do the ends justify the means. witnesses starts december 13th. mrs d. w. news live from berlin polls close in sri lanka is much anticipated presidential election a record number of candidates were in the running national security was a key campaign issue just months after the devastating easter sunday attacks also coming up. deadly unrest in bolivia as security forces opened fire on supporters of

the exiled former president evo morales he's called a massacre and has accused the country's interim government of running a dictatorship. and in sports soccer fans in finland aren't jumping for joy the country are rough and celebrations after the men's soccer team steals a spot at euro 2020 their 1st ever qualification for a teacher tournaments in germany are also hoping to go through later on saturday. i'm married to evanston it's good to have you with us. polls have closed in sri lanka where people have been voting for a new president a record number of 35 candidates are on the ballot but it's expected to be a tight race between the 2 frontrunners former defense secretary go to bio

rajapaksa oversaw the defeat of tamil separatists 10 years ago is facing a government minister said. the poll was monitored by thousands of election observers including dozens of from the european union. while the w.'s new mission joyce wallace in the streamline capital colombo and before polls close she sent us this look at the choices facing sri lankans and a painful legacy that this election is trying to heal the long cut to the void sport it's president and voted on our show is already pretty impressive which is expected in this island nation which records height on now is amongst the highest in south asia $16000000.00 people ought to legible towards in this election and they have their work cut out for them to be 5 candidates are whining for their board the ballot people alone is 2 feet long but there are 2 keogh frontrunners on

the one hand we have both of you got to parse out the brother of my hinder parts president himself who thought it out so all of us saw the defeat of the rebels at the end of 3 long cross to civil war he's considered a strong military nationalistic do you do it who supports tightening national security in the country in the aftermath of the deadly easter sunday blasts the c.e.o. on the other hand we have sergeant being with us are considered a more liberal candidate who has spoken about improving the economy is advocating forward improving housing rights but premadasa is also a sin hell up with his to belong to the majority what would your the issues. aren't just limited to national security even though that is a thought and so on but she dumped an economy is very sluggish debt is also ready high so it would be interesting to see who would both choose rajapaksa has considered upon to worship also because of the fost all having seen the end of the

war and that is a concern among some i know if you use that the nationalist would tighten security and meet even crack down on them but even premadasa does not have completely clear credentials this might be a tight trees and if it goes to good on last resorts might take a day or 2 more and it might take some time before we find out who the next president of sri lanka. that was the mission of reporting from colombo so. let's get a check now of some of the other stories making news around the world at least one person has been killed during protests in iran the end ressa ruptured after a surprise decision by the government to raise fuel prices by 50 percent and introduce rationing protesters blog traffic in tehran while in other parts of the country demonstrations drew tier gas fire from the police. the teenage suspect in thursday's california high school shooting has succumbed to his rulings and died in

a hospital the 16 year old allegedly fired at random at a high school near los angeles killing 2 students before turning the gun on himself . police have been deployed around key science in paris as yellow those protesters marked the 1st anniversary of their movement the protests peaked at the end of last year bringing hundreds of thousands on to the streets across france to oppose high living costs and inequality participation has since. bolivia is political crisis has taken a deadly turn after police opened fire on supporters of former president even more . ellis killing 5 people and injuring dozens more alice is an exile in mexico after resigning last sunday amid allegations of election fraud which then prompted mass protests against him the ongoing unrest in bolivia is threatening the interim

government's attempts to restore stability. it looks more like a war zone than a street protest bolivia's political unrest turned deadly on friday a supporters of former president evo morales clashed with police in the town of. the dead were buried emotions were draw and anger directed at bolivia's self-appointed president janina and years. said this is what they call democracy. killing us like we are nothing there they are not numbers they are lives where is the justice that. morales supporters have been taking to the streets since he resigned and fled the country to mexico earlier this week claiming a coup had taken place these protests against

a 4 day old government led by conservative and yes a stark indication of the political upheaval taking place and years has dismissed morales's allegations of a coup. you know mass money to learn or to give the most manipulative things that former president morale is doing now is to convince the international community that it was a coup when the q. has been against bolivians on many occasion was. and yet again drew attention to accusations of election irregularities and government corruption under morale as officials say that burden civil unrest have claimed more than 19 lives since october the country's man has called for a government in the. education into the use of force by the security forces police however lay the blame firmly at the protestors feet. is the most this is not a peaceful movement that needs to be made very clear because the protesters can't claim that they come in peace when we intervene we find these sorts of things it

