this is news coming to you live from berlin could it be the final battle against islamic state u.s. back to kurdish and arab forces are close to else doing that you have just from the last urban stronghold in syria but it's threatened turkish intervention is putting victory and. also coming up remembering the day when marks the second anniversary of the christmas market terror attack rage left twelve people dead and dozens

injured. the indian wedding season is in full swing but huge amounts of food are wasted we follow a group is making sure wedding banquet leftovers help feed the poor. and with us league champions by munich get an opportunity to gain ground on league leaders. handed dortmund their first defeated the season now by a need to calm the laws as they host are the lights of. fellow i'm terry martin good to have you with us american backed forces are close to gaining control of the last syrian territory held by so-called islamic state syrian democratic forces the made up of kurdish and arab fighters have captured the town. gene and are now in the process of clearing out islamist fighters gene lies

in the valley of the euphrates river close to the border with iraq it's the final urban stronghold of the jihadist militia which once controlled substantial territory in syria and iraq but as the mainly kurdish inches closer to final victory over syria turkey is threatening to launch an assault against the kurds further north. sent us this report from the front line in syria. people have escaped the clutches of the so-called islamic state that stranded in a camp two hundred kilometers from the front line. traumatized exhausted but free. after days of rain and cold weather the conditions are atrocious books it's better than being under the guns of the i asked fighters lots in regard battle on the banks of the euphrates. used does as human shields so the warplanes can't

attack from the sky. planted mines everywhere and they don't want to let anyone escape. or. criminals dirty thieves they took everything from us our money as well and then they left. the battle for the last bit of territory held by ast is a tough one. the militia has lost nearly all the land it held but around five thousand fighters are putting up fierce resistance their leader abu bakr al baghdadi is thought to be among them. dozens of members of the s.t.'s have been killed in recent weeks and that's despite our support from the united states and other allies. they've put booby traps and mines everywhere we were advancing but slowly and we have to take care to avoid civilian

casualties. this is what's left by the fighting the streets of hygiene the former terrorist stronghold most of the people who live here have fled. the mainly kurdish s.d.f. has captured the center of the town a most of the outskirts from my ass. the fighting is continuing in the surrounding villages to jihadists are still managing to stay john bush is a hit and run attacks. yes fighters try every day to attack our units and recapture the villages but we are pushing back with all we have. the american backed s.d.f. is now facing a potential enemy on another front. victory over the i.r.s. in the euphrates valley is within reach. but now turkey is threatening to march into kurdish controlled areas on its southern border ankara sees the kurdish

fighters as terrorists. these threats help yes precisely now when we're making gains in the fight for turkey threatens an offensive in northern syria. and that's bad news for the people still and i ask control not everyone has been able to flee thousands are still trapped in the last pocket of i asked territory. for some analysis now let's bring in peter steinberg he's a middle east expert from the german institute for international and security affairs here in berlin good to see you get a so we just heard about the retaking of the stronghold how gene in that report can we safely say now get there that islamic state has been defeated in syria militarily it has been defeated it doesn't control controlled territory anymore no towns but it did still. on the ground the coalition forces count between

four to six thousand is quite quite a big organization it's it's it's a military actor no it's a terrorist act of two to be reckoned with in the coming years and we've heard about islamic state in syria and iraq also in afghanistan to a degree what about the leadership of islamic state do we know where they are and what they're going to do next when the iraqis tell me that the leadership especially the cane if i heaved more. he that he is in syria he has has gone on the ground he's severely injured and i believe that he will either be caught or killed in the coming months but still the organization is out there not only in iraq in syria as you have just hinted at but also in afghanistan in libya on the sinai in yemen so the network is. death. a report suggests that turkish forces in in syria could end up attacking the

kurdish forces who have played an instrumental role in defeating islamic state in syria why would turkey do that when turkey has an interest in defeating islamic state to well turkey has a priority in syria and that is fighting the p k k and the turkish government assumes that there is no difference between the ruling p y d the big of the united states and the p.k. k. and that is why they fight the kurds and not isis but that has been one of the one of the standards of middle east politics in recent years turkey doesn't fight isis fight these let me state as it should it doesn't take the organization seriously it concentrates on the kurds and i think that's a major mistake threatening all security as well give thank you so much for your analysis peter steinberg for the middle east middle east expert from the german institute for international insecurity affairs here really. now to some of the

