this is the news live from berlin at least three people are dead following a gas explosion in paris a spanish woman two firefighters were killed in the blast and dozens more are injured some critically we'll bring you the latest also coming up it's official the u.s. is now suffering from its longest in government shutdown in history as hundreds of thousands of government employees go without paychecks we need the workers taking on new jobs just to make ends meet. and supporters of the runner up in congo's

election take to the streets as marching by you lou he goes to court to challenge the results of the vote he says he won. i'm calling assman thanks for joining us three people are confirmed dead after a powerful gas explosion and fire ripped through a building in paris this morning spain's foreign ministry says a spanish tourist is among the dead two firefighters were also reportedly killed while evacuating people from the scene. can shape or is united would suddenly transformed into a fiery inferno fought by the struggle to bring a blaze inside it by korean 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. that that's it they destroyed everything in the alleyway first i

heard people shouting at one another they wanted to know if it was an attack and when we went outside we saw that all the windows were broken and there were people screaming. hundreds of emergency services worked in the debris trying to fight the blaze and evacuating those caught up in the emergency some were lucky to escape others were less fortunate ten people were critically injured dozens more suffered words and two five fighters were among the dead. people were 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. to film. despite a heavy police presence around the sane 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. that we don't use 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. paris was already on edge as more so-called yellow vests protesters clashed with police in the french capital police fired tear gas and water cannons to clear crowds there the arc de triomphe security had already been stepped up in anticipation tens of thousands turned out in major cities across the country it's the ninth straight saturday of demonstrations demanding changes to economic policies in france which protesters say favor the rich v.w.

correspondent lisa lewis is following the protests i lease this is now we could nine of these yellow vests protests how serious were today's clashes well there were some clashes and the government was actually expecting a whole new level of violence they had deployed eighty thousand police officers and military personnel across the country five thousand of them here in paris many a shops had barricaded up and indeed it came to clashes but if you can compare what happened today in paris but also in other cities across the country too what happened at the beginning of the movement about two months ago is actually not that serious indeed actually in on the first one to three saturdays the clashes started at about eight thirty nine o'clock ten o'clock in the morning and went on for the whole day today the first reports of clashes it got through to us at about two three o'clock and they went on for

a few hours yes but in paris the situation has now gone back to normal and you know cars are circulating again at the activity on and this one's easy have been cleared . the government there they've repeatedly offered concessions to the protesters is there a plan in place for ending these protests. absolutely the government is trying to calm down the protests this is a so-called national debate that will start next tuesday that's you know nationwide talks in different cities that will go on for several weeks the government says it wants to hear the grievances of the people and take these grievances into account and indeed the government has pushed back the debate on a constitutional reform that was planned for it generally and it's been now been pushed by back to later on to take into account the outcome of these nationwide talks however when you look at one recent poll quoting to that poll seventy percent

of the french think that this debate will not lead to any ease for majesty remains to be seen if the government government will really be able to calm down criticize ok that may be expecting a tenth straight weekend of those protests correspondent lisa louis and paris for us thank you very much. now to some the other stories making news around the world in serbia several thousand people have turned out for a sixth week of street protests against the country's president alexander whistleblowing crowns marched through central belgrade despite freezing temperatures to banning its preservation the protesters accuse him of restricting media freedom and intimidating the opposition. heavy snow is paralyzed parts of central europe for yet another day in austria fresh avalanche warnings have been issued and in germany the weather service also warned of more heavy snowfall to come on sunday in all of these twenty one weather related deaths have been reported

across europe in the last ten days. the new york times says the f.b.i. opened an investigation in twenty seventeen into whether donald trump had been working for russia during his presidential campaign the paper said the probe began after he fired the agency's director james coney trim trump tweeted that the f.b.i. acted for no reason and with no proof. in the u.s. the partial government shutdown is now the longest in the country's history it's interesting day twenty two with no end in sight to the dispute over funding for president donald trump's order ball as a result some eight hundred thousand government workers are getting paid and are now scrambling for a temporary paycheck our washington correspondent reports. even when rent is due you got bills and there's no sign of a paycheck coming anytime soon so maybe if you're a government worker it's time to find

