this is d.w. news coming to you live from zimbabweans are voting and the first elections to take place since the removal of former president robert mugabe last year polling stations have opened and a high turnout is expected to take you live to the capital harare also coming up eight people have died in blazes across california and forecasters are warning of yet more hot and dry conditions after an unusually early start to the state's piracies.

hello i'm terry march and welcome to the program people in zimbabwe are boating in landmark elections it's the first time in nearly four decades that the name robert mugabe is absent from the ballot paper the authoritarian former president resigned after pressure from military last year or long queues at polling place stations as zimbabweans turn out in large numbers to vote a tight race is expected between the two presidential front runners they are mugabe's successor president emerson in god well from the center p.f. party seen voting here and opposition leader nelson shai musa a lawyer and pastor after casting his vote he addressed the media i have no doubt that if i proceeded to run a genuine and not to bust. i think one victory sets in for the people

that people have spoken the people are speaking and it's clear that the vote is a vote for victory for freedom if not for democracy at work for a new zimbabwe. well this landmark election comes months after longtime leader robert mugabe was ousted by the army but got a resurfaced on the eve of the election he declared he would vote for opposition leader nelson chamisa rather than his former party senate p.f. but he did encourage zimbabweans to accept the election result regardless of which party emerges victorious many hope that the elections will bring long overdue change to zimbabwe which is suffering from high unemployment and an economy in meltdown correspondence melanie corrida bol and adrian crease sent us this report from harare. attending a granny with the average club that is something quite extraordinary campaign events like this one organized by the opposition m.d.c.

party used to be extremely dangerous brutal crackdowns by the government was commonplace that was would you know. i was beaten up and had to spend three months in hospital i was bedridden and could only eat porridge my back was badly injured and i thought i would never be able to become a father but by god's grace i recovered. ok because i know. now many are hoping for a fresh start with a new president the preacher and lawyer nelson chamisa. i was there. was there what it was there like this is no woman who didn't know what they're going to do with. the past is never far behind in zimbabwe the country's economy has collapsed down by high unemployment hype and nation and been done for and that is

the legacy of thirty eight years of rule by the party. now is to have the military having our president robert mugabe. and i am not from mom and dad why then take over and now at seventy five years old he wants to continue running the country. although he is a film of vice president and was part of the very system that brought the country to the brink of collapse when god promises a break from the book of iraq and news and bob way just like his opponents he likes to portray himself as an advocate for change. tearing his short time in office moment god has opened his country up to her own investment and planted cities. great freedom. right. there are. her. where i

am. here. and president obama does his sudden change of heart of the governor and the president he acknowledges some positive developments now for the first time in his life he doesn't have to hide his red opposition shot on the way home after a rally he can wear it with pride and without fear. let's go live now to a dream cruise shoes standing by for us in the zimbabwean capital harare this is a historic day for zimbabweans what's the mood in the capital today. well the mood is very good stereo and it is indeed as you say a very special day for the country the first post-election the first post election and that is of course for many people something special the young generation has never voted for for anybody else they have never seen the fresh faces on the ballot

sheets and let us bring in one guy here mr joseph who is one of the people who are waiting to vote right now just if you came here long time ago you just showed up to vote. with that even as a whole all rights and is it a special day for the country and why is this a very this should be fals mob. if one is to write vote so we're very excited. to vote of course i will not ask you who you're voting for but i want to ask you what is your vision for for zimbabwe for the future what are you hoping for are we just want a life which is stable in a country with an economy growing was right now people are suffering to much to justify to saudi voice of the people must be through this election so. hoping for a bright future for this nation as a thank you very much for your time so you can see the cute right now and not so long anymore but before we've been talking to people who got up at three am four am

started chewing and you could see massive queues in all the polling station throughout our way that was really impressive and asked if it's from from his years of as an example people are really hoping for things to change here because you have to remember the economy of the country is a disaster zimbabwe's heavily indebted and indeed something has to change the question is with who. you said this is an election with the first time in decades that robert mugabe is not on the ballot paper remind us what an election looked like before in the mugabe ariel. very much different especially when it comes to voting intimidation there were still some reports that this has happened during this election as well but compared to what we have seen in the years before really minor incidents back in the days there was violence intimidation people could not just go out and vote freely i'll give you one example also of the campaigning time we talked to one of the people who attended an opposition really just two days ago and he basically told us that back