other stories making headlines around the world today u.s. president donald trump has banned the bum stock a firearm attachment that enables semiautomatic weapons to fire sustained rapid bursts the gunman who massacred fifty eight people in los vegas in two thousand and seventeen was using a bomb stop. luxury brand prada has withdrawn a line of us accessories over complaints of racist black face imagery a facebook post showing the figures in a new york shop went viral last week in a statement prada said we have poor all forms of racism. thin several provinces in southern thailand are struggling with severe flooding following torrential rain authorities are warning people living in low lying areas to prepare for evacuation some twenty five thousand homes are already affected. and has been marking the second anniversary of the terror attack that left twelve

people dead and dozens wounded here in the german capital family and friends of victims joined berlin's mayor and other officials at a ceremony at the science of the attack exactly two years ago radicalized tunisian refugee named. hijacked a truck killed its driver and plowed it into a crowded christmas market already escaped but was shot dead by police in italy a few days later we met a survivor of the attack whose life has not been the same since. i think. as i turned around i saw the truck just in the nick of time it was already in the square coming towards me it passed by me within half a meter of the call and it was a horrific sight. straight after the attack there was a deathly silence you could have heard a pin drop out of it was a brief moment of total silence. two years ago under the asphalt

survived to have referred go deal islamic extremist on his arm replant a heavy truck into a christmas market in berlin plats killing twelve people shots was able to jump out of the way severely injuring himself in the process with this middle of i witnessed a lift but i didn't see all twelve people die but i did see four or five die that was intense from seeing people lying there injured on the ground and i was injured myself the next morning i woke up in my bed in my clothes in my jacket and my shoes everything was smeared with blood. now two years later police and heavy barriers protect the christmas market. a memorial pays tribute to the dead. but it's rarely comes here anymore he still struggles daily with memories of the attack and is in trauma counselling shots a searching for answers to many unresolved questions he doesn't miss a single meeting of the committee investigating the attack.

only to have i want clarification i'm still looking for answers and that's important to me and to the other relatives and victims who aren't here who don't have the energy to come here so that we can at least answer their questions or if you give up now there's a danger that the subject gets forgotten and it definitely shouldn't be forgotten shots blames the authorities saying they could have prevented the attack by keeping close tabs on memory of putting him under arrest. he no longer works in his former job as a truck driver. he received nine thousand euros in compensation and now lives of unemployment benefits. the attack has become part of his daily life. i'm not a monothematic and i'm still struggling with theirs it's always there at the back of my mind. i'd like to know why i had to experience something like that so often

that even with what went wrong in the long. shots will keep on doing what he's doing criticizing the authorities and raising awareness so that that should help skilled workers from outside the european union to find jobs here in germany the country urgently needs people to fill more than a million jobs they can seize the proposed law would simplify the process for recognizing prevent professional and vocational training degrees that have been earned abroad it would eliminate the requirement that employers check whether german nationals are also available to fill the vacancy and it would allow qualified nominee you know who speak german to live in the country while they look for work so with the package of new rules for attracting skilled labor on its way i asked blunt what was wrong with the old rules well the old rules in effect said that. it was only people with a university qualification who had a chance of actually finding a job in germany getting

a visa from outside the european union and all this possibility is to be extended to people with occasional training below the level of university education other with skilled technicians out as these kinds of people people involved in engineering jobs for instance all or people involved in things such as age old age care and hospitals and so on so it's this level of people that is going to be needed in germany in recent nala radiant in coming years as well and we have to say that germany has had some experience obviously in that office couple of years because hundreds of thousands of people from outside that you have entered the country as migrants as refugees recently and several with many of those have in fact already fallen some sort of work in germany. that was a that was husband speaking to us a little while ago well just one hundred days to go before britain is set to leave the e.u. the european commission has revealed its plans to deal with the no deal brags that

