this is d w news live from berlin pro-government marchers rally in iran after days of unrest targeting its regime tens of thousands hit the streets in a show of force for tehran but elsewhere the anti-government protests have

continued. also coming up u.s. president donald trump hits twitter with a flurry of warnings to america's adversaries we look ahead to what could be another turbulent year for the white house at home and beyond. i'm sorry kelly welcome to the program thanks for joining us we begin in iran where authorities are trying to turn the tide against anti-government protests that have swept the country pro-government demonstrators have taken to the streets in several cities across the country according to bis footage aired by a wrong state media it follows nearly a week of unrest that has left at least twenty one people dead and hundreds arrested the country's supreme leader has blamed foreign meddling security forces are struggling to contain the boldest challenge to iran's clerical leadership in nearly a decade. the protests have drawn people from

a range of frustrations but some in iran say that adds up to a movement that lacks a clear message. layla took part in iran's last major protests in two thousand and nine she was a student then but this time she's not participating. she's interested in politics and wants to see reforms in her country but she's skeptical about the current protests aimed at president rouhani and against economic conditions in iran. more yet you think you would back then members of the political system stood behind us that was important but today that's not the case. i understand the economic hardship the unemployment rising prices but with the current protests i do not see a clear goal there's no concrete plan demonstrations need to be organized. by the about them it is either of us it has all. we ask if it's dangerous to

protest the whole thing as banish was of course many students end up in prison this way without achieving anything but maybe this time they'll accomplish something nobody knows if the demonstrations had a clear goal maybe i would take part again along with my entire family. was quite ambitious to shake out when. it's mostly very young people often without any job prospects who have been clashing with security forces they're seeking out confrontation by attacking police stations and ripping up posters of iran's supreme religious leader on tuesday the supreme leader spoke out about the protests for the first time and he blamed foreign elements that that's. but iran's enemies have conspired together and are using various means such as money weapons politics and intelligence services to sow unrest in the islamic republic.

where your entire group the population is divided some worry about further restrictions in the wake of the. testes others are sympathetic to the young people and their anger. corruption and nepotism higher salaries for politicians these are not crimes a simple worker who doesn't even get his minimum wage and is now defending himself this is a crime. the protests carry on and the warning from the revolutionary guards still applies if the unrest doesn't stop they will intervene and put an end to the uprising once and for all. and for more let's bring in political analysts in iran expert paulo thanks so much for joining us when we look for example at these pro-government demonstrations that we have seen in the past twenty four hours what do you make of them is this a sign of a changing tide in favor of the regime or is it merely propaganda. well this has

happened before into cells nine and this was hostile tried in the first days in the twenty ninth of december that the regime also tried to do that this is only normal in a country where there are millions of members of militia that it is able to gather some crowds but not in the least it means that there is a sizeable support from the population to the authorities i think that now controlled what happened in two thousand and nine protest is absolutely widespread it is from west to east northeast and it's not the middle class movement is not a problem we dean the regime between so-called roof reformists and conservatives it is challenging to the regime itself it is the crowds saying

we do not want theocracy anymore we again between conservatives and reformists he's over we couldn't care less with it any longer we want democracy and this is such a powerful strong and unanimous voice around the country that makes of it the biggest political event in much much a long period of time not only in iran but at the world level right so what does that mean then internationally speaking because i mean we see you standing by there in brussels with the european union flag waving behind you from a european perspective for example how isolated is the regime there in tehran. i think that the to run regime is the oldest and most important form geodes type of government in the middle east it is ideologically believed to caly and

militarily it is the heart of the. hardline islamist policy and the meaning of this is clear that the people that have experienced for a longer period of time this type of government is absolutely fed up with it this is no alternative to the real problems that the whole of the muslim world is encountering the muslim world as everybody else wants democracy wants rights to be respected is not a band of fanatics and this message is going far beyond the borders of iran. so what should the policy they be then going forward because i mean if we look for example at the iran nuclear deal i mean that was very clearly a policy of engagement with iran was it the correct one. oh i don't think so

i think that we only have to compare the way that the west faced the soviet challenge to understand that this is not the case because the soviet threat was challenge not only on the nuclear weapons front which is obviously an important one but or the human rights field fundamentally else in the process and against the expression of the soviet union and these three elements that go together once radio and what happened would use nuclear deal was that every single source forgotten and the nuclear issue was seen as some technical issue that you could go suitor out of the rest of the circumstances and i think this is a great error human rights can never be forgotten. so we have to leave it there that there but we thank you so much for sharing your expertise on

