31/12/2017 World News Today

This is BBC World News Today.

I'm Philippa Thomas.

Our top stories...

Iran's president says there should

be "space for criticism"

after a fourth day of protests.

Police in Tehran use water

cannon on demonstrators.

Celebrations around the world

to usher in the start of 2018 -

this is the scene live in Moscow.

Security forces in the democratic

republic of Congo have killed at

least eight people during protests

calling for the president to stand

down. And how a prank call known as

"swatting" led to a police shooting

with terrible consequences.

Hello and welcome

to World News Today.

Police in the Iranian capital,

Tehran, have used water cannon

against protesters during a fourth

day of anti-government

demonstrations across the country.

The authorities say they arrested

about 200 people during clashes

in Tehran on Saturday.

They've restricted access

to the popular social media

messaging app Telegram,

which officials say has been

used to foment violence.

In his first comments on the unrest,

President Hassan Rouhani said

Iranians have the right to protest

and criticise the government,

but their actions shouldn't lead to

violence or damage public property.

Alan Johnston has more.

On the protests go.

Water cannon, deployed in the heart

of Tehran late on this fourth day

of unrest in the streets.

As they marched down one

of the capital's avenues,

they made their feelings known.

"Death to the dictator,"

they chanted.

On Saturday night, gunshots rang

out in a western city.

A casualty is carried away.

Two people died.

But officials insist

the police didn't open fire.

They blame the deaths

on provocateurs in the crowd.

TRANSLATION: In these clashes,

traces of groups and anti-regime

media and Western intelligence

services are visible.

In these clashes, no bullets

were fired by the police,

military or security forces

towards the people.

The goal was for the protests

to end peacefully.

The night also brought

violence to other cities.

A governor's office was set ablaze.

And in Mashhad, the security

forces watched as some

of their motorbikes burned.

The protests initially focused

on economic grievances,

but they've become highly political,

with demands for an end

to the rule of the clerics.

Demonstrations like these have been

organised on social media,

so the authorities have stepped in.

The Telegram messaging app says it

refused to shut down channels

engaged in peaceful protest,

and now the government

has restricted access

to most users of the service.

The government rallied

its supporters on Saturday,

showing that huge numbers

of Iranians back it.

And the authorities

promise they will tackle

the nation's economic woes.

For the first time since

the unrest began, we've heard

from President Rouhani.

He said people were free

to criticise his government,

but there should be no violence.

He knows the anger in

the streets is dangerous.

The wave of protests represents

the most serious challenge that

Iran's leadership has

faced for years.

Alan Johnston public BBC News.

People across the world have been

welcoming in the New Year

with fireworks and displays.

These are the scenes in Moscow,

where it has just turned

midnight and it's now 2018.

The fireworks bursting over the

Kremlin. You can see a few lucky

sightseers getting a close-up view

of the spectacular in the sky. So,

that's the scene in Moscow. Russia

has so many different time zones, of

course.

New Zealand kicked off

the celebrations -

here were the scenes in Auckland.

Three, two, one...

The traditional firework display

centred around the Sky Tower.

It meant the show took place

some 200m above ground -

and could be enjoyed as far

as 80 kilometres away.

Then over to Sydney -

the harbour and its iconic bridge

taking centre stage as usual.

Around a million and a half people

were there to watch the show,

which featured a rainbow theme

to celebrate the passing of

the country's same-sex marriage law.

These were the celebrations

earlier in the North Korean

capital Pyongyang.

President Kim Jong-Un

will deliver his annual

New Year address later -

and he's expected to talk about his

country's relationship with the USA.

And this is Dubai about an hour ago.

These pictures show the spectacular

lights display at the world's

tallest building, Burj Khalifa.

London's celebrations are less

than three hours away.

Let's cross to Jonathan Blake,

who's opposite the London Eye

on the Victoria Embankment.

Over to you.

