al-jazeera. where every. u.s. military reinforcements arrive in baghdad after the embassy compound is besieged by angry crowds. i'm home he's in and this is al jazeera life until how also coming up process on the streets of hong kong tens of thousands marched the new year venting their frustration over china's political influence. no. more people confirmed dead as bush far as rage across to

a strain states at least 200 foreigners and i burning. i am i am for you yorkers celebrate the year in and. the u.s. has flown 100 marines into its iraqi embassy after supporters of the a rainy and backed popular mobilization forces broken see the compounds. this video shows u.s. army helicopters releasing flares over the embassy president donald trump is blaming to her on for the protests denied speaking involved there's widespread anger over u.s. airstrikes in iraq and syria targeting the hezbollah brigades some wonderful scene reports from baghdad. oh that's right 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 set 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 their 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 and the other on the list although not all the discourage the act was carried out by the us 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 saying . top pm of their support of this march including how many the leader of the biggest bloc in parliament and there is. 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 dawn. 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 see want a full teen al-jazeera baghdad. well on his way to new year's eve celebrations the u.s. president spoke about the situation he says he doesn't want to go to war with iran . well i think it's been handled very well the breach came in we had some great warriors come in and do a fantastic job and they were there instantaneously as soon as we heard. i used the word immediately they came immediately and it's in great shape as you know this will not be a benghazi i 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 very nice i want to

have peace and i like peace and iran should want peace more than everybody. well despite ongoing tensions in iraq between the u.s. and iran backed group celebrations took place so washer in the new year far works for set off into their square in central baghdad that's been the center of anti government protests that began in 02 where iraqi human rights commission says at least 485 people have been killed. tens of thousands of people in hong kong are taking part in a new year's day march police have approved the latest rally and cold for its to remain peaceful demonstrations to monza include greater autonomy from china and an inquiry into police brutality well the process started spike in june in response to a no scraps extradition bill to the pollen is there and she joins us live via huge numbers of people on the streets over phone call there are things looking where you

are. that's right hello just purely on the optics it seems like this is good to be one of the biggest protests so far in those 7 months of protests this is the 1st of the year now this january of protests isn't actually an pro-democracy and annual protest that is held there usually large numbers but this year old be still surpass recent years what we're seeing behind me are people walking towards the destination the start of the march is about a couple of kilometers of behind me there at a park but also people seeing people walk towards the park because they want to be counted in those protests what the government usually does is just count people who are leaving the venue rather than the people who join the march so they're sending a very strong message saying that they want to make sure that the government hears their voice and starts getting ready for some kind of dialogue the concessions the people here on the march are asking for a long way you said it's more universal suffrage more democracy china less

interference from china but also an end an investigation into what they're saying successive force used by the police over the past 7 months they're also calling for police not to get a pay rise that they're due this year saying that the police need to be investigated in what they're calling alleged police brutality so who's taking part in these protests well you're seeing people from all walks of life here young and old families. even young children are not the people you normally see during those spontaneous protests that have been taking place almost daily over the past 7 months including last night where we saw some violent clashes as protesters clashed with riot police yet again we're also seeing trade unions this time we're seeing industries organize themselves so they can recruit people people who are want to be part of the protest but don't want to be punished by their companies which has been happening over the past few months so it seems like there's a much more organized force we're seeing on the streets today and along with that

we're seeing this there are guys are saying that 2020 is the year of resistance once again sending a message that 2024 hong kong looks set to be a nother your protest certainly will have had more than 6 months of protest niger via how much longer do the protesters think they can sustain this pressure. well you know it's surprising how that because when it 1st started many people thought that you know it's a flash in the pan a loss through the summer when children when the students who have been largely pushing this movement of the young people go back to school or go back to their jobs the protests have fizzled but it hasn't in fact it's it gained intensity for a while the violence increased and even with that we saw more public support for the protesters because they saw the government not listening to what their what they want largely ignoring them a hand they also saw the police pushing back or pushing doubt against protesters

