airstrikes in iraq and syria targeting the hezbollah brigades well small awful scene reports from baghdad. oh angry and determined they marched across the river tigris through unmanned checkpoints into the heart of the fortified green zone thousands of members of the iranian backed popular mobilization forces and their supporters surrounded the compound of the u.s. embassy to deliver a stern warning notice honor. this is a message to trump and to the american embassy and consulate in baghdad. watch out you have touched our soldiers and our brothers they said fires at the outer gates as they tried to get inside the embassy grounds the situation appears to be escalating now with hundreds perhaps thousands of members of the popular mobilization for setting the leads to the close of the u.s. embassy there rolling stones there burning ceased the trying to climb the wall to

reach the u.s. embassy compound and they're chanting anti-american slogans they're demanding the waves roll off american troops from iraq. the action is in response to u.s. airstrikes that killed dozens of fighters from the hezbollah brigades which form part of the popular mobilization of forces it all began as a funeral procession to honor those killed crowds pay their respects as the bodies passed by and vowed to avenge their deaths in the hall there are those of honor that although this character the act was carried out by the u.s. and israel they will pay a high price we will take a strong stand and we will not forget the blood of the martyrs as long as there's breath inside of us we will tell them that we are here on the streets and we are here to stay and there will be an aggressive response to their bases are not safe. top pm have their support of this march including hard money the leader of the

biggest bloc in parliament and there is a bullet an insurgency after the u.s. led invasion in 2003 they pledged to use both military and political means to expel u.s. troops that are part of the. this embassy has proved its conspires against iraq this is the embassy where they spy on iraq and where they lead to destruction of iraq this is where the saboteurs are supported the u.s. embassy is located in the heavily fortified green zone for months iraqi security forces have guarded it against anti-government protesters but this time they appear to have orders to stand down the prime minister has condemned the attack on the embassy but the fact that these crowds have been allowed to reach the embassy gates appears to signal the government's implicit endorsement of the message they're trying to send iran has strong relations not only with the security groups that we talk about that we've been talking about but also with the political groups with the institutions with state and state actors inside iraq and across the political

spectrum from. and kurdish groups. through loudspeakers crowds in tahrir square who've camped out for months to protest against the government and the iranian influence renounced any connection to the group that entered the green zone this attack on the u.s. embassy could turn into a diplomatic crisis many fear it could be the beginning of an escalating proxy war between the u.s. and iran on iraqi soil. well i've know to some one of 14 who joins me from baghdad a small a very tense state yesterday how are things looking in the iraqi capital the sun. well last night of the u.s. trained counterterrorism forces deployed to the gates of the u.s. embassy and i spoke to one of the security officials who was there last night and it appeared to be a confusing situation whereby the counterterrorism forces were trying to basically

clear these large groups of p.m.s. fighters who remained at the gates of the u.s. embassy but according to that official the orders they were receiving were not very clear it was not clear whether they were supposed to use any force or whether they were supposed to negotiate the withdrawal of these p.m.s. fighters now as of this morning it appears that a significant amount of p.m.s. members and supporters are still present at the u.s. embassy to have set up camp basically laying siege to the u.s. embassy and the guards inside the compound they are deploying tear gas to try to disperse these crowds. and some more this all happens at a time of consider a lot people in iraq itself is there any indication that this stage how the winds are iraqi population are viewing these protests from the popular mobilization forces. well as i touched on in the reported earlier this crowd

that entered the green zone and that laid siege to the u.s. embassy is not seen as representative of the iraqi population the protesters who have been camping out in tahrir square for 3 months now to basically protest the government and also against foreign influence they basically renounce any link to these groups and they don't support it because of course what they have been demanding is and foreign influence especially iranian influence in iraq and yesterday's act is a proof of just how strong this influence is now of course there's also a question how iraq is viewed the u.s. strikes on p.m.s. position because that also is foreign influence that basically inviolate the sovereignty of the country in general people just don't want any kind of foreign intervention by iran or the u.s. in the country ok some of the 14 lifers same baghdad thank you very much indeed

well with all the confusion surrounding the positions old iran and the u.s. the u.s. president has weighed in on his way to see new year's eve celebrations still some spoke about the situation and says he doesn't want to go to war with iran. well i think it's been anchored well the breach came in we had some great warriors coming. do a fantastic job but they were there instantaneously soon as we heard. use the word immediately they came a mediately. it's in great shape as you know this will not be a bengazi also want to thank the iraqi government they really stepped up i spoke to the prime minister today i thanked him but they stepped up heard that i want to have peace and i like peace. iran should want peace more than anybody. bushfires raging across to a strange states are growing along with the toll on homes and lives lightning some