a second job at the fairfax county school district outside of washington d.c. has a shortage of substitute teachers and fairfax county now has an excess of furlough government workers problem solution at least temporarily. twenty percent of the population in the greater d.c. area works for the federal government that's now one in five people with no. paycheck and nothing to do for who knows how much longer but even with the dire predictions coming out of capitol hill this local community saw an opportunity to do something for their people but when the school district advertised the event it filled up to capacity within twenty four hours the interest was so overwhelming that they added a second and then a third hiring day well it usually takes a few weeks to be approved as a new substitute teacher these people will all be processed and ready to work in just a few days the school board says it's really the least they can do for employees here really realize that we have a community in need right now we have many displaced federal workers and as part of

our caring culture this is just a small gesture to be able to be out and help and support our displaced federal workers and give opportunity to substitute in our schools and earn a paycheck we've heard lots of teachers in the classroom are actually thrilled to have this influx of talent as you know we have people in the federal government who have all sorts of skills whether they're in mathematics statistics and medicine so just bringing that into the classroom will have a big effect on our students. the shutdown could and any time many federal employees at the event said they're doing ok for now but in the meantime they want a contingency plan and the whole situation is disheartening nine hundred twenty thirteen shutdown over the affordable care act. that was a little bit different the situation there was more talking between the president and congress and the senate so and this was all frustrating because there's really no. no discussion or very little discussion so. i'm frustrated.

because i think. services to the citizens are being compromised there and even behind the scenes when a government is shut down people don't realize even when you. we have sort of the national parks we observe the museums we never know what. unobservable things are not getting done i don't know right now it's looks like it's at a standstill so i don't know if i'm not get a great vibe but you know hoping and praying and before it's something i'll come through soon. if i'm curious where the federal government is stuck in the mud its employees are moving on and this local government is stepping up to help. in the democratic republic of congo opposition candidate martin they only as asked for a recount after his unexpected loss in recent presidential elections polling before the election was predicting a landslide victory for failing but another opposition candidate felix just

a katie won the vote. giving up martin for you lou arriving at court surrounded by supporters they say the election was stolen that the current government engineer the result and made sure its preferred candidate won. inside the court for you had harsh words for the head of the electoral commission carney and security and that is what you say published results have been fabricated i'm telling you mr non-god has violated the electoral law and his lawyer told the w. he was confident the recount would paint a different picture. good north among the but when the votes are counted again we'll see that martin got the biggest total do we demand that the court name him president of the republic. piece not to me meanwhile outside the court tensions were high. there have been several deaths in other parts of the country since the election results were announced thursday. for you lose loss to

another opposition candidate felix chica city is just the latest twist in congo's long running political crisis current president joseph kabila has ruled the war torn country since two thousand and one he was supposed to step down two years ago but has delayed elections since then many congolese feel they are not getting the changed. they want. to sell you're going to have. to say he's just prolonging he was the second heir of computer i'm telling you the truth we are fed up with him is not our rival but we need a change of regime. others say for you should just accept the results. we'll see. if they're not careful we risk falling into a tribal war. this is what we're trying to avoid that we have only one country but one heritage which all of us must protect if. the court has eight days to act on

for you this complaint the electoral commission meanwhile says there are two options the official results can be accepted or the ball is no keeping cabul in power until another election that's an outcome many congolese are desperate to avoid. the saudi teenager fleeing alleged abuse by her family has now found safety in canada it's been a long odyssey for a half mohamed al canoeing she was planning to seek asylum in australia but was stopped and brut at the bangkok airport and threatened with deportation after days of uncertainty it was canadian officials who offered her a new home. perhaps i'll canoe in briefly appeared before the press at toronto airport but was too exhausted to take questions after edger matic journey she's finally safe in her new home town of the splats do you bring able to. use this law for rescue so you

are pretty cheap at lest u.n.h.c.r. can't offer it to the person easily danger on january fifth the eighteen year old arrived at bangkok airport from kuwait she defied thai authorities by barricading herself in a hotel room to avoid being returned to saudi arabia she said she feared for her life after her family threatened her for renouncing islam an accusation raf's father later rejected rafa drew attention to her plight on social media quickly rallying tens of thousands of supporters all over the worlds. i'm not leaving my room until i see you an edge c r i long to asylum. her calls for help quickly reached the united nations refugee agency after examining her case the un decided to run for half the refugee status and began talks with several countries to find her a new home after days of uncertainty came the good news canada was ready to grant

her half asylum now alcoa noone can start a new life meanwhile she's become a symbol of the struggle for women's rights in the saudi kingdom you're watching news from berlin more coming at the top of the hour and don't forget the latest headlines are also on our website d.w. dot com. belief.