in the days after the israelis of the opposition he had to go home and remove his shirts his red spots you should of the opposition party because he was scared that he will be attacked and there were cases where really security forces soldiers were just beating up people for wearing the t. shirts of the opposition party but he said this change for the first time in the history of the country can now go home with this opposition t. shirt on without being afraid. to tell us a little bit about the opposition candidate the main opposition candidate standing in this election a grin. we're talking about nelson here where does he come from and what does he what does he stand for. plus i mean as a related really young person forty years old she used to be a pentecostal preacher and he also has a law degree he has been involved into politics. for a long time always on the side of the opposition and he is a very good speaker he really knows how to bring the masses the ice and we attended some of israelis it was quite impressive the way he's addressing the crowd in the

crowd is following him but of course there's also some criticism about him a lot of people are saying he doesn't really go deep into the problems yes he mentions voice like change like we want to invest in infrastructure he talks about these huge scale projects he's planning like a bullet strain but these are all weak weak words and he does not say when he wants to take the money from as i said zimbabwe's heavily in debt that it's been an economic crisis and he doesn't really say where he wants to take the money for all these reasons from adrian thank you so much for now adrian krrish there covering the elections in harare. and we'll be taking a closer look at zimbabwe's economic crisis to have that story and much more for you in just a little while now emergency services in the u.s. are battling wildfires in northern california that have killed at least eight people and destroyed thousands of acres of land tinder dry conditions and very hot temperatures have caused almost twenty wildfires to ignite one of the worst affected regions is the area around reading city in shasta county police there have

confirmed the fires killed two young children and their great grandmother. neighborhoods reduced to ash and rubble the smell of char still hanging in the air some families in this northern california community had only fifteen minutes to flee. the wind just took off and i don't remember exactly what they called it it's almost like a tornado with fire in it and it came over the hill and. it wiped out our house and wiped out our next door neighbor's home. firefighters and emergency personnel have been working around the clock to alert residents before the wildfires reached them in shasta county some thirty eight thousand people have been evacuated so far. but with firefighters struggling to contain the fast moving flames the local fire department cautions that it could be a while before people can return home we understand how how that feels

a lot of us are evacuated as well we want to get you back in and help this community come back together so just know and be patient with us that we are clearing areas and making it safe for you to go home as fast as we can. as officials hope for the best weather forecasters warn it could get even worse the dangerous ongoing heat wave promises more hot and dry conditions that could further feed the flames. so you look now at some of the other stories making news around the world today malaysia's government says it cannot determine with any certainty why flight m h three seventy mysteriously disappeared its official reports say the pilot and first officer were well rested and showed no evidence say of anxiety or stress the malaysia airlines plane carrying two hundred thirty nine people disappeared over the indian ocean in two thousand and fourteen some wreckage has been located but where the plane came down is still unclear. india has effectively

stripped sedition ship from four million people in the rural eastern state of us officials say they will be given another chance to produce documents proving their citizenship but if they cannot they could face deportation india claims it wants to root out the illegal migrants from neighboring bangladesh but critics say the list is an excuse to target muslim population. in the party of cambodian prime minister hun sen says it has won a landslide victory in disputed elections it claims to have won all the seats in parliament official results will be out next month but rights groups are calling the election a sham after the main opposition party was banned prime minister hun sen is the world's longest serving leader. israel has released postilion teenager i had tommy from prison she was jailed for months along with her mother for

slapping and kicking two israeli soldiers near her home in the west bank during demonstrations there last year israelis call her a terrorist for palestinians she became a symbol of resistance. tommy has finally returned to her hometown in the. west bank now seventeen years old she says and eight month prison for assaulting israeli soldiers last year tommy says she now plans to study law as to the first. in a bit to defend palestinians. and then the resistance will continue until the occupation is removed all female prisoners in jail are strong and i thank everyone who stood by me while i was in prison and he stood with all women prisoners. video went viral online in december showing tommy and her relative slapping and kicking israeli soldiers israel handed her twelve criminal charges over the

incident including aggravated assault she agreed to plead guilty to a reduced charge sheet and much. her case drew global attention to israel's controversial detentions of palestinian minus rights groups including amnesty international and human rights watch have condemned such detentions after tommy miss release human rights watch is director for east row and palestine tweeted that although tamimi is free hundreds of palestinian children remain locked up with little attention on their cases. many israelis see her jailing differently tommy mr dicks have dismissed her as a provocateur a worse one israeli government minister dumped her a terrorist upon her release on sunday. but many palestinians have chits to mimi's actions president mahmoud abbas is a man tell me mr morris praising her as a role model of civil resistance following her release. you're watching did

a billionaire still to come a closer look at the zimbabwean economic crisis that crisis of course is at the top of the agenda and the country's election that's taking place today that story coming up with your hot in just a minute. and i'll be back with more international news at the top in africa. after. in fighting for the case to take you seriously in the world of what appears is coming out women. though these folks. here are not the smart smart stayed in the gym recently dangerous stunt double for mine.