this is g w news live from berlin pro-government marchers rally in tehran after days of unrest targeting the regime tens of thousands keep the streets in a show of force but elsewhere anti-government protests have continued. also coming

up a further step toward dialogue on the korean peninsula north korea opens a key line of communication to the south following overtures from both sides. and iceland moves to close the pay gap the new year brings a new law making it illegal to pay women less than men for the same work. plus u.s. president donald trump hits twitter with a flurry of warnings to america's adversaries we will look ahead to what could be another turbulent year for the white house at home and beyond. and the drug crisis that is wreaking havoc in communities across the united states we meet with some of the young people paying a heavy price for their parents' addiction. 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 the anti-government protesters that have been sweeping the country now pro-government demonstrators have taken to the streets in several cities across the country according to this footage aired by iran's state media it follows nearly a week of on rest that has left at least twenty one people dead and hundreds of 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 with a range of frustrations 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 she's back then members of the political system stood behind us that was important but today it's not the case i understand the economic hardship the unemployment rising prices but with the current protests i don't see a clear goal there's no concrete plan demonstrations need to be organized. but hard to think about by the about i mean is either of us in ties over. we ask if it's dangerous to protest. of course many students end up in prison in this way without achieving anything. quite ambitious a shake at one of. its mostly very young people often without any job prospects has been clashing with security forces there is 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. iran's enemies have conspired together and using various means such as money weapons politics and intelligence services to so on risk in the islamic republic. the population is divided some worry about further restrictions in the wake of the protests others are sympathetic to the young people and their anger and 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 this amber 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 control it 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 did in the regime between so-called reformists and conservatives it is challenging to the regime itself it is the crowds saying we do not want theocracy anymore we the game between conservatives and reformists is over we couldn't care less with it and the 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 of 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 tiran regime is the oldest and most important form geodes type of government in the middle east it is ideologically politically and militarily it is the heart of the. hardline islamist policy and the miming 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 in countering 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 on the human rights field fundamentally else in the process and against expressions of the soviet union and these three elements that go together one hundred years ago and what happened we'd use nuclear deal was that everything

else was forgotten and the nuclear issue was seen as some technical issues that you could go see either out of the rest of the circumstances and i think this is a great error human rights can never be forgotten. that we have to leave it the that there but we thank you so much for sharing your expertise on iran we very much appreciate it. let's get a quick check now of some other stories that have been making news around the world a suicide bomber has killed at least eleven worshipers and a mosque in northeastern nigeria the bomber attacked the mosque in the town of gumbo where there has not yet been a claim of responsibility for the attack so many businesses and schools in the indian financial hub of mumbai have been forced to close after protesters i mean low caste community blocks traffic and staged a sit ins for a second day doll it's called the strike in protest against attacks by right wing hindu groups in the city of pruning on monday. a ryanair passenger who apparently

got tired of waiting to be bored gets used in an emergency exit to get out onto the wing of the plane the incident took place in israel mollica airport about half an hour after arriving from london stansted airport police arrested the fifty seven year old after the plane's crew talked him into returning to. 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 the hotline 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 more on this i am joined now in the studio by hottest moser he is

a professor from the school of east asian studies at berlin's from free university rather because of much for joining us. what do you think is behind this surprise announcement that the line of communication is back open well first of all it's very important that north korea reacted at all and quite right off to the positive response from south korea to the proposal from the north. and of course it's symbolically very important to reconnect this land line that is the only one has been had been the only connection between the two countries until it was caught on the right as conservative governments of south korea but what is mostly important here is that it was not surprising at all that north korea came forward at this point of time because even the foreign policy of north korea needs to direct. the direct dialogue and the dark connection it's for for their strategy to be implemented it's like fire that only burns with oxygen so is it fair to say that

that is a diplomatic breakthrough a potential deescalation or is it just another phase in the conflict well that depends on how you define breakthrough but i would say these talks if they take place would be already very successful if they only talk about for example the athletes to be sent to the south or maybe for family reunion and maybe other corporations in the human to human tarion sector and i would also discourage both parties here not to press to demand too quickly for the big issues on the table speaking of demand speaking of pressing the u.s. president also speaking about diplomacy with north korea speaking in fact about the nuclear issue i would just want to quickly throw up a tweet and show it to our viewers before we get your take on it because he basically warned that the new u.s. nuclear launch was was always within easy reach in fact he wrote i too have a nuclear button but it is much bigger and more powerful one and then his of course

