point when the surfers fighting against him simply. starting january seventh. this is do you have the news coming to you live from berlin russian president vladimir putin has cleared the first step towards another term in office as backers of support of his bid to become an independent candidate this comes a day after his biggest critic alexina bony was gort from challenging him in march as vote also coming out liberia prepares for its force a democratic transition of power in more than seven decades the presidential runoff

pits a former soccer star against the country's current vice president and. dozens of villagers and over boat valley up to roll over maine cut off from the outside world for a second day after christmas eve long slog dumped tons of rubble and rock on to their only access road. i'm sara harmon welcome to the program it's good to have you with us russian president vladimir putin is eyeing another six year term in office and now he's been formally endorsed to participate in next year's vote for his fourth term food and decided to run as an independent to make the most of his personal popularity amongst russians more than six hundred supporters including prominent lawmakers and actors have gathered in moscow for the endorsement their support allows putin to

submit documents to take part in the march alexion as an independent. these russians coming to catch a glimpse of the kremlin new year's tree are too young to vote but they're a good photo op for vladimir putin. and one of them had the courage to ask the president how he feels about the opposition. i got that this is not what it was positively. that i will have to hide. the opposition has little chance of victory after the country's election commission barred alexina volley from taking part in the vote. the opposition leader is considered the biggest potential threat to putin and he has called for a boycott of the election of the senate but there's still plenty of support for putin more than six hundred prominent russians including lawmakers actors and athletes gather in moscow to officially endorse him as their candidate. but what

is. our country has changed from a devastating one without future prospects to a powerful country soon that this will. lead to mere putin is the only leader who said our health care isn't good and under him maternity clinics and cardiological and other medical centers we're both because you live it is good you see how the army has grown and grown stronger and now has powerful new weapons at its disposal and the person now are doing well but is it. now putin can submit his documents to the election commission after his bid is approved you also need to gather three hundred thousand signatures to take part in the race. with polls showing more than an eighty percent approval rating putin is expected to cruise to victory in

the march eighteenth vote. for more sure when joins us now from moscow emily why is putin running as an independent candidate and not for his own party well put in the fishley announced the decision to run as an independent at his yearly press conference in december and he actually gave no official reason there could be several reasons the first one could be the polls. more people trust putin then they trust the government for example more people in the polls trust putin than they trust me david who heads the government so he may be trying to distance himself from the united russia party and from the government and this could also be a way of keeping up public interest after all this is his he's running to have a fourth term in office and it's important for the kremlin to have a high turnout to show that these votes these elections are legitimate and so

perhaps experts here are talking about the fact that maybe putin is trying to present himself in a new light as a new putin an independent candidate ok the most outspoken putin critical lexing of only not being permitted to run against him what he have been a threat to putin. well yes and no recent polls show that putin would've probably won anyway according to those recent polls independent and government polls put him at around sixty to eighty percent of public support so he's not really a threat in that sense but now finally has been campaigning all over the country and there have been big crowds coming out for him to support his bid for the president presidential election ahead of this decision and and he's also had he's also called for big protests and organized big protests this year and it seems

that that is what the government is really afraid of a repeat of the mass protests that happened after duma elections in two thousand and eleven and this call for a boycott seems to have made the spooked the kremlin they're now calling to check whether that call to boycott the elections that came from the viney is legitimate and according to the law or case an evolving is out briefly emily is there any other credible contender who can challenge putin. well credible is the key word here there is a sub shark who has positioned herself as a vehement critic of putin she has also now said that he could join her campaign which seems unlikely because no viney has been rather scathing about her but people are have also been saying that she might be herself an instrument of the kremlin her family her father was very close to putin and this may be an attempt people say

by the kremlin to legitimize these votes by putting forward a real authorization candidate as she seems to be so far opposition candidates are polling in the low single digits however so there isn't really. a candid it that could really threatened putin all right no competition in sight that's emily sure win in moscow thank you. the upper chamber of russia's parliament has ratified a deal to extend the lease of a syrian naval port of forty nine years the vote means that moscow can now access syrian waters from the port of tartus developments part of a deal between russia and syria that allows russia to boost its military presence in the war torn country as part of the deal russia will also be allowed to maintain a permanent indefinite presence at the whom aimin air base here's a look now at some of the other stories making news around the world syrian rebel

