Hong kong rings in the new year with celebrations to actually been scaled down and prodemocracy protesters are making their presence felt as they all stood chairman kahlo scone flees to lebanon from japan where he faces charges of financial misconduct. So the u. S. Says it will send extra troops to the iraqi capital after members of an iranian backed group and their supporters surrounded the u. S. Embassy in baghdad it was in retaliation for sundays u. S. Air strikes on bases belonging to an iranian backed shia group in iraq President Trump has denounced the violence and accused iran of orchestrating it so when a full team has a report from baghdad. It was supposed to be a funeral procession commemorating the 27 fighters killed in the latest u. S. Air strike but instead it turned into an unequivocal message to the u. S. Well over the. Oh hundreds perhaps thousands of people are taking part in this procession currently theyre marching across the Hanging Bridge towards the fortified green zone behind me and this is of course where the u. S. Embassy is located and that is where they are headed of course this is not just a funeral procession this is a public show of defiance aimed at passing a message towards america the bear presence here in iraq is no longer welcome. Most of those here are members or supporters of the Popular Mobilization forces they pay their respects as the bodies pass by and they vow to avenge their deaths and the other on the lives of honor that all of this character the act was carried out by the u. S. And israel they will pay a high price we will take a strong stand and we will not forget the blood of the martyrs as long as there is breath of inside of us we will tell them that we are here on the street and we are here to stay and there will be an aggressive response to their bases are not seeing the top leaders support this march including. The leader of the biggest bloc in parliament and there is. An insurgency after the u. S. Led invasion they vow to use both military and political means to expel the u. S. Troops. Out of the dog this embassy has proved its conspires against iraq this is the embassy where they spy on iraq and where they lead to destruction of iraq this is where the saboteurs are supported for months Iraqi Security forces have guarded the green zone against antigovernment protests but this time they appear to have orders to stand down allowing the crowds to pass the checkpoint leading to the u. S. Embassy the protesters threw stones and set fire to the outer gates of the embassy the situation appears to be escalating now with hundreds perhaps thousands of members of the Popular Mobilization forces having the reach to the gates of the u. S. Embassy there for throwing stones theyre burning the trying to climb the wall to reach the u. S. Embassy home. And theyre chanting antiamerican slogans theyre demanding their way after all of american troops from iraq Prime Minister out of the matty has called on protesters to retreat condemning any attack on embassies but the fact that these crowds have been allowed to reach the embassy gates appears to signal the governments implicit endorsement of the message theyre trying to send to the Wonderful Team aljazeera but that and more now with mike hanna in washington d. C. Mike more troops headed to iraq any more details on that is this is being confirmed by the secretary of defense marc as bird would appear that the troops are not being deployed from the u. S. They will be redeployed from troops already stationed within iraq there are some 14000 u. S. Troops in iraq most of whom are involved in training iraqi forces in the ongoing fight against eisel these situations. Of confidence that would appear by the trap administration in Iraqi Government assurances that u. S. Property and personnel within iraq will be protected normally in matters like this the protocol is that the host nation would be consulted on the movement of troops within its own country not clear at this particular point whether this has happened but what we do know is that those troops are being reinforced at the embassy in baghdad a clear sign of how seriously the trumpet ministration views this ongoing situation mike as we watch these pictures i mean a u. S. Embassy burning and all these people surrounding it are sort of reminds you dont trump saying no more endless wars that was one of his phrases for a long time the sort of feeds into a dozen of people in america looking at this thinking well were getting attacked overseas. Indeed yes but a particular concern to the administration is the way in which the demonstrators managed to gain access to that green zone now its heavily fortified there are a number of checkpoints outside the green zone on the perimeter and then there are more checkpoints within the green zone on the way to the u. S. Embassy which is right at the center now the fact that protesters managed to get as far as the entrance to the u. S. Embassy is of great concern because it does mean there must have been some kind of Iraqi Security force agreement that they proceed that far hence the phone calls from the secretary of state to both the Prime Minister of iraq and the president asking for assurances that personal and property would be protected apparently these assurances have been given but the fact that more troops are now being sent to reinforce the protection of that embassy in baghdad a clear sign that the Trump Administration not taking these words at face value and as you say the picture of flames outside an embassy of stones being thrown at it of great concern not only to the trumpet ministration but to many within the u. S. Ok thank you mike hanna in washington d. C. These of the live pictures