up on tolerating discrimination, harassment and abuse. a look at the new campaign being embraced by women in hollywood. phil: i and phil gayle. welcome to the program. we star in iran, or antigovernment protest sweep the country. 21 people have been killed and dozens arrested. security forces are struggling tg while protesters showed no signs of breaking down. >> here is the extent of the unrest spreading across iran. the violence, which has rocked the country for one week, appears if anything to be escalating. these pictures from the central province of isfahan are not verified. officials state television says six people died as protesters stormed this police station. supreme leader ayatollah ali havh accuses enemies of stirring up unrest. >> the enemy is poised for an opportunity, a breach to penetrate through. look at the incidence of the past few days. all of those who are against the islamic republic of iran, those with cash, politics and weapons operators, are joining to create trouble. >> opposition leaders say demonstrators are demanding far-reaching reforms. >> changes, even radical ones. they want to change pretty much everything. in short, they want to live differently. it is true that improving the economic situation is very important to them, but it is not only about that. >> as the protests widen, iran's president has expressed sympathy for peaceful demonstrators worried about making ends meet. that is unlikely to satisfy their demands. phil: we have been monitoring events, and he joins us. welcome. this seems to be a protest without together leadership or coordination. there seem to be a lot of different demands. >> there is no political leadership is there was in 2009, that there are people who are frustrated. let's put it this way. evil are frustrated and angry, especially about the economic situation. they are talking about the rise of corruption and fruit prices. -- corruption and food prices. they cannot make their voices heard. they have no media. they're angry and frustrated, and are now taking to the streets and asking for a change. phil: where is the anger focused? is it on president rouhani's government, or is it aiming higher toward the spring leaders? >> it is much more than that. it starts with what people say. one scenario is that it started by the actual organization of hardliners who wanted to criticize rouhani's government. then, it took over. people who are complaining about social or political grievances are taking to the streets. but it is very complex when we talk about politics in iran. we have the rouhani government, and we have the hardliners. many people are now saying rouhani does not represent real opposition. they say he is representing the system. what we have noticed is that there have been slogans against ayatollah home an come in khome. it is not been there before. people coming out in such an awesome form with clear demands against the whole system. phil: so president rouhani was elected on a promise of change and increased civil rights. why has that progress been so slow? >> first of all, a president in the islamic republic of iran even wanting to change something has very limited power. he is already limited in what he can actually do or bring about. but people were hoping, after last year's election when they reelected him, that with the lifting of sanctions, it would get better. rouhani himself made a lot of promises. people do not see them being fulfilled or addressed. what is also criticized a lot is that president rouhani is also focusing on foreign crises. people want domestic issues to be addressed. some weeks ago, he presented his budget draft to the parliament, in which he increased the budget of the revolutionary core by 40%. this is one point that angered people. we have to see that there is -- there has been a #on twitter recently -- a hashtag where people say they regret having voted for rouhani because they don't see any changes. they are losing hope in the system to be reform oed. phil: thank you. south korean president is offered to hold talks with north korea on cooperating over the olympics in the south. he stressed that north korea's nuclear issues must be part of any dialogue. kim jong-un raised the prospect of joining in his speech. and age cap on presidential candidates has been removed. the 73-year-old has been working for more than 30 years. critics say he can remain in power until he dies. religious leaders and human rights activists oppose the move. at least nine people have died and more than a dozen wounded when rival gangs clashed in the brazilian jail. the violence broke out when inmates from one area invaded another. only a few dozen have been recaptured. hundreds of protesters have gathered in the ukraine to demand an investigation into the death of a prominent lawyer. the lawyer was found dead on new year's day. he faced previous threats of harm. here in germany, a member of parliament could face charges over a new years eve tweet. he tweeteshe tweeted police abot what she called gang raping hordes of muslim men. r account. >> new year's eve celebrations passed without incident. but two years ago, hundreds of women reported being sexually attacked, with many of the perpetrators migrants. police have pushed the slogan "respective go they are spreading the word and many languages, including arabic. the far right leader mocked the action. " is it to appease the gang raping hordes of muslim men?" read the tweet. prosecutors are now assessing whether to charge her with incitement to hatred. >> that is especially difficult in this case, because the hurdles set by the constitutional court are very high when it comes to stating political opinions. especially for a career politician. >> with a politician like her, the first step would be to lift her parliamentary immunity. experts say her tweet was typical for her. >> she regularly attempts to insight racial hatred. that is something germany experienced with anti-semitic slogans during the weimar republic in the 1920's. it can be dangerous, if not stopped. >> twitter suspended the