point waves surfers fighting against unseen pollution in the seas starting january seventh w. this is d w news live from berlin in north korea twenty eighteen begins with a threat of the dictator kim jong un mourns the u.s. its entire territory is within range of his nuclear missiles and that he has a launch button on his desk but he offers an olive branch to south korea. also

coming up iran's president hassan rouhani warns there will be no tolerance for violent demonstrations it's this new deaths are reported in anti-government protests. and celebrations as the world welcomes twenty eight teams thousands of rounds revelers turned out for new york's countdown on times square despite near record low temperatures and tight security. a matter and it's good to have you with us 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 at all times to be able to respond to any u.s. attack 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 hopes 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 or the south korean government has a lot riding on the next few months especially the winter olympics in february which they hope could be the kind of catalyst for use tensions so it seems like they definitely saw a bit of hope and what kim had to say let's hear what they had to say i've heard a speech on monday so i think south korea's presidential office has always stated oh reeling this to talk with north korea anytime and anywhere if that would help restore in the korean relations and lead to peace on the korean peninsula. so kim

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. nuclear weapons programs and some of the more controversial elements of the conflict on the peninsula remains to be seen. all right 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 was perhaps not as fiery as it could have been as you mention after year of. many major tasks including missiles that the north claims can now hit anywhere in the continental united states something that raise tensions and those tensions are not expected to dissipate analysts expect that kim will continue his testing program in 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 that josh smith thanks so much for joining us from seoul thank you 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 these demonstrations began against corruption and inflation and 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. about oh yeah i mean 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's 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. 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.

terrorists a few months ago let it. 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. the next few days will show whether demonstrators heed. a trumpet call to action. for more we're joined by correspondent in teheran. earlier today we heard reports of six people who had died in the protest 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 and for another time 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 see in and another attack some government buildings and a school of the clergy so it does appear like are 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 is been the most violent night so far does it just things up in stuff but up until now the government has been working to take a rather soft approach. where there are legitimate economic grievances as well as

people who are pushing a more onto regime more while perched at the stuck tray 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 the 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 . sure. so one of the problems of protesting. structure this grew out so quite a most economic. survey it's difficult to see how it's instant sustained so. without that clear focus to drive it forward. you know if the state wants to crack down they have the mechanisms to do so.

the present government. will not be tolerated all right eric randolph thanks very much for the update from tehran we can move on now to some other stories making news around the world catholics are celebrating the world day of peace at the vatican pope francis celebrated a solemn mass to mark the occasion he warned the world one billion catholics to be aware of gossip and what he called the banality of consumerism and to focus on what really matters. protestors 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 come under mainland law ageing insists the move will make travel more convenient it 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 fast and furious chess moves were on show over the past week at the world rapid and blitz chess championships with saudi arabia playing hosts to most of the top players on the planet. and human rights controversies were also elements 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 an amusing 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 visas 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. well new year's revelers around the world have been

treated to spectacular displays of pyrotechnics as the world welcome the new year security arrangements were tight as people assembled at iconic venues around the world we're going to begin our reports at the brandenburg gate here in berlin. 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. despite something here he can sense 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 sold. 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 eight hundred. i. well meanwhile in rome new year celebrations prove wet and cold for a few hearty souls daredevil divers lined up to take the traditional general first plunge into the tiber river every year police want the seventy to drop is dangerous but old divers and main undeterred. aren't you're watching d.w.

new still to come with the main shopping season over how are retailers in germany doing and what's their strategy to compete with online vendors we're going to talk to an expert in our business segment coming up after the break. all that more coming up with christoph kober that sounds a bit like the banality of consumerism from both for us we'll try to make it not as bad as much as valid as you may think. and i think there's a real meeting with journalists that people trust that can make sense of all this and can explain what's actually happening. and it's not just about being fear or being neutral it's about being true.