seems to. me. this week. this is w. news live from berlin fears of an all out assault on syria's rebel stronghold and unusual minute terry in crisis. the words of intensified air strikes across northern syria including rebel held is the province home to some three million civilians the latest from our correspondent also coming up. egypt

sentences islamist leaders and dozens of others to down over protest and twenty thirteen that were violently broken up by security forces. and russians are set to vote in regional elections on sunday to w looks at how the race for moscow mayor reflects the state of democracy in russia as a whole and. thanks for joining us on marian i haven't seen the syrian government and russian warplanes have reportedly pounded towns and it'll it's province syria's last major rebel bastion that's just a day after turkey iran and russia failed to agree on a cease fire in the syrian war syrian human rights activists say the strikes are the most intense in weeks and are targeting a rebel position. since then it's live and hama province is it live is the last

opposition stronghold in the country and the government says it will retake it with three million civilians trapped there is fear that an all out assault could lead to a human humanitarian catastrophe. well for more on the situation in syria we're joined now by the burra who's in beirut so on child with all these reports of heavy airstrikes are we seeing the start of a major offensive an invalid. well we certainly see the start of an offensive we don't yet know how major this is going to be because if you look at where these strikes have happened and then just just trying to send a message that these are the keys to begin with limited strikes even though we have seen. big we've seen them in an area most of them in an area of conscious which is believed to be under the control of jihad an extremist group known as have in the

past has certainly had dies with them believed to have links with them so russia just trying to say that this is going to be a phased offensive blog that important yesterday in the trilateral summit that on said it's going to be faced step allies ation so they're trying to give a message that the casualties will not be as high and they're going to be targeting just the members of the sixteen this child that's true what happens of course remains to be seen because there are three million people live in whatever strikes you have there are bound to be civilian casualties well i'm sure you mentioned the talks on friday and at those tough talks russia rejected a cease fire which was proposed by turkey just what is moscow trying to achieve with this offensive. i would rather have with him said yesterday to president of the long. suggestion that there should be a ceasefire he says that since the jihad the extremist groups are not on the table he possibly cannot be discussing

a cease fire from hebron to which are on then say let's issue a call to them now. where the long and short of it really is that one has been supporting the rebels and even though turkey has now called this jihad is who. daedalus now this continued to have a presence there russia says look you had enough time to look you by that i mean duckie had enough time you should have reined in the jihad is cool by now you haven't done it so we're going to be eliminating the terrorists of integrity especially since this group has also been targeting the russian the city of this of the members of this group and others have a head on which the sudanese government has already claimed but not in high numbers but here they are and mr putin says that there is a civilian skin or be used as a shield so this is russia's explanation unlike other level head on in italy that actually are to have the elements but as i say the problem here is that liveth is in a very peculiar situation you want to take out that others how you would go about it

because whatever you do there will be civilian casualties will indeed speaking of these civilians what are their options do they have any way to ski. they have very few options really because turkey does not want any more refugees europe is not in any mood of letting any more refugees in their options are really just two options one is the sitting government opens a few corridors which could actually happen as the sense of progress is although in go up to areas which were only under the control of kurdish sessions but now some of these areas that are under the control of turkey they could go up there but this is it today we've seen at least eight people have died among these children one is a woman as well these are just lost because of a comment from an opposite weekly that operates out of the united kingdom and activists like mike tell us on the ground this is just the first day of the suspense and i keep saying the big fear here is the civilians might be caught between the sitting government and russian offensive and this job at school and

child for reporting for us in beirut many thanks indeed. to egypt now where a court has confirmed the death sentences of seventy five people for their involvement in protests five years ago that were violently broken up by security forces in july the court called for the defendants and clued in leaders of the outlawed muslim brotherhood to be put to death or that recommendation then pass of the country's chief islamic cleric for review and the city international has condemned the trial as politically motivated. because of. this it will show that the looked at thomas and no handing down the seven hundred thirty nine simmons's took judge hassan fareed some time the accused face charges including murder protesting illegally and damaging property seventy five of the

defendants got the worst possible news. by hanging. the court also sentenced the spiritual leader of the brotherhood mohammed badie and forty six others to life in prison. it's become known as the robach case after cairo's. tahrir square where the twenty thirteen pro muslim brotherhood sit in took place after the military ousted president mohamed morsy security forces crushed the protest killing more than eight hundred by amnesty international estimates mahmoud a photo journalist known as short khan who was covering the protests received five years in prison but he'll walk free for time already served when his but you're going to have the sentence is unfair because she didn't commit any crime to be imprisoned five years he was a journalist doing his job every sentence wasn't based on evidence it was based on police investigations on the other hand we have proof of his innocence. feet.

