policing pre-crime on al-jazeera i hope. iranian banks groups take aim at the american embassy in baghdad for a 2nd day angry about recent u.s. air strikes. you as. hello there i'm hala my head's in and this is al jazeera we're live from doha also coming up was pro-democracy protesters in hong kong ring in the new year in defiance promising to keep up their demands the. scenes of widespread destruction in a stray or

a firefighter struggling to contain dozens of bushfires in the weather is not helping. this terrible or. north korea's leader is threatening a new weapon in 2020 if the u.s. continues with what he calls gangster like the mounds. but for supporters son members of the uranium backed popular mobilization forces have been told to withdraw from the u.s. embassy compound in iraq's capital by their leaders they throw rocks and set fires side the buildings security personnel inside have responded by firing tear gas where u.s. president stonewalled trump blames iran for those protests but teheran has denied any. ment's has been anger over the recent u.s.

airstrikes in iraq and syria targeting the brigades well the u.s. says deployed marine reinforcements to secure its embassy in baghdad some wonderful scene has the latest from baghdad. oh say 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 right out of their district this is the revenge of the popular mobilization forces this is just the beginning what comes after this will be much stronger i heard 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 for throwing 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 about to avenge their deaths in the hall there are those although not all the time of the close by this cowardly 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 them their bases are nazi . top pm have leaders supported this march including hard marry 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 dharma look at 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 by 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 u.s. and 100 marines to reinforce security and u.s. trained iraqi forces deployed near the embassy compound the prime minister has condemned the attack and called on people to withdraw but they ignored his orders laying siege to the embassy overnight and raising questions about who's actually in charge 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 institutions with 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 also be the beginning of an escalating proxy war between the u.s. and iran on iraqi soil simona fulton al jazeera but that. well let's get the latest live from a full team who is in baghdad for us. we have just been hearing that those people gathered outside the u.s. embassy have been ordered to withdraw what more information do you have at this

point. well that is correct our contact on the ground who works for the popular mobilization forces said that the leadership issued an order for those crowds to withdraw now 5 it didn't look like that when i was there just 30 minutes ago there were still supplies arriving mattresses cooking utensils for the crowds that had camped out overnight as they laid siege to the u.s. embassy so it looked like they were preparing to dig in their heels and to stay for a long time one of the people i spoke to told me we will stay here until we feel that the american government is respecting us and giving us our rights that a person said that we will actually stay here until the american troops withdraw from iraq now of course. it depends all on who is issuing the orders to leave if it is that iraq government that is asking them to leave those orders are unlikely to be heeded if it is senior leadership of the popular mobilization forces because

maybe some kind of deal has been struck between the p.m.s. and the government then we're likely to see the gradual departure of those krauts and someone who wants us this whole episode. who is in charge at the moment skew her hands when it comes to iraq. well it's pretty clear from the events yesterday and also today that it was the popular mobilisation forces and their leadership who were calling the shots what is difficult to say is how much support these events have from the iraqi government of course in the public domain we heard statements from prime minister addle of them after condemning the attack on the u.s. embassy and asking for those crowds to leave but it's difficult to say whether that is the actual stance of the government or whether this is just an official statement to appease for example the united states' presence here or whether this is actually something that the government really believes in because from what we

saw on the ground was iraqi security forces standing down letting these crowds of members and supporters of popular mobilisation forces pass right through the checkpoints and enter the fortified green zone and attack the u.s. embassy but any intervention whatsoever now even today we could see an increased presence of iraqi security forces but they were still not taking any action to really remove those crowds they were just standing by they were monitoring the situation but they had not been given any orders to really put an end to that siege so all of this suggests that it was a popular mobilization forces who were really in charge and who were essentially setting the stage here and basically telling the government you know what what will happen with this crowd and it is pretty clear that the iraqi government either does not have the capability to resist or does not have the political will to do so ok

simona 14 for no thank you very much indeed for bringing us those latest developments coming out of baghdad what president donald trump himself is wades in that he says c. does not want war with iran and does not forsee one. well i think it's been handled very well the breach came and we had some great warriors come in and do a fantastic job but they were there instantaneously soon as we heard i used the word immediately they came up mediately and it's in great shape as you know this will not be a bengazi 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 and that's i want to have i think i like peace. iran should want peace more than anybody. well iran's supreme leader has responded to trump's comments and concerns on these airstrikes dosage of bari is in teheran with the details for the very 1st time on

his twitter account the supreme leader has responded directly to the tweets that was sent by the u.s. president donald trump late last night the supreme leader ayatollah ali khamenei responded by saying that to the united states cannot do a damn thing he made a reference to the u.s. president by saying that guy and i'm quoting here that guy has tweeted that we see iran responsible for the events in baghdad and we will respond to them he says what 1st you can't do anything and 2nd if you were a logical which you're not you would see that your crimes in afghanistan and iraq have been the nations hate you the iranian supreme leader also said that if these amica public decides to challenge and fight it will do so unequivocally and that the main eons are not after wars but that they will strongly defend their and iranian nation's interests dignity and glory and that if anyone threatens that they

iranians will confront and strike them without hesitation very strong words and a direct response to the u.s. president donald trump's message to the iranians. they don't other can the can on the is an independent research your own identity politics in iraq in the middle east he says it's in iran's political interests to encourage these protests iran's involvement is that it's trying to pull the attention away from the protest movement that began in early october this is one of the very few tactics that iran is using to denounce and minimize the influence of the protest movement since early october which heavily created a very strong and prominent and tiran sentiment across the country in fact it was the loudest and heaviest to run sentiment in post 2003 iraq if we look at the consequences of the gradual consequence of the events it's clearly just one of the very few events of the long dispute between iran and the u.s.

