on a jersey you know. i really felt liberated as a journalist was. getting to the truth as if i were that's what is jumping. out at. you know the answer in the call supporters of an iranian backed group that surrounded the u.s. embassy in baghdad have now withdrawn. from doha i'm kemal santamaria and this is the world news from al-jazeera. protesters demanding more democracy in hong kong bring in the new year in defiance promising to keep up the pressure. scenes of widespread destruction in australia where firefighters are struggling to contain dozens of bushfires and the weather is

not helping and we speak to the daughter of angola's former leader who is now accused of corruption charges she says are politically much. so supporters of iranian backed groups have now left the fortified green zone of the iraqi capital where they've been surrounding the u.s. embassy they were responding to an order by leaders of the popular mobilization forces but earlier on wednesday the crowds were there throwing rocks setting fires once again outside the compound angry over sunday's airstrikes by the united states on the hezbollah brigade scams that killed at least 27 fighters in addition iran's supreme leader ayatollah how many condemned the u.s. strikes and warned tehran will defend itself if threatened it will be as you know me i get if you're on decides to confront a country it will do it without hesitation we are strongly committed to the interests dignity and progress of our nation and anyone who threatens that will be

confronted we won't push any country towards war but if others want to impose something on us then we will powerfully stand against them and. but with its own response the u.s. is deploying $750.00 additional marines to iraq in response to the violence president donald trump threatened to retaliate against iran but said later he did not want war. starts our coverage from back to it seems that the crowds have now fully withdrawn from the u.s. embassy what we saw there early in the port report those were basically the most defiant groups of people who were reluctant to leave and basically made a last show in front of the embassy burning tires burning flags chanting anti-american slogans before they too made their way out of the green zone back across the hanging bridge to the other side of the river tigris now my understanding is that these groups are now setting up camp on the other side of the

river across from the u.s. embassy where they will continue their sit in in the meantime u.s. trade the u.s. trained iraqi counterterrorism forces have taken over the security at the embassy we could see them basically having surrounded the u.s. embassy and as the crowds were withdrawing they were taking over ground but they were not using any force to force the withdraw it seems that the crowd simply heeded the call of the leaders of the popular mobilization forces to withdraw. in syria at least 9 civilians have been killed in shelling in airstrikes conducted by the syrian government and russian forces 5 children are among the dead in turkey accuses those forces of targeting a school attacks on the last rebel held province in syria have intensified in recent weeks in fact in december alone the violence force 9300000 people from their homes. a new year but no sign hong kong's antigovernment protests is going to

abandon their cause protest leaders say more than a 1000000 people packed the city's streets on wednesday in a largely peaceful new year's day march eventually turned violent as police shut it down and arrested 400 people for and so the reports from hong kong. what was supposed to be a peaceful march descends into chaos and destruction on the streets of hong kong a small fire most likely caused by a petrol bomb birds before it's doused by a will to carry. elsewhere police stupid to arrest a protester after demonstrators ignore their warnings to leave 4 hours into the protest march police with drew that permit for this rally deeming this to be an illegal assembly meaning they can take action to clear the state and that is exactly what they are doing here riot police have got water cannons clearing the streets of protesters as well as the barricades that protesters have set up crowds of protesters many wearing gas masks had earlier used to braless and bricks to

block roads police fired rounds of tear gas to disperse the crowds. the march it started peacefully in the early afternoon attracting tens of thousands of people who slowly made their way along a 3 and a half kilometer route young and old they chose to spend new year's day much the same way hong kong had spent the 2nd half of last year at another street demonstration. by new year's wish for peace in hong kong but that will depend on the government and the chinese communist party if they continue to tighten their grip on hong kong and these protests will continue. along the way maybe a union groups set up recruitment booths and volunteers collecting donations to assist the protest movement was. the crowd didn't let up on its fire. demands which include an independent investigation into allegations of police misconduct

during the protests and the right to choose their leaders. police stood a distance away keeping a close watch occasionally protesters would direct the anger at the police but they're not ever the n.t. government protests of hong kong have gone on for nearly 7 months now and even though there are rallies and gatherings almost every day they've reduced in intensity there's no indication the government is willing to make further concessions hold on no matter what the outcome will be just that no one knows for how long this will go on florence louis al jazeera hong kong. bushfires across to australian states are growing along with a devastating toll on lives and homes more than 205000 are burning and at least 8 people have been killed in the past 2 days reports. entire neighborhoods have

