i mean everything the waves the wind i have to give something back to me and i can apply a church mission to many of the others. that we will use the surfers fighting against i'm simply the series starting january seventh on g.w. to the. pearl. this is g.w. news a live from berlin and christians around the world are celebrating christmas pope francis leads a vigil mass at st peter's basilica where he says today's refugees are fleeing

their homes just like joseph and mary had to do before the birth of jesus christ also coming up. hundreds of christians attend the first christmas eve mass in mosul sense islamic extremists were grip driven out almost six months ago they're hoping christian life can thrive again in the city. and kremlin critic alex i know danny has held rallies across russia to back his bid to run in next year's election he's considered the strongest potential challenger to president vladimir putin but a court conviction bars him from running. plus david and goliath out in nature conservationists in south africa are turning to one of the world's tiniest creatures in their effort to contain damage caused by one of the biggest.

high maya schwager welcome to the program. and we start in the vatican where pope francis has celebrated the traditional christmas eve midnight mass in the splendor of st peter's basilica and remarks earlier the pope compared mary and joseph journey to bethlehem to the mass mass migration being seen in the world today pope francis told the faithful that the birth of jesus in a manger had changed history forever the pontiff said that everything that happened that night has become a source of hope. and not the faith we proclaim tonight makes us gold present in all those situations where we think he is absent he he is be present in the unwelcome visitor often unrecognizable. they don't have to feel that there is no room for them on this.

christmas is a time for turning the power of fear into the power of charity into power for a new imagination of charity. and midnight mass is also underway in bethlehem the west bank town where christians believe jesus was born the faithful have gathered in the church of the nativity where archbishop. the apostolic administrator of the latin patriarch of jerusalem is leading christmas celebrations amid heightened tensions this year's festivities come at a time of simmering anger after u.s. president donald trump's controversial decision to recognize her risk as israel's capital has in years before palestinian president mahmoud abbas was also in attendance at the service. just months ago the iraqi city of mosul was considered a stronghold of the so-called islamic state many residents fled the city to escape

the violence of the extremists now with the i asked driven out natives i'm also a coming back including christians on sunday hundreds attended the first christmas service sense the city was liberated. i hope. christmas mass in mosul. a year ago it would have been unthinkable. back then the city was under the firm grip of the so-called islamic state. but since the militants were driven night in july more and more christians have been returning home. it was said i met with or without peace there is no life after our victory over islamic state messages that we must all call for peace first in our hearts until it can be reflected on the outside. it has been six months since the iraqi army drove i.s.i.

to mosul replacing the militants flag with the national flag of iraq. but the city landscape has changed little since the fighting ended large parts of mosul a still in marines. we had such a nice house not anymore i think when we came back everything had been looted even our children's clothes were gone and now it's winter look this used to be a christian orphanage before i took it over as a command post is that we're going to. it's a somber service with tribute page to those killed and i asked will. that the first christmas mass in four years also brings hope of a peaceful future for mosul. moving to russia where kremlin critic alexina vonnie has held rallies across the country to back his bid to run in next

year's presidential election his hoping that the show of support will persuade officials to overturn a court conviction that bars him from standing as a candidate now than he is considered the strongest potential challenger to president vladimir putin who is expected to extend his term by another six years. a show of support for alexei navalny the opposition leader needed the endorsement of five hundred people to initiate a presidential bid but far more than that took to the streets on sunday here in new katherine book and in one thousand other cities across russia. russia needs a new president and new economic policies we need to stop fighting and start working together. with the complaint came here because it's important the election is competitive. you know. because our country is stagnating

and we need change. in moscow not only was cheered on by over seven hundred supporters in a marquee on the banks of the river i must work has been banned from running in and actions until twenty twenty eight the election commission says a suspended sentence for food makes him ineligible valmy says that was politically motivated he's a fierce critic of president vladimir putin who is widely expected to win reelection in march. you've lied to me a putin who turned our country into a source of personal enrichment for yourself your family and your friends. that is why you should not be president any more you are a bad president you don't have good policies and you don't know how to run a country we will defy you in these elections and we are ready to win in the new.