in iraq as many countries in the region has been a battlefield to between iranian and u.s. interests but the same time and the u.s. also share a common interest and that is not to have the protest movement succeed in iraq because the iraqi government has a dual partnership between the u.s. and iran. let's turn to other news now police in hong kong have far tear gas to disperse anti-government protesters during a new year's day march in the territory will some protesters threw burning objects at police during the confrontation tens of thousands marching peacefully at the rally and their demands include greater autonomy from china and an inquiry into allegations of police brutality that was the scene earlier today these are the live pictures or a brain injury night from home. there's still a large police presence on the streets there with water cannon being deployed as

you can see and reports of tear gas being used during that mass new year's day rally around me which does take place every dear to every year in hong kong but has an additional significance given the 6 months of continuous process which have been taking place in hong kong let's hear now from good palen who has the latest. police have already far tear gas and pepper spray due to the sheer numbers of people that have joined this protest as a means of crowd control they're trying to get people to stay within the or authorized areas of the protest but because the numbers are so large or been spilling out to other roads but what we're also seeing is the more radical elements of the protesters some at setting up barricades and setting up for confrontations with police this is the end point of the protesters and protesters are being told to disperse police are calling on the organizers to tell the protesters are the

marchers to stop the protests and the rally the organizers have actually called in many of those taking part just go home and disperse instead what we're seeing is cars and to people gathering at this and point here that once again setting up blockades setting up barricades are now along main road so it seems to be very much of an extension of what we have seen over the past 7 months of protests once again building up to more confrontations with the police and more defiance against the government. to indian soldiers have been killed in a gun fights an incident minister kashmir it happens in the northern district tensions have been rising in the disputed region for months police have been sent to the area. we're keeping an eye on the entire region but the army and police forces have launched a search operation and barricades have been put in front of and behind

a toll the search operation is ongoing and vehicles are being checked into every catastrophic bushfires are spreading across eastern australia 3 more deaths been confirmed in the states of new south wales and one in victoria lightning started more far zone she would say nice and over 200 and i burning. davey is a 70 she says to push for a crisis will leave a lasting impact on the strains. we are seeing changes in our physical environment people are starting to wear masks because the air quality is so poor smoke is often the 1st thing that you smell in the morning sometimes you're out exercising and it rains ash on you but you're nowhere near a fire zone so i've observed in people that i've spoken to in recent weeks a real sense of kind of reconciliation to the fact that finale is the new normal there is certainly an increase of observed in people having conversations and debate around the role of climate change and just how much that has contributed to

the severity and early start to this fire season the prime minister was recently forced to return home from a family vacation in hawaii he did apologize for being away at the height of the bushfire emergency but he also did say that he would be making no changes to government policy because he believes that climate change was just one factor that had contributed to this severe emergency many other politicians have said similar things and they've said that now is not the time to have a debate about climate change they say that now is the time to focus our efforts on supporting the firefighters and on those who've lost loved ones and properties in this crisis but there are also those who say that this disaster has changed people and our landscape and that people are also wanting greater leadership and from politicians to do more and do things differently. north korea's leader kim jong un says he'll soon launch what he calls a new strategic weapon according to the south korean media reports kim said the

u.s. would suffer helplessly if it continued to delay denuclearization talks what mcbride has more from seoul it may be new year but on the korean peninsula as a return to some of the old belligerence 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 denuclearization tool. so far kim has stopped short of resuming tests with long range ballistic missiles or 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 they. 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. 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. but he did sign a contract to china agreement talking about denuclearization that was signed number

one chen 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 its continuing weapons development means it goes into 2020 with more advanced missile technologies and an expanded nuclear program rob mcbride al-jazeera sole. the u.n. and government forces in central african republic have to clear the neighborhoods in the capital bangui a weapons free zone the area known as p.k. 5 recently sold days of fighting between

a militia and local traders the fighters were given a deadline to disarm which has now passed al-jazeera has more from donkey. i shore force by united nations troops in an effort to avoid an all out war between traders and their former militia protect is in bungay speaking a 5 neighborhood the area was once described as one of the most volatile districts in the country now the united nations has stepped in calling on both sides to this . matter. anyone seen with arms will be arrested disarmed or neutralized if he or she resists the population shouldn't take long to their hands it's the responsibility of the new sky and local forces we will also occupied control bases of self-defense groups for government forces this is the 1st time they're setting foot in 5 says 2014. no we should pretend about the current situation if

one is a traitor you're a traitor if you're a militia man who reintegrate you to work last week clashes broke out between traders and the local militia protecting them of accusation of extortion more than 40 people were killed days later the traders vow to chase the militia out of the area that a collaboration of the pickier 5 member hold as a weapons free zone came just hours before a deadline so running out all arms in the neighborhood expired traders were earlier relied on militia men for protection told them that they need to surrender all weapons in their possession or freeze an all out war now i should outside order has been issued on anyone seen carrying a gun and this several. disarming fighters which the united nations want to carry out is something no one was able to do in 5 since the outbreak of civil war in 2030 in some residents wary of the bloodshed hope this time it will be different.