burned to the ground destroying more than property. and. jan gilbert is among the thousands of australians who have begun to go back home to nothing. rubble and debris now cover what's left of her belongings all of my positions have been tied me in writing everything there is just simply nothing. nothing except that. in other areas the bushfires are far from over. there are thousands of firefighters are struggling in the states of the tory i new south wales an area that's home to more than 13000000 people and the conditions are expected to get worse over the next few days the winds are expected to be very strong back to 40 plus degrees temperatures. in the last guy that we look at times. in the town of all a dollar people wait outside supermarkets and stock up on food and water power and

mobile phone outages are also a concern you have a challenge with getting people liable to even access the basics like petrol and atrocity and that's causing enormous stress for communities we understand that the australian military is using planes and helicopters sit downs of flames while preparing for possible evacuations. emergency crews are stretched thin and slight changes in temperatures and the wind could spark even more fires there wasn't much i could do a time a quick and i just couldn't do anything it was just hearing the wind just blew and wind just blew and if you look at everything in mind it's just grass it's just everything everywhere you go. no one knows yet the precise cost of the damage but it's clear the widespread devastation is immense locus of a on al-jazeera. north korea's leader kim jong un says he will soon more niche what

he calls a new strategic weapon according to south korean media reports kim says the u.s. would suffer helplessly if it continued to delay any do nuclearization talks robin bride but this report from seoul. it may be new year but on the korean peninsula there is a return to some of the old villager it's 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 deal you clear. 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 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 he did sign and 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 amazing 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 former prime minister. and ex army general in. law has won a presidential runoff he got 54 percent of the vote and takes over former president

. was eliminated in the 1st round but the losing candidate. says the vote was rigged and he'll contest the result in the supreme court has been political instability with the outgoing weight of naming as many as 7 prime ministers in just the last 5 years. now the un and government forces in central african republic have declared a neighborhood in the capital bangui as a weapons free zone the area known as p.k. 5 recently saw days of fighting between militia and local traders the fighters were given a deadline to disarm which has now passed more from the. shore force by united nations troops in an effort to avoid an all out war between traders and their former militia protectors 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 just . anyone 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 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 cities 242 you. know we should pretend about the current situation if one is a trader you're a traitor if you're a militia man rule reintegrate into work last week clashes broke out between traders and the local militia protecting them of the accusation of extortion. more than 40 people were killed days later the traders chased the militia out of the area that the collaboration of the p.k. 5 member hold as a weapons free zone came just hours before a deadline to surrender all arms in the neighborhood as fire traders were only 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 assured that side order has been issued on anyone seen carrying a gun and the 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 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 wanted to deceive people who are fed up and disappointed with what the vigilante they're 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 al jazeera bunky. in the

news they had to wear in brazil to examine what's changed in the years since president jaya bulsara came to power and we'll tell you what the pope had to say on this slightly or quite. incident. wintry weather a wet weather continues across northern parts of the middle east a fair amount of cloud around for some particular around the black sea and through the caspian sea so we've got some rain some sleet and snow there spilling out of turkey just nothing down to northern areas of syria maybe want to see showers just creeping back into lebanon as we go on through the day further race couple will see a fair bit of rice sleet and snow temperatures here struggling to get to about 3 degrees celsius on thursday so most temperatures are going into friday but it

should be a dry day by the states that wintry mix makes is why a little further more is towards it because down towards kazakhstan behind me we're looking at more wet weather just spilling in across that eastern side of the med not looking to brilliance inside 1st say for the next day or so and you can see a live and seeing some bits and pieces of cloud and right for time it's a place of the plough to into northern parts of saudi arabia just really out of southern iraq through kuwait issue say dry fine sunny here in doha over the next couple of days that out of the north ending and breaking a little more sunshine bursting through than a previous sunshine in suez south africa at the moment had a few showers just around the eastern cape the wetter weather is into northern parts so they still looking very just for a good pot of madagascar. it

was their own these are the top stories this hour supporters and members of iranian backed groups in iraq have retreated from the u.s. embassy compound in baghdad they were responding to an order from the leaders of

the popular mobilization forces an angry about u.s. air strikes in iraq and syria on sunday. police say 400 people been arrested a massive anti-government rally organizers say a 1000000 people turned out to not try. and large bush was a spreading across eastern australia 3 more deaths now confirmed in new south wales one in victoria meteorologists say more hot weather on the way is. now palestinian family has had its home destroyed in silwan they knock bodies jerusalem israeli officials said the structure was illegal but the family told al-jazeera they had intended to contest the demolition order imran khan has been to the side of the house once stood. so this is how the new year began for one palestinian family their house was torn down by the israeli army in conjunction with the municipality now the israelis say that this structure was illegal they didn't have a permit for and therefore it was legal for it to be demolished the palestinian families say they actually had