referring to the north korean leader and my button actually works. how do you see trump factoring into diplomacy with north korea and just generally speaking i mean does he have a point here what is the state of the north korean nuclear program does the button not work for example there's of course a difficult question but first of all i think there was we could expect from to react in this way where do you see said something in not too bad but of course it doesn't help if the twitters in this way that doesn't help to improve the situation actually the opposite is true it worsen the situation and doesn't help to improve it. to the to the button i think we can be quite sure that kim jong il doesn't have a button on his table but we have to be clever here and we have to assume that his weapons will work in case you want to use them everything else would be stupid. but

the more important thing is not the size of a button but the size of the brains of those actors involved but the terms comments and i mean you know the comments are always come fast and furious also similar to the comments of the north korean leader we have to mention does it have the potential to sideline this this effort on the part of the south to engage the north diplomatically speaking. as i said it could interfere negatively in the times from the south to proactively approach north korea to improve the situation but so the room for the south korean president when jane to navigate with it is very narrow but he has to make the best out of it he can and we thank you so much for telling us a little bit more about the situation there on you are an expert of course on north korea one is most lair professor from the school of east asian studies after lin's for a university. you're watching the news

still to come on the program israel's prime minister is facing corruption investigations we will take a look at how big a threat they are to him and his government. well the new year has brought with it and you lower in iceland an international first it was already illegal there to pay more than women for the same work but now iceland is the first in the world to make both public and private enterprises accountable to those rules. until now women in iceland have earned an average nineteen percent less than their male colleagues but those days are over equal pay for equal work has just become a must irrespective of gender ethnicity sexuality or nationality the new law will cover over one hundred fifty thousand workers. so far women have borne the cost of

the gender pay gap and if that cost is too high to reach our goal we're all going to have to work hard now we have the perfect chance to do so. the new law affects one thousand two hundred companies in iceland which employ at least twenty five workers who now have to publish their wage scales there are courses to help them implement the new rules on completion companies get a certificate which has to be renewed every three years. the memphis doctors this will affect employers first and foremost they're offering the jobs but now it's up to them to shoulder their responsibilities. and be part of this mission with us pack up these that are that good to talk to close the country's gender pay gap by twenty twenty two and the other countries have made similar moves for now iceland is the global pioneer. to germany's jobs bonanza unemployment is at its lowest

level since east and west were reunited back in ninety ninety the labor agency says joblessness dropped from six point one percent to five point seven last year domestic demand surged exports continued to ride a recovery in the u.s. china and other european states just over two and a half million people in germany were registered as jobless the number of people holding a job reached an all time high experts say that could rise further over the next year i asked economists was tough on what the robust results mean for the rest of the world. so only the facts the rest of the world very positive because those people have a drop in germany buy goods even imported goods so these border brought all over the place that certainly helps the foreign economies and domestic as we pointed out domestic mad is surging here the us doesn't like germany's economic power though

does it no it really doesn't because germany has an export surplus and. president trump interprets that as a kind of german. crowding the united states' economy which isn't true actually but certainly it's his interpretation and your policy or your outlook that you've released today. does concentrate quite a bit on mr trump and his policies are you worried that much about a man who's only managed to get one bill through congress so for his term well if it just were president trump i wouldn't be that much maury but certainly the other people wrong in the both would certainly say not just us first but other countries first and certainly this is a drawback for international trade in the long run and international trade as a grossly affected the german economy set by that because we strongly rely on our exports surprising nationalism elsewhere as well how long then will these jobs continue in germany well at least for now that you think because we expect the

growth rate of two point three percent to germany's though and that means the drop greaseball go on further this year however if there is any international event that adversely affect the global economy and the investment process we will be hard hit what about national politics germany doesn't have a government yet it's voted in a new government that was three months ago but. we already seeing some sort of a business that there are executives who are already saying that the world is watching well it's not yet any harm but in the longer run or in the medium term even we need some action and this government count make any action that we need to see. on the european integration we need an incision on the investment in germany and this decision can only be take if you have a functioning government and we're going to have another year of record low interest rates how important is that then that is important because it stabilizes the euro area as a whole but we think that fiscal policy should assist monetary policy to step in

