the two koreas have held high-level talks. first time in two years. the north has agreed to send a delegation to the olympics in the south, and reopen a military hotline. but, pyongyang's weapons program remains off the table. also, more than 170 people are ararrested in anti-m-mafia raids here in germany. we will explain how the mob

managed to gain a firm foothold here. and, your vacuum may be watching you. is it convenient, or is it surveillance? we will go to this year's consumer electronics show to find out. ♪ brent: i am brent goff. tonight, the united states has welcomed high-level talks between north and south korea. the united states also says that it will work with seoul to ensure that pyongyang's participation does not violate sanctions over the country's nuclear program. the trump administration sent mixed signals, saying that pyongyang is trying to drive a wedge between it and south korea.

guilia: for the first time in two years, negotiations between the borders. pyongyang confirmed that it will send 18 to the south olympics next month. -- that it will send a team to the south korean olympics next month. pyongyang and seoul agreed to hold talks to reopen a military hotline. >> the north and south have agreed to establish peace on the korean peninsula and seek reconciliation. south and north korea agreed that military tensions needed to be eased.

in order to achieve that, both sides have agreed to hold military talks. guilia: south korea called it an important verse step toward improving relations. china urged the international community support to support -- the international community to support the latest developments. >> we hope the talks this time are a good start to improve relations, promote reconciliation and cooperation, and ease the current tension on the peninsula. we also hope the international community will applaud this move more than ever. guilia: the rare meeting also received support from pyongyang. >> every korean wants relations between the north and south to improve. it is an important thing that we should solve by coming together. anything that creates obstacles to reunification should stop. guilia: that opinion was recycled on the streets of seoul.

>> foreigners see the peninsula as a dangerous place under constant threat of war. i hope those concerns do not come reality. guilia: but despite the hopes for improving ties, north korea has made it clear it is not willing to discuss its nuclear weapons program. that program is the main cause of tensions, so it isn't clear how there can be any real de-escalation in the region. brent: some of the other stories making headlines. in south africa, 200 people are injured after two commuter trains collided in johannesburg. a technical failure caused one train to drive into the other. officials blame human error. tunisia's main opposition party have staged a rally in tunis, calling fofor more.

momore than 10 cities nationwide have seen protests over price hikes. poland's new prime minister has sacked his defense and foreign ministers. officials say the move is aimed toward mending ties with the european union. the eu is threatening poland with sanctions over controversial judicial reforms, which europe says is undemocratic. in switzerland, authorities have closed several ski slopes, hiking roads and train lines due to a high risk of avalanches. heavy snowfall and r rain has ao led to thousands of tourists being trapped in a town near the famed matterhorn peak. police in italy and germany have arrested more than 170 people suspected of belonging to the mafia.

raids took place today in both countries. most arrests took place in the southern italian region of calabria. police arrested a dozen men. >> it was a huge operation. suspected members of one of italy's most infamous mafia groups were arrested in for german states -- in four german states. >> we worked closely with the italian antiti-mafia police. they also made numerous arrests this morning, and asked us to arrest suspected mafia members here.

>> in total, more e than a hundd 70 suspected members were arrested. the mafia hails from the regnn of calabriria in soututhern ita. the clan i is said to control al locall businesseses. theieir influence extends into even the political sphere, something that alarms authorities. >> in the last election, two members ran against each other. at some point, they had a meeting to decide who should win and worked out a deal so that both would benefit. >> from its ititalian stronongh, the group was able to extend its empire into northern europe. the clan infiltrated ordinary

businesses, from funeral seservices to bread and wine sales. >> in itata, it seemems they wee operating through illegal schemes within the economy. this also had conseqequences hee in germany. for example, people running restaurants w were beieing presd into purchasing inferior or overpriced products so that there was no real competition. >> wiretaps revealed that the gang was blackmailing the owners of pizzerias and ice cream parlors in germamany, as well as launderiring money from illegal business dealings. for those arrested, the game is now up. they will be extradited to italy for prosecution. brent: i am joined by giulia noberti.

