this is d.w. news live from berlin polls close in austria snap election the former chancellor is about to end course is the on favorite to lead a new government could he choose once more to form a ruling coalition it was the far right we'll go live to vienna also coming up clashes erupt at pro-democracy protests in hong kong police fired tear gas at demonstrators and a global anti totalitarianism rally it comes as mainland china prepares to celebrate 70 years of communist rule talk to our correspondent in hong kong.

and this could be the rock of the takes people to mars space x. reveals its new starship and a whole range of ambitious goals for the spacecraft. i mary in evanston thanks for joining us we begin in austria where polls have just closed in the country's general election today snap vote came after a corruption scandal in may lead to the collapse of the right wing coalition government all eyes are on the front runner former chancers of us imports and his conservative austrian people's party chords his party is expected to win but will probably need a coalition partner to secure a stable majority and who he will pick is currently. anybody's guess it's for

more let's bring in our correspondent max hoffman his standing by at the headquarters of sebastian courses people's party in vienna max hello to you so polls are now closed and the 1st projections of projections are emerging what are you hearing. well you're a little too early because we don't have those 1st projections yet but there are some numbers that we are getting and if they are true i'm not going to say specific numbers yet it looks like big gains for the austrian people's party where we are at the headquarters right now and everybody is waiting for those projections there's just like we are so we're seeing in the back here are members of the austrians people's party with a big screen in the back and those that's where we'll have those projections emerge very very soon are at max so even if courts is a party does end up being the frontrunner i he'll still need to form

a coalition government talk us through what options he has. it really depends on the actual numbers you know he will have at least 2 options if you want to stick with the coalition of the only 2 parties one is the far right freedom party that's the coalition that he had for the summer but that one fell apart because of scandals especially and i'm sure you've heard about that the so-called if it's a scandal that the other one of the social democrats that's what's called a grand coalition that's what the austrians had before that coalition with the right wing freedom party the austrians we talked to here in vienna are kind of fed up with that option so there is a 3rd option there that involves the green needs don't know if the greens will get enough will gain enough to actually have the 2 party coalition with the conservatives so with the people's party disinvited are at their headquarters right now or if a 3rd party would be needed making things much more complicated you know that's a bicycle it's just have all the. options open to please excuse me if i look around

me every once in a while because i don't want to miss those projections just like you. are right max well you mentioned the scandal involving the previous coalition partners the far right freedom party and now we're assuming that courts as people's party will be the frontrunner so is this an indication that austrian voters just didn't really care about this scandal this corruption scandal before the summer didn't even play a relevant role in this elections. there's a threshold to measure that of course we'll have to look at the numbers don't expect the freedom party that huge losses but there will be lawsuits and depending all the that you get those laws thank you so i think we're going to go thank you i think i was. going to. say thank. those. who

like to go it's a different story i think because i. think i would have i don't know could you say he was a big building i think it where that let's begin here that loud and clear max so it does seem that. course his party is very pleased with the outcome max hope it will be checking in with you throughout the evening max hoffman in vienna thank you so much for your reporting was. all right to afghanistan now where a low turnout in saturday's presidential election is threatening to undermine confidence in the vote just 2000000 people or 20 percent of registered voters showed up for election day was marred by taliban violence after the islamist group had warned voters to stay home but some voters refuse to be deterred. for zuba.

dula not voting was no option he waited patiently to cast his ballot in kabul he's part of afghanistan's urban middle class and he can't believe so many people in his country are turning their backs on democracy. so i think afghanistan should take a lesson from other democracies as many people should vote as possible it's a good thing to be able to choose who's president that's the only way things can improve. but incumbent president ashraf ghani is not getting sued by the last vote he's governed for 5 years but critics say he's failed to bring peace taliban extremists are stronger than ever they view ghani as washington's puppet and refused to negotiate with him but he's still the favorite in this race vowing another try at peace talks it will it's the red meat that peace is the most important thing our country needs that this

election will make it possible yes it will give us the mandate we need to create peace. but the taliban disrupted saturday's ballot with numerous attacks despite heavy security fear kept many voters at home but frustration with the economy and corruption also played a role critics give afghanistan's chief executive part of the blame he's got his strongest challenger despite having government together with him in the current coalition raising doubts that he's a true alternative. i'm on condition what you invite you cannot see saturday's elections as a victory for democracy because turnout was way too low so far we just have unofficial numbers but everything points in that direction and you go to school supply dula didn't stay home though even amid rumors about election manipulation he thinks afghanistan needs democracy and he plans to head back to the polls if the