laws the euro area and we strongly recommend a more expansionary fiscal policy last year's report pointed out that the economic momentum in the euro area is not yet robust or was not yet robust enough to withstand significant rate increases and would grind to a halt in the face of the strong euro appreciation the euro is now at a three year high how does that change things well certainly the year was very high at the moment and that might lead to a more stable largest global economy because you have an exports applause for the u.s. as a whole and we should balance or extol balance and that helps a strong euro it doesn't respect inflation because we need a higher inflation rate in a weaker europe would help them all so you've mapped out what the mid-term looks like the long term as far as the next year goes but what about further than that how how do you see germany developing economically and as as a global player but it certainly depends on how investment is developing in germany especially public investment because our infrastructure is burgeoning in the longer

run that certainly will adversely affect our economy low productivity growth low real income growth and so we have to fix that economy is good stuff one thank you very much for coming in and thank you very much for your outlook. moby's to come including the most high profile chinese deal torpedoed on the trump there thanks so much dan but in the meantime we're going to head to ethiopia because the prime minister has announced that the country will release all of its political prisoners and close its notorious prison camp the announcement comes after months of anti-government demonstrations the protests led to a state of emergency that has since been lifted it is the first time that the government has admitted holding political prisoners but ethiopia has long been accused of arresting critical journalists and opposition leaders. and israel protests have been growing against prime minister benjamin netanyahu he is under mounting pressure after police opened an investigation into possible

bribery fraud and breach of trust the prime minister denies the allegations and calls them politically motivated well our correspondent tanya kramer went to one of the protests aiming to oust netanyahu. bibi go home bibi go for for the past five weeks every saturday thousands have been demonstrating in tel aviv against corruption what started as a small weekly protest organized by a former employee of the netanyahu president has now gained pace people here would like to see the corruption investigations into israeli prime minister binyamin netanyahu move forward they stealing my money my taxes my future. that's why i'm here simple as that i'm walking here because the government is corrupt prime ministers should go home immediately and they were sacked that i want to change the government because i think it is corrupt that it's what's written here

you go home the time has arrived they have been in power for too long work which exactly for four months the police have been investigating the people around the israeli prime minister netanyahu in surface question six times his former chief of staff is now a key witness there three investigations case three thousand has to do with possible problems paid during the purchase of german submarines netanyahu has not been accused himself but some of his trusted advisers have in another case netanyahu allege he tried to influence to publish a daily newspaper to make his coverage more positive and in the most prominent case to date authorities suspect him of preceding gifts from business people and close friends champagne cigars together with tens of thousands of check outs we have this cloud hanging over the government's head of three different criminal investigations involving the prime minister. at any given point any of them could lead to a police recommendation to indict netanyahu benyamin netanyahu when says has

repeatedly denied all charges causing the accusations against the family and obsessed with returned by the left wing and by host. of get more now we're joined by national guard members a journalist and a blogger in tel aviv thanks so much for being with us and i want to talk about these protests because we understand that they're gaining momentum how wonderful what you say is prime minister netanyahu well really depends on what happens. in their recommendations situation is. stable but. at the moment that investigation is. recommend to the prosecutors that an indictment. we made against. the political situation is going to become very very unstable. and there will be intense pressure for him to resign the major question

here is how much of the pressure will come from within his own camp right when coalition. is coalition is made up of a number of parties he has a great deal of control over his own we could already. but defections from within the coalition of course could lead to a. crisis the government right. there i don't talk a little bit more about that because you've actually been to the protests i've heard that you have seen members of government as well as former ministers taking part there is that correct. i admit that i have not been. sorry for the misunderstanding there are reports that. the members to be more exact members of the parliament in their. civically from it keep party.

is the center right the most centrist party in. right wing coalition and the one who support. is also a new party. and it doesn't have the. historical cohesiveness of some of the older party and. holding that party together and preventing it from bolting the coalition if there are recommendations tonight will be major challenges for without a party in the close he no longer has a majority in parliament and within his own party i mean is he also facing criticism within his own ranks and if so when can we expect to see developments in the investigation as well as those questions when at a time before the last. week and a half ago there was a additional demonstration by right wingers typically recently against

corruption and that was a major development because these were people who strongly identify with the current government but about the corruption so seeded with it and that's a possible indication of the road on the right. leading up to the demonstration two members of his party members of parliament from his likud party said that they were going to go to the demonstration they were put under strong pressure from. office immediately before hand and and backed out. whether those are. the tip of the iceberg and those who cling to greater dissent or. his ability to keep them from going is a sign that you've got the party under control that will come.

into a few days ago the word out would be any day now because. of the investigation it's supposed to retire in one completed. her. apologies tom we have to leave it there we thank you very much for telling us a little bit more about the situation there in israel and especially with regard to the prime minister there watching t.v. news back in a minute. is this music. and if it is who's making it. through the nerd meeting the pioneers of sound aren't. sound hunters' a musical exploration. in forty five minutes on d w.

