in a regimented society. an exclusive peek behind one of the last iron curtain is. a north korean diary starting december twenty eighth on d w. this is news live from berlin north korea slams the latest u.n. sanctions as an act of war pyongyang warns that all countries supporting the fresh measures will suffer the consequences the north also said it will further develop its atomic program to protect the country also coming up. the philippines strong

ten been unleashes flash floods and washes away homes some two hundred people are dead and dozens more are missing. and a shadow over the holy land on christmas eve the u.s. decision to recognize jerusalem as israel's capital heightening tensions in the region. plus it's david versus goliath in the natural world conservationists in south africa are turning to one of the world's tiniest creatures in their effort to contain the damage caused by one of the biggest. i have a quote awesome thanks for joining us north korea has warned the world that it will not be stopped in developing its nuclear capabilities kim jong un's regime is firing back after the u.n. security council passed new sanctions aimed at choking off the rogue states economy

on friday the security council unanimously backed measures to block both cash and oil needed for pyongyang's nuclear program north korea's foreign minister now says we fully average. the latest u.n. sanctions as an act of war that destroys the peace and stability of the korean peninsula and wider region. that from a north korea that also reiterated the claim that its ballistic missiles can reach the u.s. mainland for more let's go to our correspondent jason strother in seoul jason it's good to see you what should we make of this latest statement from north korea but you have to remember the north korea makes these kind of statements all the time whether or not it's been sanctioned at the united nations however what it is clear is that the pyongyang regime is not happy that its closest allies moscow and beijing went along with this unanimous diseases to strengthen the sanctions against

it. ok so they want the unanimous decision as you mentioned but young young says that these sanctions are toothless what sort of impact could these new measures have on north korea especially considering that its ally china went along with it certainly will does put does tighten the noose a little bit around kim jones regime but you have to remember that china even though beijing has gone along with sanctions against north korea many times there is a limit to how much pressure beijing is going to put on young china does not want to see a crumbling north korean regime it certainly does not want to see a south korea backed by united states forces stabilize move into north korea in case the regime was falling apart so china while it will scold its neighbor for its missile or nuclear weapons program it's not going to do anything to that would lead

to the collapse of the north korean government jason strother in seoul thank you very much. thank you some two hundred people are dead in the philippines after a tropical storm brought devastation to the south of the country rescue operations are underway to find dozens who remain missing tembin is the second deadly storm to hit the country this week it swept over the island of mindanao weaving destruction in its wake. this man and child a lucky to be alive. the effects of mudslides and flooding have been devastating. entire villages under meters of water. others swept away. volunteers have been digging through mud to try to recover bodies.

houses will being flooded but people could no longer get out of their holes so they got trapped by the strong waters they were swept away. big. dozens of people still missing. rescue efforts have been hampered by power cuts and the loss of communication lines. storm tembin struck the southern island of mindanao on friday. it's an area not often hit by tropical storms. winds of up to eighty kilometers per hour along with heavy rain batter the area. for locals and night taking stock of the damage officials say more than seventy thousand people have been affected. there used to be one hundred three houses here but when the flash flood happened

everything was washed out all their homes and livelihoods gone we have ninety family said are affected by this all up. this nasa satellite map shows the extent of the powerful storm which is not headed towards the fed it be an island. and on towards vietnam. to those affected by ten then a long path lies ahead to recovering from its devastation. staying in the philippines at least thirty seven people are feared dead after a fire broke out at a shopping mall firefighters have begun recovering bodies and authorities say there's no chance of survival for anyone trapped inside fire crews have now put out the blaze in the southern city of it's believed the fire started on the third floor of the four story building the cause is not yet known. now some of the other stories making news around the world the united nations has evacuated some refugees

from libya directly to italy the u.n. refugee agency calls the move quote a groundbreaking development over one hundred sixty people many of them women and children have been waiting for months in libyan detention facilities but hundreds of thousands are still stuck in the country where they often face abuse and torture . catalonia separatist leader car less put him on says he is still the legitimate president of the spanish region in an interview he also called on madrid to allow him to return home in time for the opening session of the cattle and parliament separates parties won a majority in the regional vote held on thursday a u.s. judge has partly blocked u.s. president donald trump's newest restrictions on some refugees the district judge said trump's measures could not be applied to people with a bonafide relationship to a person or entity in the united states the white house had effectively stopped refugee admissions from eleven countries mostly in the middle east and africa.

