this is d.w. news line from berlin chaotic messages from washington amid fears of the war with iraq the u.s. says it's not pulling troops from neighboring iraq after 8 leaks a letter suggested otherwise it comes as iran supreme leader orders the general assassinated in a u.s. drone strike also coming up the trial of former film producer harvey weinstein begins in new york he's facing charges of rape and sexual assault there as 2 new sex crimes charges are filed los angeles and australians count the cost of the

bushfires in the appeal for funds to help save their unique wildlife but the government warns the danger is not yet. i'm called aspen welcome to the program amid fears of an armed conflict between their 2 nations the leaders of iran and the united states engage in a war of words 1st president donald trump threatening to hit as many as $52.00 iranian targets if iran were to tally its for the assassination of general so money and now president assad rouhani has tweeted back saying quote never threaten the iranian nation in tehran huge crowds turned out for the funeral of the general and others killed in the u.s. drone strike. another crowd in coleman saying goodbye to general has sam

soleimani the latest stop in an unprecedented funeral tour of iran. earlier in the capital tehran supreme leader ayatollah ali how many weeping over the remains of iran's top military commander. and the man slated to take that post as mile ghani kissing the coffin solem monies assassination is considered a declaration of war by many iranians the generals daughter has promised revenge oh yeah part of our the higher 5 was not only quite that bad of all the families of american soldiers in western asia have witnessed america's humiliation in syria iraq on levanon afghanistan yemen and palestine they will spend their days waiting for the death of the children radical hands. on the streets of tehran the general's death seems to have united regime critics and hardliners. i think it his blood has

given us life and strength on land and we demand revenge and must be military revenge against the americans alone we will avenge the general in exactly the same degree and so on good data had those of us soon found out that had those of us on the american side u.s. president donald trump continued to deliver threats via tweet his latest a simple all caps iran will never have a nuclear weapon. so little over effects ripple through the region trumpets also threatened iran's neighbor iraq its parliament approved a measure to end the presence of u.s. forces in the country while iraq's interim prime minister tried to balance its alliance with the u.s. and iran telling the us ambassador the cooperation was key. there's no sign yet what form iran's revenge will take but to iran has already announced that it will no longer abide by the 2015 nuclear deal raising the stakes further. well

let's go to washington now our d.c. correspondent carl like are standing by there carla we're getting conflicting signals about whether the u.s. military is willing to withdraw from iraq after the country's parliament voted unanimously in favor of that what are you hearing now. well there's a letter that appears safe and send by the u.s. military to the iraqi military saying that u.s. troops would be moved out of fact before moving on and the u.s. respects iraq's sovereign decision to order u.s. troops out but right after that letter was released pretty much secretary of defense mark espers said there have been no plans to pull out of iraq and the joint chiefs of staff chairman said that the letter was only a traffic was a mistake and should never have been sense. now carlos' we saw president trump

tweeting earlier in all caps in the west so that iran will never have a nuclear weapon of course he pulled the u.s. out of the wrong nuclear deal so how does he plan to achieve that goal. well it's hard to see how the president trump should still have any control over this after pulling out of the nuclear deal day the u.s. started this campaign of maximum pressure and imposed a lot of sanctions on iran but those don't really appear to be working and iran has said that it will now and rich. with no restrictions how is all of this news a mean it just seems to be evolving so quickly how is it being received in the united states. there are 2 sides. of the government and of course all the trump supporters are celebrating what they are calling the the end of the appeasement under the obama administration they're

saying that the previous administration has been way too soft on iran for way too long but on the other hand you have a lot of people here horrified by what they see as president trump pushing their country to the brink of war with iran i carla bleicher our d.c. correspondent following that story for us thank you very much. and as fears of war in the middle east mount global leaders and scrambling to cool down the tensions there's more exercise maximum restraint restraint on deescalation exercise maximum restraint. world leaders had one message for the iranian government as the country mourns the death of journalists on the money and . nato is especially worried the military alliance fears for the future of the empty terror mission in iraq 2 days ago the government in baghdad put the project

on ice niger secretary general is urging tehran not to fan the flames a new conflict would be in no one's interest so we are all must refrain from further violence and provocations. the european union fees for the future of the run nucular deal. in light of recent events tehran says it no longer feels bound to the agreement. the european union's nucci views are asking them to stick to the deal. on with flushed into iran must understand that it is in its own interests to come back to the new peer agreement and it is in all our interests is that iraq maintains a levelheaded position. cut un secretary general and her new terror is voiced his deep concern. more and more countries he says are making decisions with unforeseeable consequences pushing the world towards the brink of war.

