this is d.w. news live from berlin poland vits farewell to the popular liberal mayor of danske who died of stabbing blooms on monday the killing of pawel of a bitch at a charity event sent shock waves around europe today he'll be laid to rest we'll go live to as mourners prepare to pay their final respects also coming up for you a special counsel robert muller disputes an explosive bust big story implicating the u.s. president but speed alleged president trump ordered his former lawyer michael cohen

to lie to congress about his time to russia now miller says the story is inaccurate . and byron munich kicked off a second half of the bonus leave its season of with a strong statement against hoffenheim by an hour hoping to get back on top of the week by season's and. welcome to the program i'm mary and i haven't seen we begin in poland where mourners are gathering for the funeral of murdered mayor adama fetch the fifty three year old liberal politician was stabbed at a charity event last week in front of hundreds of onlookers the killing has stunned poland with many blaming politicians for inflaming a toxic political climate. could

dance as a city overcome by grief. thousands of residents braced freezing temperatures to join mayor pavel adam over to cough and on its final journey. past the schools he attended and the childhood home grossed parents still live. winding through the streets of the city he went on to govern for over two decades. sadness here equaled only by horror horror at the killing of a man celebrated by many for his liberal values and criticism of the conservative ruling law and justice party. so to everyone homosexuals refugees everyone could come here because it is a. source that everyone mourns together and then the accuse each other or.

the mayor was stabbed on sunday while the stage of the children's charity event and he died the following day. the twenty seven year old former convict with a grudge against an opposition party that adam overjoyed once belonged to was charged with this murder. now poland's toxic political climate is under the spotlight with many blaming politicians for riling up hate speech. is also political in a certain sense when the perpetrator has been listening to aggressive political talk over a long period and when he feels like he is representing a political group. pavel adam ovitz will be buried here at the sun marius basilica later today it's a place where many notable residents are entered the service will be broadcast life across a mark of respect for

a man whose progressive voice will be deeply missed by many. and joining us now from dance is correspondent monica said osgar who's outside the cathedral where the service for the polish mayor is set to take place so monica there was quite a turnout yesterday we saw thousands of people accompanying adama which is coffin what are we expecting at today's funeral. well in today's funeral there are also even hundreds of thousands of people expected among them will be also guests from other countries and also prominent guests like the president of the european council don't know who was a close friend to. mayor of the movie which the former president of germany.

some mayors of german cities like. and many people many people from different cities of poland from all over the country are coming and gathering here close to the cathedral to this. very basilica where also his coffin will be birth but buried in the underground of the church well we have been hearing that many are blaming this killing on the toxic political climate that's been fostered by poland's ruling party do you think this kind of violent attack is going to change anything in the country. well as you say. here is. speech of hate is increasing in poland in the last years and. many people. are there is also

seen. as a political marvel. t.v. the us has seen according to his own words wanted to take a political revenge and what is there is a big fear the big fear now and long many people in poland that this toxic atmosphere will increase of course now a few days after this strategy many people are moved inside there is side there are silence marches many people are calling for peace and for. to end this hatred and the divisions in poland but it will be it's difficult to believe that it will happen our correspondent monica reporting from dung many thanks. well turning to the

united states now and the latest twist in the russian investigation special counsel robert miller's office has disputed a bombshell busfield story implicating u.s. president donald trump the story alleges the president directed his then lawyer michael cohen to lying to congress about his business ties to russia the report cites two unnamed law enforcement officers. well the story made headlines across the world following its publication on thursday but then came this denial from the special counsel buzz feed's description of specific statements of the special counsel's office and characterization of documents and testimony obtained by this office regarding michael cohen's congressional testimony are not accurate while miller's office is investigating alleged russian interference in the u.s. election and whether any trump campaign figures were complicit the statement is a rare intervention from miller's office which is known for being extremely tight

lipped well the buzz feed report claims that trump ordered cohen to lie about plans to build a trump tower in moscow last year michael cohen pleaded guilty to lying to congress about the russian real estate plans president trump for his part has repeatedly denied any collusion with russia here's his press secretary sarah huckabee sanders speaking earlier. it's absolutely ridiculous i think that the president's outside counsel addressed this best and said in a statement earlier today those categorically false that one statement those two words sum it up better than anything anybody else can say and that is categorically false. buzz feed though is sticking by its story editor in chief ben smith tweeted that he stands by their reporting and the sources who informed it he's called on the special counsel to make clear exactly which facts it's disputing.