it is good to have you on the show. should we be shocked that the mafia has reached into central germany as we saw? guilia: i would say that that is not a surprise for people who are following the activities over the decades. they started many, many years ago. it followed the path of italian migration of guest workers. 10 years ago, for example, six people were shot in front of a pizzeria. so now, we are surprised again. brent: but we are talking about organized crime that is flourishing in germany. you say that this is not happen overnight, and that germany is for trial ground -- is fertile

ground. why is that? giulia: geographical continuity, let's say. mafia members would find refuge in germany hiding from their competitors. brent: when you say they are hiding, what do you mean they are doing? working here legally? giulia: sometimes, yes. they really hide in germany, looking for another life. they also look for economic opportunities that are numerous in germany. brent: we are short on time, but a want to ask you about these opportunities. you say businesses are easier here than in italy to hide things like criminal activities and money laundering. giulia: yes. the german legal system is helpful for people who want to hide criminal money and clean it

in illegal activities. it is also helpful for the mafioso. brent: have these raids put a significant dent in the mafia in germany and italy? giulia: maybe. brent:t: ok. we will be talking with you in the future, i am sure. thank you for coming in. here in germany, talks on forming a new coalition government have reportedly reached an agreemement on one sticking point. there is currently a news blackout on the talks, but league reports suggest that angela merkel and that social democrats have agreed on an immigration law that would allow highly skilled foreign workers to come to germany. earlier leaks suggested that the parties had abandoned germany's

targets for carbon dioxide emissions as "unrealistic." now to our political correspondent. what have you learned about these deals? charlotte: that seems to be the case. immigration is one of the most hotly contested issues since the refugee crisis of 2015, and we are not talking in this case about the immigration or asylum-seekers. we are talking about skilled workers. this new law would be about the management of skilled workers, which we have seen a huge influx of immigration in germany. very few actually skilled workers from beyond europe, however. this is all supposed to change

that -- this law is supposed to change that, and allegedly the social democrats have found an agreement. it may resemble the canadian points system, which is what the democrats wanted. we can say there are more controversial issues they are discussing, for example, the health care system. but this is progress, and this is a step towards those talks on thursday. brent: thank you. now to politics in the united states. president donald trump has urged lawmakers to find an agreement on immigration. he has repeated that any agreement must include funding for a border wall with mexico. he was speaking at a meeting with both democrat and republican lawmakers.

pres. trump: having the democrats in this with us is final. it should be a bill of love. but it also has to be a bill where we are able to secure our border. drugs are pouring into our country at a record pace. we don't need a a 2000 mile wal. but we do need a wall, or a fairly good portion. brent: let's switch years here. -- let's switch gears here. a tech geek's paradise. daniel: yes. the consumer electronics show is now underway. practically every industry is in the tech game these years. seems like science fiction, that

they could be coming to a home near you very soon. it is all about progress at the ces. 100 70,00000 visitors from aroud the world are getting updates on the technology that could be changing our lives. self driving cars from china. smart bathrooms that scan the face. the wall tv is true to its name, offering a three meter screen. robots could soon be joining the family, although smartphone operated. and paradise beckons. >look, no hands. this suitcase follows its owner like a trusty dog.

intelligent working boots sound the alarm when the wearer as a n accident.. >> it is definitely a festival of technological process. we germans are known to have you doubt about it because of the collection of data. but this is a matter of can-do. this could soon do the family laundry inside of or minutes -- inside of four minutes. consumers will have to make up the minds on whether or not this represents a increase in standards. brent: a and carolina, what is e mood like? carolina: hello, daniel. it is really exciting. these people are quite happy to be here. they have been waiting almost

the whole year to attend the ces in las vegas. it is the whole city. we can see once we go out, you can meet people from all over the world who have come here exclusively to attend this, the cvcees. daniel: letet's get into the nitty-gritty. one company is canceling its drone project while anotr r is hoping to take off. carorolina: yes. you are talking about go=pr -pro. their shareses are calling on te stock market, e especially as te company confirmed thaha i plans to lay off around 20% of t the workforcrce. this w whole problblem started e years ago in 2016, when go pro

had to recall 2500 drdrones from the e market. the deviciccould lose its power while operating. that could be dangerous not t oy for users, but for people walking around were these drones would of been used. on the other hand, we havee inintel, who launched a big project -- the flying car. it is a kind of drone that transports peoplple frorom one t to the other without the pilot. that means it is a kind of self flying helicicopter. the ceo ofof intel did not get into the security issue they have with the company. daniel: so a little bit of a distraction ththere. and it is looking like data is the new oil.

those who control t the flow std to make the most money. it seems the gadgets there are hungrier for information t than ever. carolilina: oh yes, daniel. all of these devices collect data. it is the babasis for this. they do want to see devices thtt make their lives easier, less complicated. they are not only paying witith money, butut with private data. soso this is a queuestion of generations and the younger generatition -- and how the younger generation might have a different concept of w what privacy m means. they may be willing to share data to have a more comfortable life.