never only files his indorsement papers at the election commission on sunday evening if his bid is rejected he has threatened to call for a boycott of the election. now to some of the other stories making news around the world raising floodwaters and landslides in the philippines have killed more than two hundred and left thousands homeless tropical storm tembin intensified into a typhoon with north mindanao badly hit people and houses were swept away the philippines suffered some twenty typhoons and storms each here making it one of the most disaster prone countries more than one hundred fifty people were left hanging in the french alps after a gondola broke down rescuers had to use helicopters to bring them to safety at the ski resort it took two and a half hours to complete the rescue mission. festive celebrations in serbia have

been marred by outrage over a very expensive artificial christmas tree residents of belgrade have joined protests against the mayor accusing him of corruption. tanenbaum tanenbaum how green and how ridiculously expensive are your branches that's what some residents in serbia's capital belgrade are thinking after finding out this eighteen metre high plastic christmas tree cost eighty three thousand euros now far from rocking round the christmas tree on a happy holiday some of demonstrating next to it against what they see as corruption banners take aim at the city's mayor with slogans like eighty three thousand euros shame on you mayor sydney's a molly says he wasn't aware of the cost and would cancel the deal but opposition groups claim he's involved in questionable use of public funds with a tree costing four times the amount of the one outside new york's rockefeller center. this is not only the most expensive plastic christmas tree in the world

it's also an insult to belgrade citizens to forget christmas spirit someone town says instead. the person who bought this christmas tree should be held responsible . but nobody it seems has yet got round to asking what the bulls and bows cost they could be in for a shock. david versus goliath is a familiar tale in our human world but out there in the natural world it is also the stage for some seemingly an equal battles to help contain habitat destruction in south africa conservationists are turning to one of nature's smallest creatures to rein in one of the biggest. they're nature's heavy weights and not surprisingly they need a lot of food an adult elephant will munch its way through more than a hundred kilograms a day of fruit leaves bark and grass that can be costly for landowners who react by

trying to keep elephants away from their property is a general consensus that elephants are very destructive in terms of trees and there are to certain degree but it's not just ails them so that cause her habitat change . and because big trees are iconic we are trying to. find ways to protect the trees so that landowners are all happy with having elephants in the area one solution being tried here on the edge of the kruger national park these bees elephants maybe thick skin but they're very sensitive and they don't like being stung as a creature so small can actually scare away the elephant. but they sting the elephant in the trunks and that is a. little like that the keepers hang their beehives directly from the trees in vulnerable orchards and plantations it's

a terror which the elephants can see hear and feel and one they certainly don't forget. and b. is generally go to hear this moisture so they typically target big trucks which the elephants don't like at all so once they've been stung once they pulled out the old that memory and they would return to the big project is proving successful at stopping the elephants knocking on the trees of the future spinoff could be honey produced in commercial quantities. well with soccer playing such a big role in germany it's tough for athletes in other sports to make a name for themselves martin kaymer has been the face of german golf for the better part of a decade but his place at the top could be threatened by a player barely known here zander shuffle he is ranked twenty fifth in the world he won the season ending tour championship and september and now could be germany's german golf's next big thing

a tale of two names in the u.s. he's known as zander saucily his name is jumbo onyx on the shelf for the technically he's germany's best goal for. his father and coach stephane moved from stepped up to san diego thirty years ago and told him everything except for the language growing up in a household of a german father is something i learned right away discipline and respect and honesty are things that you know our family values very much and you know he kind of that's how he brought me up to play golf as well as your sport runs in the show for the family. in stuttgart a local sports hole bears the name of his great grandfather bishop shuffler nicknamed molly he was a professional footballer and athlete in the one nine hundred twenty s. later he became a city councilor and deputy mayor father stefan moved to the u.s.

in tragic circumstances he was an aspiring to kathleen hoping to compete at the olympics but lost vision in his left eye after a drunk driver hit him with his car when he was just twenty three. the devoting your mind to. has been always given it destroyed my dream of hope here so i emigrated to the us. while i was studying i lived next to a golf course and i realized it was a great school because the ball doesn't move towards you and i can't tennis for instance squash out of my tennis so i tried. to say. what followed was a california dream santa became a professional golfer and is now faced with a difficult choice compete for germany or the usa at the twenty twenty tokyo olympics so far he hasn't decided to grow up here in the u.s. most of my friends are american of course you know i'm like my good friends my father is german or at least it's a tricky situation

a situation far more complex than choosing between zander and alexandre. before we get to the end of the show some joyful news coming out of japan people there are bidding farewell to twenty seventeen by laughing away the bad memories from the past months a crowd gathered at a shrine and also come up for a collective outburst of joy led by local priests oh oh oh oh that's a twenty minute laughing ritual has become an annual tradition according to a shinto legend laughter lurd the sun got us out of a dark cave. i'm. i'm irish waiter more coming up at the top of the hour thanks for watching.