there have been 6000 arrests since then thousands of rounds of tear gas fired so you know it's hard to tell how long they can sustain it but if we go by the energy what we're seeing today it looks like this this will continue until the government actually opened some kind of dialogue the chief executive meanwhile has said that she does recognize it's been a year of anguish for hong kong it's been a hard year and that she will try to listen to them humbly whether that makes any difference or not or whether they follow through on that promise you know so far we haven't seen them make any moves to appease the protesters so until then it seems like these protests will continue hala hard to tell how long they can sustain this but you know the energy we're seeing seems like it is sustainable ok difficult pile in there live for us in hong kong thank you. spreading across 2 strains states along with the tall lives and homes fighting has started more blazes and more than 200 farmers are burning charlotte dallas has this reports.

choking on smoke with only a hose to protect to. face destroyed. head on with a father sure they fought for 5 hours saving their house cars and garden in rural victoria. the professionals a 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 move to 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. and the conditions they'll draw everywhere you know one. international help is arriving by this weekend the u.s. will have same 100 firefighters canada has sent more than 60 restrain the military

is using planes and helicopters to douse flames or preparing for possible war back you 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. and it's just. troy and it's actually cut through one of those problems 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. here the spectacle was granted an exemption to a statewide fireworks ban despite a petition signed by nearly 300000 people calling for them to be canceled. it is

the most beautiful place in the world. it is. the cost of this crisis is yet to be quantified more than $1000.00 homes and thousands of farmland destroyed. 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 all right down to the victorian border across the great devolving right. and the heat of summer has you to arrive. in sydney she says the farmers are starting to feel like the new normal. my seem so i guess from so many people that i've spoken to over the recent months because this fire season began to not talk about any new south wales aligned with last 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 enveloped the city is somewhat of the new normal people have kind of got used to having it in unhealthy by smoke is often the 1st thing you smell in the morning in sydney even if your home and window is a lot it is 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 the usaf by where it's so many people saw it signed the major 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 mazzone many people in australia were doing it tough. still to come on al-jazeera north korea's leader is threatening a new strategic weapon in 2020 if the u.s. continues with what he calls gangster like the months come get defiance in the face of more strikes france's president and there's new year's eve beach and the print come to the streets of paris. and a happy new year to you it is a quiet start to the new year across much of year of high pressure in charge of keeping things last the settled across the centuries it does mean some early morning mist and folk for some having said that that's what the southeast we've got

some lively weather still in place so just around race into turkey and that will continue to sink its way up the south was further north around i rarely of high pressure we're bringing quite a brisk wind take me into scandinavia some wintry flowers possible see here as well a not too much wind across much of continental europe danceable just southeast and conant rain and snow cold enough there in anchorage just 5 degrees celsius moscow still getting about freezing in nazi but i would tools the western side if you have . for london not a bad day to start the new year actually little further south temperatures around 11 degrees celsius there for madrid over the next couple days may well touch in the 11 there for london. some showers along the spoils of trying to start to push their way. into scotland in the showers continuing to just around that eastern side of the mediterranean one of 2 of those showers maybe a brush across the fog north africa pushing over towards the bands.

on the last time you were out on the streets in texas. whether on line you feel the weight of the system going to walk through each and every leg with more layers further and further into the gym or if you join us on saying retention has to start from day one whether again you and attention or your participants this is a dialogue everyone has a voice ok there are 36 o'clock o'clock all right it will be varying accounts but i want to give people the reason for joining the global conversation on out is iraq.

