yet childless women in niger suffer from. a wife is only fully accepted upon. a very personal film about the suffering of childless women in. the fruitless tree starting january fourteenth on t w. this is d.w. news live from celebrations as the world welcomes twenty eight see fireworks lights up the skies above iconic landmarks from hearing the live in at the brandenburg gate to sydney's all the bridge millions around the world turn out to watch the

spectacular shows to ring in the new year. and anti-government demonstrators in iran defied threats of a crackdown president has said rouhani appeals for calm but warns they'll be no tolerance for what he calls on the rest but with protests showing no signs of stopping the islamic republic cuts access to social media and arrests more than two hundred people. i'm helena humphrey good to have you with us now is revelers around the globe have been treated to spectacular displays of pyrotechnics as the world welcomed the new year the new year is only a couple of hours old in new york where revelers on times square braved frigid temperatures to celebrate twenty eighty at minus twelve degrees celsius it was the

second coldest new year's eve on record. all security arrangements were tight as people assembled at iconic venues around the world we began our report at the brandenburg gate. germans might have a reputation for being reserved but not at new year the country goes firework crazy nowhere more so than the capital they're led 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 rebecca rhetors sarn don't. define something here it concerns 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 and 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 a fireworks sword above the arc de triomphe and if each. german chancellor angela merkel has used her new year's address to urge the country to

pull together she says she was aware of fear is that a rift was opening up in genesis so i see in the papal what becoming divided over a range of issues to outline 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. i think as 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. 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 and plans 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 is 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. by european policymakers are also waiting for germany to form a new federal government for chancellor merkel that will be the most pressing task in the coming months. now some of the other stories making news around the world north korean leader kim jong un has said he has a new k button on his desk at all times to be able to respond to any u.s. tank and any speech kim said the u.s. would be unable to wage war on north korea because it was within range of its

nuclear weapons. as a pretty sheriff in the u.s. state of colorado has been shot dead after he responded to a call about a domestic disturbance officials say the shooter was himself shot and killed after he opened fire on a group of deputies and civilians several people were also wounded. costa rican investigators are working to establish what caused a charter aircraft to crash in a wooded area in the country's northwest the plane crashed soon after takeoff killing all twelve people on board ten of them u.s. citizens. in indonesia more than four hundred couples have taken part in a mass wedding ceremony in the capital jakarta the eve traditions 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 detention since protests began against corruption and spiraling inflation they have since turned into wider protests against the country's islamic rulers. 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 do you 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 would definitely confront them in due time has money to move here. 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's still meat but if he was looking for iranian backing trump need only have glanced out the window that a. week. 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 he drew honeys call for come a trumpet call to action. of 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 then a few different towns. caught the people out of the seizing 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 are taking 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 if the correspondent eric randolph in tehran

thank you thank you the tennis season is about to get underway with the australian open just two weeks away and if superstar a new mom serena williams decides to take the spotlight will surely be on the format while number one he's returned to the game less than four months after giving birth. along with her twenty three grand slam titles. can now also add motherhood to her accomplishments williams gave birth to daughter back in september and has shared her experiences on social media. but the. 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 libya 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 matches. 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 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 day two of the one of the most prestigious cross-country skiing events in the wall took place on sunday in a lens a hiden in switzerland the women's ten kilometer classic saw in a week in ingrid who set all spec'd posting the best time beating out again patrick . and in the men's fifteen k. classic the swiss cheat on their three time olympic champion. who won by six tenths of a second. more news coming up here on day w. at the top all the hour but so now we'll leave you with some images over mockable new year's fireworks as countries around the well running in twenty eighty enjoy and from everyone here acted out the past the media.

leaks oh please oh please please look cool look. illegal each little cool little. lyndall little little

little. little live legal. to live live. live . i think there's a real need for the journalist that people trust that can make sense of all this and can explain what's actually happening. it's not.