presidential contest goes to a 2nd round in november. now to some of the other stories making news around the world in moscow tens of thousands of people have rallied to demand the release of jailed opposition protesters they were arrested during demonstrations against the barring of opposition candidates from local elections the wave of protests erupted in july and has also been fueled by allegations of police violence . at least 5 people have been injured after a fire broke out at a high speed rail way station in saudi arabia's coastal city of jeddah the blaze struck at a station on the line that connects jeddah with the holy muslim cities of mecca and medina. in paris thousands of mourners have been paying tribute to former french president jacques chirac he's lying in state at the unbelieve monument she rock died last thursday at the age of 86 some 30 world leaders are set to attend a memorial service for sheer rock on monday. pro-democracy

demonstrations in hong kong have intensified on what is now the 17th weekend of protests sunday's demonstrations were part of global anti totalitarianism rallies planned in 60 cities worldwide protested hong kong quickly turned violent as protesters threw firebombs and bricks at government buildings police responded with tear gas and water cannon the fired blue dye used to identify offenders more easily despite a police van a major march is also planned for. tuesday when china celebrates the 70th anniversary of the communist party taking power. all right let's go live now to hong kong where our correspondent charlotte charles a pill is standing by so charlotte recently more intense clashes today we mentioned this comes on what's being called anti totalitarianism day do you feel this contributed to the level of violence in hong kong what have you been seeing.

very violent scenes on the streets of hong kong once again today marianne we've seen multiple rounds of tear gas fired in several different locations around hong kong including outside government buildings and here in what is usually a very busy shopping district we've seen water cannon back on the streets as well they've been firing that blue dye at protesters that's something we've seen multiple times now police using that blue dye to try and identify people who are taking part in the protests on the front lines not because of what has been quite a fierce quite strong crackdown from police right from the moment that this protest began here on this often a protest on out saucing to clear the area but most classes have been left behind there will always been the case so many weekends previously that will always be those small groups of people who want to stay here to the end to engage in those

face clashes that we've seen so many times with the police. all right well there is additional significance today comes just a couple of days before the celebration of china's national day we also mentioned this anti-totalitarian ism day how has that affected the mood. they've been a huge number of events planned in the build up to choose day the 70th anniversary of the founding of the people's republic of china that been protests planned the lead up to it yesterday that was also the 5th anniversary of the umbrella movement that pro-democracy movement in $22.00 to the grips hong kong this really is a few days that people here observers have been looking out very closely predicting that there would be a significant amount of unrest on the streets not is exactly what we have seen now the protests that took place today that anti totalitarianism protest it did not

receive the approval from police making it on goal food but as you can see that hasn't stopped people coming to the streets anyway for another very violent day in the build up to choose day and that began about 3. and charlie briefly if you can is the car is the violence going to continue or are there efforts to deescalate. but some people that we spoken to think that quick a media crackdown by police as soon as the protests started with to send a message send a signal that they will not tolerate an authorised protests over the coming days that they are really trying to crack down on violence people that we've spoken to the protesters they say they're not going to be deterred they still plan to come out particularly on tuesday in fact some of them say they may even go home early tonight and get ready for those big what expected to be big protests on tuesday. correspondent charlotte charleston pill in hong kong for us thank you so very much

. we'd like to take you back now to our top story and in austria the 1st projections are in for the country's general election and our correspondent max huffman is standing by at the headquarters of suboxone courses people's party in vienna max when we spoke to you just a short time ago we could he. lots of cheering where you are what is the latest you can tell us we were held the 1st projections and this is here so the election headquarters told us he was holding the supposed thanks party would have said we believe that there was would be the result because they all would be going for his party those projections so all that was 37 percent of the so that's a gain of almost 7 percent of the lady of the old subject to say thank you the 2nd big thank the gods thank you thank the lord thank you

thank you thank you thank the polish was doing well i suppose you could say the kids thank you thank you thank you all of the way you see you thank you thank you thank you this was working thanks so much to so thank the success of the old soldier the cold thanks thanks thanks thanks thanks i max hoffman reporting from the headquarters of sebastian courses people's party in vienna projections from austria general election coming in now thanks for bringing us up to date max we'll check in with you as the evening progresses many thanks indeed for the. arab to date now on d.w.

news coming up does today's far right scene bear any resemblance to that of the why mara the documentary back to the future of weimar today is next i'll have more news for you at the top of the hour in america haven't seen thanks for watching. 6 for state school in the jungle. for 1st climbing less of a minute doors grandma with arrives. joining a reckoning on her journey back to freedom. in our interactive documentary. and orangutan returns home on t.w. dot com tanks.