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frank food. international gateway to the best connection self road and rail. located in the heart of europe you are connected to the whole world. experience outstanding shopping and dining offers and try. services. be our guest at frankfurt airport c d managed by for a. welcome back you're watching news i'm sarah kelly in berlin our top stories in iran tens of thousands have taken part in pro-government rallies following days of unrest targeting the regime and these twenty one people have been killed and hundreds of arrested during a week of anti-government protests. and north korean officials have re-opened a communications hotline at the border with the south the move comes amid

a possible thawing tensions between the two koreas with leaders on both sides making calls for dialogue. one ounce of the united states where president donald trump will soon begin his second year in office iran north korea and the middle east peace process are among the many foreign challenges on the president's plate and at home there is no end to the investigation into alleged links between trump's election campaign and russia our washington correspondent carson phenomena sent us this report on what lies ahead in u.s. politics. there is little doubt 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 sway over 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 will trump has even changed the word 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 month today. or the next hour or the next minute until the next tweet anyway 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 celebrities and even members of his 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

by 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'm 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 will 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 seen 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 not everyone is reassured so two thousand and eighteen promises once again to be a turbulent year in the u.s. and their role in the world. and another challenge for the united states in twenty eighteen is that ongoing opioid crisis every day dozens of americans die from drug overdoses the children of drug addicts are the other victims in the crisis some are removed from their parents for their own safety and cared for by foster parents our next report focuses on one girl who has endured great hardship as the daughter of recovering drug addicts. it's

a moment fifteen year old athena gregory can enjoy when she can focus just on herself behind her lies a horrific childhood as the daughter of drug addicts she bore saw responsibility for herself her little brother and her parents you always have to stick by your parents' side. even when they are doing what they aren't supposed to do you have to hope as much as possible and be as brave as possible. back then there was no such thing as cooking a meal together the family moved constantly and they often lack basic necessities at the end they lived in a motel. athena's parents existed in a drug fueled hanes first pills then heroin. you know i went my hair when i had athena with me and i was in the basement of this

these people's house and i was shooting heroin in their house and she was upstairs in the living room watching t.v. and she'd run through the house to try to get rid of everything she would find our heroine and she would flush it down the toilet or she would break the needles. and then on the hand you know we're just getting a matter of her a lake why you know why would she do that. it was very clear why she was just wanted us to stop. the authorities intervened when athena was eleven and she and her brother was sent to foster parents. and. the lady said you and your brother are going to come with me and we're walking down the stairs and i just remember seeing my dad like crying and just being like i promise we're going to get you back i promise we're going to see you and stuff with drug addiction in the u.s. across the country the numbers of those affected have skyrocketed experts say it's

an epidemic including here in florida. drug abuse dictates many people's lives especially in poorer areas one result neglected children. orphanages are rare in the us. instead the government relies on foster families to take in children at risk and geo seek out suitable foster families for increasing numbers of children. in this region alone there are almost three times as many foster kids as there were three years ago when a child is taken in here he or she needs comfort clothing and a new home. the save children coalition also has presence on hand just in case a child is removed on his or her birthday. if no relatives are willing or able to help brenda slater and her team have four hours to find a new family in accordance with regulations our entire circuit has been removing an

average of eighty five children a month so we had a day last week where we had ten children removed in one night within two hours so when situations like that happen you know we're calling foster parents but there are not enough foster families to take on this important responsibility. as a foster mother she took an eight in when he was nine months old and made sure that his contact with his birth mother never broke off kate explains how it is when drug addicted parents suddenly take a super view of their own lives to keep that momentum going day in and day out when you're sober for maybe the first time in your life and you're confronting all sorts of. what i hear about whether overcoming but when they are when you think about what they have to go through day to day if they can see that maybe every day and it's like this is what i'm working for this is what i'm doing that's. a court gave his mother one year to get her life in order after she had overdosed on heroin

since they had a. background of drug use and my other two children are in my custody because of my drug use you know they gave me a case plan right away and at that moment i was like ok now i'm done that's it so i wasn't going to lose you know another child into the system because i wanted to go and use drugs. katherine has made it after eight months she got her child back but she fears her past might destroy her children's future. you know i'm very scared because it's more likely for an addict's children to become at it and i know that i've struggled with it for a while and that would actually kill me to watch my child. in my. and the gregory family are picking up their youngest from the school bus stop for years the big sister athena was the only reliable parent substitute for anthony who suffers from

