Also coming up south korea proposes high level talks with the north this comes a day after north Korean Leader kim jong un extended a rare all of branch of the south and new threats to the United States. And Legal Marijuana hits the shelves in california recreational users can now buy the drug without any fear of arrest in americas too close to populous state. Im sorry kelly welcome to the Program Great to have you with us clashes overnight in iran have left at least nine people dead the antigovernment protests have been raging for nearly a week in tehran and around the country in total several hundred people have been arrested and at least twenty have been killed according to state media. Now the demonstrations initially broke out against the weak economy and a rise in food prices but they have also been drawing opponents of the countrys religious establishment. And lets talk a bit more about that crackdown we are joined by a. F. P. Correspondent Eric Randolph who is joining us with the latest from tehran and eric as weve heard Iranian State television reporting nine more People Killed overnight more than one hundred protesters arrested what are we to make of the authorities response to the unrest and how big of a threat are these protests to the regime well this is the biggest test the regime has faced since there were mass demonstrations back in two thousand and nine the difference this time is that they. Consider the more although it is very difficult to confirm the reports were hearing for problems says shes restrictions on trying. To know the six protesters that showed us what on store the station is. Several other people were killed in various schools and cities over the country recent days. Well there is a start of crackdown was just been told that four hundred fifty people have been arrested in tehran the last three days with protests thats a good road to this move and we dont know how many youre being arrested in other parts of the country and we understand that among these protesters there are host of grievances but that the general feeling among many of them is that Economic Growth in the wake of the Iran Nuclear Deal has simply not trickled down to the average iranian theyre facing unemployment which is high inflation creeping higher as well prices of eggs poultry really skyrocketing and recent weeks what do the protesters want from the government concretely speaking. At this stage its very clear that its a very amorphous spry and seemingly out of nowhere small intimate protest for a long time both and all. This seems to be just another economic protest that started it is not clear what was true cause this is spread all over the country and become so unto its own against the regime itself i think a lot of people are frustrated with the government with the lack of progress on the economy and they feel they are given all sides of the School Spectrum a chance to improve things and they arent seeing those benefits as a result they seem to be quite generally against the regime but it lacks focus of the moment protests. And speaking of lacking someone interest i ask you because you live there in tehran how widespread would you say the discontent is i mean how deep is this in Iranian Society at the moment is bear a deep support for the protests generally speaking. Talking to ronnies yesterday. And a lot of people are very uncomfortable with the violence that theyve seen group the way some of these protests being conducted but there is a well of sympathy and understanding for grievances the economic problems of tribes Everybody Knows young person whos highly educated because on top or who struggle with filing costs with high rates of inflation and with a general sense that the government is not responding to the moms its not responsive in general. So i think. People are people who recognize that there are deep seated problems with the economy and simply want action they want action and they have been protesting for the past six days in order to get it Eric Randolph at the very latest from tehran thank you so much for your reporting. Lets get a quick check now of some other stories that have been making news around the world people in the pakistani city of karachi have held a protest against u. S. President donald trump the demonstration was in response to trumps first tweet of the year where he threatened to cut off foreign aid to pakistan accusing its leaders of deceiving the United States the u. S. Ambassador to pakistan has been summoned by the countrys foreign ministry. Police in germany are investigating a member of parliament for incitement to hatred after she posted an anti muslim remark on social media just one story of the far right party accused Cologne Police of appeasing quote barbaric gang raping muslim hordes of men after theyve tweeted a new years message in arabic a new Hollywood Campaign against Sexual Harassment has just been launched and it has already raised thirteen of its targeted fifteen Million Dollars the times up initiative has the backing of hundreds of actresses writers and directors the fund will be primarily used to support victims of Sexual Misconduct working in low income industries. Much of the central us started the new year under a bone chilling cold that has led to at least two thefts and has broken century old records the National Weather service has issued a wind chill advisory across a vast area in iowa the wind chill dropped to negative thirty five degrees celsius on monday. South korea has offered to hold talks with north korea on whether the north can send athletes to the Winter Olympics south koreas president. Said that his country is ready to negotiate on letting north korea join next months olympics hosted by the south but he stressed that north Koreas Nuclear issues will be a major point in any talks north Korean Leader kim jong un had raised the idea of joining the olympics in his new year speech in the same speech he also issued fresh threats of attack in the United States. Of get more now straight from seoul our correspondent josh smith is standing by with the very latest so josh could this olympic diplomacy signal a breakthrough and the hope of reduced tensions what