>> a warm welcome indeed to the journal. i am peter craven in berlin, and these are our top stories this hour. demonstrators and police clash as tens of thousands protest against the government in ukraine. grenades are thrown in an antigovernment protest camp. and a testing ground for goal line technology for the upcoming world cup.

it might be deep midwinter in ukraine, but the temperature in the conflict between government and the opposition is once again rising. i once broke out earlier today in tm when opposite -- violence broke out earlier today in kiev when protesters broke into security enforcers. before, tens of thousands had gathered peacefully at independence square to protest tough new legislation passed on friday, designed to suppress the protest movements. went on theesters offensive. hundreds clashed with riot police, turning the center of the city into a battleground. the professional boxer turned opposition leader was there amid the chaos. he appealed for calm. refrain protesters to

from violence, but in vain. the crowd turned on him. of more radical ranks protesters expressed increasing frustration with opposition leaders. some are prepared to do whatever it takes to oust the government. for the end of a peaceful demonstration on sunday, they tried to break through police lines. police officers were protecting the ukrainian parliament. passedek, parliament -- lawstest was which which are outraged so many that parliament itself is now a target. so far, protesters have not reached roman grounds, but they remain nearby. police have been doing everything they can to regain control. sunday's violence marks a turning point. until now, the pro-europe for test has been mostly peaceful. now, that has all changed. >> clearly a volatile situation

in ukraine. on the line is our correspondent in kiev. what is the latest you can tell us from where you are? >> we can still hear protesters firing stun grenades at riot police forces and security answering apparently by squirting teargas. ambulance cars are standing by. men armed with bicycle helmets or construction from its and clubs are running all over the place. >> the protesters are saying they are not going to back down. how are the security forces likely to respond, especially given the new anti-protest legislation? >> at the moment, the riot police are quite calm, standing in line, blocking the parliament. many attempts at storming it. that might change any time soon.

not let the protests go on like it is at the moment. many here in seattle are afraid that very soon the police might crack down on protesters in a brief and bloody crackdown. >> as you speak, we are seeing images from protests earlier that look very, very violent in deed. tell us now a little bit more about who the protesters actually are. they are clearly a very mixed bunch. areost of the demonstrators well-educated middle-class from key have, central ukraine, and the west. you even see people from the eastern parts, which is historically the area where we find support for the president.

they want the government to step down. they say they are corrupt. they want a better life for everybody, and not only prosperity for the corrupt. most of them are supporting the opposition party. and the fatherland party of the former opposition leader. there is a western ukrainian party, the freedom party. they are quite radical. they are nationalists. but everybody tries to distance themselves from the clashes or violence. a call for peaceful protest. >> before we go, give us a clue. we have been seeing these scenes of serious violence. who is behind the violence there on the side of the protesters? if you can keep it brief. it is way too early to say that. people among the protests

pretend that provocateurs tried to provoke the police cracking down on the protests. >> thanks for keeping us up to date from kiev. from those violent scenes to violence in thailand, where 28 people were injured when explosions struck a protest camp. a series of incidents of escalating violence and what has now man more than two months of protests aimed at bringing down the government of the prime minister. >> police in bangkok have found debris they believe came from ingmentation grenades used sunday's attack on antigovernment demonstrators. attackused in a similar in friday, and killed one and injured 20 more.

>> after the blast, iran. and i kept running. i suddenly felt pain around my head. there were pieces of shrapnel. the doctor took it out. >> the recent violence could be a turning point. people would rather be dangerous than be frightened. >> antigovernment protesters continue to rally around the firebrand protest leader. there is support from the urban middle class, and a government perceived as corrupt. the goal is to force the prime minister and her elected government from office. to establish an unelected people's counsel to push for changes to the political system. thegovernment accuses opposition of provoking violence in order to pave the way for the army to intervene.

demonstrators have taken control of several key government buildings. that protect the police who do not bar their weight with -- and they present police who do with roses.r way >> a-bomb landed in an army convoy exploded as it started to leave base in northwestern pakistan. the region aider stronghold of the pakistani taliban. they plan to carry out more attacks in the future. upset at the australian open in melbourne, where serena williams has crashed out of the tournament in the fourth round. the number one seed missed out on a chance to win her 18th grand slam title. >> serena williams took relief