politicians account for hours, acting under the authority of a new law that requires media firms to promptly delete criminal hate speech. phil: rupert bea outline the response to these accusations. >> the alternative is a right-wing populist party. they have made it a tactic to victimize themselves and never day use -- victimize themselves whenever they use that language. they call it, of course, censorship. but they certainly do have a point, because criticism does not only come from the far right. it also comes from civil rights groups who say this network enforcement law is introducing censorship through a back door. they say that at the state -- the state wants to make available prosecution, and imposing large fines. this could mean that the providers could eliminate any opinion which they think could be provocative or disputable just to avoid the fines. in the end, this could mean that mainstream opinions could be harder to be heard or seen on social media. phil: as we go into the new year, dw will use this week to show a preview of what to expect from top players and 2018. today, we look at angela merkel. it is been more than a hundred days since the election. conservatives are due to begin exploratory talks with the centerleft social democrats. even if the talks are successful, it could still take months before government is in place. >> each day, a new record is broken here in berlin. never before has it taken so long to build a new government. and in the middle of it all, chancellor angela merkel, or at the moment, interim chancellor. if decisions are made in parliament, she needs to search for allies. so far, she has not been able to find a fixed coalition party. it looks like no one wants to form a coalition with the chancellor. on the other hand, merkel does not think the minority government is right for germany. in other words, she has to woo the social democrats and build another grand coalition. this is becoming a problem on the international political stage. while french president mccron acron has goals, merkel has to wait it out. >> that is why berlin carries a huge responsibility to build a stable government. >> 2018 will be an important year for the eu. reforms must be made. berlin is expected to make suggestions soon. it is hardly any doubt that angela merkel will remain here in the chancellery. the question is just, when will she be elected? at the moment, she has to act internationally like her neighbor. in the swiss mc, people are used to remaining neutral. under the german chancellor, the world expects something else. a week chancellor at the head of europe's biggest economy? at least merkel is able to steer the course of her own party. in a fourth term, she wants to leave another grand coalition. >> there was unanimity from everyone but we have to go to exploratory talks with the spd to build a stable government. >> within her conservative party, people are saying that angela merkel will last another four years at the most. no one discusses this openly, but many are thinking about the time after merkel. intentional successors now have to position themselves. at the same time, merkel pass to plan how she can hand over power without losing it too fast. so what is the next step? there are a lot of unanswered questions. >> what was the first question? oh. and have a great start to the new year. >> whether that turns out to be good or bad, 2018 will certainly not be boring. phil: we all have days like that. i'm sorry, what was the question? president trump has a promise of tax reform that would be a win for companies, but not all companies are fans of it. >> at first, it was seen as a win. some corporations are saying there are nasty surprises in store. you would think those countries would enter the new year with a sense of glee because on paper, the tax reform hands them a tax rate of 21%, it is down from the previous 35%. in the short-term, not all committees are winners. some are going to have to pay a steeper tax bill first, including heidelberg cement, goldman sachs and bp. >> deepwater cost bp total of almost $62 billion. in the balance sheet, all the costs arising out of the 2010 disaster can be used to offset virtual tax -- future tax liabilities. these are described as tax-deferred assets. it cost bp a lot of money. u.s. investment bank goldman sachs said that tax reform will cut its the 17 profit by $5 billion. one other company, including heidelberg cement, are also affected by the changes to the tax code. once these charges are booked, however, companies have a lot to look forward to. in the long run, they all profit from paying less corporate tax in the u.s.. >> china overtook the united states as the world's largest market a decade ago. and now, authorities encourage people to cycle to fight pollution and congestion. mike sharing is taking off, but not everyone is happy about that. >> this scrapheap as the fate of many millions of bikes in beijing. there is one bike for everyone in the chinese capital. they can be rented for as little as seven u.s. cents for a half hour. less than one subway ticket. >> it is convenient, but sometimes there are too many bikes. the block of the roads. >> i feel people do not take care of the shared bikes. >> the rising number of bicycles in beijing has brought chaos to the streets. that is why some are calling for better regulation of the bike sharing industry. >> the company themselves, together with the government, they should be able to do better analysis on better allocation. better operations. better transfer. they don't want to make too many of them and put them on the street. >> until then, the bicycles fate appears to be the scrapheap. >> china is cracking down on polluting cars. the state run news agency says beijing has banned making more than the different models for using too much fuel, and not complying with environmental regulations. the band includes vehicles produced as joint ventures by western carmakers. mercedes luxury car from daimler is on the list, as well as a general motors chevrolet model. it is the first time