and staying in the u.s. president is set to meet the north korean leader kim jong un for a second summit the white house has confirmed that the meeting is scheduled to take place late next month trump and kim jong un held their first historic summit in june last year it focused on denuclearization of the korean peninsula but there has been little sign of progress on that process since news of the second summit follows a visit from north korean envoy came young choi to the oval office the white house said the meeting was productive but that the u.s. is keeping up economic sanctions on. all right let's get a look now at some of the other stories making news around the world at least twenty one people have been killed in a pipeline explosion in central mexico authorities say another seventy one were injured the pipeline has been leaking fuel before the blast t.v. footage shows it engulfed in flames it's believed it was ruptured by suspected fuel

thieves. colombia has reactivated arrest warrants against leaders of the leftist guerrilla group l.-n. living in cuba this comes two days after a deadly car bombing in bogota which left at least twenty one people dead the government blamed the rebels for the blast it said peace talks will not resume unless the group stops its attacks. violent protests have erupted in the sudanese capital khartoum police clashed with hundreds of mourners following the funeral of a man shot during a protest on thursday witnesses say officers fired live ammunition and used tear gas against demonstrators who threw rocks deadly anti-government protests are now in their fifth week. sports news now in defending because the champions byron munich travelled to

hoffenheim on friday to kick off the second half of the season byron trail league leaders dortmund and had lost on their last two trips to half a time hoffenheim had beaten by and here in both of their most recent attempts and the hosts were hoping to make it three home victories in a row against the champions but by and had a point to prove in the thirty fourth minute the only direct sky pounced on a paris head to make it more new a smart finish from the germany international. just eleven minutes later direct scores scored again this time he latched on to the end of a tough it out of across. it's the midfielders first ever does need to brace. posts hoffenheim came out with all guns blazing in the second half an early counter-attack culminating in this brilliant strike by me through shoots his first league goal of a season one to remember. but the hat trick of home wins against by and wasn't to

be over never does speak to the champions beyond sites in the eighty seven minute. job done for by and they've returned from the winter break looking shop and they've got dortmund the best sites. are all rights and by and moved within three points of legal leaders dortmund but that club is up against life sick today after an impressive first half of the season dortmund reckons it can finally end fireman x. run of six consecutive bundesliga titles. there's plenty of anticipation in dortmund they sit comfortably top of the table with a six point lead and complacency may be their biggest rival going forward and into the disease it's a good situation to be in but we know there are seventeen more games and that it's still a long season ahead or a big challenges and difficult games to play especially in the next few weeks

pressure to perform mean dominated the opening half of the season with fast paced entertaining play they'll have to hit the ground running straight away with their first opponents fourth placed life sick coach lucian five expects a tough away trip. this. dangerous in possession but also on the counter-attack they can also play along with that target. than. they transition really really quickly he communions so there's not much else to say about life they're very good team is in the standard to much of dampening the mood somewhat is the recent illness of captain marco royce cossar is also only just coming back from injury together they've scored twenty three goals over half of the total the team also looked shaky in recent friendly matches. and after the final you've got the christmas season then new year's eve then you spend time at a sunny beach in dubai or somewhere and you look at the table and everyone is

passing you on the back of. molly it's a perfectly normal for the tension to lessen then but we can't let that affect us. we must maintain off with the same approach we had my first half of the season in. statistics point towards a successful second half of the season men have led the league three times at the halfway mark and each time they won the title not a bad omen. all right tennis now in the australian open where gnomeo saga is looking to challenge for her second straight glance slam tournament victory she is the reigning he wes open champion now through to the round of sixteen in melbourne thanks to a comeback win over taiwan's shave way of soccer's match was just ahead of compatriot kane as she corrie on the very same court and she corrie also came

through for japan with a straight sets win over portugal's sosa you're up to date now on d w news will be back again at the top of the hour omarion evans dean from all of us in berlin thanks for watching. and do you want to. discover your concept discover it with us.