poised. for mornings. this is d w news live off from but it said of our actions as the world welcomes twenty eighty thousands of residents turn out for new york's come down on times square despite the red cord at low temperatures and tight security we'll take

a look at the festivities there around the wattles. also coming up on two government demonstrations in iran defied threats all the crackdown president hassan rouhani appeals for calm book means there will be no tolerance for he calls on arrests 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 new year's revelers around the globe have been treated to spectacular displays of pyrotechnics as the world welcomed the new year in new york thousands on times square braved frigid temperatures to celebrate twenty eighteen and minus twelve degrees celsius it was the second cold it's new year's eve on record which. security arrangements were tight as people

assembled at iconic venues around the world we begin our report at the brandenburg gate in berlin. germans may have a reputation for being reserved but not at new year the country goes firework crazy and nowhere more than the capital berlin thousands throng the streets around the brandenburg gate to welcome two thousand and eighteen and d w reporter rebecca rivers was there to soak up the excitement. despite something here to give them this year business entities have gone off without a hitch and despite all the out little they can seem to night is the maid here he's friendly and fun people just want to have fun. just ten hours earlier the sky above sydney harbor was a blaze with colors as australians greeted the new year.

another harbor another wonderful spectacle this time in hong kong. there were no fireworks in dubai this year they settled instead for a breathtaking a laser display at the city's eight hundred twenty eight metre high burj khalifa tower. to another tower now and london's famous big ben rang in the new year in the british capital. and france perrie's and looked on from the shows eighties and as fireworks soared above the uk to tell us. that of course rio's copacabana beach in brazil is never one to skip a party. and revelers in new

york's times square watched the iconic crystal ball drop. this year's new year's eve. saw the second coldest temperatures on record and lovers were outlawing lips to keep warm. some even decided to seal the deal as they said goodbye two thousand and seventeen hello two thousand and eight team. i. well north korean leader kim jong un has delivered a new year's address with a warning for the united states he said he has a nuclear button on his desk asshole times to be able to respond to any u.s. attack kim said the u.s. would be unable to wage war against north korea because it was within range of

pyongyang's nuclear weapons he was more conciliatory toward south korea saying he was open to talks and hopes soon lower minutes for tensions between the two neighbors. other world leaders have used their annual a new year dresses to give their outlooks for twenty eighteen with compiled some of their case statements for you starting with german chancellor angela merkel she used her speech to urge the country to pull together there saying that she was aware of fears that a rift was opening up in german society and the people of a coming divided over a range of issues she also called for greater european solidarity. towards 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 partly on the need is writ. on the international level we will be facing several fights in twenty eighteen and determined actions in the fight against islamist terrorism in the middle east and africa and on non-national soil. we must take the path of reform and openness to develop a modern china and bring about the chinese dream two thousand and eighteen marks forty years since china began to reform and open up we should use this anniversary to surmount all obstacles and carry the reform further to its ultimate triumph we've missed you but we are all together in this new year's night and we are all together in our daily pursuits as well. our solidarity friendship and unconditional love for russia multiply our strength giving us the power to do noble actions and great achievements history now to some of the other stories making news around the

walls in indonesia more than four hundred couples have taken part in a mass weddings in the capital jakarta the new year's eve tradition is designed to help the poor who are unable to afford getting married first as it is in hong kong have accused the mainland chinese government of violating the territories autonomy this off to beijing said part of a hong kong train station what come on the mainland or beijing insists the move will make travel more convenient and will not impinge on hong kong's special status costa rican investigators are working to establish what caused a charter aircraft to crash in a wooded area and the country's northwest the plane crashed soon after takeoff killing all twelve people on board ten of them were u.s. citizens. two more people have been shot dead in iran as a wave of protests 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 has since turned into wider protests against the country's islamic group. despite warnings of a government crackdown on demonstrations have continued across the islamic republic the protests have been serious enough to warrant a response from the president hassan rouhani in notes that worry about oh yeah i'm evolution bush 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 will definitely confront them in due time has a man whom all the. but protestors 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 be still meet 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 back in iran the protests rejoin the next few days will show whether demonstrators heed rouhani is call for calm a trumpet call to action. as a more on this now we're joined by athey correspondent eric randolph in teheran eric will protest as has been killed what more can you tell us about that. but we are quite limited information they were shot. because. the material media coverage and travel restrictions we don't know exactly how do you know that. were reportedly turned down of protesters stolen fire and drink in another town quests. but again with social media. it's quite difficult to verify information. it was hurt those warnings from law thorson's threatening to come down hard on protesters what does that mean and is

that the sign that's happening but so far from what we can sell the police have taken a relatively soft approach to the protesters the government does accept the president except on the chance of economic grievances driving the. rest so they want to see taking those serious leave of obviously drawing the line when it comes to using the islamic system as a whole out carrying out by that or damaging public property did our ports or government buildings religious asunder is being attacked in some places oh nights that would be a red line for the regime whether or not they actually bring the revolutionary guard really crack down remains to be seen eric where can we expect the protests to go from here and do they have broad support in iranian society. it's hard to tell there is

a that of any kind of leadership structure or clear demands there's a very there's a reckoning many people out economic problems in this country unlike the last mass demonstrations in two thousand and nine there are clear leaders that can directly these protests it's hard to see how something this is more for us to continue along but addressing those back and over concerns that people have is going to be very difficult situation for the government for the president. so it's likely that the disquiet and the frustration. is going to continue it won't form or another all right erica randolph monitoring the situation for us from tehran thanks for that. well the tennis season is about to get underway with the australian open starting in just two weeks if superstar new mother serina williams signs to take part the spotlight will surely

be on the for a while number one she's recently returned to the game just four months after giving birth. along with her twenty three grand slam titles serina of 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 number one return to the court at a tournament 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 limpy ok because usually i 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 ground is a limpia ok when she is older she'll be able to actually come out to the mashers.

brilliance lost a french open champion a 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. more news coming up here on the w. at the top of the album and now we'll leave you with some images of remarkable new year's fireworks as countries around the world rang in twenty eight enjoy and from

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