iran we very much appreciate it it's just north korea has reopened a suspended communications line with south korea in what may be a sign of thawing tensions north korean leader kim jong un ordered a hot line at the country's border be reconnected the two koreas have been making overtures to improving ties since new years that is when kim signaled that he wants to see north korean athletes cross the border to join next month's winter olympics in the south. let's get a quick check of some other stories making news around the world a suicide bomber has killed at least eleven worshippers in a mosque in northeastern nigeria the bomber attacked a mosque in the town of gum boru there has not yet been a claim of responsibility for the attack. many businesses and schools in the indian financial hub of mumbai have been forced to close as protesters from a low caste community blocked traffic and staged sit ins for a second day daal it's called the strike in protest against attacks by right wing

hindu groups in the city. on monday. u.s. president donald trump has started the new year with a flurry of tweets directed at america's adversaries and partners that he says need to toe the line for north korea's leader he had this to say i too have a nuclear button but it is a much bigger and more powerful one than his and my button actually works trump also threatened to cut aid to the palestinian authority saying that after paying hundreds of millions of dollars the us wasn't getting respect he added with the palestinians are no longer willing to talk peace why should we make any of these massive future payments to them and the us president also address the protests in iran the people of iran are finally acting against the brutal and corrupt iranian regime all the money that president obama so foolishly gave them went into terrorism and into their pockets well iran north korea the middle east peace process all among the many challenges that the u.s.

president will have on his plate in twenty eighteen at home investigations into alleged links between russia and trump's campaign also remain open our washington correspondent carson phenomena sent us this report on what lies ahead in u.s. politics this year. there is little dolls who will dominate the headlines in the united states this year once again donald trump like him or not the president has up and it's washington's way of doing business we broke every record it's the largest i always say the most massive but it's the largest tax cut in the history of our country tax reform might be trump's only big legislative achievement so far but the president has used his many powers to change the u.s. for years to come the environment consumer rights immigration foreign relations trade and the judiciary have all been affected donald trump has even changed the

way journalism works these days this is arguably the most important tool of journalists covering the white house has a smartphone to follow the president's twitter feed and to find old what is on donald trump's mind today or the next owner or the next minutes until the next tweet anywhere on average the president treats seven times a day in addition to speeches and other statements trump rants against what he calls fake news parents conspiracy theories and so its opponents celebrities and even members of its own party and praises himself for his real or imagined achievements like ending the alleged war on christmas i told you that we would be saying merry christmas again i've and donald trump certainly isn't done yet his next big project is infrastructure the united states might be the world's only remaining global superpower at least for now but back home much of its

infrastructure is crumbling like this hybrid just outside washington. i the president hopes that his new initiative will for a change be popular across party lines but there are still many open questions like what kind of infrastructure projects you'll bridges and airports or will equip schools and hospitals and who's going to pay for that donald trump's tax reform already blows a big coal into the federal budget and then infrastructure package for a come on top of that now some republicans want to cut welfare programs to plug that hole but that's a no go for the democratic party especially in an election year and in fact the democrats stand a good chance to win a majority in both chambers of congress in autumn after all trump's approval ratings are at a record low for any u.s. president in modern history of to

a year in office they hover at around thirty five percent so his biggest hope for a boost in popularity is continued economic growth or perhaps the outbreak of a major international crisis. nothing makes americans rally behind their president like the threat of war and in particular when it comes to north korea and its nuclear program trump hasn't been holding back they will be met with fire fury and frankly power the likes of which this world has never see before and there are quite a few people here in washington who fear that trump might follow through on his threats this year the rhetoric of trump and some of his supporters on north korea shows parallels to the bush administration just before the invasion of iraq and so it raises some eyebrows when the commandant of the u.s. marine corps recently told his troops a war is coming and they should be prepared for a big fight. the pentagon quickly

backpedaled saying the marines should always be prepared but with such an unpredictable commander in chief look everyone is reassured so two thousand eight hundred promises once again to be a turbulent year in the u.s. and the role in the world. you're up to date now on news i'm sarah kelly in berlin and coming up in just a few moments equal pay for men and women in most countries struggle to get there in fact. we will take you go to i find where it is now the law that's coming up with ben physical in just a minute. visit to the course nothing is what rule twenty five your story for us which topics will shape the next twelve months. for you don't you steve.