the e.u. outlined measures aimed to avoid disruption in key sectors such as air traffic and financial trading british citizens residency rights would also be protected but new restrictions on trade and travel would come into force among them british trucks would lose rights to carry goods into the e.u. and britons traveling with pets would face border checks. well for more let's bring in our brussels correspondent guilt not to scale the e.u. commission has been outlining its plans for britain leaving the e.u. without a deal what are these plans and tail they have indeed the intel a number of details where the e.u. hopes to minimize the collateral damage here particularly for its four itself so for instance they do enclose the trucks you have mentioned they would get an exemption for technically nine months so they can be ensured that goods from the u.k. can still come into the e.u. but they will face customs at the borders that also includes the aviation sector

you've mentioned it will ensure that flights can be allowed from london to munich but that flights technically can then not continue to do italy for instance so it's only getting to one european town and getting back that is sort of the the things small solutions for for there was still the problems that could come with a no deal price it now breaks that opponents in the u.k. have been painting a picture of huge disruption of trade import traffic is is that reflected in the use no deal breaks it's nerium. well we just have to look at the list of things that are not included in these contingency scenarios and most importantly passport ing is on there so the standards of the system that allows banks and financial companies to trade in the european union these are not included so this trade would stop immediately after a hard break that a no deal breck's it because simply there will be not a transition phase so from one day to the other some things like including also

medicines it also include state officials veterinary checks all of these things will come to a hold from one day to the other supporters of breaks in new they've been talking about a managed no deal breakers that could maybe mitigate the negative effects is that what the commission's contingency plan amounts to no it's not we're looking here at small time limited directives and not at small deals that could provide a managed no deal breck's it so it's really unilateral things that the e.u. puts on the table in their own interest and that can be withdrawn at any point the e.u. seems sees that fits to withdraw that deal. thank you so much they do is go and brussels . well over to get hot now and growing resistance to chinese investment that's right terry and there is indeed growing concern about chinese

investment in some german companies china is one of germany's biggest and most important trading partners bost german lawmakers want to be able to block normally e.u. firms from investing in critical infrastructure that includes high tech and utility companies the government will lower the threshold of which it can consider blocking such takeover plans authorities will be able to launch an investigation of whether an investor from outside do in union can go ahead with an investment if the plant stake is ten percent or higher rather than twenty five percent at present last summer berlin blocked a chinese bit forward for a twenty percent stake in a german electricity grid company fifty hertz. well they might have a point with this law will germany become less attractive for foreign investments because of the changes that's the other question my colleague hans brandt discuss that issue with germany's economy minister. the german spokespeople of german

industry have said that these new rules make it more complicated for investments in germany there is some uncertainty that is being created as a result of these rules what's your response to the uncertainty has been removed today's decision and cabinet meeting foreign direct investment in germany is one of them in the world come by the government. enjoys support from many sides and this will continue to be the case we have better instruments now to examine whether something could be problematic under the angle of the national security and we all think in a query in that cabinet meeting all the ministers concerned that germany has to protect its national security interest as as our country is doing already for the. sometime and that means that we have better possibilities to examine the critical infrastructure whether defense and and security in companies can be taken

over by foreign investors will in most of the cases not lead to any objections but it is important to know what's going on in our own country. but at the same time the threshold has been lowered from twenty five percent to ten percent in other words there will be more cases that will be examined it will be difficult to attract investment probably while it is more cases can be examined we will establish in very brief short the lace whether that will be examined in most of the cases this will not be required as i cases it would make sense to examine more closely what's going on and this will be done in due time and to clarify this does not apply all this is not apply to investments from the european union only just because of the rise to investments from outside the european union

. my there's also one other area of concern concerning the use of equipment of foreign companies in germany we're talking here especially about who are away and the question of whether that equipment could be used for espionage what is your feeling on that first of all we have a crate openness as far as international trade is concerned and many german companies are using foreign equipment while the infrastructures especially in the field of telecommunications the security aspect and all of these cases is key it means that we can allow and will allow for unlikely and only then when it is safe at least as safe as gadgets and and tools produced in germany it's a question of whether. i satisfies the justified requirements for a security. scare of the excitement and whenever. that country's intelligence as us have indications or prove about problems in this

area we will examine them very very carefully and still be done in due time and then we solved minister thank you very much for talking. the european union has accepted italy's revised budget proposal the details of the new spending plans are not yet known but it's likely to include measures to avoid increasing its budget deficit beyond the level the e.u. deems acceptable so the company will not have to pay a fine for breaking the blocks fiscal rules. italy's capital rome now it seems the country and the e.u. have reached a consensus the italian government promised to set new debt two point zero four percent of g.d.p. next year instead of the two point four percent as a regionally planned brussels has agreed to this so there's no threat of sanctions italians are relieved. to then but. it's

