line. this. point with. surfers fighting against unseen. starting january seventh on the job. this is news live from berlin the world starts to ring in the new year and now we'll be showing you some pictures of celebrations in the russian capital of moscow the latest place to welcome two thousand and eighteen germany is also counting down we'll tell you how people here in berlin are playing to celebrate with

a bang in just two hours time also coming up. the iranian president hassan rouhani makes his first comments on the anti-government protests sweeping cities across the country earlier the government blocked social media sites and threatened a crackdown will take a closer look at rouhani initial reaction. and welcome to the program the world is ringing in the new year and australians were among the first to celebrate the annual fireworks display in sydney harbor now as the new year sweeps across the globe we're seeing the celebrations in the russian capital moscow spectacular as always and in his new year message president vladimir putin urged people to say the most cherished words to each other and forgive mistakes.

meanwhile here in the german capital berlin people are heading to the party of the year at brandenburg gate for a massive celebration and that's where all find our very own rebecca ritter is there a back good to see you getting chillier there i'm not sure but the crowds are getting bigger and bigger what's on the agenda to keep them entertained. they suddenly on i mean it's expected to be a million people here tonight seeing the new year in here. front and back sorry and i i think we're getting close to that number it's been a massive show here tonight already of the bodies really getting started now we've had national and international actors playing here and you can see behind behind you all the way down here it doesn't seem people from around the flag a. victory monument at the other end that's two kilometers whatever they calling posse miles i'm people are really hearty exam there is really starting to heat up

there are all of those waiting for the spectacular finale gemini's biggest fireworks at midnight as you mentioned a million people are expected and even making some new friends people from germany and around the world. absolutely have been out in the crowd chatting to a strain eons of course i happened to run into them easily because i am a child myself there's a lot of americans here is also lots of other germans from around germany i haven't met many. i'll have to try and find some. why you do that we can also talk about the fact there are some concerns about safety considering the amount of people that are there in one place there are reports earlier about safety zones being created for women but that's not the case is it. no actually it was this reported in both the german foreign media that there were going to be as of a segregated area where women could celebrate separate from the rest of the crowd but the next. isn't the case what they do have is find areas where red cross have

set up tents safety tents the women the men for anybody who's feeling ill well perhaps harassed some viewers will remember a couple of years ago in two thousand and fifteen in cologne on. the way there many cases of sexual harassment really shocked germany and so there is definitely. an emphasis. safety but there's definitely no segregated zones i was down there chatting with the guys from the red cross and they said the big completely misread represented in the press. brandenburg gate thank you. and we apologize for the quality at the end of the conversation meanwhile to iran now we're anti-government protesters have again gathered defying a warning of a crackdown by the authorities tens of thousands of iranians have been taking part

in protests in cities across the country over the last four days some demonstrations have turned violent and at least two protesters were shot dead in western iran more than two hundred were arrested the government has restricted access to social media apps alleged inciting violence. president has done rouhani earlier broke his silence on the demonstrations. one point must be made clear to everyone we are a free nation according to the constitution of the rights of the people such as completely free to criticize or even to protest. however we should also be mindful that criticizing and protesting should be done constructively so that it will result in improvements for the country and yes people have economic problems and social issues. arose. earlier we spoke to a.f.p.

correspondent eric randolph in tehran we asked him whether president rouhani will now try to close ranks with the hardliners in his regime some of whom had welcomed the outbreak of these protests that it is something that you know that's how upset the hardliners. is that. it's wrong for a long time and. there are some groups that they hope to start this route as. somewhat shocked by how quickly speculated it grew out are. already the most brutal moderate hardline factions to go to sorry. to revolutionaries some of those have to they've got to stick to. their on the jets more economic grievances everybody agrees thoughts want to show that they separate those people from people who are. wired to sort of. against the system

itself. that was a.f.p. correspondent eric randolph and they're on speaking to us earlier now to some of the other stories making news around the world a deputy sheriff in the u.s. state of colorado has been killed after he responded to a call about a domestic disturbance official say the gunman was shot and killed after he opened fire on a group of deputies and civilians injuring several people. a rights group says police and democratic republic of congo have shot dead two protesters in the capital city kinshasa this after security forces interrupted a catholic mass and arrested altar boys who were protesting against the country's president elections to replace them have been delayed and are due next year. at least seventeen people have been killed and more than a dozen others wounded after