a court appointment at 10 am where they were going to fight the demolition order and it was at 9 am when these ready army came in in conjunction with a municipality and tall structure down other palestinians have long maintained that it's almost impossible for them to get permits to build houses legally now according to the human rights organization salem some 155 homes were demolished in 2019 and some 37000 structures like this across occupied east jerusalem under threat of demolition other palestinians say that they don't have enough housing for their needs at the moment nevermind with this with all of these houses that are under threat and the housing crisis certainly is acute if you speak to any palestinian family took in this area they say they just simply don't have the space that they need and the structures that they need to house their families. the daughter of angola's former president has told al jazeera there's

been a lack of due process after an order was given to freeze her assets isabel the sandals insists accusations of corruption are just politically motivated and says she's not been summoned by any court the government says the action against her is part of an anti corruption drive well is about us and also has been described as africa's richest woman her father former presidential as they had whether their son to us led angola for 38 years until $2017.00 an oil rich country or production and the industry supporting it contributed around 89 percent of exports but still much of the population is poor last month joseph a may not a son tells the some of the presidents and half brother of his a bill went on trial for corruption but has pleaded not guilty i spoke exclusively to is about us and also earlier and began by putting the allegation to her that her companies have deprived the government of more than a $1000000000.00 they have not been summoned we have not received any notices from the court nor are i or any of my i directors or companies have been issued any

notice is whatsoever so this was a completely secret procedure we had no recourse of defense so we were never called to show any documents or even to present any witnesses in fact we're completely unaware that the case was going on so this is very very worrying because obviously you know in a state of law and in the name aquatic state of law in a country like angle of that i believe it and will it should be it's key for an investor such as myself i'm one of the largest investors in the country founded a number of companies that are not related to the states are these are companies i work in in retail in for example in media we work in telecom. shopping malls so we basically work in the private sector with private companies in the market. their competition as a labor is a prize sorry to interrupt you may be that everything you've described just there

is the problem you've got so much influence and so many parts that this new government says that's too much well i'm concerned that might be the case because evidently this is a politically motivated attack there's no doubt about that my father was the former ruler of angola he was president for a very long time chose not to stand for this elections he chose not to stand in 2017 believing that it was important to have a transition it was important for someone new to come and unfortunately the nuclear who came on board have now trying to convey is politically motivated attacks on his family and specially on his children your brother went on trial for corruption as well he pleaded not guilty did he get proper legal recourse i mean you're saying that this is all been conducted in private as far as you're concerned but he's actually gone to court my half brother was if you let me know was charged a few months ago and he was under preventive custody for

a long time and all that the law establishes that you're only allowed to be under preventive custody for 4 months in fact he stayed for 9 months so he was arrested for 9 months with no trial no charges this was a complete violation of human rights so there was a blatant violation of his rights all his legal rights he also was not afforded representation on blocking his accounts they have not allowed him to pay for his legal fees so in fact he had to ask for estate lawyer to represent him and i am very concerned that these court cases are just instrumental just just political instruments to to to for a for a strategy of undermining the legacy of president doesn't isn't what he has achieved. so the protests in india now over the new citizenship law and most of the violence has been confined to one northern state the state government in uttar pradesh is led by

a hardline hindu nationalist and he's been accused of being biased against muslims . reports now from beirut. 24 year old ali was shot in the head he was a bread maker and the sole provider for his family. his 80 year old father is inconsolable his mother less his disabled brother with 3 kids who are raised has no clue how the family will survive the loss. didn't even lead his body home for the last. what happened to the government what's happened to the police but you came to this fighting. on december 20th some people here in the city of mira to try to protest against a controversial new citizenship law that many say discriminates against muslims the police say the protesters protect them the rocks which led them to use force. limbs family says he was not even part of the protests and was merely walking back home

from the restaurant he worked in when the police shot him this was a video with someone they say was a witness and claiming he saw the police shooting him al-jazeera cannot independently verify its authenticity. activist who went on a fact finding mission to the city soon after the killings say most gunshots were above the waist and appeared targeted this is absolutely quite deliberate shooting to kill it is not following the standard operating procedure of announcing there were no announcements no warning announcements mean nothing of the kind and no attempt to use tear gas or water cannons or anything like that no attempt to shoot at the feet 1st it was street to be shooting to get. activists accuse the police of being biased against muslims. in a recent video the city superintendent of police saying was her telling people in a muslim dominated neighborhood to move to pakistan. we asked the superintendent

about the allegations and i was i won't comment on that and while he admitted that the police did fire shots he said it was protesters with illegal firearms who killed the people however he added the police were investigating. there's a big difference between a train and an untrained shooter the mob doesn't see whether it's firing from behind or front. he said that a dozen police officers were shot and injured and shared this video people here say they are demonstrating for their right to live in the land of india and that they don't want to go to pakistan they also say they fear the police and a few steps of resting people indiscriminately the safe night they're taking towns to calm down neighborhoods in case officers. family is in mourning they demand an investigation but don't expect the administration to conduct it fairly.