important that italy works with the european union that. there's no sense fighting against europe but. i see it as a good thing and i hope this government can move forward with the things they've planned or to know they can work on all their plans in the future the way i see it i don't like thinking all the time that things could go wrong but we actually will recall chick this is the italian government is a coalition of the right leaning league and populist five star movement both want to finance expensive election promises including a basic income and a lower retirement age but at around one hundred thirty percent of g.d.p. italy's mountain of debt is second only to greece. the greek parliament also approved their twenty nine hundred budget by a narrow margin on tuesday the debate in the parliament had been going on for days the budget is based on the assumption that the greek economy will grow by two point

five percent next year the first three budget since the end of the aid programs in august athens now has to raise its own money all the capital markets the e.u. commission has given the go ahead for the buy. call the greek government to implement further reforms. i'll have more business for you a bit later in the show including. to put his ass in underground tube but first it's back to terry the stumble leader salut least some of them david byrne this league leaders. have suffered their first defeat of the season in a shock two one loss. the results froze the title race open and give still sealed off another big boost in their file to avoid relegation. it was pats on the back all round a twenty one these players with dusseldorf and dortmund on good form going into this one marco royce thought he'd got the visitors off to

a bang after just fifteen minutes but christian pulis sick was interfering with play from offside to leave the referee with no choice but to rule it out just that all sparked into last soon after kevin struggle with a defense splitting pass thirty lukavac yo with the coolest of finishes one nil to the hosts three goals against boy in now one against dortmund looking back here certainly isn't scared of the big boys. and the home side double dare late in style early in the second half. john zuma unleashing a for russia strike to make it two nil with the clock ticking it was time for top men to send on the big guns and it paid off in sanchez with a ball to lukas piss check. with the finish in the a.t.f. minutes does link footwork from the english wonderkid before dortmund super sub

struck his twelfth goal of the season. but it was too little too late is still so dull held on to record a famous victory packs a backbone as they go wins for the promoted so i'd fall cheered on flying high. when first i don't know losing that much of a night defending champions but munich have a chance to get the title challenge back on track they face life say later this evening and a victory would bring them to within six points of dortmund a tough the take. haven't lost their thirst to retain the bonus they get title this season yet they have had some hiccups against some unusual suspects one match day twelve promoted side door for managed a three three draw in munich which gave the defending champions a serious wake up call. in byron's following home match the defending champions were wide awake eighteen through nuremberg no problem thanks to their informed ace

robert levin don't ski despite their current momentum byron's nico kovacs knows rb live seek are a viable opponent to shut off even for a lot sick basically play the same way as us and i quickly when they're attacking which i have struck is capable of causing problems when they find space behind the defense and that he could become an r.p. life six front line scoring duo use of postmen and t.-mo vanna each scored a brace last time out the tandem will be gunning to help life seek leap frog buyer in the table. is this nuclear here as we've seen already this season it is possible to earn points in munich. if we could take all three points not be very happy. if buyers fail to take advantage of dortmund slip by bt leipsic even more pressure will now

to a nico cova much. fresh after sacking coach joe say marino manchester united have announced that former player. will take the reins until the end of the season the former striker played for almost a decade at united during himself to fans after scoring the winner in the famous nine hundred ninety nine champions league final victory over by in munich. has honed his coaching skills in his homeland winning norway's top domestic league twice with mulder. you're watching to w. news still to come the race is on for this year's u.k. christmas number one the best selling song of the week before the holiday we'll take a look at the top contenders and find out more about the sport is tradition. all that's and much more coming up after this short break couple.

going to. coombe it existed for just three years. the reich university of strasbourg. created by the nazis to rival the prestigious sorbonne in paris. but the university conducted turmeric experiments on humans and murdered people for a resource ideology. in the name of science in forty five minutes completed. six first day of school in the jungle. the first climbing lesson. doors grant

a moment arrives. jointly arranging on her journey back to freedom. in our interest to documentary during an orang utan returns home monday w don't come to tanks fix the tempo of technology. the rhythm of the market. the momentum of the morning world. made in germany your business magazine d w. everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression. the right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference. and to see received and informed information and ideas. in media regardless of twenty years.