have more far as over to say nights with more than 2 hundreds still burning charlotte ballasts has this reports. choking on smoke with only a hose to protect to. face to stray. hate on with a father sure they fought for 5 hours saving their house cars and garden in rural victoria. the professionals are struggling to. pay for your thousands of firefighters are battling to contain the wildfires scorching the states of victoria and new south wales an area home to more than 13000000 people was once the front hit the wind just picked up the name has just took off and that was the everything but they just went wolf is going to come one day and the conditions they are draw everywhere you know good luck. international help

is arriving by this weekend the u.s. will have seems nearly 100 firefighters canada has sent more than 60 the strain military is using planes and helicopters to douse flames preparing for possible back to ations. on the ground police are trying to keep people out of fire zones areas that rowan change suddenly with the wind. west of us. honest. and it's actually cut through one of the subways comes for on a short. thousands of residents along the east coast have been pushed to the water's edge if not the fires along the beach out. in sydney. the mayor was determined to the show must go on for the new year the spectacle was granted an exemption to a statewide fireworks band despite

a petition signed by nearly 300000 people calling for them to be cancelled. it is the most beautiful place in the world to celebrate and that's why people say it's on they want to come to us try to do that. on the international calendar it is a really important the economy. the cost of this bushfire crisis is yet to be quantified more than 1000 homes and thousands of hectares of farmland destroyed that animals the university of sydney estimating nearly half a 1000000000 have been killed we are absolutely stretched right across new south wales we've got falls booming from the queensland border although i down to the victorian border across the great dividing right. and the heat of summer has yet to arrive ballasts. david joins us now live from said. pretty grim men. seen in the street are people feeling about the situation at the start of this new year. yeah

hallowed very green david and my same so i guess from so many people that i've spoken to over the recent months because the spy season began in october and in new south wales alone we've lost 15 lives so that's a significant loss of life people are kind of saying that they feel that this bushfire emergency in the smoke that has envelops this city is somewhat of the new normal people have kind of got used to reading it in a non healthy way smoke is often the 1st thing you smell in the morning in sydney even if you're home and windows a lot it's not uncommon to pass people on the street now wearing masks and that's not something that we've ever seen in sydney before i went for a ride on my bike the other day by the beach i was maybe 60 kilometers away from the nearest fire but i ended up with ash having rained down on my skin when petitions were circulating in the lead up to use

a fire where it's so many people signed them as we heard in that package around 300000 people because i think they really wanted local authorities to cancel the celebration almost as a show of support to their fellow australians who've lost lives property and livestock animals flora fauna and i think people also had the same so many told me they almost felt bad celebrating while so many people in australia were doing it tough there was definitely also renewed and vigorous social and political debate about the role of climate change in this fire emergency was it solely to blame me is that a reason behind the significance of the severity and the early start to this fire season so it really did feel like a very subdued christmas and new year particularly here in sydney and sad to say there is kind of a sense of foreboding almost daily because the sky is not blue like they usually are and the sun sets in the sun rises that deep. aren't people wondering if the sun

will ever look the same at the moment it looks like a very angry red ball of fire sadly there's no rain or any decent rain on the radar for much of a strain yet for the rest of summer the meteorologists are predicting hotter and drier conditions for australia which i think color is really weighing very heavily on people in tafe davey there live inside me thank you very much indeed. lots more still to come here on al-jazeera including north korea's leader is threatening a new strategic weapon in 2020 if the u.s. continues with what he calls gangster like demands on down here day or devils we meet the colombian youngsters risking their lives in one of the world's most dangerous 16 sports.

and are there some very unsettled weather still across more eastern sections of the mediterranean quite a bit account as well just streaming in from little to cross the tools the south across into europe and what we have has is some fog quite a lot of folk across central regions and here's some fog in london this is the richmond park in west london you can see the day ahead and also the line disliked is getting them a warning activity but a sunny quite a bit of cloud in the full cost now wednesday new year's day not about celsius and london it should be clear there should be so nice sunshine 7 in paris cooler in 08 and we have still got my system working its way not so much for the eastern med though into shadows but really pushing as you can see through turkey taking the rain and the snow with it to maybe just wanted to stay flurries into western areas of russia bull snow across the north as we head through thursday and very little change across much of that snow really beginning to accumulate it is mild thursday across the west the winds coming in from the west 11 degrees in london a quite

a cloudy day meanwhile northern africa those rain showers very slow decay really away from the coast of libya you can see here and also we could well just see want to be wednesday and thursday and he's coastal areas of egypt is also keeping things cooler but it should be dry and shipley with a high of 60. right .

