w. . this is the w. news live from berlin at least three people are dead in a gas explosion in paris forty say a spanish woman died along with two firefighters who were busy evacuating people from the scene dozens more are injured some of them critically as french police investigate we'll bring you the latest also coming up. heavy snow brings chaos to parts of europe our reporter visits an austrian village that's been partly

evacuated for fear of avalanches the snow is accumulating exuding they're going to fall off the mountain on these houses at any time. and it was a long almost extinct but now the gray wolf is making a comeback in germany become so numerous they're threatening livestock and some are calling for a wolf hunting to be legalized. thanks for joining us i'm mary and i haven't seen. the death toll has risen to at least three in a powerful gas explosion and fire that ripped through a building in paris spain's foreign ministry says a spanish woman was among the dead this comes after french officials said two firefighters had been killed. perrie's united

would suddenly transformed into a fiery inferno firefighters struggle to bring a blaze inside a bakery and to control the explosion happened early on saturday morning many will woken by the jolt from the blast those who are awake felt its terrifying force. we thought so. we thought maybe it was a false alarm so somebody called the firefighters. we thought ok we went back then one hour later out of nowhere i heard a big explosion and then a lot of pressure came out of me and black smoke and glass. glass says there are hundreds of emergency services worked in the debris trying to fight the blaze the disasters told becoming ever grandma victims are safe first died while being rushed to hospital schools of paper were injured many critically

and two firefighters were among the dead. people one hof naked from the blast we managed to carry them these people were unconscious and on the ground but their eyes were still open not closed. despite a heavy police presence around the same authorities believe the blast is not terror related. he says at this stage we can say that it is obviously caused accidentally by a gas leak. we must be careful since the investigations are intended to determine the precise origin of this dramatic fire and this explosion does it expose you but what's clear is it's a tragedy one that will serve as a deadly reminder of the danger that emergency services confront every day. well

paris was already on edge with more of demonstrations by the so-called yellow vest protesters rocking the french capitol police and demonstrators clashed around the arc to be only where security was tight in anticipation of major protests tens of thousands of demonstrators and riot police were on the streets of major cities across the country it's the ninth weekend in a row of demonstrations protesters say they want changes to economic policies in france which they say favor the rich. correspondent lisa lewis has been following the protests from paris and she joins us now for more so lisa is the ninth week in a row of the protests we've seen there's been violence but how serious are today's clashes well there have been clashes as you said in paris but also now to come to other cities like waller to lose in the south of france but these clashes have

started quite late in the day if you look back at the beginning of these protests eight weeks ago you know they started at eight thirty nine o'clock in the morning nine thirty at least here in paris and that went on for hours and hours and hours today the first clashes in paris between protesters and the police kicked off at about three or four o'clock in the afternoon so it looks like these violence at this level of violence that was actually feared by the government they were saying they were expecting a whole new level of violence today and they have deployed their full five thousand police officers and military personnel in paris and eighty thousand across the country and looks like that the clashes haven't really reached that level at least not yet. and yet it must be said the government has repeatedly offered concessions and yet the protests are continuing so what is the government's plan now to finally put an end to these protests. well absolutely the government also announced when it

make these concessions late last week late last year that they would launch a so-called national debates now that national debate of space to kick off next tuesday there will be talks that will be held in several weeks across the country and these talks are supposed to take into account the grievances of the people here in france because obviously the support although there are only about between thirty and fifty thousand people in the streets today there's still a lot of high level of support amongst the french for the protesters and the government wants to take that into account in iraq on the president has even pushed back the debate about a constitutional floor reform that was the place to come to parliament in january it's will now happen later so that the parliamentarians will be able to take into account the outcome of the debates. correspondent lisa lewis reporting from paris thank you very much. and now to some of the other stories making news around the

world protesters have rallied outside congo's constitutional court this comes as opposition candidate martin for ulu asked the court for a recount in the recent presidential election in which he came in second another opposition candidate felix just that katie was declared the winner. in the united states a twenty one year old man has been charged with murdering the parents of a teenager he then kidnapped thirteen year old jamie clauss escaped on thursday after three months in captivity authorities have been searching for her since her parents were found dead in their wisconsin home in october. a young woman who says she fled her home and found the arabia after she said she renounced islam has arrived in canada where she's been granted asylum. mohamed al couldn't arrive to toronto airport canadian foreign minister chrystia freeland was there to