our message is clear people should really be careful we're going to make sure no one is using guns to hold people to ransom later or that it is you will the fed up and disappointed with what the vigilante or the doing that's why they want the presence of international and local forces to take charge and get in t. everyone safety for now a bloody confrontation on new year's eve is averted but no one knows for how long this piece will who are mighty greece al-jazeera bunky. now people in american samoa have the new year they're the last so it's a joyous in 2020 this was the scene of one of the most famous streets in the world . and it's the tree on lighting up the french capital to ring in the new year. now the french president insists that he's going to

continue with plans to overhaul the pension system and 2020 but a man or micro used his new year address also call for calm the process of trigger the reforms rather have triggered widespread protests and disruption for almost a month lawyers teachers and even musicians have joined the strike says 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 would do to show that our job is to play music and it makes us unhappy we've been forced to strike for a month and cancel $45.00 performances for needy 4 weeks people including lawyers teachers 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 his silence over the protests in his new speech to try to diffuse the crisis. make no mistake on this important subject but so close to french people hartson identity i hear their fears and anxieties i also hear many laws of the manipulation must always come doesn't mean backing down but respect 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 gambled here have been on strike since the beginning of december and they say that the only thing that will persuade them to go back to work and end their protest will be if the government has described its pension reform plans they said give it 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 we're not the only 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 when my core say don't worry everything will be ok you're not going to lose in this reform people don't trust him. mcgraw 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 to syria paris.

tottenham's is one of the world's biggest producers opacic pollution and its oceans retailers' sands authorities say they're trying to clean up the country's acts by banning some single use plastic spots us jessica washington reports they face another challenge changing consumer attitudes. around 45000000000 plastic bags are used every year in thailand but the new deal will bring a change in behavior for consumers all around the country major department stores convenience stores and supermarkets with whole implement a ban on plastic bags from this year signs like this are on display around the country explaining the changes telling consumers don't need to plan ahead for the next time they go shopping there's also a ban on using products with micro beets and plans for a ban on plastic cards within the next 2 years. all it would be i think this is

a good idea because it will clean up the environment these days it's so hot as the weather is changing it's hard to do my job as a driver because of the heat we need to stop using so much plastic and reduce the garbage overall but getting thai consumers to break up with plastic could prove challenging the highest percentage of plastic usage doesn't come from department stores and convenience stores it comes from places like this fresh fruit markets and food stalls and getting independent sellers to get on board with a plastic bag could prove challenging. i think a plastic bag bat is a good idea but what do i use instead what would be a good substitute this far was a wet so they'd be to be in a plastic bag but still i think reducing plastic is a good idea because of climate change. the empty plastic push has been in part spurred by the high number of wildlife fatalities caused by plastic ingestion one case which caught the attention of the public was that of

a baby which died after eating several kilograms of plastic that case and others like it served as a graphic reminder to the public of the dangers of excessive plastic usage. and teenagers in colombia are modifying their traditional bikes to get a bigger thrill from race and state highways as the country's more extreme version of gravity biking a sports event in the u.s. where many youngsters say it helps them forget their troubles in their neighborhoods but some say they're risking their lives. reports as night falls and maybe even a group of teenagers right there 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 colombia'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 turn 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 chill out 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. 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. on the outskirts of maybe as band the

practice out right. 3 of marland's writing companions this year and serious accidents have been. so much so that the school where most of them said he had started 50 campaigns and also donated helmets and 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 love what i guess 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. nobody here likes to crash for more 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. this is al jazeera and these are the headlines supporters and members of the iranian backed popular mobilization forces gathered outside the u.s. embassy in iraq have been told to leave by their leadership that's according to syrian sources earlier the protesters threw rocks and set fires at the compound so wonderful scene has more from baghdad our contact on the ground who works for a popular mobilization forces said that the leadership issued an order for those crowds to withdraw. now 6 it didn't look like that when i was there just 30 minutes ago there were still supplies arriving mattresses cooking utensils for the crowds that had camped out overnight as they laid siege to the u.s.

embassy so it looked like they were preparing to begin their heels and to stay for a long time one of the people i spoke to told me we will stay here until we feel that the american government is respecting us and giving us our rights that a person said that we will actually stay here until the american troops withdraw from iraq. police in hong kong are trying to disperse sansa government protesters during the new years they launch some protesters threw burning objects at police cheering the confrontation catastrophic bush farmers are spreading across eastern australia 3 more deaths have been confirmed in the state of new south wales and another fatality confirmed in victoria well those are the headlines to stay with us here on al-jazeera and use continuous after inside story.

a year of public anger millions around the globe took to the streets in 2019 to vent their anger against government won't 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 those.