i asked d.-w. your questions about germany but it's canada medicare is good they want to. write to us on facebook we'll answer your questions. this is the w. news live from berlin germany prepares for an election that could change the country's political landscape chancellor angela merkel is still leading in the polls in the run up to sunday's vote but the far right alternative for germany party looks on course to enter parliament what does this mean for germany we'll

have special coverage also coming up. puerto rico's emergency deepens in the wake of hurricane maria there's not enough you clean water or electricity and now thousands are evacuating from near failing dam. a stunning bundesliga result at byron munich underdogs wolfsburg surprise the champions. hello and welcome i'm michel henry it's good to have you with us. with curan set to vote on sunday the leading candidates for the post the chancellor have been making their case to voters on the other merkel and her challenger martin short both held election rallies on friday the latest polls give merkel's christian democrats a double digit lead over martin chose his social democrats but that didn't dampen chilton doozie as an at his rally in berlin. a pop star's welcome in berlin two

days before polling martin schulz also enjoyed a rousing reception when he first announced his return from brussels to stanford chancellor his arrival then saw the social democrats soar in the polls those ratings have since dipped and critics say his proposed investments are really handouts but schultz is not changing his tune he's a smart man but i still learn about that we've got one and that's when we talk about fair wages about collective wage agreement the jobs with permanent contract should be the norm in germany which is the basis for a good future for the next generation so they don't have to go from one internship to the next short term contract when you explain that we here in response that we're promising handouts or what they call handouts are in reality nothing but the right of the people to their share of the overall economic performance of the country it's justice. thank you lz is passionate

speech on friday left many supporters frustrated by his low standings in the polls which got me because i just don't get it because i think that's the substance that germany needs that moves germany i don't get it and i hope things change. because of people shouldn't always listen to what the polls say whether they're representative or not is another question but after what he talked about today i don't understand it. minutes later a chance that angle americal took to the podium in munich as has become the norm a turk campaign. and says this year critics gave her noisy reception. don't survive the high english lit but we can agree on one thing we definitely won't shape germany's future by whistling and screaming his style to tackle knows the refugee crisis of twenty fifteen has pushed many voters towards the far right

alternative for germany that was a one off she insists. that's my side of the sea love what happened in two thousand and fifteen months not and will not be repeated at least we don't know if those were welcome words for hosts a hope for chairman of the bavarian sister party of merkel's conservatives his longstanding demand for a cap on refugee numbers also resonates with merkel's critics. joining us for more is d.w. political correspondent hans brandt hands the latest polls continue to give merkel's c.d.u. i think an if you can double digit lead why is it been so hard for any candidate to break through and pose a serious threat to her. well she is very popular even beyond the reaches of her party even within hours of the social democratic spectrum she's as a person and she's impressed germans for twelve years that she's been in power and

i think there is a sense even amongst her critics that she stands for a certain continuity and a certain. calm in dealing with a very difficult international situation so i think her personal. her personal reputation is what is really pushing the c.d.u. ahead at the moment and the same poll numbers also place the right wing populist a.f.d. party in third place not by fair elections into parliament need for germany well i mean it's obviously been as we've just heard the situation with the refugees in the last couple of years hundreds of thousands of refugees and migrants coming into germany that has pushed people away from going to markets conservatives to the more of a more right wing to the right wing alternative for germany. one might say that this is a kind of normalization in europe for even in the world if you look at other countries

like great britain with the brics of like donald trump being elected in the united states but also france the former us united and practically all other neighboring countries of germany and europe all of these countries have some form of right wing nationalist party here in germany that is new which has to do with germany's history nazi history and it will change the debate in parliament i think quite substantially because there will be this rabble rousing in parliament and also a party that is not really convinced that democratic processes are the way to go. and it's a day to go before voting begins what is the overall mood in germany. there's been a lot of talk about how boring these elections have been partly because it is clear that i'm going to knuckle is going to win that the second place will be taken by the social democrats the margin between those two parties is up for debate at the moment. at the top there's enough there is likely to be

a big change but as the campaign has progressed their run for third place in the question how well the right wing populists are going to do has really put a spark into this election campaign and i think there is a mood on the one hand a lot of people who are worried about these right wingers going into parliament and on the other hand a kind of push by supporters of the smaller other smaller parties the environmentalist greens for instance or the free democrats market liberals to try and push their supporters to in order to reduce the number of votes that will go to the right wing and is there a concern that there might be people that want to abstain from voting has always been about thirty percent of the voters who have not gone to vote in germany and there is a strong push to try and motivate those people actually to go and it is the case that a lot of young people who tend not to have voted in recent times have been asked

particularly intensely at the moment to participate in this election so one hopes that at least the participation in the poll will be high because that will obviously legitimated the result thank you hans. correspondent hans brunt thank you very much. here in berlin voters heading to polling stations will have to compete with tens of thousands of athletes taking part in the berlin marathon city officials say they've made arrangements to make sure that everything goes smoothly for both runners and voters. the forty fourth britain marathon meets the german elections. forty four thousand competitors will be running through the german capital on sunday. plans had to be made to ensure that berlin voters could reach their polling stations without problems. since.

