everything the waves the wind have to give something back to me and i can apply true mission to me on this. point with. surfers fighting against one simply. starting january seventh on the job. this is you know we news live from berlin a russian opposition leader and prominent putin critic is banned from running for office election of ali is an eligible to run for president in next year's vote according to the country's election commission

a defiant volley is vowing to appeal the decision also in moscow. a bus crashes into a subway underpass killing at least four people several others have been injured and police are now questioning the driver when the russian capital for the latest and the pope francis delivers his christmas day blessing in his message he has called for israelis and palestinians to come together and resume talks aimed at a two state solution as the path to peace in the holy land. on little rock it's a pleasure to be with you and we start off our broadcast with some breaking news out of russia that country's election commission has the site at a bar opposition leader alexina volley from challenging vladimir putin in next year's presidential. elections of all these presidential bid was rejected by

a vote of twelve to zero a unanimous vote the commission says of all these conviction in a fraud case widely seen as retribution for his anti corruption campaigning makes him in eligible to run the volley has vowed to lead a campaign to boycott the vote if he isn't allowed on the ballot you. know. what we'd like to take you now to the russian capital moscow where sherman is monitoring developments certainly that's quite a said back for mr deval me. well absolutely this is not an unexpected setback though. the russian authorities have always been talking about how he had a previous conviction which of course his supporters say was politically motivated in the first place and so it wasn't clear whether he would be able to run from the

beginning a lection laws say that someone with a previous conviction can't run for ten to fifteen years after that conviction viney argues that the constitution doesn't mention not so he was hoping that he would be able to run but this was kind of a decision that everyone has just been waiting to happen so a foregone conclusion have we heard from an evolving what's next for him what role can he still play in all of this. well these team has already said that they will appeal the decision and has already called for a boycott of the elections even yesterday when he was putting his candidacy forward officially he said that he calls on other office candidates to pull out of the race up to five days before the actual election so i guess his strategy here seems to be that he wants to undermine the legitimacy of the upcoming elections you know he has

been arguing from the beginning that an election without him can't be a legitimate election because he's one of the big opposition candidates as he sees it himself certainly all right emily stick around because i'm going to ask about the other major story that broke where you are because staying in moscow at least four people have been killed and more than a dozen others were injured after a bus plowed into a busy pedestrian underpass russian news agency say that the bus careened off the road in the plunged down the steps of the underpass police have detained the driver of the incident occurred on one of the busiest roads in western moscow all right let's take you back now to. tell us a little bit more about this accident what more have you learned. well this accident took place on slovyansk boulevard which as you mentioned is the video busy road it's on the outskirts of moscow and it's an eight lane road. because it

is still sort of you know people are still kind of wondering about it but it does seem at the moment that it was an accident the investigative committee here in russia has opened a criminal investigation into what happened and they are investigating it as an accident they are investigating whether the failure lay lay with the driver or with the bus itself or with the bus company as it were all right so for now they're ruling out any nefarious motive what is the reaction been in russia to this accident people on edge when they heard about it well people were obviously shocked i mean the images that were circulating in russian news and on social media were rather shocking. of this bus driving down into an underpass so i think it was certainly a shocking shocking set of images there aren't any sure when reporting from moscow

thank you. all right next we turn to a christmas celebrations because christians around the world across continents and cultures are celebrating christmas and as is custom but presses has given the already blessing from the balcony of the basilica overlooking st peter's square it's one of the most sacred addresses in the catholic calender. it's feet. some ten thousand catholics sent to risk that outside st peter's to hear the pope's traditional blessing be at or be means to the city and the world and the pope also had a worldly matter on his mind in his address francis repeated calls for a solution to the only going conflict in the middle east which was recently stoked

by u.s. president donald trump's recognition of jerusalem as israel's capital. on this festive day let us ask the lord for peace for jerusalem and for all the holy land let us pray that the will to resume dialogue may prevail between the parties and that a negotiated solution can finally be reached one that would allow the peaceful coexistence of two states within mutually agreed and internationally recognized borders. the pope's christmas eve mass was no less political francis drew attention to the plight of refugees he told catholics to be welcoming towards people who have been driven from their homelands by conflict comparing marian josephs journey to bethlehem with the mass migration seen today the holy couple had arrived he said at a place where there was no room for them to stay. or

