Well get the very latest from tehran also coming up north korea reopens a key line of communication to the south along their shared border the move suggests a thaw in relations between the two rivals with new calls for dialogue on both sides. And reuniting refugees in germany with their families stuck elsewhere we hear the story of one family divided between germany and greece and look at why such reunifications are proving very difficult. Im brian thomas a very warm welcome to the show we start this program in iran where antigovernment protests are sweeping the country at least twenty one people have been killed hundreds have been arrested the countrys Supreme Leader has blamed a foreign meddling as Security Forces struggle to contain the boldest challenge to irans clerical leadership in nearly a decade the American Ambassador to the United NationsDickie Halley has called for an emergency session of the u. N. Security council on the situation after six days of demonstrations protesters are showing no signs of backing down. Video footage reaching dortch avella through social media shows the extent of the unrest spreading across iran. The violence which has rocked the country for nearly a week appears if anything to be escalating. These pictures from the Central Province of is for hun unverified. Official state television says six people died this protesters stormed this police station. Supreme leader ayatollah ali how many accuses enemies of iran of stirring up the unrest. Bushmen Montazeri Iqbal the anime is poised for an opportunity a breach to penetrate through that look at the incidents in the past few days all those who are against the Islamic Republic of iran those with cash and politics weapons and intelligence operators you can join hands to create trouble that opposition leaders say the demonstrators are demanding far reaching reforms. This on his changes even radical changes they want to change pretty much everything in short. They want to live differently. Yeah its true that improving the Economic Situation is very important for them. But its not only about that. To me it is impossible its an opinion also has the protests widen irans president has some rouhani has expressed sympathy for peaceful demonstrators worried about making ends meet thats unlikely to satisfy their demands. Lets go straight to tehran now and in correspondent Eric Randolph eric these are the biggest protests since two thousand and nine are they a threat to the islamic regimes power. Well i must say that actually overnight. But its very difficult to get reports from the provinces but from what we can see on social media from what ive seen and there are does seem to be dying down a bit i think its the fact that the establishment really closed ranks yesterday blaming foreign enemies for starting the spots of seeing on the heavy Police Presence that weve see seems to doubt down some of the on rest of theres no question these protests have shaken the islamic rule those who require some street actually theres a great deal of action in the coming weeks eric you mentioned tehran theyre accusing foreign powers of being behind the unrest have they produced any evidence for that. Well they point to the fact that messages and by hashtags and so did primarily coming from regional rivals saudi arabia from exile groups in britain and america. On the phone to the president was also fired his french counterpart and i know my prof last night. Complaining about the opposition groups recruit terrorists we allocate our base this and that i did but i think a lot of people in the streets while they are suspicious of intervention by outsiders will recognize that there are legitimate and serious economic problems that are driving this unrest within iran ok what are you hearing in tehran about the possibility that the trumpet ministration will use these protests as a wedge to force tehran to renegotiate the nuclear deal that the president s threatened to pull out of well i think people on the streets of iran. Not huge fans of it on trial since he banned them from entering the country crew terrorists last year and they were particularly angry when he referred to the arabian gulf rather than the persian gulf so he doesnt have a lot of cache with people already i think a lot of them see him opportunistic using these protests in order to put more pressure on iran im not sure that the street will welcome that at the same time they feel that this is an internal issue that talking about economic problems about problems they have with their government i dont think those looking to outsiders too much. Problems eric runoffs thanks so much for that from tehran. North korea says it will reopen a suspended Communications Line with south korea and what could be a sign of thawing tensions north Korean Leader kim jong un ordered the reconnecting of the hotline at the countrys border to koreas have been making overtures to improving ties since new years thats when kim signaled that he wants to see north korean athletes crossing the border to join next months Winter Olympics in south korea. For more on the story were joined now by josh smith hes covering this for us in seoul josh whats behind this surprise announcement to reopen this important skill line of communication well this is something of a hope for at least development in the wake of cames new years day speech in which he did signal a willingness to send north korean. North korean athletes to the upcoming winter games what remains to be seen however is whether