in fact from the embassy where it is about 5 minutes past 8 in the evening its not dying down is that that fire still at the gates there plenty of people still there as well simona folks in our correspondent detained by cell but from the area quite a few hours ago because it was getting too dangerous. Not as dangerous at the moment but not going down i thought. Lets move on with this story and look at the iranian perspective dosage of course money from explaining now why the iranian backed arrived why they were iranian backed political figures actually present at these protests. Is a very well known figure within the establishment in iran he thought on the iranian side during the iran iraq war between 1901900 80 has pledged his allegiances not only to the Islamic Republic and the ideologies of this country but also to the Supreme Leader as well as the head of the revolutionary guards full force awesome soleimani he doesnt make it a hidden fact that thats where his allegiances lie he is now head of the Better Organization which is part of the largest Ruling Coalition within the Iraqi Parliament group as is the man we just heard from he is the head of puzzle the network these are groups that came to be following the fall of Saddam Hussein and their various groups that were fighting amongst each other and also fighting against the u. S. Forces that were occupying iraq at that time they now are part of the government this is where the dichotomy lies within iraq their relationship with iran is something that has been ongoing for years and now that theyre officially part of the government that is something the United States cannot tolerate theyve said that this is part of irans quote to malign behavior its something really that dates back a long time it is not a recent development the relationship between. These sides so for this event today its very important to note that these leaders were there as a sign as a gesture it wasnt an accident that they were present at this event outside the u. S. Embassy its a message to the americans that not only do we not want you here but that we have the full support and cooperation of the iranians behind us. On to other news in sydney is welcomed in australias new year with thousands of fireworks over its famous harbor. That is despite the controversy though over whether this huge church should have even gone ahead thank you but the firefighters battling massive bushfires in the state of New South Wales flags on sydney harbor bridge have been flying at half mast for the 12 people have been killed so we had a 1000000 people gathering around the harbor for the dazzling display of pirate checks so well emergency workers are describing the bushfires though in eastern parts of australia as apocalyptic in New South Wales with sydney as many towns of come under orange and red haze as bush fires rage out of control for thousands of australians the beach became their only escape. There are actually fires burning in every states now with unprecedented intensity its a defect tory about currently among the hardest hit there are 260. 00 new fires in just the past 36 hours and that includes near the tourist town of. Manly has more on that. As a massive water pyros towards the town of. 4000. 00 people flats towards the beach those with boots went one step further as now the 5 fronts come through. Every one side the sand got the gas to the dogs up to that supply ill never see them or get. The fire burning across 730 square kilometers i think day began and could resume it turned day to night this video was recorded. Were just getting some invisible and i have a new site i reckon that they say. That its the wards of north east at the moment and it started in the town of no it didnt have the ability to there is currently under attack at the moment theres. The number of houses we believe was lost in and around that community weve got 3 structure im sitting in with a community literally standing with our community at the beachfront victorias premier looked towards the Australia Defense force for help wildfire bosses try to calm residents not just but across the states number of communities. And again this was a scenario that we forecast a number of guys ago so our focus today is very much about how we can gain how we can support impacted communities in the neighboring states of New South Wales scenes repeated the community have come to the local surf club with the ocean as their access and this was a bait during the new years holiday coastal towns a popular vacation spots authorities of tens of thousands of holidaymakers to go home or cancel their plans because the pavement for Evacuation Center in florida is really bad its hard. Apocalyptic this is the middle of a very. Major cities of north a state that choking smoke and flames on monday 100000 people were urged to evacuate from 5 soccer this disco in western sydney and. Australias water last season is breaking records. The 1st major fires started in Early September before the arrival of spring the product of soaring temperatures dry ground and strong winds theyve now destroyed more than 40000 square kilometers of land at any given time dozens hundreds of fires are burning and the full heat of summer has yet to arrive. Out as there are. But check on the headlines in a moment and then bangladeshs the opposition threatens to bring down the government unless its demands are met split up the writers from dhaka and also allegations of forced abortions here from ethnic say they were detained alongside we good muslims china. How the weather still looks a little unsettled across some Northern Areas of the middle east at the moment more rain more snow or cloud pile again you can see the thick a