from the court and the championships. her winningbroke streak. she was on strong medication for a painful back injury. she considered pulling out of the tournament. in the first set, the american struggle to overcome her opponent, and ivanovic -- ana ivanovic of serbia. in the second set, her trademark serves were matched stroke for stroke by ivanovic, ranked 14th in the world. she tried to make a comeback in -- third set, but ivana vick ivanovic proved unstoppable. she took the ranch, ending williams's bid for a sixth australian open title and putting herself through into the quarterfinals. >> less than three weeks to go

to the winter olympics in sochi. everybody involved in winter sports is aiming to hit form at exactly the right time. a round up of the latest action. sewed -- showed why she is one of germany's best medal hopefuls for sochi. she won the ultimate liturgy event to retain her world cup title. inther athlete came second the slalom, a head of the overall championship leader. a champion won the first ever event in the sports luge. he extends to the top of the standings. the figurey that was skating tournament in budapest. one duo took gold in paris.

others missed the tournament due to illness. >> pablo has won the abu dhabi championship, the first spaniard to do so. undert an impressive five par, 67 in the final round, winning by one stroke, just ahead of rory mcilroy of northern ireland and british open winner phil mickelson of the u.s., who tied for second. he had led for the first three rounds but had a disastrous final day, shooting at 77. one of the biggest questions in soccer is sometimes, did the ball crossed the line or not? the only way to really know the answer is to use goal line technology. technology will be used for the first time at the world cup in brazil. have been testing

their system and a fourth division club. >> goal or no goal? the stadium has turned to cutting-edge technology to answer soccer's most important question. 14 special cameras are capable of recording 500 pictures a second. the system was developed by the company goal control. the company headquarters are a laboratory. to be exact to five millimeters or better. he has not been a goal line draw that our cameras cannot measure. >> if it crosses the goal line, a signal is sent to the referee's wristwatch. in the matchup this season, the ref called no goal, with it cleanly by -- ricky . breaking the line.

hockenheimensors, would have had four more points. but some say bad calls are part of the sport. >> there is drama over fouls, offside or out. are talking about fairness. emotion and technology can work together. >> the technology can be used to assure fairness at the world cup in brazil. all 12 stadiums are being fitted with the systems. and there is hope that germany's bundesliga will adopt the technology as well. >> christians around the world are celebrating epiphany today. thepiece they celebrates baptism of jesus christ by john the baptist. in russia, freezing cold

temperatures are not enough to stop the faithful taking a plunge. >> it was almost -20 degrees celsius just before midnight last night. gathered by the water for the annual epiphany ritual. they immersed themselves three times in the icy water while making the sign of the cross. >> the baptism every year washes your sins away. >> bathing in freezing cold water has long been popular in russia. emergency workers were on duty in case of accidents. temperatures only dropped below freezing last week. >> i wanted to try it for a long time. today is the first time i have. it was fantastic.

my body craves the icy water now. cold, bathers do exercises to warm up again. what about christians who cannot face a dip during the night? they have all day to do so before epiphany ends at midnight. >> outside the knesset, the parliament building in jerusalem, israel held a memorial service for former prime minister ariel sharon. together with his sons, dignitaries from around the world paid their final respects. israeli president shimon peres was the shelter of israel. he was described as one of israel's greatest warriors. rest at hisaid to family farm in the negative -- in the negev.

>> look around you. look at the people gathering on the hill. look how they are thanking you for defending them, how they you,ure you, how they love how they miss you. >> sharon's politics polarized during his lifetime, that he will be remembered as an unyielding defender of his nation. >> the upcoming syria peace conference in geneva was the subject of talks in paris on monday. u.s. secretary of state john kerry issued a joint appeal with his russian counterpart, sergei laffer off -- lavrov. they called for some cease- fires. they also considered an exchange between the warring sides and the opening of humanitarian corridors to deliver aid to those trapped by the fighting. donor nations pledged over 1.7 billion euros for victims of the

syrian more on wednesday, less than half the u.n. appeal target. >> after two years coming in second, named the best footballer in 2014. an emotional moment for the portuguese star and his mother. >> good evening. i cannot find the words to describe this moment. >> the german goalkeeper was named best female player. and the men's award went to another german, the former bayern munich boss. there was a special lifetime achievement award.

it went to a brazilian legend, the only player to win the world cup three times, pele. >> welcome to the 71st annual golden globe award. weekllywood spent the celebrating the winners of the golden globes. johnny depp announced the prize for best drama. it goes to "12 years a slave." >> director steve mcqueen won with a moving story about racists and slavery in united states. "american hustle" collected three awards -- best comedy, best actress in a comedy for amy adams, and best supporting actress for jennifer lawrence. >> it is such an honor. cuaron takes the best director accolades for

"gravity." sandra bullock is an astronaut racing against time to get back to earth. they do in the week, oscar nominations were revealed in l.a. "american hustle" and "12 years a slave" go into that race as favorites. >> an annual tradition in france, the president's january press conference. this was planned to announce a plan to revive the economy. proposed a pact of responsibility. it is a simple principle. we will reduce the burden on enterprises, reduce restrictions on their activities. in return, they will create more jobs and strengthen the social dialogue.