this is al jazeera a quick reminder of the headlines for you know us as for marine reinforcements into its iraqi embassy after supposes and members of the iranian backed popular mobilisation forces broke into the compound the pentagon says it's a boeing 750 soldiers to the middle east in response to the embassy protests u.s. president donald trump has backtracked and says he doesn't want to go to war with iran is earlier threatens to retaliate against her on immediately after those protests and catastrophic bushfires are spreading across eastern astray 3 more

deaths something confirmed in the state of new south wales and one in victoria. and hong kong police proves a new year's day march and tens of thousands of people are expected to join now there get demanding greater autonomy from china and an inquiry into police brutality the anti-government demonstration started in june of 2019 in response to a now scrapped extradition bill we'll give you a good poem is there and she joins us now live to vegas a law arjan numbers of people already gathering how are things looking from where you are. what it looks like this is going to be a pretty large protest that this protest actually takes place every year it's an annual protest that's been going on for decades calling for greater freedom for universal suffrage and more democracy for all. but this year or 2020 it takes our

whole the sense of a gravity people have been pouring into victoria park which is just a couple of 100 meters behind me here because they want to be counted now what happens during these markets is that the police are the people from the. hello dear do you still i have is having a bit of trouble getting a hold of. the movements unfortunately large numbers of people though as you can see in hong kong we're going to keep across those protests for you check back in with him in hong kong later in the days to to keep it here on i'll just 0 for more on that march. we're seeing in asia and north korean leader kim jong. il soon launch a new strategic weapon denuclearize asian talks between pyongyang and washington

stalled in october so korean media is reporting that in his annual address to the party kim said the u.s. would suffer helplessly if it continued to delay talks he accused the white house of making gangster like demands but he has left the door open for dialogue and said the scope of any testing would depend on the answered she'd of the united states what mcbride's has been following developments from seoul. statements obviously have been long awaited here we knew that there was this end of year deadline for the u.s. to come up with concessions to get things moving again obviously that has passed and so. everyone has been expecting to see what exactly will be the new path that north korea chooses to take so they had by their statements at this special session of the workers party of career which had been carried extensively this new year's day morning on north korean t.v. kim jong un has basically said that this moratorium on longer range weapons testing

and possibly even nuclear testing has come to an end and we will see what happens the north korean leader did say that just the scope and the depth of this testing of what it gets of the development of its. arsenal depends upon the attitude of the u.s. so it does seem to be leaving open just very slightly although you do get a sense that this is now a final warning from north korea of the possibility that there could be some kind of dialogue at some point in the future north korea enters 2020 still believing that it has some leverage in this election year over donald trump but when you look at these statements although it isn't quite the same kind of belligerence of the past when you compare these statements with the heady days of the single pour summit meeting between donald trump and kim jong un which was all very historic

some 18 months ago and the signing of a piece of paper is flimsy as it was talking about denuclearization of the whole korean peninsula it does seem to leave all that now in tatters. yes president obama says he remains positive. gates signed the contract to design an agreement talking about denuclearization and that we signed number one since denuclearization that was done in singapore and i think he's a man of his word so we're going to find out what young should bone as a research fellow it university's institute for north korean studies he says the window of opportunity for a diplomatic resolution is. what does it mean by a new strategic weapon. there could be a new types of nuclear warhead into called policy missiles but we cannot rule out the possibility that north korea may be tempted to trust for dangerous nuclear

materials or missiles to some possible buyers in other areas areas of the world they will be a critic critically damaging to the nonproliferation regime of the internet international society on like the previous supplier gnomes which are used together about $200.00 party members at this time almost $1000.00 gathered in coming out to attend the meeting which did not last one or 2 days but this time for days so basically those supreme leader kim jong un wanted to approach the entire population personally to deliver the message that north korea easy indeedy know very very urgent crisis situation there is a small window of opportunity for diplomacy and dialogue between washington and pyongyang to have a much has for success i'm talking about the 1st couple of months of the new year

2020 prior to the being of the regular annual massive military exercises conducted by the u.s. forces in south korea and south korean military. libya's foreign minister has written see the united nations security council calling for the prosecution all warlords highly focused or the u.n. recognize government says have to its forces are guilty of war crimes hundreds of civilians have been killed or injured since have started his campaign to seize tripoli in april kristen salumi the u.n. headquarters the international criminal court already has an ongoing active investigation into libya with outstanding warrants for 3 people accused of war crimes that include murder and torture and one of those accused is actually an officer in general hostile his army a man by the name of mahmoud all were folly the chief prosecutor for the i.c.c.