cloud that is coming out of the parts of syria seeing quite a wintry mix then as we go through wednesday its also some showers around the bases sort of the mediterranean pushing towards syria maybe towards lebanon as well and fair amount of fright and snow. Across afghanistan if anything that becomes more widespread as we go on through thursday affair but a wintry weather coming through here a couple temperature around 3 degrees celsius the disturbed weather well more widespread around the levant isis well that rain just sliding its way down towards israel maybe even into lebanon as we go through the next couple of days wet weather coming across parts of Northern Syria into Northern Areas all of iraq ahead of that weve got some cloud which will fade its way across Northern Areas of saudi arabia and we will see a few spots of rain on that launching a little further south which as we go on through thursday i think will stay fine and dry here in doha temperatures at around 23. 00 degrees meaning meanwhile its fun to drive across much of south africa we have got want to choose showers just around the mountain say but the wet to weather the north america aska. The headlines on aljazeera this hour members and supporters of an iranian backed group have surrounded the u. S. Embassy in baghdad some areas were set on fire and Iraqi Security forces fired tear gas and stun grenades to disperse the crowds the u. S. Is deploying additional troops to secure the Baghdad Embassy the pentagon says its been given assurances of protection by iraqi leaders President Trump tweeted as well and called on iraqis to rise up against iranian influence and fire crews in australia continue to battle the bushfires that have ravaged areas of the country thousands of people in the south east were trapped overnight on beaches as flames spread around them. Were about an hour into 2020 in hong kong and news celebrations have been scaled back the government reduced its big traditional fireworks display here to security concerns when for all the still a few fireworks there but mostly lights actually the city is bracing for more protests times to disrupt new years festivities and to government demonstrations now into their 6th month when in fact we have a quick look at the live shot there is a familiar sight isnt it right police lined up in the streets on the streets of hong kong. They look to as we say potentially disrupt some of the festivities. That are going on. To keep an eye on those pictures while we have a look at this reporters rough and if youre kampala. Happy new year and this is happy new year Hong Kong Style here im at the waterfront usually this place is teeming with surest with the revelers watching those yearly fireworks as though you were talking about which have been canceled instead what they did see was a very brief laser light show and a few fireworks from rooftops theres been a call out for protesters to come gather here throughout the day weve seen protests across the city in through 29000 style disrupting shopping malls disrupting road setting up barricades but mostly what weve been seeing is skirmishes here and there d right police out in full force there about 6000 of them now the authorities have tried very hard to make sure that we dont see much protest here and protesters weve spoken to many of them who have come out without their masks have come out some of them have put on their master mostly that just been shouting slogans so even as those fireworks at the laser light display was going on people were Still Standing shouting fight for hong kong stand with hong kong we still saw flags calling for independence for hong kong the you know the National Well what theyre calling the protest anthem glory to hong kong was being sung throughout the evening there are still lots of people around many of the protesters mingling with the hong kong people and tourists here. Chinas president has said he sincerely hope for the best for hong kong and its people this was in his new years televised speech she jinping went on to say that a prosperous stable hong kong is the aspiration not only of hong kong people but also the expectation of people in Mainland China prodemocracy protests in the semi autonomous territory began in june people were upset then about the bill to extradite criminals from hong kong to Mainland China legislation which was withdrawn with the demonstrators now demanding wider political reforms katrina you has more from the so on this from beijing. During his new years eve speech she jinping seemed to emphasize 2 messages patriotism and unity this was really a speech that was about whipping up the National Fire of the Chinese People but reminding them of some of the main successes of the communist party this past year in 5 g. Technology the building of new airport and most importantly the celebration of the 70th anniversary since the founding of the peoples republic of china it was quite a bit devoted to the splendor of the glory of that parade but there was one damn spot in xi jinping speech he mentioned the success of macau the 20th anniversary of macau which took place in december but also he mentioned that the Chinese People were quite concerned about what was happening in hong kong he said that not without mentioning directly the protesters that it was difficult for the people of hong kong to enjoy their lives without stability and you wish the hong kong people well now this speech very much is is also about. Rallying the people he actually mentioned that china is not afraid of any dangers of any obstacles of any barriers and i think thats a he was his subtle pointing to some of the challenges ahead and the reality is china is starting 2020 on the back foot this