or seventieth anniversary of the un declaration of human rights article nineteen for hold on to w. t w news i'm terry martin and top stories u.s. backed kurdish an arab forces are close to all things so-called islamic state fighters from their last stronghold in syria but a threatened turkish intervention has put the fight against the sunni extremists in domes and berlin is marking the second anniversary of the christmas market attack which killed twelve people and injured dozens more and is the most extremist crashed a stolen truck into the popular festive attraction. the winter wedding season is in full swing in india the celebrations can involve hundreds of guests and often there's a huge amount of food left over this just thrown away that's for the robin hood

army comes in the network of more than twenty thousand volunteers across india is trying to avoid food waste and reduce hunger india correspondent followed them on the outskirts of delhi. this is how. most of a free time ever since she joined. two years ago. the group leftover food. and distributes it to those who need it like in this slum on the outskirts of baby. the bunty is a mix of students and professionals they call themselves. god i know obviously want to be i want to go out it's a is who we are so i really want people who are. enjoying it as insulting and or nor is it a fact that that is a lot of things in this world what's nice to i'm hunger is. a good player are you

know that soon to be. exhibited all. the groups busy speedway it is during india's hectic wedding season. venues around daily booked out months in advance extravagant parties and events. guest list can run into seven hundred people and they has to be enough like that. almost always vast quantities go on each is and i simply thrown away off the set of bridges. tonight was a marketing professional by day and a fellow robins are invited to the wedding reception of another wanted to. pay four hundred. five hundred grows as an n n c since i'm part of i know the would be mr we have decided. for the and a federal it's going to be

a long night if this food left over the going to make sure it gets to the hundred. it's midnight and the party's over. the robin stick stock of the situation. it's bad. to estimate there's food left over for about five hundred people around eight hundred people were invited to the wedding. that means all hands on board the arctic trees special night team pitches in. the food needs to be distributed before it goes stale. it's past one am the auditor is driving tonight shelters in delhi where many people sleep hungry. after week for the for. the men at this night shelter don't seem to mind being pulled out of bed into the cold some are drug addicts and alcoholics others are ill

or disabled most sleep rough in the streets in summer. it. is a lifeline for many who go to sleep hungry. there are main you who are too ill to work. this food is much more filling than the cheap street food that i can afford. for the robins this late night food tripe has been well worth the effort but the knowledge more needs to be done. to find people it's not that i think the number is there it's hard to believe and i wish it does not. mean nothing to do that is a problem like me just wish this problem was not. until there. is staying true to its model taking from the rich and redistributing it to the poor. he w.

sagna found there reporting from delhi india is among the many countries were facebook is trying to grow its user ship but the social media giant is facing big hurdles some of its own making in twenty eighteen facebook's reputation has been marred by scandals big and small are social media editor of liz show joins me now to talk about a timetable is a year to forget for facebook. it was definitely a turbulent year for our facebook a terry and we can just take a look at some of the negative headlines that's the company made in the twenty eighteen so i'm sure that many viewers will remember the cambridge analytic scabbed also this company had. to the private data of eighty seven million facebook users without their permission or and their knowledge and the market like a bird had to testify before the u.s. congress because of this and then later facebook also came under fire because it

had given a platform to people who spread right wing conspiracy theories for example here alex jones in full war and facebook later banned alex jones of from its platform and just recently we heard a report that facebook had given access to a hundred fifty companies who were able to read people's messages private messages for example and spotify so these companies where able to read your private messages and also write messages in your name and also delete your private messages so yeah pretty scary stuff there not good year isn't even over yet i understand there's more bad news yes unfortunately so on monday the u.s. senate intelligence committee released a report saying about the hackers and agents the russians and that had interfered in the twenty sixteen u.s. presidential elections that specifically targeted african-american voters in an