tensions are stealth emerick in the middle east following washington's decision to recognize jerusalem as israel's capital u.s. president donald trump's controversial announcement earlier this month triggered demonstrations and clashes across the region including in israeli occupied west bank city bethlehem it's cast a shadow over christmas festivities as christians prepare to celebrate their traditional at night mass. take pastries not too sweet these protestant in delicacies called mahmoud have a special significance who would be liberian element to make these the teesta because they symbolize christ's crown that this year we've decided to make them a christmas as well because the children like them so mind. the whole family joins in the month or the christians living in bethlehem and charlie manson was a doctor him just why for i have three children christmas in the birthplace of

jesus is extra special but this year politics is putting a damper on the celebrations. worried under frayed we'll probably go to church for christmas and then just stay at home with the family. you can see why at bethlehem's town. palestinians stress just father christmas taunt israeli border guards they retaliate with tear gas it's been like this for the last two weeks the tension is getting to the man saw was it. elimination christmas is different this year we can even smell the tear gas and home it's all because donald trump decided to move the american embassy to jerusalem we consider jerusalem an arabic city where all religions should co-exist and.

the muis in cools the faithful to prayer in the center of bethlehem two thirds of the town's thirty thousand residents a muslim one third christian no one here has a problem with their neighbors religion. celebrate together with our christine romans with us there are no differences between us. more and more tourists are coming to bethlehem the palestinian authority has stepped up security measures but a feeling of unease remains. at bethlehem's holiest site the grotto of the nativity a group of pilgrims starts an informal choir a prayer for a peaceful christmas. then. to egypt now or a project to build two tunnels under the suez canal has officially been launched

the goal is to create better transport links between the finite peninsula and the rest of the country the aim of the project is not only to upgrade infrastructure but also to improve security. tunnel boring machine is borrowing underground beneath the suez canal they need tunnels where inaugurated on saturday and hailed as a major achievement by president abdel fatah c c the four links are intended to improve access to the sinai peninsula from the rest of egypt at port side on the mediterranean and is my left for the south the plan is for them to deliver a long needed boost to the peninsula economy it's a volatile area where an offshoot of the so-called islamic state has a foothold the militants claimed responsibility for the downing of a russian plane in two thousand and fifteen killing more than two hundred people but the peninsula is also receiving investment the plan is for sustainable economic growth bringing jobs martin has an connects company has provided some of the know

how the german engineering firm developed the huge drills used in the tunnel project as president of the egyptian president attach great importance to us giving skills to egyptian engineers. trained in germany before working on the project here where. president sisi took part in a tense drawn on saturday up to six kilometers long and seventy meters deep the tunnels will soon be open for traffic. david versus goliath is a familiar story in human struggles but the natural world is also the stage for some seemingly unequal battles to help contain habitat destruction in south africa conservationists are turning to one of nature's smallest creatures to rein in one of the biggest. they're nature's heavy weights and not surprisingly they need a lot of food an adult elephant will munch its way through more than one hundred

kilograms a day of fruit leaves bark and grass that can be costly for landowners who react by trying to keep elephants away from their property is a general consensus that elephants are very destructive in terms of trees and there are to certain degree but it's not just ails them said cause her habitat change. and because big trees are iconic we are trying to. find ways to protect the trees so that landowners are all happy with having elephants in the area one solution being tried here on the edge of the kruger national park these bees elephants maybe think skin but they're very sensitive and they don't like being stung as i'm a creature so small can actually scare away the elephant doesn't it. but they sting the elephants in the trunks and that is not. a little like. the keepers hang their

beehives directly from the trees in vulnerable orchards and plantations it's a terror which the elephants can see hear and feel and one they certainly don't forget. and these don't really go to where this moisture so they typically target their trucks which the elephants don't like at all so once they've been stung once they pulled out the bull that memory and they would pretend to be project is proving successful at stopping the elephants knocking on the trees and a future spin off could be honey produced in commercial quantities. you know. if you're on the lookout for an alternative festive soundtrack this year and norwegian musician could help a composer percussionist test on fat invented ice music around eighteen. years ago and he's been touring with us frosty songs ever since we leave you now with some of his music join us again at the top of the hour if you can.

hear. every journey begins with the first step and every language but the first word published in. rico is in germany to learn german why not learn to tell a simple online on your mobile and.