is a country which is experiencing a lot of difficulties at the moment he listed a lot of achievement of some of the things he didnt mention as at the moment china is embroiled in this trade war with the u. S. Which has not seen a substantial resolution its seen these ongoing protests in hong kong it seemed taiwan pulled away even further and its also seen a growing spotlight on reports of human rights abuses against the we can was a population engine john so for xi jinping this speech was all about really calling on the Chinese People to stick together really firing up that nationalism and also reminding him reminding them that is that there is a lot of hard work ahead and we see that Going Forward its not only going to be about positive. Messaging for the Chinese People what we also expect is a way to clamp down on any dissent that china is really going to intensify things like patriotic Patriotic Education and also where it will be going to see some ramping up of things like surveillance and censorship on behalf of the communist party the deadline for government in Central African republic to hand over their weapons is passed and theres no sign that done so 41 people have been killed in days of fighting between market traders and armed groups in the capital bangui the trade has issued a 48 hour ultimatum to the gunman to surrender their weapons or face a war United Nations has sent more troops to the region but they are struggling to keep pace. Muslim women who were detained in northwest chinas detention camps have accused of abusing them and forcing to have abortions aljazeera has spoken to some and in part 2 of our special series of summer binge of aid reports on the plight of ethnic say they feel there is nothing they can do to bring justice to bring their abuses to justice. On this wall in the in kazakhstan are the faces of people who were held in china relative say theyre being held in internment camps but beijing called reeducation camps to counter what it calls extremism goes here was held in such a camp she didnt talk about her experience until after shed been awarded citizenship in kazakhstan she says abuse she suffered has scarred her for life and she frequently suffers headaches. When i was crossing the border they saw i am using whatsapp i was detained and sent for thera medical test they found i am pregnant and forced me to abort after the abortion they isolated me in a clinic they gave me some medicine which they said was for tuberculosis i dont know what it was members of the Turkey Community accuse chinese authorities of using abortions as a weapon against muslims either women afraid to reveal their identities have also told al jazeera about abuse at the camps the relative safe haven in kazakhstan is only for its nationals and does not apply to ethnic conflicts or chinese nationals and thats among the causes creating empty China Sentiment inside cars because. Dozens of people were arrested in neutral tunnel monte during in mt sinai demonstration in september these men crossed illegally into gaza to stand after the reportedly face terrorist meant by chinese authorities. And where i get him only now risk being sent back to china activists see events like this fuel and to sign a sentiment and kazakhstan should not roll over for its powerful neighbor if it nick. Jews are prosecuted mass massively a prosecutor for example in russia in europe israel states they will talk against of its government defense any it doesnt in the world this analysts working with a government funded think tank says the china kazakhstan relationship is a delicate subject the message chinas internal affairs but is sometimes if you take take into account the United Nations motions. We go if your stance or position. Was quite pragmatic and we abstain from voting. On. This motion so we have more independent stance and about the same time where realize that your political reality so i believe its. A style diplomacy where we try to sustain their illusion the same time show our case some question why should kazakhstan oppose china with which it shares a 700 kilometer border when other muslim majority countries support beijing earlier this year more than a dozen member countries of the organization of islamic cooperation or i. C. Signed a statement in favor of chinas policies commenting on internment camps the Chinese ForeignMinistry Spokeswoman has said the reagan ethnicity is part of the big family consisting of 56 ethnic groups in china tightly united together like the seeds of a pomegranate they are living a better life and fully enjoy freedom and rights china also enjoys friendly in close relations with the vast majority of muslim countries in the world. Many of because exceed chinas violating human rights on a large scale in the name of fighting terrorism they say their next generation has been killed before birth and their Muslim Identity is being systematically erased yet they argue there is no leader from the islamic world standing up to support them. Some injury down to 0 and marty. Bangladeshs Main Opposition Party is demanding a rerun of last years election its held a rally in the capital dhaka at least a dozen people were injured during the protests on monday when Police Stopped to protest us from marching towards the Prime Ministers office. Was at todays rally to find out why opposition supporters are refusing to give up their demands for this new election. This is because their protest by the United Opposition Alliance and the leftist pot is in bangladesh across the country their main protest is about 11 parliamentary elections that took place on december 2018 months. Every day people are facing various kinds of problems and the government is unable to soviets