Well, the crowds are

building here in central London in

anticipation of that spectacular

fireworks display, which will of

course happen as Big Ben chimes

midnight. 100,000 people

midnight. 100,000 people have

tickets to watch tonight's show up

close. As the hours go by they are

now feeling the areas along the

River Thames here and the bridges

across the river, taking their place

in anticipation of that show. It is

a huge event for London, widget that

requires about 3000 staff working on

the day to keep people safe and make

sure everybody gets a good view.

It's years and months in the

planning in terms of this year's

display, and I am pleased to say

that we're joined by someone from

the company responsible for

tonight's show. We will hear from

them in just a moment. Earlier on I

spoke to the Mayor of London, Sadiq

Khan, who explained why it was

important for London to put on such

a show at New Year's Eve.

Not just

Londoners will be enjoy in tonight's

fireworks, people around the country

will be watching the fireworks on TV

and also people around the world.

This is a sign of confidence, it is

who we are, it is showing the world

we are London, we are the greatest

city in the world, London is open.

But also our theme of gender

equality, the theme of the

soundtrack showing the world that we

are a beacon for pluralism and

equality, with just women artists

later, we don't simply

tolerate difference,

we respect it and

embrace it and celebrate it.

we respect it and

So,

we respect it and

So, what

we respect it and

So, what can

we respect it and

So, what can we

we respect it and

So, what can we expect

we respect it and

So, what can we expect from

we respect it and

So, what can we expect from the

we respect it and

So, what can we expect from the

display tonight?

We have got a

fantastic show. At midnight there

will be 12 minutes of fantastic

fireworks, ticking off with Big Ben,

which is live for us this year,

obviously, it's been closed for

maintenance of. We will start in the

traditional way with the chimes, and

then we've got a fantastic track

which starts off with celebrating

some of the greatest artists London

has ever produced. And then after

five minutes we have Mind The Gap,

where we turn the lights off and

have a bit of fun and there we start

of the last section, all female

artists to celebrate next year's the

centenary of women's suffrage.

We

saw some of the pictures from other

cities - how do you make London

different?

First of all we try and

make it unique, the soundtrack is

something that no-one else could

use, but also with the architecture,

no-one else has got one of these and

the Houses of Parliament and

everything. So we try and create

something which is very much a

synchronised to the music, something

that really rocks, who that is fun

and that really takes the

pyrotechnics, the lighting and sound

and puts it together to create some

magic.

Every year it seems to go

without a at all., you can't

rehearse for this, so are you

retiring on the technology to do its

job, how much manpower is there?

There is a whole host of technology

from the show point of view. Our

team I was working out last night

has 750 people in our team alone in

the run-up to build all we need for

the show. And then tonight we've got

nearly 4000 by the time we've got

the stewards in, so it's a major

operation. We can't rehearse it, we

do computers similar nations, last

night we played the music and put

the lighting on, so we rehearsed

that side of things and made sure

everything fires, but we didn't get

the London Eye until four o'clock

this afternoon to load it with

lighting and start to put the pyro

on. So, I haven't even got a show

yet!

We'll let you go and prepare,

that was a representative of the

company putting on the show tonight.

The crowds are building just 100,000

people will be watching it up close.

Security is tight, as you would

expect. The Metropolitan Police are

asking people to be vigilant, but

the display itself will kick off at

midnight, as Big Ben chimes.

Let's take a look at some of

the other stories making the news...

At least eight people have been

killed as security forces have clash

at with people demonstrating in the

Republic of Congo. These latest

rallies were called by Roman

Catholic activists and backed by

opposition parties. The authorities

banned the protests, saying they did

not have the resources to police

them. Security forces set up

roadblocks and used tear gas and

live ammunition to break it up at

several locations, including

churches. The protesters are

demanding the resignation of the

president. His second term as

president finish one year ago and

the constitution bars him from

seeking a third mandate. He promised

to step down by the end of this

year, but he didn't.

TRANSLATION: We

are tired, we have never had peace

in this country, nothing works, the

president should go and rest.

TRANSLATION: Even under President

Mobuto, which was a dictatorship,

you could march peacefully. We are

really tired of Kabila.

They are

attending Mass in the capital. The

opposition leader called on his

country men to stand together.

TRANSLATION: I am simply asking our

people to resist this dictatorship

and we need alternatives.

