this is d.w. news live from berlin tens of thousands of algerians take to the streets to protest against president abdelaziz bouteflika and his re-election bid there were clashes between demonstrators and police and dozens of injured but people seem determined to prevent a fifth term for the current president also coming up. a gesture of peace from pakistan to its neighbor india a captured indian pilot who is downed in fierce fighting in the kashmir region has been released both nuclear armed rivals are on edge from the cross border tensions

. and the time has come for the peasants the prince and then made it to take over the german city of cologne carnival is here with the age old traditions and just to fittings in full swing. welcome to the program i'm marian evans team in algeria police have fired tear gas to disperse tens of thousands of demonstrators marching through central algiers against president. is the biggest protest in the algerian capital since the arab spring eight years ago which of sega has been in power since one thousand nine hundred ninety nine and despite suffering a stroke five years ago the eighty one year old announced he was running for a fifth term in office. it was the biggest turnout of demonstrators

so far after a week of nationwide protests the demonstration in algiers started peacefully with thousands marching in the streets after friday prayers they chanted bye-bye beautifully and peaceful peaceful many carried signs with slogans and drink themselves in national symbols large crowds also gathered in other cities according to residents and local media the protestors are against incumbent president up to less respect for the seeking a fifth terran upcoming elections in april they say he is no longer fit to lead and are fed up with his iron fisted rule. it's simple we just want to transfer a country we want out but there are doing. twenty years around of. the people who are here. only we want change and for you. later in the day things got violent police used tear gas to disperse the crowds and scuffled with protestors knew the presidential palace an elderly man reportedly died after being caught in

a stampede of protesters earlier algerian prime minister ahmed who yes he gave a chilling warning after noticing that some demonstrators gave roses to police officers. but we should recall. that in syria it also began with roses. but flicka who will turn eighty two on saturday is reportedly in geneva getting medical treatment he suffered a stroke in twenty thirteen and has really been seen in public since authorities say beautifully cut does retain a firm grip on public affairs his opponents however claim he's not fit enough to leave the country and that it is being drilled in his name by advisors. let's get more on the story now and for that i'm joined in the studio by bashir a room from arabic thanks for joining us bashir so if you do these protests actually pose a serious threat to the beautifully regime well of course they do with the biggest

the most freshens and since the the early one nine hundred ninety s. in that time the regime reacted with a massive crackdown which resulted in the civil war with over a quarter million of that and more than twenty thousand missings until today and as the anger grows these days you can see member. important members of the regime like prime minister allawi. trying to threaten the people. drawing parallels between the civil war and what's happening today also parallels drawn to the civil war in syria so the regime is frightened there's a serious possibility that the situation could develop into a struggle for survival for the algerian regime well talking about those arab spring protests of twenty eleven we know that back then social media played a very important role what about this time around how are the current protests

being organized or i personally i'm not sure if the social media played the biggest throw than. twelve twenty eleven because there were also arab news broadcast as with who played a very big round but what we can agree on now is the evidence evidence that the protests are organized through facebook for instance the initial call to the demonstration is being reported to have been spread through facebook so even so even though we cannot see we cannot identify the initial source of it we can say what i can say with certainty is. the video shout over you tube. facebook. the power and suzy as in all of the demonstrations and take them into the even the smallest columns throughout everywhere and adria all right so it's clear that these

protesters don't want which if they could to run again but what about algeria's opposition like is there anyone who is a credible figure that people could unite behind to replace them frankly there is no real organized opposition inside the regime managed in the last twenty years to destroy every general in opposition of party there are also no civil society so the so-called opposition of parties inside. patronage. that have pets with links to the regime and enjoy no public confidence at all i think my personal opinion is that. in the case the protests are successful and also the regime we have to put up. everything new from the ground that nigeria are i had to share a room from arabic we really appreciate your insights thank you thank you for

having. now space x. has just launched a rocket to the international space station a flight that's being seen as a crucial test for resuming u.s. manned missions three you right here. the falcon nine rocket with the crew dragon capsule took off from to canaveral florida it should reach the i s s tomorrow and is scheduled to return to earth on march eighth if successful two astronauts will be allowed on board for the next launch space six suffered a setback at twenty fifteen when a rocket bound for the international space station exploded. now let's get you up to speed on some of the other stories making news around the world north korean leader kim jong un has departed vietnam following his state visit and the breakdown of his summit with the u.s. president donald trump he spent his last day in hanoi laying wreaths at