beijing has published such a list. 2017 turned out to be the safest year for civil aviation on record. two industries confirmed there was not a single major airline crash. civilian aircraft accidents did claim 44 lives, however. that is far fewer than the year before. statistically, it is become the statist means -- the safest means of travel. in iceland, the new year has brought with it a new law, making it illegal to pay men more than women for the same work. it is the first country to make both private and public enterprises accountable to the rules of changing the gender pay graph -- pay gap once and for all. >> equal pay for equal work has just become a must there, irrespective of gender or nationality. the new law will cover 100 50,000 workers. it so far, women have borne the cost of the gender pay gap. but cost is too high. >> to reach our goal, we have to work hard. now, we have the perfect chance to do so. >> the new law affects 1200 companies in iceland. there are causes to help complete the numerals. companies get a certificate which must be renewed every three years. >> this will affect employees, first and foremost. it is up to them to shoulder the responsibilities and be part of this mission with us. >> it is hoped that it will close the pay gap by 2022. even though other countries have made similar moves, iceland is the global pioneer. >> from pioneering iceland to hollywood now, where a new campaign is underway to drive out the abuse of women at work. phil: this, of course in the wake of scandals against harvey weinstein. hundreds of hollywood forces are joined together to fight abuse in the workplace. a-list celebrities are backing a multi-fund to fight harassment, and is aimed at people in low-wage industries who are most vulnerable to exploitation. >> time is up. the time for putting up with sexual harassment is over. 300 powerful women from the business and entertainment world are starting a campaign and using their status to help women who have none. they are bringing their support for ordinary workers to take their tormentors to court. the movement has already raised $30 million, with the figure surely to rise. reese witherspoon and even longoria launched their appeal in the "new york times." and, in an open letter, they are also demanding tougher penalties for companies that tolerate harassment. producers and lawyers are all fighting against sexual harassmentnd shocking statistics like these. one in three women between 18 and 34 has been sexually molested in the workplace. sexual-harassment is even more likely in low-paying jobs. the first action came two weeks ago, when they brought anita hill on board. hill is a pioneer of the movement. 26 years ago in a sensational testimony before the u.s. senate, she accused clarence thomas of sexual harassment. after that, she raised money for victims. time's up comes hard on the heels of the need to campaign. it goes further. while me too brought the issue to life, times of his campaigning for harder action against rasmus. actresses are being encouraged to wear black at the golden globes awards ceremony this weekend. phil: let's get more on this from caricature more. his. what sort of attention as this brought? >> the campaign does not dominate the news cycle and the united states. the initiative has been launched in the new york times and in others. reaction has been mainly positive, and coming from women. emma stone, eva longoria or emma watson all express their support. but, they are among the women who have signed this. justin timberlake reacted to that i writing today on twitter, " no more excepting sexual harassment and inequality at work as normal. this is not normal." movements like the women's march have said expressed support. phil: we ard ere been $30 million raised so far. how do these millionaires plan to help locate the no workers and industry or agriculture. >> well phil, financial help is one of the aspects they address. reporting sexual harassment can cost a lot of money, especially for attorneys fees. this is the money that workers in blue-collar workplaces often do not have. one of the initiatives is a legal defense fund of $30 million. it will help less privileged women working at a restaurant, say. this money would come in the form of donations. justin timberlake already donated to the fund. it is meant for women who wk in farms or as nurses to report things. the initiative includes legislation to penalize companies that tolerate sexual harassment, and they have tried to use an official nondisclosure agreement to silence victims. it is the aim of this campaign to start an initiative to reach gender parity. il: thank you. the bundesliga returns from winter break in a few the team,, are undergoing several days of technical training. they will return to face in the opening game of 2018. it is time to remind you of the top stories at this star. the death toll from iran's protest has reached 21. the supreme leader has accused foreign enemies of meddling in his country. a far right lawmaker could face criminal charges over her anti-muslim tweet on new year's eve, as germany enforces tougher laws on hate speech. twitter removed her posting and suspended her account. that is it. you are up-to-date. more at the top of the hour. have a good day. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] is made possible by..." croplife america. and it's member companies and associations in the crop protection industry including: the american farm bureau foundation for agriculture. more information at: agfoundation.org. sacramento's proud to be america's farm to fork capital visit: farmtofork.com >>i'm rob stewart. research to improve crops benefits not only consumers like you but farmers in the far-flung corners of the world. we'll take you to illinois where new research is under way to improve crop yields just by using smart phone technology. >>hi, i'm sarah gardner. we've shared a lot of harvests with you over the years on america's heartland. but this time, we have an unusual story

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