magazine for in. the coming week and eight weeks looking to the future. science and research for. this is d w news live from the celebrations as the wall to wall comes in twenty eight see fireworks light up the skies above iconic a landmark street here in berlin at the brandenburg gate to sydney harbor bridge millions around the wall turn out to watch spectacular shows to ring in the new year. and antigovernment demonstrations in iran to follow its threats of

a crackdown president hassan rouhani appeals for calm but warns they'll be no tolerance for what he calls on rights but with protests showing no signs of stopping he's on the group public cuts access to social media and arrests more than two hundred people. i'm having a home for a good to have you with us here's revelers around the globe have been treated to spectacular displays of pyrotechnics as the world welcomed the new year the new year is one hour old in new york where revelers on times square braved frigid temperatures to celebrate twenty eighteen minus twelve degrees celsius it was the second cold this new year's eve on record. the range in this were

tight as people assembled at times square and as iconic the news around the world will begin to report at the brandenburg gate who invited. the. germans might have a reputation for being reserved but not at new year the country goes firework crazy nowhere more so than the capital their lead and. despite the excitement the thousands that throng the streets around the brandenburg gate were only interested in good clean fun as d.w. reporter rebekka rhetors don't. define something here to give them this year this is said to days have gone off without a hitch and despite all the ammo they can seem to night is the mood here he's friendly and fun people just want to have fun. back in rebecca's home london australia they also know a thing or two about fireworks the sky above sydney harbor was a blaze with color. another

harbor another wonderful spectacle this time in hong kong. there were no fireworks in dubai this year they settled instead for a breathtaking laser display at the city's eight hundred twenty eight metre high burj khalifa. to another tower no and london's famous big ben rang in the new year in the british capital. lustily to france where parisians looked on from the shoals elisei as fireworks soared above the arc de triomphe and if each. old german johnson i'm going to merkel has used her new year's addressed c.o.h. 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 in twenty eighteen. 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 a society like. merkel mentioned 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. plans and 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 is and this will be a matter of whether we europeans represent our values in a global and digital world assertively and in a spirit of solidarity both internally and externally. 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. now some of the other stories making news around the wild north korean leader came joe and has said he has a new k a button on his desk at all times to be able to respond to any u.s. attack and a new yes speech kim said the u.s. would be unable to wage war on north korea because it was within range of its nuclear weapons. a deputy sheriff in the u.s. state of colorado has been shot dead after he responded to a call about

a domestic disturbance official say the shooter was himself shot and killed after he opened fire on a group of deputies and civilians several people were also wounded. in indonesia more than four hundred couples have taken part in a mass wedding ceremony in the capital jakarta. tradition is designed to help the poor who are unable to afford a proper wedding. iranian president hassan rouhani has appealed for calm in the face of renewed anti-government protests his comments came as demonstrations spread across the country for a fourth day on sunday the regime responded by blocking social media sites and making arrests at least two hundred people are in have in detention since protests began against corruption and inflation has since turned into wider protests against the country's islamic rudeness despite warnings of

a government crackdown demonstrations have continued across the islamic republic the protests have been serious enough to warrant a response from the president hassan rouhani. one point must become clear to everyone that we are a free nation according to the constitution and people are absolutely free to criticize or even to protest however we should also be mindful that criticizing and protesting should be done in such a way that will improve the country situation but others in government were less diplomatic. hammy afro to get that in all those who join the protests in recent days and those who provoked it behind the scenes their relations and connections those who misuse cyberspace and spread violence are absolutely known to us and we will definitely confront them in due time has money.

but protesters have had support from u.s. president donald trump. he took to twitter to warn the iranian government against human rights abuses rouhani however cast doubt on the sincerity of trump's concerns in all you can lose that this guy in america who wants to sympathize with our people today has forgotten that he called iranians terrorists a few months ago let it go he still meet but if he was looking for iranian backing trump need only have glanced out the window. before the white house dissident group the people's mujahideen of iran showed their solidarity with protesters in tehran but in iran the protests rejoin the next few days will show whether demonstrators heed rouhani is call for calm or trumped call to action. well for more on this we're joined now by a.f.p. correspondent eric randolph in tehran eric protests have been going on for four

days now what's happening today. where the protests overnight were a little smaller than previous nights sporadic reports of. government buildings clerical buildings in the northwest and if you know country towns. people were out of the season and crashing a fire engine reportedly but verifying any of this is tough because of the restrictions on social mobile it now authorities have threatened to come down hard on protesters i mean what do they mean by that any is there any sign that that's happening. no so far the police have taken a very softly softly approach we did have a couple of people who showed a couple of nights ago in a small town very hard to get any information on that but they've been keen not to come from to strongly but everyone knows that if it gets out of the revolutionary guards in the waiting in the wings to crack down as they have done in the past

where the protests go from here and they have to support of most sections of iranian society. but it's notable that in the wealth and middle class there is there are it was absolutely quiet has been throughout this in contrast to the previous demonstrations in two thousand and nine has been much better figure out in the provinces but it doesn't look like it's been winding down overnight so without a clear leadership structure or any clear demond it's not it's not obvious whether this can continue but this came as a surprise so it's hard to predict it if he correspondent eric randolph in tehran thank you thank you to sneeze now on the tennis season is about to get underway with the australian open just two weeks away if superstar annie mother serina williams signs to take part the spotlight will surely be on the form you know what form up while the number one he has returned to the game less

than four months after giving birth. along with her twenty three grand slam titles serina billions can now also add motherhood to her accomplishments millions gave birth to daughter back in september and has shared her experiences on social media. but the urge to pay saw the former world number one return to the court at a tournaments in abu dhabi but admits motherhood has been a whole new ball game have biggest distraction her tiniest offense. in the middle of the match looked over and i was like is limp be ok because usually are always with her. so i don't know how i'm going to be able to manage that but maybe i'll just always look over in the middle for graeme limpia ok when she gets older she'll be able to actually come out to the mashers. williams lost

a french open champion not stepping cohen have pressed match since having a baby. she put up a good fight but didn't take many risks. this was a wonderful opportunity for me to kind of test to see where i am not only physically but mentally it's like mentally like you have to get over that hump of like go for the shot you're going to be ok you know because it's a lot that goes on through a female's body if you have a baby's. serina williams has not yet decided if she'll defend her title at the australian open this month what is known is that she wants to continue competing for more championships. well they say all of the tell the disc one of the most prestigious cross-country skiing events in the wall took place on sunday in len's a high in switzerland in the women's ten along with take classic no we invaded

foods that hosted the best time. beating out second patrick hiding and save your own sense of the united states and in the men's fifteen k. classic dario colonia set the fastest time ahead of alexei pulled her off the name of kazakhstan and no we didn't martin youngs would soon be. more news coming up at the top of the abbot fanaa leave you with some images of remarkable new year's fireworks as countries around the world rang in at twenty eighteen and joy and from everyone here.

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