this government is unelected and in the just cements they should let go of the power and hold an election and democratic process on the same by the leftist party united tried to brought out a procession heading towards the Prime Ministers 2 office was confronted by the police and there was a major clash at least dozens of people were injured and freeway been. Under he not in bangladesh there is no democracy now the present government is unelected and illegitimate we all rejected the last election and demand a new election under a neutral caretaker government yesterday Police Attacked us in a peaceful protest rally many were injured which is why we are here to protest. The government is saying they came here with the public mandate the election was free and fair although its making them nervous that i want to hear my dad moved on by the Opposition Party against the government right now considering a lot to face red without knowing a crisis and whats going on across the border i mean the last thing they want to see a Political Movement in bangladesh. The former chairman of nissan has fled to lebanon from japan where he faces trial over allegations of financial misconduct carlos ghosn has a lebanese passport and was arrested in tokyo in 2018 but released under strict bail conditions he said he didnt flee justice but in fact escaped injustice and political persecution his lawyer said his legal team held 3 of guns passports and called his behavior inexcusable. As outside guns residents in beirut explains now what the government had to say about the escape. We now have confirmation from the lebanese government that mr bowen is indeed in lebanon there was a statement that was issued by a lebanese general security its a very brief statement it reads carlos cohen has entered beirut in a legitimate way and there is no need to pursue him legally i guess that really puts to bed the question as to if the lebanese authorities are going to be cooperating with any request by the japanese to perhaps extradite mr go and of course you know in our political unit there is no extradition treaty between japan and lebanon so that adds to the murkiness around this case we are indeed right now in eastern beirut its a rainy day where in the neighborhood a ship be a behind me is one of the houses own by mr goh and we do not know if he is indeed there there is a bit of a security presence here right now one car from the internal Security Forces and a few of their Police People that are here guarding this house but theres been no other incidents to speak of out here today now there was a Statement Issued by mr goh in spokesperson in france several hours ago he had said that he was not fleeing justice but in fact he was escaping injustice now im paraphrasing there so let me read you a little bit more of what his statement said mr goh and said i am now in lebanon i am no longer hostage to a biased japanese judicial system where the presumption of guilt prevails where discrimination is widespread and where human rights are violated this in total disregard of the laws and International Treaties that japan has ratified and which it is bound to respect. Coming up in evening here in doha but several parts of the world have already welcomed in the new year what is going to leave you now with some sights and sounds from around the world. We take you to the headlines now on al jazeera members and supporters of an iranian backed group have surrounded the u. S. Embassy in baghdad some areas were set on fire and Iraqi Security forces fired tear gas and stun grenades to disperse the crowds the u. S. Is deploying additional troops to secure the Baghdad Embassy the pentagon says its been given assurances of protection by iraqi leaders but President Trump is also tweeted and called on iraqis to rise up against iranian influence more from mike hanna in washington now the fact that protesters managed to get as far as the entrance to the u. S. Embassy is a great concern because it does mean there must have been some kind of Iraqi Security force agreement that they perceive that far hence the phone calls from the secretary of state to both the Prime Minister of iraq and the president asking for assurances that personal and property would be protected apparently these assurances have been given but the fact that more troops are now being sent to reinforce the protection off that embassy in baghdad a clear sign that the Trump Administration not taking these words at face value. Emergency workers are describing bushfires in eastern parts of australia as apocalyptic in New South Wales many towns have come under orange and red haze as bush fires rage on of control officials confirmed another 2 people have been killed by the fires there bringing the fire linked death toll to 12 the former chairman of nissan has fled to lebanon from japan where he faces a trial over allegations of financial misconduct carlos ghosn has a lebanese passport and was arrested in tokyo in 2018 but was released under strict bail conditions. Celebrations in hong kong have been scaled back the government reduced its big traditional fireworks display security concerns the citys bracing for more protests timed to disrupt the news festivities these antigovernment demonstrators now into their 6 months those headlines and inside stories coming up next. Public anger millions around the globe took to the streets in 2019 to vent their anger against government wants behind this global dissatisfaction and is this action making any difference this is inside story. Hello welcome to the show im sam is a than the year 2019 will be remembered for the wave of protests that swept the world with millions of people protesting to demand change often those