>> interest in hollande's private life upstaged those concerns, despite his efforts to stay on topic. he said he was going through painful moments following allegations of an affair with an actress, refused to clarify whether his partner would remain first lady. élan said he would address the question before a trip to the u.s. scheduled for february. -based aantes in mexico crackdown on tuesday after the government deployed troops to the state of mature con -- to -- to put government troops. they forced the drug cartel to lay down their weapons. groups, go back to where you came from. go back to your regular lives. the safety of your communities is the responsibility of state institutions alone.

>> but the malicious are not prepared to leave the battle to government forces. the vigilantes say they are needed to do the job, and the state and the police are corrupt. >> holes closed in egypt's referendum after two days of voting. this clears the path for army sisi to run for president. >> i voted for the general to stabilize the country. >> as well as increasing his powers, it bars religious powers. that provision is clearly aimed at the muslim brotherhood and ousted president mohamed morsi. the islamist group called for a boycott of the referendum. that did not prevent the constitution passing by a huge majority. >> over 60 people died in a

series of attacks across iraq on wednesday. several car bombs went off in close succession in the capital, baghdad. you were also attacks in moz will -- in mosul. hours ine deadliest 24 a week of bloodshed. >> a trial opened in the hague on thursday, the first international tribunal to deal with a terrorist attack, and the first to start proceedings without the accused in the dock. the four defendants, members of hezbollah, are still at large. accused of assassinating the former lebanese prime minister in a beirut bombing in 2005. 22 others also died in the blast. >> the attack captured the attention of the world. effects reverberating long after the explosion subsided. the people of lebanon have the right to have this trial, to hear the evidence, and to seek the truth.

like the trial is expected to take months, and to reawaken old promise nine years after the assassination. despite the presence of international troops, sectarian violence continued throughout the week in the central african republic. eu whenday, a senior humanitarian official issued a stark warning. evidence thathe we have seen elsewhere, in places like rwanda, bosnia, the elements are there, the seeds are there, for a genocide. there is no question. >> tens of thousands of people have been displaced by spiraling violence between muslims and christians, but the u.n. says the situation could be turned around with a more robust international response. ukrainian demonstrators rallied at tf's independence square on thursday to express their outrage at a new law

passed in parliament. the legislation is aimed at preventing antigovernment protest. it includes risen sentences for occupying public spaces with temps were blocking access to government openings. the opposition leader denounced it as dictatorial. presidentay, u.s. barack obama announced changes to surveillance policy at the national security agency, the msa. obama assured washington's allies that their leaders would not be spied on again. last was anger in germany october when it emerged that chancellor angela merkel's cell phone calls had been monitored. heads of state and government with whom we work closely, and on whose cooperation we depend, should feel confident that we are treating them as real partners. came hoursspeech

after it was revealed that the nsa collects and stores 200 million text messages a day from around the world. obama stopped short of ending the bulk collection of american phone data. but he said it would no longer be held in a government database. >> at least 24 people died in a terrorist attack in the afghan capital, kabul. a suicide bomber blew himself in a restaurant popular with foreign aid workers and diplomats. he forced his way inside and opened fire on the diners. the foreigners were among dead, including employees of the u.n. the taliban claimed responsibility for the attack. shook thelosion bangkok on friday. dozens of people were injured when the blast occurred at a protest rally just meters from the opposition leader. along to clearg

a path so people could give him donations. i walked to the electricity pole 50 meters away from where it happened and heard an explosion. >> the attack came five days into shut down bangkok, an attempt by protesters to increase the pressure on the prime minister by blockading the capital. >> i have ordered every ministry to adapt. we have changed locations. for example, we are now at the defense ministry's permanent secretary's office, working remotely. >> the opposition has said it will continue protests until the prime minister is replaced by an unelected peoples council. says elections planned for february are the best way to solve the political process. >> the main events of berlin fashion week drew to a close on friday. alongside trade fairs like rhenium and bread-and-butter,

dozens of designers showcased their looks on the catwalk. there was a strong emphasis on fashion made from eco-friendly materials.

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