the two sides will be able to agree on all the potential issues surrounding that kind of participation which is obviously heavily politicized these days given the situation surrounding north Koreas Nuclear program ok were hearing from the south that it is open to talks with pyongyang about its Nuclear Program about its Missile Program is this a divergence from americas approach to pyongyang. Well. Kim in fact is is someone who right now seems to not want to talk about his Nuclear Program in the same speech he asked the world to accept north korea accept the reality of north korea as a Nuclear Armed state so when south korea talks about the need to link any talks of potentially about the olympics to these broader issues of Nuclear Weapons and things like that its still staying on the same page in many ways as places Like Washington where officials have expressed skepticism over any talks that dont address these larger issues surrounding the Nuclear Program ok should we also then be skeptical about the reopening of this line of communication is it a deescalation or is it simply another phase in this standoff. Well it is certainly something that officials here are keen to try to exploit. Its something that has not been available for some time were talking about very limited communications between the two sides and this would be some of the most direct and most public communication in months and so even most cynical observers do see this as better than nothing and he way that could eventually lead to reduce tensions josh thanks so much for that from seoul. Q now for some of the other stories making the news today rescue crews have been working to recover the bodies of forty eight People Killed when a boss careened off a cliff in peru Officials Say six survivors have been found but other passengers are still missing the vehicle collided with a truck before plunging off a highway north of the capital. Throwing Catholic Church in congo has condemned a crackdown on protests against president Joseph Kabila as quote barbarism Security Forces killed at least seven people and used tear gas during demonstrators during demonstrations rather on sunday in the capital kinshasa catholic activists have been organizing ongoing protests over to be alist refusal to leave office. Two children and four adults were killed by a tanker truck fire after an accident on a motorway between the italian towns of brush and turn the crash occurred after a truck hit a Passenger Car sending it into the back of that tanker at least twenty nine people have been killed and more than twenty injured in clashes in south sudan a state official says the violence broke out between rival clans competing for the control of grazing lands fighting a kurd in a state some eighty kilometers north of the capital juba. Well here in germany during the upcoming talks to form a new Coalition Government requests from refugees to reunite with their families will be one issue topping the agenda it is a politically charged and complicated process and even when German Authorities do approve family reunifications the red tape in places like greece while back and further prolong the wait our next report looks at what this all means for the families caught up in the middle. 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 theyve 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. 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 havent been able to travel to cologne their case seems to be stalled in greek bureaucracy. Its 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 legs i told the military men that i missed him. The other children try to keep their parents spirits up eighteen year old amar goes to school in thessaloniki but shes taught herself to speak german in hopes of joining her brothers in cologne and studying further shes tired of living in limbo. I know what it is in and. Its been two years since ive seen my brothers and all of us my siblings its such a long time but i dont miss it 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 with some of the family reunification seem to be taking one of the arguments was that everything needs to be organized with the greek authorities and thats not always. Has this message for his parents until he sees them again from this sort of i miss you. And im waiting for you is for. He adds that hes ready to wait as long as he has to until his whole family can be together in germany. Well how long could that wait be for more im joined by the author of that report because my goal from cologne even following this family story for quite a while what is next for the alissa family through. No what next no not yet he. And another debt im in november two thousand and seventy and all that i was trying to carry firearms at the greek and some in authority tech to take the next step they know that they will be reunited in germany at some point when they really dont know and then as especially challenging follow the older brother because he is taking care of this younger brother who is only eleven you know years old and the world around him se only twenty four years old and has been the dad and mom at the same time for the pos two years you never thought that the family really hes going to take the exam and sing for him but out of this this is a parents and test and he and then i has a life and hopes they just want it and there came a young child and they hope to be reunited soon so it sounds in front of the family ok no this kind of Family Reunion within a yukon for years