this is al-jazeera a quick reminder of the headlines this are supporters and members of iranian backed popular mobilization forces have set fire outside the wall of the u.s. embassy compound in iraq once again security personnel insights have retaliated with its here gas. meanwhile tens of thousands of people in hong kong are taking part in a new year's day march their demands and greater autonomy from china and an inquiry into police brutality police have called for the rally to remain peaceful. and catastrophic bushfires are spreading across eastern australia 3 more deaths have been confirmed in the states of new south wales and another fatality in victoria. and south korean leader kim jong un has said he'll soon launch a new strategic weapon south korean media reports kim said in an annual address to his party the u.s. would suffer helplessly if it continued suitably nuclearization talks

mcbride reports the presidents of the united states remains positive. it may be new year but on the korean peninsula there is a return to some of the old villager rinse of the past north korean leader kim jong un told a special meeting of the ruling workers' party he would continue developing his nuclear arsenal. as pyongyang welcomed in 2020 it marked the expiration of the deadline kim had set for the u.s. to come up with concessions installed you clear eyes ation tool. so far kim has stopped short of resuming tests with long range ballistic missiles on nuclear weapons knowing that would risk losing what little chance he has of getting concessions from the u.s. president because donald trump has been probably the most supporter.

for negotiations between north korea and the united states to actually continue so moving his faith there would be great risk for mr king. this hardening of north korea's position leaves the vague commitments by the 2 leaders to denuclearize ation now in tatters it also marks the end for now of south korea's efforts to mediate between the 2 powers seoul welcomed in the new year back in the familiar position of facing an increasingly belligerence northern neighbor to come i think we can make a good relationship with north korea and i hope we can have a good discussion with trump to improve things attending a new year's eve party at his mar-a lago resort president trump remained optimistic we have to do what we have to do but he did sign a contract to china agreement talking about denuclearization that we signed number

one chan denuclearization kim jong un also spent much of his speech addressing the need to develop his country's economy with an emphasis on self-reliance it seems to be accepted that crippling economic sanctions will stay in place and may even be further tightened as a punishment for any renewed testing. but the past 2 years of summit diplomacy not only with the u.s. but also north korea's neighbors leaves the country far less isolated than it was before and it's continuing weapons development means it goes into 2020 with more advanced missile technologies and an expanded nuclear program rob mcbride al jazeera sole. possessors a camping outside mexico's embassy in the bolivian city all the power there supporting bolivia's interim government after it expelled the mexican ambassador the protesters accuse the mexican embassy of sheltering allies of former president

ever morales that he ordered mexico's ambassador and spanish diplomats leave on cheese day. president's emanuel micro has called for calm across france in his new york address but he says he's pushing ahead with controversial pension reforms they've triggered protests and widespread destruction for almost a month lawyers teachers and even musicians have joined those strikes as the sash about the reports from paris. it was an unusual protest against the french government's planned pension reforms members of the paris opera orchestra played a concert to demonstrate against the proposals. we wanted to show that our job is to play music and it makes us all happy deaf we've been forced to strike for a month and cancel $45.00 performances for needy 4 weeks people including lawyers tejas health workers and even ballerinas have demonstrated against the government's plans fearing their pensions will be reduced and they'll be forced to work longer

transport workers strike has disrupted rail bus and airline services the french president has been under pressure to break his silence over the protests in his new speech to try to diffuse the crisis. make no mistake on this important subject that so close to french people hartson identity i hear their fears and anxieties i also hear many laws the manipulation must always right and calm doesn't mean backing down but respecting each other's differences my only compass is and will be the interests of our country macrame hope that his speech will end the protests but workers at this trade union meeting in paris said they wouldn't back down many of the workers damaged here have been on strike since the beginning of december and they say that the only thing they would persuade them to go back to work and their protest would be if the government was describe its pension reform plans they said

we started to strike and we plan to finish it because as long as the government doesn't restore to reform we'll continue to struggle you're not your own. ones this analyst says that macro has failed to convince some people that the reforms are necessary but core has not managed to isolate the strikers because. you know the pension system is everybody's problem and he hasn't been convincing enough i think the lack of trust in the politicians word in for also the moment is very deep and that's the main problem with my course so don't worry everything will be ok you know did they lose in this reform people don't trust him. mccraw has a record of pushing through controversial reforms but this one is proving particularly challenging the government says the changes would modernize the pension system make it fairer and save public money it will resume negotiations with trade union leaders next week but with neither side showing any sign of