greet her canoes said she feared her family would kill her if she returned home she first bled to thailand where she escaped deportation after drawing attention to her plight using social media. well afterwards freeland said canada had decided to grab asylum because the u. was humanitarian agencies said she faced a real threat in saudi arabia the u.n.h.c.r. did feel that she was in a dangerous situation and so u.n.h.c.r. was looking very urgently for a place where she could find asylum. we were involved in those conversations as were other countries and canada was glad that we were able to act quickly. days of heavy snow have brought chaos to parts of europe and there's no sign that the situation will improve anytime soon more than twenty people have now died in

what is some of the heaviest snowfall in two decades and forecasters are warning up to a meter more could be on the way in parts of austria fresh avalanche warnings were issued overnight as silence has fallen over the north side of al tells the this part of the village lies in the path of a potential avalanche that all storage you say could trigger without warning more than one hundred people have had to evacuate a few come back now and then to clear their roofs or driveways in a contest with the snow. it has been snowing now here for nearly two weeks the residents tell us they haven't seen anything like it in over a decade is a break in the weather now the sun is out but even if the sun shines it does not mean the danger of avalanches is gone the snow is accumulated it's sitting there and it could fall off the mountain onto these houses at any time. breaks in the snow fall have only been temporary here in lower alto as the the residents are

getting on with their lives even if that means hard work. frankly i'm used to a lot of snow but it's a bit rough this time because we've had so much at once so far my call you're going through the overnight shift we're trying to clear just the top layer of the new stuff so it's because if it rains into this then it will become really heavy. to fill it is normally packed with tourists at this time of the year instead the luxury hotels like this one have opened their doors to evacuees free of charge. here and i'll tell say we're there for each other all year round and if we have a burst pipe or something here the volunteer firefighters step in as local firms help out whether it's plumbers or electricians whatever it might be. so now it was very clear to us that it's our turn to make

a contribution and to give something back to the community. has pulled together before in two thousand and six they had to evacuate for a few days and it's that community spirit that locals say will help them through again avalanche or not. the german government is trying to find a way to cope with a once extinct member of the wolf over the last few years the animals have been returning to their ancestors hunting grounds turning into a real threat for farmers livestock well now calls are growing louder to shoot the predators and german ministers for agriculture and environment met earlier this week but failed to come to an agreement on how to deal with the protected species some politicians are even considering legalizing the will fund. they have come to state it has been almost twenty years since the first eastern european wolves returned to germany in just two decades the population has grown fast now more than

seventy pax are living here and the more wolves the more pray the sick. two to three killers of meat that's how much food meets every single day well in the national park they're being fed by the rangers but their wild peers have to hunt their own food and for that their roaming white parts of northern and eastern germany they're turning into a problem for farmers and shepherds especially since the population is growing. even the wolves prefer deer and bores they don't hesitate to tech livestock in recent years the predators have targeted shepherd splog three times somebody spotted the wolf couple just hours ago close to his sheep the last time the walls attacked he lost thirty two animals worth about three thousand euros it's not easy to obtain compensation if we got his good here dog monetizations are discussing legalizing the wall front do you think that would be a good idea you. know if your demise was wrong but i think we should hunt wolves

just like we hunt other wild game we have to agree on an upper limit for wolves how many are good for germany. many farmers share this opinion but environmentalists are anything but thrilled about allowing hunters to shoot rules in his front of the wall center where farmers can learn how to protect their cattle and sheep with wolves proof fences and sheep dogs she believes in peaceful coexistence between humans and wolves. the missing cry from the wires and feeling is we humans are meddling too often with nature instead we should respect the rights of the wild animals i hope we don't panic just because we're afraid of the big bad wolf we know from fairy tales. we have to think critically is this animal a real threat for us or is this just coming from stories like red riding hood that trigger our primal fears and working some from straight. hunting are strictly

forbidden in germany for no shooting one can be punished by up to five years of jail time now it is up to the federal government to decide on how to deal with the return of the world predators people and wolves will have to share the same territory once more. all right those fourth news now and soccer's asian cup a second round of the group stage continued on saturday iran qualified for the last sixteen with a game to spare beating vietnam two nil iraq also went through to the knockout rounds they had no trouble getting past yemen by a score of three nil and saudi arabia dominated lebanon in a two nil success the result means the saudis stay in control of the group. and now a quick reminder of the top story we're following for you. at least three people have been killed in a gas explosion in central paris authorities say

a spanish woman died along with two firefighters who were busy evacuating people from the scene dozens more are injured some of them critically. you're up to date now on news will be back again at the top of the hour on american evan steen from all of us thanks for watching. nico he's in germany to learn german. aloof from the. why not learn with him online on hold while and free from the d.w.p. learning course.