is clearly regulated its legally covered by a number of European Union agreements why doesnt it work. Well its recognize that this kind of family reunification on the basis of adopt an agreement so. Regulation that kind regulates rich countries taking care of them seek out and then policy dont see how it gets to those countries and clearly in the case of the un is that family so many of us responsible for it so tell me all thats at their responsibility and on the legal basis of the doubt and remained the senate really for cases sort of at that within six months but if he didnt they have been waiting for two years now so i asked those that are in office for migration and refugees why if any you really need the case and that particular case is taking so long and they were not able to respond beyond that particular case they wouldnt give out information on one case but they are doing that a lot of detail work is needed with greek authorities and that is quite complicated and on the other hand they also know that only a limited amount of transportation and Akerman Jason would be available and that would make long term planning necessary but if you talk to volunteers in reserve germany they argue that many things and he for example run they come back from tents and he fights up to cologne so they dont really believe that humans from federal office for migration and refugees ok no the alyssas are not alone are they according to statistics from greece about forty five hundred refugees are in a very similar situation they also want to join their family members here in germany whats their situation right now. Yes they are x. X. Similar same germany was responsible for the. Federal office for migration of refugees acceptance that they can come to germany on the basis of the family reunification of the doubt that remained and they have been waiting ever since their full thousand five hundred to five thousand and in the senate seventy the left party asked in a written statement of high demand why those you review cases the takings a lot and they said that if the slow pace of briefcases continues those waiting in rees would have to wait not seventy months so that would be quite a long time and therefore they asked to increase the pace and examine governments that they are working on it and indeed in november two thousand seventy theyre well written five hundred fifty refugees coming over on that basis well and some a two thousand and seventy only hundred people per month so yes the pace increased and the family something that they will be able to reunite with their sons quite soon and doesnt i go thanks so much for your report because im on hand for joining us today. Well chris officer now and some great news for the German Economy especially for jobs indeed brian some people have been calling it a job wonder and the development is remarkable in twenty seventeen employment germany has seen its sharpest rise in a decade pushing the number of People Holding a job to an all time high of forty four point three million thats according to the German Statistics Office now economists that the four institutes a Strong Economy will continue to create jobs in the coming years theyre forecasting the number of employed people to grow to forty four point eight million this year and to more than forty five million in twenty nineteen of the Service Sector enjoyed the strongest job growth last year but manufacturing construction and agriculture sectors all added substantially to their workforce as well now for some more analysis of germanys labor market lets bring in Holger Schmieding hes the chief economist at bear and bird bank he joins me from our parliamentary studio welcome to the program what is the main driver of the growing employment numbers in germany there are two main drivers all of this growing german employment figures the first is germany is simply a good place to invest and to create jobs thats the labor market reforms that were implemented some thirteen years ago the second point is obviously we are enjoying global sick they can upswing strong Economic Growth in major parts of the wood including germany at that of course means more gains in jobs now what do you make of the fact that the employment in the Service Sector grew the strongest should a country with a Strong Industrial sector like germany boast jobs in this segment particularly. Well a Strong Economy like germany is should be adding jobs in many sectors and thats whats germany is doing and quite naturally the biggest gains are in parts of the Service Sector those which are what economists call labor intensive that is where you actually need a lot of people to do the tasks that is for instance in health care which cant be automated that much thats a nurse thing care thats in a few other sectors like that but even industry jobs growth is pretty good now at the same Time Companies continue to complain that there is a shortage of skilled workers how does that fit in with the growing job numbers what this means is germany could be creating even more drop that its currently doing if there were more people around a good deal of the jobs growth that germany is seeing is coming from people staying long go on the job from women entering the workforce in even greater numbers than before and to some extent of course from migrants mostly those from other European Countries who have come over recent years and how can this issue of the shortage of skilled workers be addressed in the future. Thats basically germany needs a