backing down the talks are unlikely to be made us the tasha butler just 0 paris. can be as president says i'm a barrow has created a new political party that could allow him to run again after his term ends in january barrow has formally registered the national people's party naming himself as its leader members of his previous party have called for him to step down. now in angola court sours frozen the assets of africa's richest woman as part of a corruption investigation isabel dos santos is the daughter of the former president eduardo dos santos assets owned by her husband and say business associates have also been frozen and go and governments has accused them of course and state losses of around $1000000000.00 the center says the freeze is politically motivated. a teenager's in colombia are modifying their traditional bikes to get

a bigger thrill from racing down steep pile ways it's 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 a santorum p.f.c. has been. 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 is one of them all up and i don't know you're always thinking about the risks people crashing getting killed and 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 the bikes are 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. marlon 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. on the outskirts of me as a band the practice out right. 3 of marland's riding companions this year and serious accidents have been. so much so that this hole where most of them said

he 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 falling to drug abuse their bikes becoming a way of demonstrating their value in courage you know i know but i guess you get me 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 i listen and i'm. well we're going to welcome anchorage in alaska in suits when c 20 most of the world in fact is already in this new day this is how

the new year has been ushered in so far i. want new zealand of course was one of the fairy 1st countries to celebrate with a far worse display from the sky tower in auckland. and shanghai was treated to a didn't leak spectacle more than 2000 troops to call from the banks of the walking river forming spectacular patterns in the night sky. and this of course was the scene of one of the most famous streets in the world the shows it is a and it's arc de triomphe for little to bring in the new year. and

of course brazil began the new year with the biggest party in latin america right it's a 1000000 people gathered on rio de janeiro's a famous couple cabana beach. i i i and this of course the scene in new york where the traditional ball drop was held in times square this was the climate change study catered to teachers and students studying global warming they were invited to start the cape town. here with al jazeera these are the headlines supporters and members of iranian backed popular mobilization forces have set a fire outside the wall on. the u.s. embassy compounds in iraq for a 2nd day security personnel inside the embassy and far tear gas in response

or on his way to new year's eve celebrations the u.s. president doubled drops spoke about the situation he says he doesn't want to go to war with iran. well i think it's been an ogre while the brits came in we had some great warriors come in and do a fantastic job but they were there instantaneously as soon as we heard. you use the word immediately they came a mediately and it's in great shape as you know this will not be a benghazi 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 i like peace i am a raja what peace more than everybody. tens of thousands of people in hong kong are taking part in a new year's day march police and approve this latest rally and called for it to remain peaceful demonstrators demands include greater autonomy from china and an

inquiry into police brutality the protests started in june in response to a knife scraps extradition bill. catastrophic bushfires are spreading across eastern australia 3 more deaths have been confirmed in the states of new south wales and one fatality in victoria north korean leader kim jong un has said he'll soon launch a new strategic weapon. in talks between pyongyang and washington stolz back in october and an ongoing courts has frozen the assets of africa's richest woman as part of a corruption investigation isabel dos santos is the daughter of former president of the water the santos assets owned by her husband and a business associates have been frozen that's state's stay with us and al-jazeera the news continues after the stream. talked to al jazeera we were told to get to that between all the ration has this been addressed by turkey we listen what

these the proposal. for a couple on you know we meet with global newsmakers and talk about the stories that matter how does iraq. i found the ok on you in the street today a british actress playing an iconic american abolitionist while people saying hash tag not my how it. don't forget to tweet us and send us your comments on you tube during the live conversation but before we get started take a look at this. is not much time. you got to be leaving. that star. in the stars just the rest of. this.