groups have rejected russian sponsored plans for peace talks in january saying moscow is attempting to bypass u.n. sponsored peace process rebels have also accused russia of committing war crimes in syria and failing to put pressure on the syrian government. the british vessel has scored a russian warship as it passed near u.k. territorial waters over christmas as according to the british defense ministry officials say they've noticed an increase in russian naval activity in the area and say they'll not tolerate any form of aggression. china has sentenced a prominent rights activists to eight years in jail for subversion gone is a blogger better known by its online pseudonym super vulgar butcher has drawn attention for mocking china's government his lawyer says he will appeal the sentence. the west african nation of liberia is selecting a new president this runoff follows an earlier vote where neither of the two top

candidates passed the fifty percent mark that's needed to win outright this is expected to be the first democratic transfer of power in liberia in more than seven decades. the day after christmas voting got off to a slow start but the election appears to have been largely peaceful an impressive achievement in itself for a country that's known decades of war it's a runoff vote between former international footballer george way and vice president joseph walker both of whom joined voters in casting their ballots joseph is an experienced long time politician having served in government for the past twelve years he's found it harder to convince voters that he will bring change. because. we want to. do so. we have. a process there's a process. we're willing to live with. the small country of just over four

million people posts twenty six political parties state institutions remain weak and corruption is deeply entrenched. born in a slum in the capital of monrovia george way has won the hearts of mostly young liberians through star performances for europe's biggest football teams in the ninety's this is the second attempt at becoming president. to do this. they said we're going to win. it all he was. outgoing president ellen johnson sirleaf ruled cemented peace in the west african country after civil war ended in two thousand and three but the majority of liberians still live in dire poverty and she did little to improve that. whoever wins this election will be faced with that difficult heritage

and will have to prove that he can govern in a way that will benefit the country and its citizens. for more i'm joined now by maria i mean ashleigh's the chief observer for the european union election mission in liberia she joins us from the capital monrovia thanks for being with us it's liberia's first democratic transition since nineteen forty four and just how important is this election for the country's future is moving toward and because it's so they will try to transition our it's important for lengthier in people and so it have to have a credible election. credible election process to sure not only for maybe a it or sort of what all the regions you know that are there will election the next in a few months and other country in the region so it's really important to assure that democratic transition with an election process credible election process is doubt

able to manage it you're there to ensure fair play in the country so how free and fair has the process been so far. yeah you for the european sufficient mission we have here. till september and we stay here till january so it's a very long term observation mission we hope served the first round and that it's the second round earth for diesel actually we can see it at all due process even if we have had so i inserted into a different complaint between the first and second round we can say that all of the institution but also all the political parties and then the citizen deliberate citizen. they have to do it responsibly to have this predator process so we have to wait now good yand of the process because we have had this election date now but we

also have this process by seven days and saw at the end of this we can see if these elections are credible but more of these we have to make some recondition on top of the. ok just too soon to say if the election has been framed fair but we know you and your team will be on the ground observing the election thank you very much maria rana she's the chief of super for the european union election mission in like the area. of oil prices are moving out today dan else here to tell us why that's right so just picking up a slightly over the past few hours an explosion has rocked an oil pipeline that feeds the may just see tunnel at al siddha in libya but a tree official said attackers planted explosives on the pipeline in the town of moraga and blew it up oil industry sources say the blast has reduced the north african countries output by around ninety thousand barrels a day brant crude rose one a half percent after the blast to sixty six dollars and ten about.

china and pakistan are considering extending their fifty seven billion dollar economic corridor all to afghanistan part of an ambitious belton road plan thanking china with asia europe and beyond china is trying to position itself as a helpful party to promote talks between pakistan and afghanistan both uneasy neighbors ever since pakistan's independence in one hundred forty seven here's what chinese foreign minister wangi had to say to. china and pakistan are willing to look at including afghanistan other bases of when mutually beneficial principals discussing appropriate means to extend the china pakistan economic corridor to afghanistan. and this corridor will become part of what's being called the new silk road it takes its name from an ancient trade route nowadays the chinese government is investing hundreds of billions of dollars to