. so many other footsteps are hidden in the steps of joseph and mary we see the tracks of entire families forced to set out in our own day we see the tracks of millions who do not choose to go away but driven from their land leave behind their dear ones. so. the pope support for refugees has put him at odds with some politicians but already it's become a key feature of his tenure. all here in germany president carter steinmeier has urged calm despite political uncertainty in the country america has been trying to form a new coalition government since federal elections back in september and his first

christmas address steinmeyer encouraged germans to draw lessons from the past for fast. by the summer thirty years ago the christmas season was characterized by incredible or and enthusiasm thanks to the fall of the wall. although it was an unforgettable moment for all of us it also marked the beginning of uncertainty for many. looking back don't we see how much it paid off to celebrate that unique moment without fear. german president frank held his first christmas greeting as president from his residence bellevue he called on people to seize initiative in uncertain times. because indian for help to help the situation so our future is not sitting story when we can overcome the sense of powerlessness and alienation on both a large and small scale if we take action as a community if we stop calling on others to be responsible and start to realize

that responsibility begins with us. steinmeyer also addressed the delay in forming a new german government now the longest in post-war history. not all things that are unexpected should inspire shia this also applies when the formation of a new government takes longer than foreseen. of the thought in the us but the german president gave his assurance that the country remained stable. and german soccer they were in this league is enjoying a well earned winter break after one of the most compelling first half of the season in years high profile sacking some spectacular goals and huge controversy over the new video referee system meaning there's hardly been a dull moment here's a look back at the season so far. the comeback of the year so your pint gets replaced the sack catalogue returned for

a fourth stint as coach of byron munich in october seventy two year old trying to steady the ship and buyer now have an eleven point lead at the top of the bundesliga. brasier dortmund also changed coaches after a flying start to underpay to a bush dortmund season fell apart as they went eight league games without a win the dutchman was fired in early december and replaced with x. cologne boss. and tossing them if they let him go back alone in a few days later i'm dortmund coach no would have believed such a story if it hadn't have happened when the mother used to live in sin it came through the ritz it was a kind of show me. still go had departed cologne with the side rooted to the bottom of the bundesliga having finished an impressive fifth and reached europe last season after top score anthony left for china and wasn't replaced their campaign nosedived with injuries also not helping. the sporting director and coach paid the

price and relegation now back. in contrast second place child could have been one of the positive surprises of the first half of the season thirty two year old coach to many go to tesco has found the perfect mix there's been no magical football just hard work and a huge team spirit as shown by their incredible four all draw at darby rivals dortmund having been down for now. the big talking point this term has been the video review trial rather than limit controversy the system has caused more confusion with the rules over its use on clear referees are in the spotlight more than ever. using video evidence is correct in the view but the way we have implemented it with has been a catastrophe both internally and externally and that's what will surely hit the buffers he said for you have to feel like everything in football it's important to keep your eye on the ball quite literally mind keeper robin sent no won't be making that mistake again in this league clubs will hope to have

a bit more focus for the second half of the season starting on january twelfth. on now it's christmas day across the globe so merry christmas to everyone celebrating santa and rudolph are still very busy at the moment as they enter the final stretch of their world tour well before they set off on their travels on christmas eve they made it stop in alexandria virginia where the duo entertained families on the banks of the to mack river at the annual christmas show before they set off on their world wide present delivery right while st nick and rudolph were joined by none other than the grand on a jet ski who overcame his grumpy and holy spirit to pass on spectators. meanwhile in the u.k. brave swimmers have plunged into the serpentine lake in central london for a traditional christmas day race on the spike of cold temperatures dozens competed in the annual peter pan cup members of the scots guard british army unit based

nearby also took part in the festivities and the middle of high park there were no wetsuits in sight just santa suits with a couple of father christmas is also having a dip. very brave souls there in london well i want to remind you for her i let you go of our top stories that we're following for you right now a russian opposition leader alexina vollies bit to get his name on the presidential ballot has been rejected russia's election commission says he's in eligible to run against putin in next year's vote due to a past criminal conviction. pope francis has backed the two state solution for peace between israel and the palestinians delivering his christmas day message at the vatican he also urged dialogue to resolve some of the world's most intractable conflicts. don't forget you can always get news on

the go just download our out from google play or from the apple store that will give you access to all the latest news from around the world as well as push notifications for any breaking news you can of course also use the app to send us your photos and videos. the news continues at the top of the hour on little rock in berlin on behalf of the entire news team thank you for spending this part of your day with us i see you going to the top. images from an isolated country images from the north korea. many tell us a target for captured fascinating shocks of everyday life regimented society.

north korea.