he said he would launch new proceedings to clear his client's name is expected to be released in the coming days. now to some of the other stories making news around the world jack ma the co-founder of chinese e-commerce giant ali baba says he'll unveil a succession strategy on monday he wants to hand the reins of his empire to a new generation of leaders but remain executive chairman told the new york times newspaper he wants to focus more on philanthropy. misspend just police in greece have fired tear gas at protesters ahead of a planned speech by prime minister alexis tsipras the demonstrators oppose a june deal to end a name dispute with neighboring macedonia under which it would change its name to northern macedonia greece fear territorial claims on its own province named macedonia. thousands of people around the world have taken to the streets to call

for more climate protection the protests are part of. of the rise of for climate campaign demonstrators such as those shown here in paris called on world leaders to end reliance on fossil fuels and to shift to renewable energy. well here in germany the chief of the country's domestic intelligence agency is facing a barrage of criticism after casting doubt on whether racially inspired attacks took place during violent protests in the city of candidates two weeks ago. mohsen also suggested that a video taken in the eastern german city that's circulating on social media could be deliberate misinformation the remarks contradict eyewitness and media reports. videos of alleged attacks by right wing demonstrators in chemist's one fire alone social media two of the victims were the afghans reign they said the attack started with racist taunts. get out of germany out and then they were hitting us one

of them did like this to me then ali with the left hand hit him in the face. and. the two have filed criminal complaints but others were the targets of violent attacks says a victim counsellor incriminates he says he's spoken with twenty three people who say they faced violence. these. days people have been the targets of physical attacks they were kicked punched people sometimes don't report these attacks straight away that means that we believe the attacks on august twenty six were more prevalent than reported it's only now people are coming forward to report being chased or attacked. prosecutors in dresden are currently investigating other offenses like the use of nazi symbols some of these came to light through social media. in the context of demonstration laws there are of course many different

kinds of crimes these can be seen in the videos on social media and we now have to investigate these crimes using the video material that we have. by friday night police had begun one hundred forty preliminary investigations into the violence of the candidates demonstrations. and police are also looking into an attack on a jewish restaurant in can this during those protests poured say a round a dozen masked assailants hurled rocks and bottles and shouted anti-semitic slogans the restaurant owner was reportedly injured during that incident. well turning now to russia where voters will be going to the polls on sunday to elect the heads of twenty five regions including the capital moscow and the last mayoral election in twenty thirteen only one in three eligible voters came out to cast their ballot expected that anger over president vladimir putin's pension reforms will didn't

turn out this year still the kremlin backed incumbent is almost certain to win. the bolshoi theatre palace of high culture nearby a place for the people to cool off moscow is keen to show off its modern face the nine hundred year old city has undergone an expensive renovation in recent years. most want to glasgow's finally becoming a european city which we're comfortable it's much cleaner it's a more open city. and it's racing to a digital future at breakneck speed with solar powered street signs and parking places rental bicycles and free wi-fi everywhere all far it is have opened a large park next to the kremlin lending a friendlier add to the somber center of government. politan and increasingly a relaxing place to visit and the mayor says. goes downtown has been transformed

for visitors and residents alike sabean has been mayor for eighty years appointed by the kremlin and twenty ten he was reelected in twenty thirty and is now seeking another term. and he's doing his best to make this election appear democratic in this t.v. ad he calls on all muscovites to get out and vote. but the shock go forward do something for democracy for the part of the people in moscow but the people of moscow under sabean have no power says his challenger. his opposition party a just russia objects to the mayor's leadership style. says it reflects the political system across russia that one person decides everything if you have the biggest problem in moscow is that people here feel that local authorities don't represent their interests and are not a conjugal to them. it's as though you live next door to officials who decide how

to spend your money without asking you what you really need. in one example new paving is being placed on four million square meters of moscow's sidewalks at a cost of more than one hundred million euros even though they were resurfaced only last year. critics of mayor sabean in suspect corruption they're asking why new schools and hospitals aren't being built instead. and they add that the real problem of moscow's mayoral election isn't the questionable business of sidewalk renovation at the mayor's pleasure it's the lack of real political competition in this vote. that's because of a complicated process of choosing the candidates which is stated by the ruling party and not the voters i know for milo if he thought this way the authorities are easily able to filter candidates i could pose

a strong challenge. and i the result is that those left in the running have little or no chance of victory and in that sense the election for mayor of moscow sums up the condition of democracy in all of russia i and that's the news this hour on d w i'm marion and staying from all of us here in berlin thanks for the company and i hope to see you again very soon. make your small t.v. even smaller perfect for small. watching what you want to. up to date. extraordinary. you decide what's all the fun down at the w.