al-jazeera made out with their predation india. brazil's president has completed his 1st year in office a combative 12 months in which he struggled to implement the most radical parts of his agenda and has seen his popularity fall the importance of the economy maybe that could give him a 2nd opportunity in 2020. i hear after is surprising victory brazilian president joe you're both so now to a spill to deliver on his most radical promises been managed enough wins to keep them alive the former army captain a self-confessed nostalgist for the brazilian dictatorship has blamed the democratic checks and balances in this country for slowing down his dream of freeing brazil of what he calls the ideology of the left in globalization while pushing for his program probe religion legend. of the country remains delighted with his ideas but many seem to have had 2nd thoughts he was rather inexperienced

and throughout this year he has had many specific problems candles and so on which have allowed him perhaps to build or to maintain that high level of popularity. he's been a longer heads with international organizations as he played down the devastation of the amazon rain forest for the 76 percent increase in fires compared to the. previous year. the message it has also been a turbulent time promise is a pretty good izing the carrying of arms and offering immunity to police carrying out lethal operations were rejected by congress or helped by the supreme court corruption scandals involving his sons damaged this image as a crusader against corruption and the country's powerful farming lobby forced him to push down its and china and take communist rhetoric. needs to pass historic pension reform after decades of failed attempts to tackle brazil's sky high public

debt i think some of his main promises that were related to security to the bit he do to you know to have all guns and things like that haven't turned out to be so successful or so important. i think what's what's happening if you if you read public opinion and so on is that the focus is moving you know surprise surprise towards the economy wolf you know international supporters still hope we will be able to tackle drug gangs in crime but to further is vision the key will be revitalizing the still sluggish economy a year later it's unclear whether he'll be able to achieve a few doubt remain as controversial as ever i listen to them. pope francis has apologized for slapping a woman on the wrist during a new year's eve celebration the pontiff was visibly angry as the bomb all this handled what happens. and. for people in the vatican

city the head of the roman catholic church the expressed regret for losing his patience. that's less of a no-name magica god salvation is not magic but it is salvation that is it involves the patience of love love makes is patient many times we lose patients including me and i apologize for yesterday's bad example. with al-jazeera and these are the top stories supporters and members of iranian backed groups in iraq have retreated from the u.s. embassy compound in iraq's green zone they responded to an order from leaders of the popular mobilization forces protesters around group at u.s. air strikes in iraq and syria on sunday some on a full team with more from baghdad. seems that the crowds have not fully withdrawn from the u.s.

embassy what we saw there early in the port report those were basically the most defiant groups of people who were reluctant to leave and they basically made a last show in front of the embassy burning tires burning flags chanting anti-american slogans before they too made their way out of the green zone back across the hanging bridge to the other side of the river tigris in syria at least 9 civilians have been killed in showing an air strikes conducted by the syrian government and russian forces 5 children are among the dead in a labor attacks on the last rebel held province in syria have intensified in recent weeks in december alone in the violence force nearly 300000 people from their homes . hong kong police say 400 people have been arrested at a massive anti-government rally organized as a claiming a 1000000 people turned out for their new year's eve march. the catastrophic bushfires are spreading across eastern australia 3 more deaths confirmed in new

south wales as well as one in victoria meteorologists say more hot weather is on the way as well the daughter of angola's former president has told our jazeera there's been a lack of due process after an order was given to freeze their assets isabel dos santos insists accusations of corruption are politically motivated and she says she's not been summoned by any court. and finally the story again pope francis apologizing for slapping a woman on the wrist during a new year's eve celebration the pontiff was visibly angry as the woman pulled his hand while he was meeting people in vatican city and she brought a step forward but the head of the roman catholic church has now agreed expressed his regret losing his patience. that's a look at your headlines inside story with julie mcdonald is coming up next.

is iraq becoming a proxy battleground between washington and tehran angry protesters stormed the u.s. embassy in baghdad that's after the u.s. attacked gravy and backed our military so how can this latest tension you can take the sense inside story. out of their warm welcome to the program julie macdonald dramatic scenes at the u.s. embassy in iraq supports as a member of the iranian backed popular mobilization forces surrounding the u.s. embassy compound in iraq's capital baghdad their demand an end to american

intervention in the country they threw rocks and set fire as i've cited security personnel responded with tear gas.