fatou bensouda has warned general that she's watching his assault on tripoli and that she will not hesitate to issue further warrants in her investigation but she also noted in her remarks to the security council here last month that huffed are has promoted this man to a higher rank twice since the i.c.c. 1st began calling on him to hand him over so clearly it does not take too seriously what the i.c.c. is doing in realistically if she were to issue a warrant for his arrest then souter would need the support of member states to execute it here at the security council officially the security council does recognize libya's government of national accord as the legitimate authority there but realistically all of the states involved here have some stake in what's happening in libya privately western diplomats have expressed concern that russian

militias have been showing up in half stars territory. and given that the primary objective of the security council right now is to bring all of the parties back to the negotiating table to find a political solution given recent. and berlin more or less fell apart it's possible that an arrest warrant might be seen as a stick to motivate half tar but it's also barry likely that any of the action against him would take a backseat to political concerns. that's images in colombia or modifying their traditional bikes to get a bigger through from recent and state highways is the country's more extreme version of gravity biking a sports invented in the u.s. many youngsters say it helps them forget the troubles in their neighborhoods but some say they're risking their lives and the central to see reports from. as night falls and maybe even a group of teenagers ride their modified bikes down these vertiginous roads they

crouch to increase speed passing trucks in cars at up to 100 kilometers an hour. called gravity bikes they're columbia's more extreme version of an already dangerous sport invented in the united states and for many youngsters from poor crime ridden neighborhoods on the hills around the city it has become a deadly pastime 17 year old model and when your tone is one of them all eyes open i don't know you're always thinking about the risks people crashing getting killed in the serious accidents we all suffer i know i need to think and understand i can kill myself but we keep doing it because it's our passion. to go faster to bikes or rebuilt often from scratch riders personalize them and attach weights to the frame to make them heavier pedals and chains are removed to reduce friction. to get to the top of the hills riders latch onto passing trucks at times using homemade hooks

on a line. marlin has survived 3 close brushes with death and proudly shows his scars his friend tattooed on his belly the name of a cousin who died in a gravity bike accident in. the town of on the outskirts of maybe even as ban the practice out right. free of marland's riding companions this year alone and serious accidents have been farming so much so that this fall where most of them said they had started safety campaigns and also donated helmets that nobody really seems to be using. this school psychologist says most of the kids come from broken homes and some fall into drug abuse their bikes becoming a way of demonstrating their value in courage you know i know but i guess again if you ask them. they'll say they do it for the adrenaline the desire to experiment but the truth is they are often dealing with depression parental absence so becomes

a self destructive way of excusing from their reality. no night nobody here likes to crash the fall nor ruin the bike that was built with so much sacrifice and time but it's our lifestyle and we don't have any other safer place to do it. understands he needs to take more precautions but says he won't be dissuaded by listening. well most of the world is already in c. the new decade is this is how the 2020 as been ushered in so far was up. on new zealand as one of the 1st countries to celebrate but a far worse display from the sky tower in auckland shanghai was free to see a unit expects a cold more than 2000 rooms cicle from the bites of the on the river forming patterns in the night sky. now this was the scene of one of the most famous streets

in the world the show isn't easy and it's something tale for the top scene bring in the new year and brazil began the year with the biggest party in latin america around between a 1000000 people gathered on rio de janeiro's famous copacabana beach. up to new york the traditional ball drop was held in times square this year's theme is climate change the static it's the teachers and students studying global warming they will advance it to stop the campaign. this is al jazeera these are the headlines this hour the united states is for new units of marines into its iraqi embassy after supporters of the iranian backed popular mobilization forces broke in see the compounds the pentagon says it's also deploying 750 soldiers to the middle east in response u.s.

president donald trump or says he doesn't want to go to war with iran it earlier threatened to retaliate against her her own immediately after those protests book aides. well i think it's been handled very well the breed came in we had 7 the great warriors come in and do a fantastic job but they were there instantaneously since we. used the word immediately they came immediately. in great shape as you know this will not be a big guys i also want to thank the iraqi government really stepped up i spoke to the prime minister today i thanked him but they stepped up and that's what i have finished i like being. a raja what fish more than anybody. well and that was yes president stunnel trump speaking while he was on his way new year's eve celebrations to other news now catastrophic bushfires are spreading

across eastern australia 3 more deaths have been confirmed in the states over the south wales and one in victoria lightning strikes overnight and she's say started a number of the fires in victoria with more than 200 now burning that. police serve approved a new year's day march and tens of thousands of people are expected to join their demanding greater autonomy from china and an inquiry in supplying spain tallahassee gansa government demonstrations started in june in response to a nice scrapped extradition bill. and north korean leader kim jong un has said he'll soon launch a new strategic weapon denuclearization talks seem pyongyang and washington stalled in a chopper as you updates the news continues here on al-jazeera after inside story. what kind of care does that provide a listener willing to pick up the cost we bring you the stories and developments

that are rapidly changing the world we live in so is it possible for trump is actually a mature way to conduct counting the cost on al-jazeera. year of public anger millions around the globe took to the streets in 2019 to vent their anger against government wants behind this global dissatisfaction and is this action making any difference this is inside story. hello welcome to the show i'm sam is a than the year 2019 will be remembered for the wave of protests that swept the world with millions of people protesting to demand change often though.