effort to keep them from voting for hillary clinton a so one of the biggest the civil rights organizations in the u.s. . has called for a boycott of facebook saying that its members should boycott the platform together with instagram for a year this boycott starts on tuesday and in fact we're already seeing this work of getting a lot of stuff. porritt especially from celebrities for example here we have american comedian amy schumer other people who are joining in are the singer cher who said she's the leading her facebook account completely and also the ice cream company ben and jerry's says that it will also join and avoid a facebook for a while to stand in solidarity with the. c.p.c. facebook says it has done what it's called a civil rights audit and it is working together with civil rights organizations to improve its services so facebook taking

a lot of hits in twenty eighteen but it's not the only company with this kind of problem how does facebook compare to other platforms. also facebook is still of the biggest the social network out there it has about two point two billion active a monthly a users but it is losing its popularity especially among the younger generation the tech savvy people if you just take a look at germany you for example that is thinks a show of that if you look at the top platforms that young people under twenty like to use here in germany you find that facebook isn't even among the top five so facebook is actually the number is sig and also one problem that facebook has is that so many people are losing their trust in this company because of these data scandals so if they continue in twenty nineteen then facebook could definitely see itself losing some of its users. are social media editor thank you so much.

you're watching d.w. news still to come the race is on for this year's u.k. christmas number one the best selling song the week before the holiday or take a look at the top contenders and find out more about this british tradition. of money for ever gets at number one. with the talking about money a major merger in the pharmaceutical world that's right the giants pfizer and black so smith kline a forging an alliance that will be worth billions the two pharma companies plan on joining them over the counter productivity last year they had a combined turnover of almost thirteen billion dollars pfizer will hold on to so as the two percent of the plant join venture. will get sixty eight percent the next step will be to float the new company on the stock exchange. a little earlier i spoke to our markets goes one and only boss in frankfurt asking him if the two

partners actually see eye eye to. yes and they have to see eye to eye to make it work you know we've seen so many mergers and bringing together of units in the past where when you get down to that it greatly the every day important decisions that are important to executives but also to the normal workers where there are differences differences in culture is an interest and then the thing goes sour so they have to work together but investors thinking this is a great idea the shares are going up pfizer not quite as much as glaxo smith kline but got so smith kline advancing by around six percent at the moment really how is this going to shake up the pharmaceuticals market. well together they will be world number one in these o.t.c. consumer oriented health products where the market share of seven point three percent way more than for example buyer or johnson and johnson or sanofi who are at about four percent but remember that part of the driver of this merger is the

pressure that the market has put on the brand name producers because you have stores with only store brands putting pressure plus online online of purchasing of products like this so that's one of the motivations and for smith kline class or smith kline it's also the fact that it can use money now to bolster its pharmaceuticals to get better progress there to move towards new blockbusters for example money making ones for example for oncology. only bats in frankfurt thank you. the european union has taken action against plastic waste plastic cutlery takeout food containers drinking strollers and plastic cup and bots for example are among the single use products to be banned across all e.u. member states the ban was provisionally agreed in brussels on wednesday and will come into effect in two thousand and twenty one even though most plastic what

wastes in the world's oceans ninety percent actually comes from other areas e.u. member states agreed on the measure last night in brussels. a single use plastic ban is on the horizon in the e.u. now that member states have voted in favor of banning this possible plastics. around twenty six million tons of plastic waste are generated in the e.u. the average european creates some thirty one kilograms of plastic waste per year but less than thirty percent of the waste is collected for recycling so a big amount of the waste and up in the world's oceans it would take more than two years for the band to take effect in twenty twenty one for now e.u. lawmakers still need to agree on the wording of the legislation and while this is a step forward it may not go far enough critics say other types of plastic like micro plastics will not be outlawed that means plastic police and will remain a problem but the ban who hit the plastics industry which employs around one point

five million people in europe as plastic free products may now be the future. here things are more frustrating than being stuck in traffic especially when you're all the way to an important appointment most of us just complain about it and get on with their lives. must started digging the result of his endeavors as just been unveiled. electric cars whizzing autonomous lee underground this is even a must for lucian to watch he once called fold a strong traffic in los angeles now with the unveiling of a three kilometer tomlin hole flooring just outside l.a. his vision is a step closer to reality. so you can have as many channels as you want and i'm pretty sure everyone in the united states is not going to move to l.a. but you could literally transport everyone in the united states in l.a. there is no limits. no limit to his ambition at any race this promotional video