restart dialogue re new international corporation let us not forget terry boll human suffering caused by war. as always argue that the people pay the highest price. for terrorist says the world is in turmoil and restraint is what it needs most right now. all right here's a check now of some of the other stories making news around the world a bomb blast in nigeria has killed at least 9 people and left dozens seriously injured the explosion took place in a market on the border with neighboring cameroon among the reported victims are children who have been selling vegetables the jihad a strong local wrong operates on both sides of the border. millions of orthodox christians have been observing christmas eve they use the julian calendar meaning that this is christmas week for orthodox christians around the world the date also marks the holiday of the 5th anie which is celebrated in some western christian

churches as 3 kings day. the trial of former film producer harvey weinstein has started in new york weinstein is facing charges of rape and sexual assault brought by 2 women at the same time he faces new charges the district attorney there has charged him with raping one woman and sexually assaulting another on consecutive nights in 2013 weinstein has denied the new york charges and he says any sexual encounters or consensual the disgraced former hollywood mogul harvey weinstein arriving at the new york supreme court the 67 year old continues to use a walking frame as a result of the noticed car accident for which the police report details no injuries the film producer will face 5 charges brought by 2 women including one of rape the woman who accuses weinstein on that most serious charge remains anonymous the other is former production assistant mimi has who alleges the pope fiction

producer forcibly performed all rule 6 on. both of my clients in this case. have been very brave very courageous because they're willing to testify under oath to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth so help them god 6 women in total to testify if found guilty on all charges one sting could spend the rest of his life in jail and we're going to continue to press on and remind everyone that in this great country you are innocent until proven guilty i always like to on the other side of the country the los angeles county district attorney announced yet more criminal charges relating to a different matter good morning i'm here today to announce that my office has charged harvey weinstein with sexually assaulting 2 women in los angeles county once the defendant's case is completed in new york we expect him to appear in a courtroom in los angeles county to face these charges the 67 year old sickened

with justice will come after proceedings in new york a finished process that could take up to 2 months. our correspondent pablo following the trial from new york and he sent us this assessment after day one. harvey weinstein was once the king of hollywood the much lauded producer's kingdom began to crumble though back in 2017 when it was revealed in the us media that there were dozens of accusations of sexual misconduct against him out of a group the meet to movement and that brings us up to 2020 and the trial which began in new york on monday in that trial there are 2 women who are accusing harvey weinstein of 5 charges in total among them a rape and predatory sexual assault and he could be sent to prison for life if he is actually found guilty of these charges prosecutors also want to show that there is a pattern of behavior in harvey weinstein over the past couple of decades and for that

reason the prosecution are bringing in other women who have accused him of sexual assault now what's also been quite dramatic on this 1st day of the trial is that across the country in los angeles to new charges were brought against harvey weinstein one for rape and also another for sexually assaulting a woman back in 2013 so a very dramatic day here in the united states a conviction for harvey weinstein in those new charges in los angeles could result in a 28 year prison sentence but of course this trial is going to be taking place over the next few months so everyone here in the united states is waiting for some very dramatic revelations indeed australia's government has pledged the equivalent of a 1000000000 and a half u.s. dollars to help communities ravaged by the devastating bushfires which have been

raging for months a prime minister scott morrison warned that the fires would continue burning for months to come at least $24.00 people have died and thousands more have lost their . returning to the rubble a break in the weather is giving some bushfire victims a chance to reflect on what they have lost. or everything's just gone we've got nothing memories. maybe for the shovel or something in the shade so they but that's about all that but we do have edibles. so we've just got to be thankful for the videos are still emerging from the recent days of devastation this one from an air force plane trying to deliver supplies to trucks residents it was forced to turn back. here what was once a skiing resort in the snowy mountains is now a charred wasteland. similar scenes are bound across australia is fire ravaged

southeast and while cooler temperatures and some light showers are providing sprinkles of relief for a he's warned worse may be to come. we can't be complacent the last until at least the end of march and given where the conditions could be on the time the fires are still burning the fires are still burning and they'll be burning for months to come after facing heavy criticism the government now says it will commit billions of dollars to the relief efforts but more helping hands are still needed animal rescue shelters caring for injured wildlife are seeking donations. this rich country is now fighting to save its natural treasures. and the reminder of the top story that we're tracking for you at this hour iran's leader ayatollah khamenei led the prayers of the funeral of general dostum so the

mahdi and others killed by u.s. drone strike on friday president rouhani of iran has borne president trump to never threaten iran. you're watching t.v. news from berlin coming up a look at the rise of rock and roll in a very unlikely place francisco franco's spain i'm called aspen i'll be back with more to be sure. it's time to take one step further and face the council. in time to search the unknown but for the troops. time to overcome barriers and country the world it's time for a d.w.i. . coming up ahead.