a war memorial and mausoleum kim's journey home by an armored train is expected to take more than sixty hours. canada says it will allow the u.s. extradition case against wall waves chief executive mangal one job to proceed canadian authorities arrested the chinese technology companies c.f.o. last december at the request of washington is wanted in the u.s. for allegedly conspiring to violate u.s. sanctions on iran. heavy fighting is reportedly underway in the last may an enclave of the so-called islamic state u.s. backed syrian defense forces say they've moved in to the militants last pocket of control in the village of but guus suspected i is fighters and their families have been surrendering to s.d. of forces outside the town. turkey has refused to renew the work permits of two german journalists one is employed by german state television the other by

a berlin newspaper turkish officials did not provide a. and for the decision more than eighty foreign correspondents in turkey are currently waiting for their work permits to be renamed. pakistan has free the indian pilots captured when his plane was shot down over pakistan administered kashmir pakistan's prime minister imran khan called the release a gesture of peace and an effort to deescalate the situation between the nuclear our neighbors but tensions between india and pakistan are still high. a hero's homecoming. queen command. time on walking across the border into india two days off to pakistan's side shot down his fight to jet over its territory. locals gathered for the day at the vaga atari border crossing as anticipation mounted across the country ahead

of the pilot's release. planetaria didn't say i'm a yes and i ever since i heard the pilot was captured by pakistan i've been praying for his return to india that's all i wanted to have them and watch and yeah i'm so happy now what he called. as a captive in pakistan i've been undone became the face of surging tensions between the rivals the disputed kashmir region once again edging the nuclear neighbors to the brink of war the latest escalation began two weeks ago when forty indian troops were killed by pakistan based militants in kashmir news of a benign duns release described as a gesture of peace by the pakistani prime minister was also welcomed in pakistan. on humanitarian grounds and under the geneva convention pakistan had to hand them over to india we did so quickly to show the world we respect human rights. does

hope now on both sides of the kashmir conflict that the pilots released will be enough to calm tensions. some german soccer news now and bundesliga leaders boris and dortmund have suffered a major setback forth bottom work hand in dortmund a shock two one defeat one once on the books of darkness reserved side scored after twenty four minutes after woeful defending from the visitors a south korean forward stunned his former team with his second goal after sixty eight minutes of a look at that. park zero zero customers eighty first minute strike was to know of it. in tennis roger federer is just one win away from. his one hundredth career title federer cruise past croatia born a currish in the semifinal of the drive-by championships winning in straight sets

six two six two this was player could become only the second man ever to reach the one hundred title mark after u.s. legend jimmy connors federer will reach the milestone today if he beats stefan us to see past the greek cruise past frenchman fees to reach the final. while throughout germany colorful carnival celebrations are underway with parades concerts and all sorts of merrymaking spilling onto the streets according to tradition the prince the peasant and the maiden govern the merry folk during carnival the partying reaches a fever pitch in the days leading up to the christian holiday of ash wednesday which is the start of lent. in real life they are a lawyer an investment banker and an entrepreneur but when carnival comes around these men transform into the triumvirate the highest ranking representatives of the

cologne carnival festivities prince mark peasant marcus and maiden michael the tradition goes back hundreds of years can because carnival was always a male domain behind the maiden's mask is a man in the past two months the triumvirate has attended more than four hundred carnival meetings sometimes for twelve hours at a time but despite the hard work this is a much sought after jump says maiden michael was always there with the one in the room i met someone over ninety years old who smiled and said i had to stay alive this long so i could finally meet a triumph or it face to face priceless. but over. the years the way every year the triumvirate is chosen by a special festival committee the highest board within the cologne carnival society the three are treated like royalty as they are driven around in the motorcade during carnival the city bounce to them. you know the peasants main

task is to look evil and represent the finding spirit of our city. and i think i've got it down with this look. at the roots of the carnival tradition go back to early christianity in the time leading up to lent otherwise religious catholics celebrate in the city streets during the so called crazy days. for the triumvirate this can be a costly pastime they have to purchase their own costumes as well as medals and rounds of the local pubs they can easily add up to a few thousand euros but it's not about the money the good sense of playing the role of the prince is a lot like playing the role of lawyer in my everyday life so it comes easy i just add a few extra nuances as a prince you must radiate love and make people smile. today

the triumvirate had twelve performances some days they have even more but their work is not over yet the party doesn't stop until ashwin's day. you're up to date and. thanks for watching. one organize a party it's a real party because there's no rubbishing about everyone writes that only him on their own and then we part. and you know what the great thing is.