>> go and enjoy yourself. go play with some of those gadgets. tech companies are often accused of planned obsolescence. the technology breaks just at the moment there is a new model out there. apple users in france say this is the case with older iphones. apple says this is to lengthen the life of the phone, but one group is launching a criminal complaint. >> there is not much fun when your iphone grinds to a halt. french consumer protection organization hop swings into action, launching a criminal complaint against the company. accuses the firm of deliberately slowing its older gadgets to boost sales of the next generation. it is called planned obsolescence.

iphone users are not happy. >> what happened to your iphone 6? >> it is very slow. to find d anything is very slow. >> if that is the truth, it is very bad. it is not good. i have become addicted to iphones and have bought another one when it was stolen. >> french prosecutors have opened a preliminary investigation into apple. in france, deliberately shortening of products life is considered fraud. the company denies planning obsolescence, but apologizes for its battery management program of slowing older phones down. apple faces similar class action lawsuits in the united states. >> a reason to celebrate for australians. brent: same-sex couples down

under have ushered in a new era with a wave of weddings under new marriage equality laws. they have waited months since legislation changed to allow them to get married do to licensing laws, but for many, their way to saying "i do" was worth it. >> at the stroke of midnight and in the early hours of january 9, dozens of same-sex couples exchanged weddingng thousand acroross ausaliaia as new lalaws legalizing gayay marriagtook affect.. one of the first couples to tie the knot were athletes s craig burns anand luke sullivan, w whd in new south wales. >>his is a h huge step f forward for australia. there are still l people out the who have a a problem with it,t,d you will face those people in day to day life every now and agagain, but it is far outweighd

by the influx of people we have had in support. >> at a ceremony in melbourne, this couple were wed. >> she will always be love o ofy lilife. today's not going to change ththat. it is aboutt equality, really, anand finally being legal. >> australia's parliament voted to legalize same-sex marriage on december 9, becoming the 26th nation in the world to do so. the vote in parliament followedd a nationwide postal survevey too measure public opinion on marriage equality, and an overwhelming majority supported it. brent: most bundesliga players spent their break on sunny beaches away from the cold and wet in germany. others spend their free time on projects close to their hearts. this is one of those players.

he went back to the ivory coast to see the work that has foundation has been doing over recent months. let's take a look. >> he has been playing for over a decade, it is always had his home in his hearts. that is why he wants to get back to the local community. >> i am a footballer. scoring goals as part of my everyday job. but it is not easy. to me, this is more important than golf. >> the program gives care to the less privileged. it has a special focus on kidney disease and improving access to dialysis in the ivory coast. >> when we first started this foundation, health care was our main priority. we soon started organizing charity galas and inviting sponsors who donate equipment

and money to the cause. >> the foundation then distributes to areas across the country. it also provides sports equipment throughout africa, encouraging people to exercise by organizing courses and supporting organizations with similar goals. during this trip, the foundation brought smiles back to the community. from this weekend onwards, salum onde will hope to put smiles on faces of the berlin faithful. brent: now onto sumo wrestling. wrestlers gathered in tokyo for the annual ring entering ceremony. the sport's three grand championonperformed d the ritual which you see there in a traditioional new year offeringo the shinto gods. they are wearing traditional white belts and colorful aprons

as theheperform inin front of an appreciative crowd off hundreds of fans. that is whatat you call balance. japan's ancient sport is seeking to turn the page after a scandnl hihit the 2017 season, which culminating and the resignation of one of its top champions in disgrace. snowfall is not something that you necessarily expect in a desert, but it is even more remarkable when it occurs in the world's hardest -- the world's hottest desert. this view of the sahara is what greeted residents of a northern algeria town. look at this. a rare belt of ice hit the town, dusting the dunes with snow. this rare site certainly drew people in, giving new meaning to the term "desert mirage."

here's a reminder of the top stories we're following 40. north and south korea have agreed to reopen a military hotline between the countries at their first high-level talks in more than two years. pyongyang will also send athletes to the winterer olympis in the south, despite tensions over its nuclear weapons program. after a short break, i will return to take you through the day. stick around for that. ♪

unfolds i cattle call. you're watching live from paris on france24 under senate headlines this hour.. in south korea hold at this summit in two years with. a great to take pause in the winter olympic games six months. but it also insisted seeking a program right off the table. they see for french president emmanuel back on in china fluery of this is still signs and plans to write in and you. museum in shanghai. trying to do more to open its markets up to french kids. and pain but a vestry performances jewish community the prime minister attend the ceremony about three years since the deadly attack