are people just generally speaking making of it well thats certainly the hope of many officials and every day people here in south korea and elsewhere especially after a past year of the increasing tensions over the norse nucular Missile Program what remains to be seen however is whether they can turn Something Like the in the big games into a larger breakthrough as the officials here have said that any talks would need to address the norths Nuclear Issue while kim in his speech on new years day said that the world needs to accept the reality of north korea as a nuclear state. It is now just over a month until the winter Winter Olympics how likely is it that we will see the north send a team. Well both sides seem to be making attempts at that we its kim. Publicly raising the possibility and the south today announcing that they are open to talks as soon as january ninth to discuss the nuts and bolts of any north korean for space in the games however so far as of today the south said that they had not yet had a response from the north about those talks so any kind of movement in that direction would need to happen fairly quickly for both the screen athletes as well as possibly officials to to participate in the games and those efforts on the part of the south i mean they are already drawing some negative reaction on this idea of the north korea regime participating in the games i just want to turn now to what republican senator Lindsey Graham tweeted a short time ago id like to read it out because he said that allowing kim jong uns north korea to participate in the Winter Olympics would give legitimacy to the most illegitimate regime on the planet i am confident that south korea will reject this absurd overture and fully believe that if north korea goes to the Winter Olympics we do not of course josh this is highlighted it is that a bait on how to handle the north korean regime how much influence would you say that the hawks in washington are likely to have over this south korean engagement of north korea. Well in some ways the messaging out of washington is as mixed as the messaging out of north korea with some elements calling for talks and others saying that talks are useless. As you see in that graham tweet however you know this these latest remarks by kim have been met with a lot of skepticism including by some very influential people who basically see it as a way by the north korean government to try to buy time potentially try to. Drive a wage between south korea other allies and really kind of weak in these International Efforts that have in recent months really increased pressure International Sanctions and other efforts at isolating the government there and so a lot of people are taking a very skeptical view of kins recent remarks josh smith with the latest from seoul thank you. Well its a new year and all this week will he give you a preview of what to expect from top Global Players in twenty eighteen today were focusing on germany number one on the agenda for chancellor Angela Merkel is trying to form a new government it has now been more than one hundred days since germans went to the polls in september selection later this week merkels conservatives are set to start exploratory talks with the center left social democrats but even if the talks are successful it could take months before a government is in place. Each day a new record is broken here in berlin never before has it taken so long falling in election to build a new government. And in the middle of it all chancellor. Or at the moment interim chancellor. If decisions are being made in parliament she has to search for allies so far she has not been able to find a fixed Coalition Partner it looks like no one wants to form a coalition with the chancellor on the other hand doesnt think a minority government is the right thing for germany in other words she has to woo the social democrats and build another grand coalition but thats still a lot of work to do. This is becoming a problem on the International Political stage why french president might call has to go its actually best to wait it out thats not good for her and not good for Europe Europe cannot work without a strong germany and a strong German French Alliance that is why berlin carries a huge responsibility to build a stable government. Twenty eighteen will be an important year for the e. U. Reforms must be made and burden is expected to make suggestions soon. Is hardly any doubt. Will remain here in the chancellor rhee and govern germany the question is just when will she be elected at the moment to act internationally like her neighbor here in the Swiss Embassy people are used to remaining neutral but from the german chancellor the world expects something else. A week chancellor at the head of europes biggest economy at least america is able to steer the course of her own party. In a false term she wants to lead another grand coalition. There was unanimity from everyone that we now have to go into exploratory talks with the s. P. D. With the goal of building a stable government. Within her conservative party people are saying that she will last another four years at the most no one discusses this openly but many in the c. D. U. Are thinking about the time after potential success as now i have to position themselves at the same time to plan how she can hand over power little by little without losing it too fast. So whats the next step in germany there are a lot of on on such questions. Was the first question. That have a great start in the new year. Whether it turns out to be good or bad twenty eighteen will certainly not be boring. And now to china where twenty eight hundred certainly did not have a boring kick off for those who were on the frozen a more river which was transformed to a race course on new years day check this out around two thousand runners kickstarted twenty eight team with an ice marathon the terrain was nothing for the faint hearted participants ran on the ice in bone chilling minus fifteen degree centigrade temperatures both professionals and amateurs took part in the event. You have to date on news im sorry kelly thanks for watching. Thank you as no children which makes her