So, this

violence is a repeat of tensions

that have erupted time and again

over the past year. More than 50

people were reportedly killed in

anti-government protests between

April and October. There are

concerns that this will persist.

Some breaking news for you... We're

getting reports of a plane crash in

Costa Rica in which 12 people have

died. First news coming out of the

public security ministry in Costa

Rica says it is believed that ten of

those on board were foreigners, who

tourists, visiting Costa Rica. We'll

bring you more details as we get

them.

Six people have died

after a seaplane crashed

into a river in Australia - it's

thought four of the

victims may be British.

although this hasn't been confirmed

by the police.

The Foreign Office here is in

contact with officials in Australia.

The aircraft, which was

on a sightseeing trip in advance

of the New Year celebrations,

came down in a river close

to the suburb of Cowan.

Phil Mercer reports from Sydney.

The seaplane crashed into Jerusalem

Bay near the town of Cowan.

On board were five

passengers and the pilot.

The single-engine aircraft

is thought to have sunk rapidly.

A witness said it had made a tight

right-hand turn and then nosedived

into the Hawkesbury River.

A full-scale search

was soon under way.

There were no survivors.

Police divers have

found the six bodies.

Police divers have found six bodies.

The wreckage of the plane remains

in more than 40ft of water.

The authorities say a full

investigation will take place.

I cannot confirm the identity

or ages of the people

who were on the plane.

We are...

It is early in the investigation,

and we are working with the plane

company, getting investigators

here to confirm the identities

and investigate why the plane

crashed into the water.

The seaplane was returning

from a waterfront restaurant

to Rose Bay on Sydney Harbour.

It's a journey that would normally

take around 20 minutes.

The aircraft is owned

by Sydney Seaplanes.

It provides flights around some

of the city's most popular

tourist attractions,

including the Opera House,

the Harbour Bridge, and to the north

the Hawkesbury River.

The company said in a statement

that its pilots are some of the most

experienced in the world and that

all its flights had been suspended

until further notice.

Air-crash investigators will arrive

at the site of the accident

early on New Year's Day

to try to establish how and why

a routine sightseeing flight

could end in catastrophe.

Phil Mercer, BBC News, Sydney.

Stay with us on BBC

World News, still to come...

How a prank call led to an innocent

man dying.

This is BBC World News Today.

The latest headlines...

After days of protests in Iran, the

president has said the people have

the right to demonstrate, so long as

they do not disrupt public order.

Let's get more now

on our top story -

the protests in Iran.

We can talk now to Trita Parsi.

He is the author of

Losing An Enemy: Obama,

Iran And The Triumph Of Diplomacy

and the president of the National

Iranian American Council.

What do you make of what President

Rouhani has said about these

protests?

It is quite different

compared to the tone of the Iran

government in 2009, when it quickly

and brutally clamped down on the

protest. What is happening now is

that Rouhani is taking a quite

different position, essentially back

knowledge and that people have

legitimate grievances, acknowledging

that they have a right to protest,

and then focusing instead on pushing

back against some of the violence

and some of the looting. That is

probably not going to sit down very

well with some of the hardliners,

mindful of the fact that the slogans

have been quite harsh and very much

targeting the regime as a whole,

including chance of death to the

dictator and death to the supreme

leader. So, it seems like the

protests are also being used as a

political instrument by the

political factions to score points

against each other.

From the point

of view of President Rouhani,

there's not a lot you can offer the

protesters at least in the

short-term, given that economics,

rising prices, were at the root of

the trouble?

In some ways, yes. He's

not going to in to be able to turn

around the economy that quickly.

However, the protests are not just

because of the lack of economic

progress, it is also because of the

mismanagement as well as the

corruption that exists in the

country. And that's something that

Rouhani can address much quicker by

taking much more firm positions and

measures against corruption.

Do you

think there is a particular

resentment of the regime given that

so many people in Iran are so young,

they weren't around at the time of

the Islamic Revolution?

