Amid reports that iran is clamping down on the demonstrators. Also coming up to the u. S. President donald trump its twitter with a flurry of warnings to americas adversaries we will look ahead to what could be another turbulent year for the white house at home and beyond. And iceland moves to close the pay gap between men and women the new year begins a new law making it illegal to pay women less the same or. Im sorry kelly welcome to the Program Thanks for joining us. We begin in iran where authorities are trying to turn the tide against antigovernment protests that have swept the country progovernment demonstrators have taken to the streets in several cities across the country according to this footage aired by irans state media. It follows nearly a week of unrest that has left at least twenty one people dead and hundreds of arrested the countrys Supreme Leader has blamed foreign meddling Security Forces are struggling to contain the boldest challenge to irans clerical leadership in nearly a decade. And those protests they have drawn people with a range of frustrations but some in iran say that adds to a movement that lacks a clear message. Layla took part in irans last major protests in two thousand and nine she was a student then but this time shes not participating. Shes interested in politics and wants to see reforms in her country but shes skeptical about the current protests aimed at president rouhani and against Economic Conditions in iran. More yet you think you would back then members of the political system stood behind us that was important but today thats not the case. I understand the Economic Hardship the unemployment rising prices but with the current protests i do not see a clear goal theres no concrete plan demonstrations need to be organized. By the about them it is either of us it has all. We ask if its dangerous to protest the whole thing as banish was of course many students end up in prison this way without achieving anything or maybe this time theyll accomplish something nobody knows if the demonstrations had a clear goal maybe i would take part again along with my entire family i. Was quite ambitious to shake out when. Its mostly very young people often without any job prospects whove been clashing with Security Forces theyre seeking out confrontation by attacking police stations and ripping up posters of irans supreme religious leader on tuesday the Supreme Leader spoke out about the protests for the first time and he blamed foreign elements that thats. But irans enemies have conspired together and are using various means such as money weapons politics and Intelligence Services to sow unrest in the islamic republic. Where your entire group 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 doesnt even get his minimum wage and is now defending himself this is a crime. Going to have. The protests carry on and the warning from the revolutionary guards still applies if the unrest doesnt stop they will intervene and put an end to the uprising once and for all. And i spoke a short while ago to a. F. P. Correspondent eric roundoff in tehran i asked him what we know about this latest round of antigovernment protests and heres what he said. Its hard to say exactly whats happening outside in the provinces protest to go protest always happening in smaller towns and cities here and tear up but we can all see your goals of violence. This morning weve seen very impressive show strength from the regime tens of thousands of people who. Are going round in several major cities not yet in tehran thats coming from but it. Does appear that go to sort of the top. Yet and when we look at the causes for example of these antigovernment protests we know that for example the uprising has been the biggest since two thousand and nine but that crackdown underway as you mentioned and hundreds already arrested how strong would you say is the will for those protesters to continue and how big a threat are they posing to the regime at this point. Were better than two thousand and nine these protests have been much smaller really dont how can i do the figures were talking in the silence wrote them in the hundreds of thousands which you saw back in two thousand not. The fact that they were fighting the fight for their attacks on government buildings. Setting fire to places and so on time off quite a few people talking to terrorize in the street a lot of people dont like that kind of violence and they worry about and they worry about a crackdown thats not to say that there isnt a genuine sense of frustration over the economy lots of people who are Serious Problems making ends meet those issues are going to continue see through it in society for a long time to come regardless of what happens with these protests this week eric tell us a little bit more about the background behind that frustration because you know many of the protesters voice thing that frustrated by tehran has accused foreign powers of being behind the address is there any evidence for that. Show and they point to social media accounts but is saudi arabia in europe and america. Acts all opposition groups behind the fomenting the unrest. A lot of people on the street actually do see question about interference from abroad the. The real issues of brought about to things like unemployment which is a size fourteen percent for young people in fact this came just after a budget by the government which cost twelve raise fuel prices that was a deeply important for the measures so it got us whats happening outside the country iranians. Ranges a focus on whats happening in lives and thats not going to change overnight although the government is going to have to show some responsiveness to those grievances Eric Randolph in tehran thank you. North korea is reopening a is suspended Communications Line with south korea in what may be a sign of funk tensions north Korean Leader kim jong un ordered that the hotline at the countrys 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 months Winter Olympics in the cell. Lets get a quick check now of some other stories that have been making news around the world rescue crews have been working to recover the bodies of forty eight People Killed when a bus careened off of a cliff in peru Officials Say that six survivors were found but other passengers are still missing the vehicle collided with a truck before plunging off of the highway north of the capital lima many businesses and schools in the indian Financial Hub of mumbai have been forced to close as protesters from a low Pass Community blocked traffic and sit ins for a second day. The dol its called to the strike in protest against attacks by rightwing hindu groups in the city of putin on monday. U. S. President donald trump has started the new year with a flurry of tweets directed at americas adversaries and partners that he says need to toe the line for north koreas leader he had this i too have a Nuclear Button but it is much bigger and more powerful one than his and my button actually works trump also threatened to cut aid to the Palestinian Authority saying that after paying hundreds of millions of dollars the us wasnt getting any respect he added with the palestinians are no longer willing to talk peace why should we make any of these massive future payments to them. And the us president also addressed the protests in iran saying this the people of iran are finally acting against the brutal and corrupt Iranian Regime all of the money that president obama so foolishly gave them went into terrorism and into their pockets while iran north korea the middle east Peace Process all among the many challenges that the u. S. President will have on his plate in twenty eighteen and back at home investigations into alleged links between russia and Trumps Campaign remain open our washington correspondent carson phenomena tense us this report on what lies ahead in u. S. Politics this year. There is little donald who will dominate the headlines in the United States this year once again donald trump like him or not the president has up and its washingtons way of doing business we broke every record its the largest i always say the most massive but its the largest tax cut in the history of our country tax reform might be trumps 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 donald trump has even changed the way 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 out what is on Donald Trumps mind today or the next hour or the next minutes until the next tweet anywhere 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 so its opponents celebrities and even members of its 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 ive and donald trump certainly isnt done yet his next big project is infrastructure the United States might be the worlds only remaining global superpower at least for now but back home much of its infrastructure is crumbling like this hybrid just outside washington. I 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 youll bridges and airports or will equip schools and hospitals and whos going to pay for that Donald Trumps tax reform already blows a big coal into the federal budget and then infrastructure package for a come on top of that now some republicans want to cut welfare programs to plug that hole but thats 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 trumps 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 hasnt been holding back they will be met with fire fury and frankly power the likes of which this world has never see 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 would raise 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 look everyone is reassurance so two thousand eight hundred promises once again to be a turbulent year in the u. S. And the role in the world. A quick check now of some sports news and in the bundesliga it returns from the winter break in nine days and champions fire munich have become their preparations for the restart with a Training Camp in qatar the Team Including new signing wagner arrived in the gulf state for several days of intense fitness and Tactical Training they will return to face labor couzin in the opening game of twenty eight team. Youre watching news still to come on the program equal pay for men and women both countries froebel to get there but one has made it mandatory we will take you to iceland where a new labor law its now in effect. Over has all that more in just a minutes time im sorry kelly in berlin thanks for watching. A shop