revive this route by building key infrastructure this week we want to take you on a journey along the new silk road and take a closer look at the most important stations and today we stop at tbilisi the capital of georgia it is the only country in the southern caucuses with access to the black sea cutting shipping time to europe significantly and this is why in the next ten years the chinese government will sink two and a half billion dollars to build a new deep sea harbor on georgia's black sea coast and with so much trade going past their doorsteps jordan businesses want a slice of the action on the new silk road. for the guards is a family get together like this doesn't happen so often anymore they're all looking after their businesses and son georgie now works in china as a marketing expert everyone here depends on chinese firms for their livelihoods to

get all that to speak mandarin casually discuss the menu with a chinese restaurant staff. i thank you mother because it's through use of our whole family is connected to china. and. this new luxury hotel is a few kilometers from tbilisi it belongs to the chinese quarreling group but director is a friend of the gods a family that still aren't many guests here but the boss is thinking long term he's been in tbilisi for eighty years and has invested millions of chinese business park is due to be built close by with shops restaurants and a massive fim park. to. hollywood first they'll be a lot of concrete then many trees will be planted because that will look nice and be good for the environment. this is the entrance to the business park

vacant land all owned by chinese investors a few months ago the biggest shopping mall in the caucuses opened here one hundred fifty thousand square metres of retail space but customers are scarce it's simply too far from the city center and western brands are not on offer. there are some shops like this for key. if you want to buy some furniture and other things you can come here and buy. mandarin lessons at the kids' agrarian university in tbilisi the teacher is and his mother. she can't complain about lack of interest there are more students studying chinese than russian here. i study china's because i see that it's a more perspective language in the world and also china invest in a very. much money in georgia we already have a good relation with chinese people and i think that we will we have to continue

this relation. family know their future is with china and it's a sure thing that their youngest member is going to grow up speaking mandarin that it. and in case you're looking to buy a skyscraper his a tip for you a chinese court is auctioning off a thirty nine floral building in the northern shannon she province the online is being held on that's our e-commerce platform and it is the biggest yet for the site with a starting price of over eighty million dollars but the buyer will have to spend quite a bit more as pictures show a hot finished building dimly lit and not very inviting these days many chinese culture taken to auction off goods left over from bankruptcies in lawsuits on the web including com jewelry and recently even several boeing seven four seven jumbo

jets. and now we're going back to sarah and a mountainous village narrowly avoid tragedy yet this is such a crazy story daniel authorities in austria are keeping a close eye on the mountains above the vols valley after a massive landslide buried the areas only access road they're worried that some of the slopes are so unstable even more rocks could still come crashing down the landslide happened on christmas eve and miraculously it appears no one was hurt. rocks keep falling adding to the tens of thousands of tons of rubble in the valley the mayor of vols says the precipice above the village still poses a risk. the danger is far from over after the first helicopter flight today we thought we could clear most of the roadblock but during the day than it turned out there is still a risk of rocks coming down to place told in light of the ongoing danger all

evacuations from the valley have been suspended leaving around one hundred thirty people cut off from the outside world the rockslide just missed a group of children on their way back from a christmas service locals say it's a miracle no one was injured. you know. it sounded like an earthquake the entire house was shaking we ran out onto the balcony where everything was dark there was a huge dust avalanche blowing down it was so dark and scary it was unbelievable everyone here in the valley just says it was unbelievable. the sole access road to the village now lies buried under fifty metres of rubble and might not be cleared until the middle of the week for those who are trapped there's one crumb of comfort because of the christmas holiday everyone was well stocked up on food.

of russia's deputy prime minister of a telling what co has temporarily stepped down as head of the country's football federation and is considering quitting as head of the twenty eight thousand world cup organizing committee resignation comes three weeks after the international olympic committee handed him a lifelong ban over his alleged involvement in state sponsored doping of russian athletes what co says he is stepping aside in order to appeal the ban at the court of arbitration for sport. at the beginning of december the i.o.c. is executive board were presented with reports containing evidence of systematic doping in russia and they came to the following conclusion that the russian olympic committee is suspended with immediate effect. russian athletes and the olympic committee were the only ones to be banned. no official of the russian ministry of sport will be accredited for the olympic winter games be on trial two thousand and