shows how musk in visions the future of transport. you to park your electric car in a pod and take the elevator down to the tunnel. from there you'd be transported at breakneck speed to your destination. the idea of high speed underground travel has already attracted the attention of urban planners need united states earlier this year must find a deal with the city of chicago to build an underground transit system linking the city center with the airport but progress has been sluggish and the project is still waiting to be granted final regulatory approval. but those kinds of stumbling blocks don't appear to be pushing musk off the entrepreneur describes the transit system of his dreams as more like an underground highway than a subway in car loving america it's

a concept that might just catch on. underground highway when the be a low was. underway. thanks. it's just days to go now before election in the democratic republic of congo with president joseph kabila due to step down after eighteen years in power citizens are hoping this vote will bring about some change election takes place. break in the country's east concentrated in the city of beni. paul their poverty and violent interethnic conflict are hampering efforts to stop the disease spreading and the risk of ebola is also causing concern for those heading to the polls. passionate campaigning ahead of sunday's election. why do we bother. that's alongside the n.p.c.s. and that's fia the city of penny has borne the brunt of an outbreak in the

country's east since it was declared in august three hundred people have died of the virus. and want to protect themselves. i just want to see the candidate for the presidency but safe a question about it both and that we need to avoid physical contact don't know if. i'm afraid to go into the crowd because of the risks that come with physical contact i don't know was already in fact and who isn't. the next day i'll take disinfectant with me when i go to vote i'm sure there's going to be water there too i will wash my hands and use the disinfectant. the virus is transmitted through contact with infected bodily fluids or indirectly by touching contaminated objects and surfaces. health officials are warning voters to take cat. bold outbreak has come to a difficult place at a difficult time because of the elections people need to be educated. about

avoiding physical contact especially in groups so. you should avoid shaking hands. and you should wash your hands and use disinfectant as soon as you get home. sick new touch screen voting time announce could increase the risk of infection so far as he said already introduced the machines around the country like here in goma the city south of benny as yet unaffected by the outbreak aside from potential health risks there are concerns of fruit and manipulation the opposition is especially wary. of voting machines are not a reliable way to votes so people aren't used to them they don't exist in our electoral law either. back in beni a city struggling with security issues as well as the apple outbreak there's hope that whoever wins sunday's vote will help the city town

a page on the suffering. don't . that's thursday by just one which is vying for the top spot in the british charts this christmas the chart topper is traditionally the biggest selling single of the year and getting that christmas number one in britain is as much a festive tradition as turkey allowed christmas sweaters like the one robin merrill is wearing and it's not just allowed in color terry it's. because it is quite a jingle i love it i love you. so as a brit tell us a little bit more about the spot tradition it really began in the nine hundred seventy s. in fact you can put a date on it christmas nine hundred seventy three we're talking about a time when there was the three day week in britain there were power cuts the

already the irish republican army were on forty boming long it was all a bit. terrible in london and raible needed something to brighten up their lives and they got it in the form of two big christmas singles actually that people will most probably know. i wish it could be christmas every day from wizards and merry christmas everybody from slade slade eventually won out and got the top spots and ever since that year there's been a chase to who can get a christmas number one in britain anyway let's see who are the contenders for this year's top spot based christmas. ariana grande day has topped the u.k. charts for the last six weeks with her song thank you next and the accompanying music video is appropriately festive so the american singer stands a good chance of landing this year's number one christmas single in the u.k. . but veteran british pop star elton john

could be hot on her heels he's revived his old hit your song for a new t.v. commercial. it's. just. not joe sparrow knows the british music business the man from manchester works as a music blogger and manages young bands. it's something everyone is interested in everyone is still even if any generation they still want to know they're still interested in who is number one of course there is still excitement around being the want to christmas time it is a big cultural event and it's in all the newspapers at the moment people are speculating who's going to be number one this year. last year's number one hit it christmas was perfect by and sharing these days the winner is determined not only by sales of cd's and vinyl but increasingly by which song is downloaded and streamed about sed. that wasn't yet the case in this band's