was a little while force is used to disperse the crowds for the casualties seem an inevitability before stability returns. shocked appalled devastated that's how mario vonage described feeling after she learned that president trump had denounced her in a phone call with the ukrainian president the former u.s. ambassador to ukraine was abruptly removed from her post earlier this year the issue is whether it was because trial wanted to appoint someone else or if it was only to help investigate his political rivals which could be an impeachable offense morning everyone it's only the 3rd time in modern u.s. history that impeachment proceedings have got to this stage the former u.s. ambassador to ukraine mary you've got a bitch publicly testifying against the president to the house intelligence committee so you have out of it says trump his lawyer and his allies derided and

smeared her while she was still ambassador undermining american diplomacy presidents appoint and remove had passages but usually don't publicly criticize them as donald trump has and in real time during impeachment proceedings as we sit here testifying the president is attacking you would twitter what effect do you think that has on other witnesses willingness to come forward and expose wrongdoing. it's very intimidating i want to let you know sure that some of us here. take witness intimidation very very seriously later trump hit back. so you know what i what i have the right to speak i have freedom of speech just as other people do regarding the central accusation of the impeachment inquiry event of which wasn't in post when trump withheld aid to ukraine allegedly

to get ukraine's president to investigate joe biden trumps political rival whose son was paid significant amounts on the board of ukrainian gas company in the run up to the 2020 presidential election what everyone is watching for is whether the threat of impeachment affects trump's popularity right now the polls say it doesn't . well meanwhile as that hearing was going on a court not far away reached a guilty verdict in the trial against a former trump advisor roger stone a longtime trump ally was convicted of lying to congress obstruction of justice and witness tampering which prosecutors say was meant to protect the president the case grew out of the muller investigation which concluded that russia did interfere in the 26000 u.s. election evidence show that stone trying to get information from russia to hurt hillary clinton and serve donald trump. people and belarus will elect

a new parliament on sunday elections there usually provide few surprises as president oleksandr because shango has held power unopposed for 25 years top opposition candidates have been kept off the ballot which means that only those loyal to lucas shakos stand a chance of winning seats well in recent years there's been a sharp deterioration in relations with russia and many belorussians especially the young people are now looking west for support. arianna is a student in minsk she dreams of having the kind of life the people in the e.u. have she says the e.u. has a stronger economy better pay and a higher standard of living she's currently writing her dissertation and would then like to go to poland to continue study more you go out for whatever reason many people say that things are bad in batteries but why i would like to find the reasons and then decide whether i want to live here or if i prefer another country . bella ruse has historically had close links to russia but it has gradually

developed a distinct national identity as indicated by the street signs which are now in belorussian instead of russian. the government's also working to improve ties with the e.u. what arianna would really welcome though is a less autocratic form of leadership in her country. i don't have much to do with politics and i also don't want to but what's the point if it's people from the top who decide and not the public. know this. although parliamentary elections take place on sunday election posters are scarce like here at this small market place in the town of very xeno but the elections are a waste and they've already been decided on without us. thinks his country's relationship with russia is important but he also has concerns the retired lawyer

says his son can't find any work. for you my son has completed 2 higher education courses but can't put them into practice in this country. he had to work for 4 years in russia then returned home and still can't get work in his field. that sadness to that is small campaign stand em all sankoh seems to be the only one who wants to meet the candidate but the candid it doesn't show up. believes belarus could look both east and west to secure a more prosperous future. the ties to russia need to be developed but of course they should also be improving ties with all countries including western ones and the european union. president aleksander look it does seem to be playing both sides now seen here on the left he used to align himself only with his eastern neighbors but he has frequently held

talks with the e.u. leaders in recent years for many young people in minsk lucas shimko and his politics make little difference they just want to get ahead and if that can't happen in bella ruse they'll make it happen elsewhere. all right some sports news now and it was a historic night in finland as the nordic country qualified for their 1st ever major men's soccer tournament colby's where the scenes in the capital helsinki when finland these listen stein 3 nil to book their place at euro 2020 the win secured them 2nd place in group j. behind italy happy found some of their finland have never before made it to a world cup or european championship they'll be joined by sweden who also qualified . all the votes of their star striker who scored twice in last night's match the fetus it's amazing it's been been

a long dream for all of us difficult people in finland so so that's something. not so many as we could even for you but now we are. in a major tournament so obviously that's a huge huge thing for us. you're up to date now on d w news up next it's a world of stories the weekend reports american evan steen from me and the entire news team here in berlin thanks for watching. interest economy harmony.