autism and epilepsy his mother even used drugs while she was pregnant with him now she's played with a guilty conscience. and i'll never know if my actions had anything to do with how he turned out but i can't help but think about it and always think about it you know he's going to pay for something. that i chose to do for us in his life with a. she's not as worried about athena the teen violence to never go near drugs. to her i just want to prove to people that i don't have a higher risk of that and that i am myself i me and my brother are us we are not based off of our past and we're we are the family that we are now we are nothing like we were before. athena knows exactly what she wants after high school graduation she wants to go to beauty school her dream is to have her own salon.

heartbreaking story about a glimmer of hope that we can see there and we also see ben physical and is here with us now i'm talking about some concerns elsewhere in the united states over national security and exactly this is a huge corporation deal that was very close to going through but u.s. regulators have blocked the chinese phone from purchasing american money transfer company money gram citing national security concerns is there pointed out there the move effectively ends the one point two billion dollar attempt by chinese a payment company and financial to acquire money gram the decision was made by a five person panel tusked with reviewing foreign purchases of u.s. businesses it reflects growing unease in the u.s. over chinese acquisitions of technology firms and financial is owned by jack ma the founder of the popular e-commerce site alibaba.

china's ride hailing platform did each rushing has made a key acquisition in south america the chinese company purchasing ninety nine taxi the largest ride sharing operation in brazil to the two sharing which competes with reportedly paid over two hundred ninety million dollars for ninety nine taxi the brazilian stop is just a few years old but already has some one hundred forty thousand drivers registered in hundreds of towns and cities including sao paulo and rio de janeiro. and let's pull in andrea hang out age a corpse fondant in say a boat talk about that first story regarding money gram and financial the deal being discovered by u.s. officials what what are the security concerns that they were quoting there andrea. well the big catch phrase of this big deal that went flat is cyber security ben the u.s. is concerned about the safety of the data also its u.s.

citizens if china if china. and financial takes over this business further than that they have not specified what other concerns they have but this is quoting to report the treasury department is also used to using global payment being an option such as visa and master cut to run the financial programs is also to help to align with the u.s. foreign policy goals which i am i talking about a pretty huge deal here one point two billion dollars i guess a major letdown for money gram and for a financial. this exactly right is very very big blow to of course jack ma who owns and financial under the group and also is the second acquisition that's been negotiated that failed the first being by your own net so it is a major let down fall on both ends of the spectrum it is also

a very big blow for china as a fin tech industry as well ok thank you very much for your analysis. ok and. a very long running story this coalition it's taken what three months and we go one absolutely america lumber vacations and in fact to sift through before on that can happen because you know during the upcoming coalition talks to form a new german government a request from refugees to reunite with their families will be one issue that is topping that agenda it is a politically charged complicated and expensive process and even when german authorities approved family reunifications the red tape in places like greece for example can prolong the wait our next report looks at what this means for the people caught up in the middle who say that they are the victims of broken promises . more yard and his younger brother abdul rahman like living in cologne their new home but they say they can only be truly content when the rest of their family

joins them the two brothers traveled along the balkan route from syria and arrived in germany two summers ago they've been waiting for their parents to join them legally ever since. people here told us it would only take about a month or two but two years have gone by in the meantime has been raising his little brother on his own he speaks with his parents every day on skype he says his mother has the same question each time. but what did you do in school today. the rest of the alissa family is stuck in the northern greek city of thessaloniki despite permission from german authorities they haven't been able to travel to cologne their case seems to be stalled in greek bureaucracy. it's so hard that so far away i wish i could give them a hug. for the family going back to syria is

unthinkable even once the war ends one of five sons was shot dead in aleppo he was twenty two years old. i still dream about him all the time. in the last one he laid his head on my lap and i stroked his. i told the military man that i missed him. the other children try to keep their parents spirits up eighteen year old amar goes to school in thessaloniki but she's taught herself to speak german in hopes of joining her brothers in cologne and studying further she's tired of living in limbo. i know what it is in and. it's been two years since i've seen my brothers all of us my siblings it's such a long time. in the cysts so. in cologne the two brothers have to be patient along with their parents some forty five hundred other