heyday in one nine hundred seventy three rock groups laid scored the number one holiday hit with their song merry christmas everybody. i mean the beatles were also very successful at christmas landing for number one christmas hits. british t.v. talent show the x. factor has helped to restore interest in the top christmas single competition the show's winners have often also had the number one christmas song. this year's x. factor winner jamaican singer dalton harris hopes to match their success with his song power of love. so the race to be this year's christmas number one is on. so race is on interesting contenders there but also christmas there's

a christmas tradition of recording songs for good causes yeah there is very much in britain this year is not exception there's a song called tomorrow some bar choir called themselves the gifted organs this is because they're either organ donors or recipients and it's for organ donna charities a very good cause however the king all the queen of the charity christmas single has to be this one is a very young sting there bono boy george from chicago this is of course do they know it's christmas written by bob geldof amid shool which is raising money for the ethiopian famine in one thousand nine hundred eighty four course it featured every pop star they could get available to sing it and it wasn't just number one and i said before it was again in one thousand eight hundred knowing and it was again in two thousand and four and over the years it has raised millions for famine in africa and it really did kick start a whole lot of aids thing one has to say because. the famous live eight concerts

that happened in ninety five again that was live eight in two thousand and five and i believe they've that has raised over two hundred million actually over the years quiet charity fundraiser it has to be said it's warm pretty well i like to hear it you know and it pops up on the radio at christmas but i believe good. bob geldof himself has kind of grown tired. that was reported recently in the press that he evidently when he goes to the supermarket in december he tries to avoid supermarkets as much as possible to some extent keep saying this only drives him nuts but actually i'm sure he realizes it's still raising money for charity so ok we've heard some of the examples there what songs that are competing this is yours number one there is quite a lot of money to be made with maybe some of them out in it to good causes what not if you listen to them all what's your take rob what's going to be the number one well this isn't my favorite charity but i do think it's most probably going to be

on the ground a she's huge at the moment she's been in the number one spot for the last six weeks we saw a bit of a video it's very christmassy you know so i think she i think it's a shame dalton harris is this actually there is right behind us he's the guy won the x. factor this year and i wouldn't normally like and expect to win a to win because they keep winning christmas because they expect to always ends in december but he's actually the best singer i've heard on the x. factor for many many years he's really is a town named. your mind yeah yeah my heart says elton john there is another tradition and right britain of these extraordinary ad particular department stores in britain every christmas and this year they've done a sort of two minute ad withouten job and it got him as a child going in the a piano for christmas and what happened to him is the sort of idea you know go to all store buy your child

a musical it's river christmas or whatever reason for like my heart says elton john but my head says ariana grande if you could pick from history all these wonderful christmas songs to me as a musician yourself do you have any favorites that you well this is. the biggest selling christmas song ever i think white christmas by big cross baby that's gone. back illness in thailand is going to days ago it's a wonderful sense of mental wonderful christmas song yet it's one of the wonderful things about the season that we do have all of that yeah it's music christmas music from our culture desk thank you so much. just forward of the top story we're following for you here on day u.s. backed kurdish an arab forces are close to ousting so-called islamic state totters from their last urban stronghold in syria but a threatened turkish intervention has put the fight against the extremists into.

so you. can. move.

it existed for just three years. the rank university a strong sworn enemy created by the nazis to rival the prestigious sorbonne in paris. but the university conducted her rhythmic experiments on humans and murdered people for a racist ideology. in the name of science in fifteen minutes on a d.w.i. . you know this if you go five minutes four minutes. as an

hour and a beauty combine it's cool because it all. fits in the pantheon of the great tenors certainly he's one for the ages of ten or fourteen starts december twenty second on g.w. . i'm not laughing at the gems because sometimes the sound plays that nothing with the tempo do the job and i think deep into the jam a culture of. new didn't seem to take this gram a day out to you it's all that. time right so join me let me think of something else the host wouldn't have to fight in full detail to take you seriously in the world of what here's what's come out women strong. superhero. smart talks smart stay in the gym or increasingly dangerous time to suffer alone for my. sleep.

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this is you know when you use live from berlin could it be the final battle against islamic stings us back kurdish an arab forces are close to ousting the hottest from their last urban stronghold in syria but he threatened turkish intervention is putting victory in doubt also coming up keeping the planes flying with one hundred days to go before the u.k. is due to leave the european union the e.u. steps up its planning kids britain crashes out with no breaks a deal or live in brussels for reaction.