Demonstrations in Tehran started with sellers in the main bazaar, leaving their market stalls to protest the government.

The crisis is so immediate and so pressing and urgent for the small business people that they're willing to risk their lives coming to the streets.

I'm Marco Wurman. And I'm Carolyn Beeler. Today, why they're protesting and what could happen as a result.

Also, a coal mining region in Germany has cut air pollution, but there is still a long way to go.

The sky turned blue again. And I think many people just thought the problem

is solved. Plus what canons from the Caribbean are doing in upstate New York. And how Danes

ring in the New Year. We get up on the chairs, tables, sofa. The symbolism of furniture

and more today on the world.

This is The World. I'm Carolyn Beeler.

And I'm Marco Wurman. Thank you for tuning in.

Today is the third straight day of protests in the capital of Iran. They're spurred on by the steep depreciation of the country's currency, the real. Its value has fallen so dramatically that people are struggling to buy basic goods. It is the latest in a long

string of crises Iranians have weathered this year. Now it seems frustration with the government

has passed a threshold. Hadi Gaiemi is executive director of the Center for Human Rights in Iran. When we reached

him earlier today in New York, he started by describing the scale of the protests happening now.

They are right now spontaneously breaking out throughout the country. It began within the vicinity

of the traditional business center of the city, the bazaar.

And it has been growing outward from that area.

Now today we're getting reports that the northern Tehran neighborhoods, which are usually

centers of protests, also seeing people coming out.

And it's not just restricted to Tehran.

It actually, in several large and small cities, has been going on and seems to be growing on its third day.

But primarily began around the business districts by shop owners and small business people.

...