refugees are waiting to join their families in germany we asked the german federal office for refugees and migration why some of the family reunification seem to be taking so long one of the arguments was that everything needs to be organized with the greek authorities and that's not always. has this message for his parents until he sees them again is from the sort of i miss you. and i'm waiting for you it's for a call for. he adds that he's ready to wait as long as he has to until his whole family can be together in germany. and sports another injury a blow for bundestag a champions byron munich goalkeeper spend all right heard his finger during a training session at the club's camp in qatar he broke off training for treatment it's not yet clear how serious the injury is he has been in goal for biron ever since first choice keeper manuel neuer injured his foot back in september the

twenty nine year old has put in standout performances to help the fire into the top of the bundestag that leaves thirty six year old tom stark next in line to take over between the posts. and one of the highlights of the year twenty eight teams will be for many the royal wedding of prince harry and meghan markle on may nineteenth. and for more on that royal nuptials we can join us now by adrian kennedy from our culture desk who has been following this. very closely i understand adrian but first up you've already received your invite haven't you why don't i have my position as we speak but i'm pretty sure it's on it's why i believe the post can be rather slow at this time if you're ok but meantime back to reality we understand

you know this is really big event for you but there are other things going on yes i would talk about the cultural year twenty eight c. now and as you say there are other events other than the oil wedding perhaps not in the same leak but we've been sorting through the wheat and the chaff for you we're going to take a look at some of the things coming up starting in the beleaguered world of film. in march the academy awards will celebrate their ninetieth anniversary actor gary oldman has a good chance of taking home an oscar for his portrayal of former british prime minister winston churchill and the political drama darkest hour. we war. hearkens could win best lead actress for what's technically not even a speaking part in guillermo del toro's the shape of water the british actress plays a mute cleaning lady who falls in love with an amphibian creature. is there

anything you don't know. batman director christopher nolan has so far been overlooked by the academy but he could win his first oscar for the world war two ever q. ation drama dunkirk. in two thousand and eighteen two cities will enjoy the spotlight as european capitals of culture dutch new warden on the north sea. and the mediterranean port capital. due to its medieval architecture valetta carries the nickname open air museum of history. in the visual arts there will be plenty of focus i'm good stuff klim as vienna celebrates the same tina ri of the austrian symbolised painter's death but several exhibitions claimed as consider at the end

venter of the art nouveau style in vienna. one of his best known works is the kids . and that is not there are some other vague anniversary is coming up as well that's a revolution in the work of the youth of the world who no doubt unites on may fifth . anniversary. of the. communist manifesto we're talking of course about. marx there so expect appraisals of his work and his influence for so many of the problems capitalist society faces today his birthplace of tree trio will be honoring him with a major exhibition. also the fiftieth anniversary of the nine hundred eight power was. a watershed year of student vote here too there will be much debate about the true legacy and the spirit of one thousand nine hundred sixty eight. so

now i have to ask you to weigh in what is your personal highlight one of. the one that we are already gearing up for is of course the berlin international film festival this year i can already tell you that the jury president will be a mr tom. who i believe we can see here he's been much in the news recently due to the success of the t.v. c series. the festival will with. the sins of the hopes it's a stop motion feature which takes place in the near future in japan docs have been banished to trash an outbreak of flu twelve yo boy arrives in search of his month so that's the first time that an animation film has opened the. country to look forward to go a wedding or celebrating mox or the talk movie so

a lot to look forward to in twenty thousand if you're bored you're not looking in the right places perhaps the moral of the story adrian kennedy from our culture desk as always thank you so much thank you. you're watching news a quick reminder of the top stories that we have been following for you in iran tens of thousands have taken part in pro-government rallies following days of unrest targeting the regime at least twenty one people have been killed and hundreds of arrested during a week of anti-government protests. north korean officials have reopened a communications hotline at the border with the south the move comes amid a possible fall in tensions between the two koreas with leaders on both sides making calls for trial. you're watching news from berlin we have more coming up at the top of the hour and don't forget you can always get all of the latest news and information around the clock on our web site that's dot com

you can follow us on facebook and twitter i'm sorry we will leave you now with something a little bit frostier some images of the bone chilling cold that has been gripping much of the united states over the last few days enjoy.

thank you for the.

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this is you know we do is live from berlin unrest in iran the government tries to turn the tide and change the narrative tens of thousands hit the street in a show of force for the government at least twenty one people have been killed and hundreds arrested during a week of anti-government protests that have world the country also coming up as.