don't leave me for mines. you know. this is d.w. news live from berlin celebration this as the world welcomes twenty eight to thousands of rollers turned out for new york's scout down on times square despite near record low temperatures and tight security we're going to take a look at the festivities there and around the world. but in north korea twenty

eighteen begins with a threat to dictator kim jong il warns the u.s. its entire territory is within range of his nuclear missile and that he has the button on his desk for the office an all of player branch to neighbors south korea to get the latest from seoul. and iran's president hassan rouhani warns that there will be no tolerance for violent protests as new deaths are reported in anti-government protests it's. a matter of it is good to have you with us new year's revelers around the world have been treated to spectacular displays of pyrotechnics as the world welcomed the new year security arrangements were tight as people assembled at iconic venues around the world so we're going to begin our reports here in berlin at the

brandenburg gate. the. germans may have a reputation for being reserved but not at new year the country goes firework crazy nowhere more than the capital berlin thousand strong the streets around the brandenburg gate to welcome two thousand and eighteen and t w reporter rebecca rivers was there to soak up the excitement. this night something here you can sense this here this kid said to days have gone off without a hitch he hadn't despite all the outbuilding can seem to night is the maid here he's been late and the 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 shells easy as fireworks soared above the uk to us. 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 so. well 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. i know. well and some very different news north korean leader kim jong un delivered a new year's address with a warning for the united states he said he has a nuclear button on his desk at all 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 but he was more conciliatory toward south korea saying

he was open to talks and hoped to lower military tensions between the two neighbors . for more on that let's bring in correspondent josh smith he joins us from solve josh kim seems to be sending some mixed signals what is the south korean government making of his statement by the south korean government has a lot riding on the next few months especially the winter olympics in february which they hope could be a kind of catalyst for use tensions so it seems like they definitely a bit of hope in what kim had to say let's hear what they had to say to the speech on monday so south korea's presidential office has always stated all reeling this to talk with north korea at anytime and anywhere if it would help restore in the korean relations and lead to peace on the korean peninsula.

so kim's overtures to the south korean government are likely to be well received whether however that can translate into more progress on some of the meteor issues like. nucular weapons programs and some of the more controversial elements of the conflict on the peninsula remains to be seen already there were some harsh words for the united states in this speech and indeed twenty seventeen is going to be remembered as a year of serious saber rattling between kim and donald trump is there any reason to see that change in twenty eight thousand kim's speech show it was perhaps not as fiery as it could have been as you mentioned after year of many major tasks including the missiles that the north claims can now get anywhere in the continental united states something that raised tensions and those tensions are

not expected to dissipate analysts expect that kim will continue his testing program and the speech made sure to outline the fact that she has those missiles they are operational and he's willing to use them if he is threatened josh smith thanks so much for joining us from seoul thank you. let's move on now to some other stories making news around the world catholics are celebrating the world day of peace and the vatican pope francis celebrated a solemn mass to mark the occasion he won the world's one billion catholics to be aware of gossip and what he called the banal any of consumerism and to focus on what really matters. protesters in hong kong have accused the mainland chinese government of violating the territories autonomy this after beijing said part of the hong kong train station would be would come under mainland law beijing says

that the move will make travel more convenient and will not impinge on hong kong's special status. people in the indian capital delhi woke up to dense fog this new year's day it's said to be the thickest this season commuters were left stranded after flight operations from the city's international airport were suspended delis air pollution levels are many times the global safe limits. well iranian state television says that ten people have been killed in anti-government protests that have erupted across the country over the last four days it said armed protesters had tried to take over police stations and military bases the demonstrations began against corruption and inflation and they've since turned into wider protests against the country's islamic rulers. 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. 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 protesting should be done in such a way that will improve the country situation but others in government were less diplomatic. hammy after 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. 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. this guy in america who wants to sympathize with people today gotten that he called iranians terrorists a few months ago. 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 back in iran the protests rejoin the next few days will show whether demonstrators heed rouhani. or trumpet call to action. for more we're joined by a.f.p. correspondent in teheran. earlier today we heard reports of six people who had

died in the protests iranian state t.v. has now been talking about ten people what more can you tell us about the. well there are limited reports coming from the provinces has been a bit of a blackout limits to internet coverage. tonight but you know six people were killed in one town over a shooting broke out on for another town we have very few details on that i'm not saying whether that was the school or otherwise a couple of other people were killed what did you not seen and another attack some government buildings and a school for the clergy so it does appear like the protests are continuing quite a bit for various parts of the country. yeah i thought they have threatened to come down hard on these protesters exactly what do they mean by that and is there any sign that that is already happening though again it's very difficult to tell at this stage the fact that some people are dying now this isn't the most violent

night so far does it just things up in stuff but up until now the government has been talking to take or rather soft approach. where there are legitimate economic grievances as well as people who are pushing a more onto regime more violent approach to the stuff stray sions of course there are always the threat of a more severe crackdown on remember the crackdown in two thousand and nine when the revolutionary guards actually brought it whether these protests can survive that kind of option we're going to see where the protests go from here exactly i mean how much support do you reckon this movement is getting across iranian society. so it's. just so one of the problems of protest there's no ship there's no clear structure to this throughout so quite

a most economic grievances so it's difficult to see how it's instant sustained so in the long term without that clear focus to drive it forward and also many who know that if the state wants to crack down they have the neck and isms to do so and the present government. will not be tolerated right eric randolph thanks very much for the update from tehran fast and furious chess moves were on show over the past week at the world rapid and blitz chess championships with saudi arabia playing host to most of the top players on the planet alex and human rights controversies were also an element of the competition. they use the german word blitz as in lightning quick but there is no thunder in blitz chess it was quiet in the massive hall that

saw world number one magnus carlsen power through more than a dozen opponents to win for the women it was not. of georgia taking the blitz prize but she acknowledged that the favorite had skipped the event ukrainian and music czech said saudi arabia's record on women's rights was the reason she would not defend her blitz and rapid chess world titles she wrote it's a fight for being myself for my principles for the dignity of the women but the saudi royals have recently pushed for social openings even moving to permit women to drive cars in twenty eighteen they reportedly were granted hosting rights after paying one point five million dollars to the world chess federation four times the standard annual fee but then they refused israeli players besides to get to the tournament. one expert in middle east studies said about the championships it was all about internal and external saudi politics but it did declare international

champions for the new year. so you might have decided to take it easy for the new year's holiday chill out a little bit that's exactly what these people in the netherlands decided to do as well it is a new year's day tradition thousands of people jumping into ice cold north sea waters wearing bright orange hats they say it's the best way to start off the new year fresh. again at the top of the hour or you can check us out on the worldwide web dot com. crime fighters the new season of radio crime thrillers begins. with. lucian domestic violence cyber crime and human trafficking for investigative cases that keep you on.