eighteen. the minister of sport restudy tally would go. then deputy minister yuri had gone it will be excluded from any parties from any participation in all future olympic games since this decision was made on december fifth battalion macos position as the head of russia's football union has been under scrutiny and he has faced calls to resign on monday he ceded to the pressure at least for the time being. this when you pull the i addressed the russian football union's executive board regarding the temporary impossibility to perform my duties during the period of my court proceedings in order to let the union work normally i have asked to be relieved of my duties for up to six months if i can return earlier than i will do so i have not resigned i have a mandate until twenty twenty. much who is still the chief of russia's will a couple guys in committee but he has not ruled out vacating the post by president

vladimir putin monday's interim resignation is comes to duck lot of uncertainty over the world cup in russia with just under six months left until the tournament kicks off the most on june fourteenth. former president of peru's football federation was found not guilty on charges of racketeering by a u.s. jury in new york for a group with charge of taking bribes from marketing firms vying for a lucrative commercial rights to major soccer tournaments that are controlled by fifa he was tried along with. the former president of south american governing body on may vote and oppose same body image in the former president of brazil's soccer federation and moran were both convicted on several counts last friday following a five week trial. but it has been a dramatic opening to the sydney hobart yacht race one of sailings most grueling competitions blackjack is leading the pack right now but early on it was

a near collision between two of the favorites stole the headlines comanche wasn't too pleased with some erratic maneuvering from wild oats eleven two yobs almost bumped into each other just after leaving sydney harbor comanches secretly launched an official protest favorable winds could mean the race record of one day and thirteen hours will fall this year. over centuries dogs have been not just man's best friend but have also been trained to carry out a variety of different jobs for humans now they're adding a new task to that list helping children improve their reading skills then usual idea involves children reading out loud to dogs animal shelters and as our report shows it's a win win situation for both the children and their canine friends. when jonathan reads a story then jackie comes down visibly the canine has been in the shelter for years

and is normally highly suspicious of people but with jonathan it's different the eight year old comes here once a week to read aloud and it's clear that jackie likes it. he lies down like that for example. when exactly does he do that. when he likes what i'm doing and feels relaxed. children who find reading a challenge practice on dogs in an animal sanctuary. it's an idea that originated in the united states and it might sound strange but it seems to work. being read to has a relaxing effect on the animals i'm fancy and himself at first they get excited and curious and they bark even more but then after about fifteen minutes they calm down and it gets very quiet all you can hear the gentle voices of the children the dogs sit or lie down listening sometimes they even fall asleep the dogs stay in their compounds just in case but the kids are allowed to decide everything else like

which dog they read to and what they read many of the children of had bad experiences with reading out loud but having someone listen patiently to them can be transformative. for them if they get more confident because they're not being judged on what they read or how they read it instead they have a creature that visibly enjoys listening to them they can make heaps of mistakes or invent words or sentences none of that matters to the dogs and invested it's worth being fed to that within them hundred thirty three. the children read for forty five minutes and afterwards the dogs get a treat for being such great listeners. many kids now come regularly much to their canine friends delight. we here at c.w. thought we would put that to a little test and see if lots of our newsroom dog would enjoy a story lots of what do you think are you a good listener you know she's

a good girl she's a good girl that's a give me a kiss. maybe not we tried thanks for being with us here on day eight of the news folks here again at the top of the hour for more fire now.

we showed it to you clicked it during next on facebook. which videos are your favorites in twenty seven c. it's the cream of the crowd. are drinking of the twenty five most popular. every day this week. on w. memory can be deceptive. psychologists and criminologists know not to rely on eye witnesses. false memories and distorted memories and exaggerated memories. follows and real men range distinguishable. tricks of memory.

in forty five minutes on. what does a football loving country need to reach its goals. we'll tell you how german soccer made it back to the top. in our web special w dot com football made in germany. and the french do w. me speak your language does it not. for content in dari pashto and for good prospects for returning our web special to detect the refugee journeys like germany and the prospects for those returning home. and join the discussion on g.w. dot com and on facebook. prospects for returning. d.w. made for money. it's all

about the moments that. it's all about the stories inside. it's all about george chance to discover the world from different perspectives. join us and inspired by distinctive instagram or years at g.w. stories new topics each week on instagram. welcome to the show everyone up first and foremost i want to wish a merry christmas to all.