better Education System and it needs an immigration system which makes it even easier for skilled people from abroad to come in not just from europe but also skilled people from some places beyond europe to fill the jobs that are available so the employment figures in germany are at a ten year high what happened to the fear that digitalization and the rise of robots would kill tens of thousands of these positions. Well it way the rise of robots and of the digital age that has prevented the gains in even more jobs german industry is raising its output even more that its raising employment because the german industry is adding robots but all in all the gains in industrial output the gains in Services Mean that all in all drops plentiful the spite is specially an industry lowball its taking over if you costs german employment reaches historic levels hold this meeting thank you so much for your analysis youre welcome and for more on the economic upswing here in germany and Current Record employment numbers visit us online at d w dot com slash business. Clothing maybe a human ness us as do you but the clothes arent always good for the world around us the German Government estimates that you need more than two and a half thousand liters of water just to make one cotton t. Shirt no one company in northern germany hopes to save the environment and closet space by acting as kind of a library for garments. This is a pop up store with a difference fashion house kind of high dot com is opening a temporary outlet here in its home city of hamburg. For the next eight weeks customers can take home outfits in the latest styles for the season by simply borrowing them. Kept them busy at the moment ive just borrowed this coat and the skirt its a new experience for me and so far i really like it make it fits with a i just need to school it must and its sustainable and that means thats enough less waste. I think its a great idea i hope it catches on. Clyde and i does most of its Business Online customers can subscribe for forty nine euros a month for the money they receive for garments which they can then wear for four weeks to founders take laville kidding and federal its more than just a business idea they hope to change lifestyles. This might sound corny but the big vision we have is that Consumption Patterns have to change. And they can change and we can be at the forefront of that make our contribution and thats about us nearly two thousand items are currently in circulation they consist of close up and coming designers along with selected been to jail terms and even pieces contributed by customers five employees are busy choosing a shipping receiving and if necessary repairing the clothes the owners say theyre reinvesting their profits to meet the companys growing demand. Tactic its a decision i have to make every day do i take the money home or do i use it to develop my business to make it more user friendly better for the customers with a bigger selection is that. The Company Opened the store so that customers could see the kind of things they could borrow they can also buy anything that strikes their fancy and when the store closes at the end of february all the clothes will go back to the warehouse but thats all it will be taking back to stay true to its philosophy it rented all its furniture and equipment even the pictures on the wall. And speaking of tightly fitting wardrobe are you trying to lose those extra pounds you might have put on over the holidays well so our players brian thats right chris often theyre doing it out on the desert sands in football the bundesliga returns in the winter break in nine days champions by a new have begun their preparations for the restart with a Training Camp in qatar the Team Including news. Wagner arrives in the gulf states for a number of days of intense fitness and Tactical Training the. Opening game of. A cruise in one of the toughest races on the planet a return to the high season. Stage four of the volvo ocean rice boats as a travel some ten thousand kilometers. Out of could change the legs expected to take three weeks to complete the overall race which began in october as eleven stages and it will include until june. As is your miner of our top story this hour violent. Where at least twenty one people have been killed in the protests the American Ambassador to the United Nations nikki haley has called for an emergency session of the Security Council to discuss the situation. We have more coming up at the top dont forget you can always get the latest news and information around the clock on our website. And the entire team thanks for being. Still see elegance and majesty. Missing in cars compared to the screen. Test drive into the future with the v. W. The electric cars a study in the mobility of. Driving next. Followed the. Industry four point zero. Is. Where is the nation still dominates our attitude in the past thats the problem of Digital China made enjoyed in sixty minutes the. Freedom of expression. Of value that to always has to be defended a new. Over the world. Of Freedom Freedom of art. A multimedia project about artists and their right to express their views freely. D w dot com part of freedom. Have in store for us which topics will shape the next twelve months. On. Going against a common present problems second parent on my toes change Global Politics today. Close. To a. Hello and welcome to driver the car show on d w coming up taking the c id take it into the snow. Folks wagons whole electric car in the future the id