all together there are thirty polling stations affected that is when the voters have to cross the marathon route to reach their polling station. the voters were already informed of this when they received their polling card. and they also received another card that shows them how to reach their polling station. crossing points have been set up to help people get to the polls on time. we have staggered starts around fifteen thousand runners at a time take off and we've spread out the groups a bit more so that they'll be more space on the route to allow voters going to the polls to be able to cross. security is also a concern more than fifteen hundred police will be on duty for the marathon and election on sunday authorities say they have no indications of any possible terror attacks the marathon should be able to retain its usual festive character.

this is the first time both the vents are happening at the same time but we think we're well prepared to fight it it all sounds like a pretty normal marathon looting the finisher's hanging out on the lawn in front of the german parliament. iran claims to have tested a new medium range missile in defiance of warnings from the u.s. state television broadcast footage of the launch as well as in-flight video taken from the nose of the rocket the missile is said to be capable of carrying several warheads over a distance of a tooth. thousand kilometers earlier this week u.s. president trump had criticized iran at the u.n. general assembly washington says iran's missile tests violate the spirit of a twenty fifty nuclear deal between tehran and world powers. at least seventy thousand residents in puerto rico have been ordered to evacuate their homes after authorities warned a dam had failed authorities said can you leave one hundred year old well i talked

to dan had failed and caused flash flooding downstream heavy rain brought on by hurricane maria costa dam to swell up with water. meanwhile at least thirteen people are reported to have been killed after the hurricane hit the island. stranded at sea with two children this woman's vessel was damaged when hurricane marina swept over puerto rico leaving them cowering in the ship's home amidst six metre high waves but thankfully rescuers were able to return them to dry land. back on the mainland residents of the caribbean islands struggle through the extreme flooding maria left in its wake several rivers have swollen to record highs and many areas like here in the capital san juan are still underwater the government says it was the worst hurricane to hit the island in ninety years.

i would say it is an experience that one does not want to have you see my god please take this weather system so it doesn't hit us but unfortunately it was our turn in. the storm knocked out power to the entire country at last count the government had lost contact with around half of puerto rico's communities with no official word on when basic services will be restored residents have been left to fend for themselves. we didn't know we could get water here because it was banned before but now the tap is open to the public. cleanup efforts have already begun. but with damages estimated in the tens of billions of euros there's no sign when life here will return to normal.

bundesliga football now and a shocker in munich last night byron were hosting the wolfsburg and almost seemed on schedule after aryan robin shot was deflected into the net but poor goalkeeping helped to bring wolfsburg back that mistake plus a beautiful header by daniel did in the eighty second minute made a stunning two two draw for second place for priory. the draw and yet it is good news for top of the standing dortmund they play got back later today and hope to benefit further from at least one unsung player newry shine hasn't just been vital to the change that dortmund he's also profited from the most pizza boss has made him a leader on the pitch and paid him back by scoring his first goal in two and a half years. despite the euphoria surrounding him he's keeping his feet firmly on the ground. we've only played five been does league

a game so far that's as much we have to try and win our game on saturday and that won't be easy we have to be on top of our game. dortmund love to play the namesake said the ricin. dog and have lost just one of the last ten encounters pierre emerick about me and has a knack of scoring against grabbing three in his last two home games against the foals something he and the team will want to continue. the feeling within the team is good you can see that the team trust its abilities for playing well and working well as a team all of that's important to win a game. unbeaten on the road this season during both of those games they'll be asking new signing but it's about all three points this time around he was a top man for the past three seasons to this was of course we know it will be tough and daughter. will have to be

a little in front of goal and make sure we convert the few chances that we have if we want to get a result. and then bringing points back from dortmund that's what glasgow's d.j. hacking will be expecting from his players. that's her news rock joins us again at the top of the hour in the meantime you can check out our website for follow us on twitter thanks for watching t.w. news. thanks todd the stadium was so loud it was a really special event don't remember it all my life everybody have a dream. and you don't need to sell your brains when you see what you will know things are going well.