a bomb attack in eastern afghanistan no group has claimed responsibility for the attack which caps a deadly year for civilians in the country. a bloody end to a gruesome year in afghanistan. charred remains are all that's left of this rickshaw it was packed with explosives and detonated during a funeral where people had gathered to mourn a former provincial governor. that would run the most all of those in the first two rows of the funeral were killed some of them lost body poles and all those with guns by the blast. the wounded were rushed to hospital this attack caps one of the deadliest years for civilians in afghanistan since the us invasion in two thousand and one un data shows more than eight thousand were killed or injured by conflict related violence in the first nine months of two thousand and seventeen alone the government has been struggling to cope with the taliban and the so-called islamic state as the militant groups mounted devastating attacks on ordinary people.

to sports now the second round of the tour to stay is one of the most prestigious cross-country skiing events in the world and it took place on sunday in lends a high to switzerland in the women's ten kilometer classic norwegian. bird posted the best time beating out compatriot heidi bang and saviors seven of the united states. meanwhile in the men's fifteen k. classic colonia set the fastest time ahead of alexy pole to run in a kazakhstan and norwegian martin group so the. tennis fans know that the new year brings the first major tournament of the season the australian open germany's angerly kerber won that tournament in two thousand and sixteen but her star has fallen dramatically since then here in germany newcomer yulia has taken over the number one spot in the country and she nearly broke into the world top ten this year alexander sarah is already there on the men's side and

he has his sights set on his first grand slam title here is more on the stars of german tennis. for you here trainee seventeen was a tennis year to remember she even received praise from a idol steffi graf after becoming germany's number one female player following a slow start to the year this one two titles the first silverware since twenty eleven. i think the heat was an eventful year for me and there were some close defeats and some very big ones i lost games at the french open and wimbledon despite having match point but i came away stronger i want to tournaments it's great when you can achieve that after such a long season. has had just a ten day break before she was back on court in germany preparing for the new tennis year her aim to get back in the world's top ten to do that she's changed her

game and worked on his stamina the twenty nine year old has become a role model for young a player as we're going to do and i believe that we have a good strong generation we have several players in the top one hundred so you could say it's a golden generation b. could never achieve what steffi graf did but we are doing our best to get closer to her it was a year to forget. she started twenty seventeen as world number one but slipped down the w t a rankings after some dismount from form and says on the way up is alexander it's rather germany's shooting star one five titles and defeated roger federer and novak djokovic his grand slam performances went as spectacular but he finished twenty seventeen as was number four. looking at his ranking you expect to see him always reach semifinals he has to show in china and the second year is always tough to get the pressures on put twenty teams can't become world number one luca. and bounce back to our best. isn't under quite so much pressure she has the

chance to stop the new year with a bang on january first at the s.p. classic in auckland. in the english premier league on sunday a runaway table toppers manchester city could only manage a scoreless draw away to struggling crystal palace the hosts even had a chance to run out victorious but if it missed a late penalty the result and city's incredible eighteen game winning streak which is just one victory shy of the mark their coach have already told us that when he was at the helm of byron munich four years ago german chancellor angela merkel has used her new year's address to urge the country to pull together she says she was aware of fears that a rift was opening up in german society and that people were becoming divided over a range of issues she also outlined the key challenges facing the country next year

it was a difficult political year for chancellor angela merkel at the very beginning of her speech she addressed the social atmosphere in germany and the tensions of files i think i know from many conversations and encounters this year that a lot of you are concerned about the cohesion of germany it has been a long time since the differences of opinion about this have been so stark some have even spoken of a rift running through our society. medical mention the worries over whether the government would be able to organize and direct immigration into germany but she also spoke of the fears and doubts of people living in the countryside who feel left behind those are her obligations as for foreign policy she look to europe and says she is expecting decisive years ahead for the european union. in france in all of this germany's future is inseparable from the future of europe the twenty seven countries of europe must be motivated most strongly than ever to hold together as a community and this will be the crucial issue of the coming years this will be

a matter of whether we europeans represent our values in a globalized and digital world assertively and in a spirit of solidarity both internally and externally that. but european policymakers are also waiting for germany to form a new federal government for chancellor macko that will be the most pressing task in the coming months. thank you for joining us here i do w. news in berlin will leave you now with some images of spectacular new year's fireworks from dubai japan south korea and australia as those countries bring in twenty eighteen enjoy and happy new year.

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