Certainly

there is a tremendous amount of

discontent. Because they have

legitimate reasons to be discontent,

mindful of the situation that

exists. But what I think you're

seeing here is quite different from

2009, when it was about election

fraud and about people wanting to

see change through the elections and

through the legislative process.

Now, when you listen to the slogans,

it seems like it has bypassed that

phase rather quickly, in fact

instantaneously, and gone towards

much, much bigger demands in which

they're not taking sides between the

reformists and the hardliners but

they're targeting the regime as a

whole.

If they're targeting the

regime, and President Trump is

saying publicly, we're watching the

Iranian people, they must be allowed

to protest, surely from outside,

that interference can be

counter-productive?

Certainly,

particularly if the messenger is

someone like a Donald Trump. I mean,

this is an American president that

is extremely unpopular outside of

the United States, and I would say

particularly in Iran. In the past

year he has taken several measures

that ordinarily Iranians feel have

targeted them, such as the Muslim

ban which has disproportionately

affected Iranian nation was, his

hugging of Saudi Arabia as well as

his efforts against Iran, which

continues to enjoy broad support.

So, having his blessing is certainly

not a political plus in the Iranian

political context.

The Chinese

leader has used his new years

message to suggest his country will

play a greater role in international

affairs in 2018. Under previous

presidents China kept a lower

profile but the president set out

his foreign affairs priorities in a

number of areas.

TRANSLATION: As a

responsible major country, China

must speak out. China will staunchly

safeguard the authority and status

of the United Nations and actively

fulfil its due responsibility and

duty in international affairs. China

will honour its promises in

countering global climate change and

actively push forward the common

construction of the Belton road.

China will act as a builder of world

peace and a contributor to global

development and an upholder of the

international order.

Michael Bristow is the Asia Pacific

Editor for the World Service.

Well, he spoke a lot about a

domestic agenda, about alleviating

poverty in the next three years. He

said that would happen for the first

time in thousands of years in

Chinese history. He also talked

about the corruption campaign,

anti-corruption campaign, which

would continue. But most strikingly

I think was his vision for China in

the future, on the world stage.

Previously Chinese leaders have

sought to hide themselves a little

bit and to put China on the

sidelines and let others take the

leader. Sju jumping is not like that

at all. He is due to put China right

on the world stage, as we heard

there, defending the United Nations,

tackling climate change, maintaining

the world order. And this is

something that we have not heard

from a Chinese leader for a long

time he started doing that much more

during the year, I am thinking of

Davos for example, where it was the

Communist Chinese leader rather than

the capitalist American president,

who was talking about the importance

of international trade? Exactly. I

think he's written reinforcing the

message which he has been building

up all year. , however,, there was

the party congress, he spoke about

something very similar. And it all

comes at a time when President Trump

appears to be looking inward and

turning America more inward. And

that's to a certain extent is

opening a lot more space for China

to move into, not just in its

backyard in east Asia but across the

world. We see China, which once

believed that countries should not

interfere in each other's affairs,

getting drawn in as it has got

Agger, to world affairs more and

more. And as I said, China is

perhaps taking the place which has

been vacated by the United States.

And when you look at the new silk

road project and the amount of

investment, for example, China has

in Africa, economically already it

is THE big international player?

There is no bounds to China's

ambition. You mentioned the silk

road, one bels, one road as it is

awkwardly titled in China. It is

about infrastructure, roads,

railways, whole towns and cities

across and from Asia, and also along

the sea lanes of Southeast Asia,

wielding ports and forming new

alliances. Really he sees China at

the centre of a New World order at

the very least in Asia, and that's

what he hopes to push forward over

the next few years.

A man has been arrested

after an alleged prank call that led

to the police shooting dead a man

in the US state of Kansas.

Police surrounded the home

of Andrew Finch after receiving

a hoax emergency call from a man

claiming to have shot dead his

father and taken his family hostage.

Police say they believe the report

was an act of "swatting"

where a fake emergency is reported,

sending the police

to another address.

This is 911, what's going on without

my mum and dad and I have shot him

in their head and he's not breathing

any more...

What kind of weapons do you have...

Officers came here preparing for a

hostage situation, several of them

got into position...