bjaaland just trying to. manage by for a part. this is d. w. news live from berlin it's been 30 years since the velvet revolution brought down communism in what used to be czechoslovakia now checks are back on the streets demanding more democracy they're calling for the resignation of prime minister andre bobbish we'll go live to prague also coming up to polls close in sri lanka's much anticipated presidential election

a record number of candidates are in the running national security became a key campaign issue months after the devastating easter sunday attacks. and deadly unrest in bolivia as security forces opened fire on supporters of exiled former president evo morales he's called it a massacre and has accused the country's interim government of running a dictatorship. and in stores soccer fans in finland aren't jumping for joy the country erupts of the celebrations after the men's soccer team steals a place at euro 2020 their 1st ever qualification for a major tournament. i'm married to evanston welcome to the program tens of thousands of people have gathered in the czech republic's capital prague to. mand the resignation of prime

minister andre bobbish opponents of bobbish accuse the populist leader of profiting from his office and conflicts of interest he's one of the czech republic's richest men the protests coincide with events commemorating the start of the 1989 velvet revolution that toppled the communist regime in what was then czechoslovakia organizers say they want the czech republic to rediscover the pro-democracy ideals that fueled the protest 30 years ago. standing by for us in prague correspondent jonathan crane jonathan good to see you tell us what is happening where you are right now. well this is the latest in a series of protests organized by the activist group 1000000 women to democracy and initially the estimates suggest that this is by far the biggest the day how safe asa passing the course remains and it came to let just behind me. now as you say

this coincides with the anniversary of the velvet revolution the food of communism in and check the back and that fact hasn't been lost on the protesters here the people we've spoken to say this isn't just about fighting corruption this isn't just about demanding the resignation of the prime minister it's about not taking for granted all those hard freedoms little tamil krissy that was for so hard for 30 years ago now bobbish is drawing comparisons with donald trump in the u.s. about this leads a populist party here is a very rich businessmen as you say and he's accused of being in conflicts of interest because as well as being the prime minister his business is going to trust runs people say he is still benefiting and using his position as prime minister to further those business interests now the i did speak to one of the protest leaders benjamin rope and he explained to me why people have come out today. well the main idea behind him in a moment for democracy is the act of his ation of civil society and to make people

to realize that every single one of us has a responsibility and we can do something and change our way of thinking and change even the politics. all right for some very lofty goals there this young man says he wants to change czech politics but jonathan what exactly does he mean by that well and they said they've offered that prime minister and ultimatum either he gives up his conflicts of interests he resigns or they will continue to protest and up the ante now i think they would be the faster the regime change is not going to happen just like that because bobby she's very very popular still his party is polling at 30 percent by far the most popular party in the country and if you go outside of prague in the regions right these weird out of voters with promises of more money more money in their pension you know the party is still very popular sites that the opposition is quite fragmented quite ineffective so there's nobody really to challenge him even his coalition politics democrats won't walk out on the

coalition because they know they would face and the lecture obscurity said it is still going to be very difficult for the prime minister to care when you i think protesting is one thing the regime change is probably quite another. correspondent jonathan crane reporting for us from prague of czech capital thank you very much. now polls have closed in sri lanka where people have been voting for a new president a record number of 35 candidates were on the ballot but it's expected to be a tight race between the 2 frontrunners former defense secretary and go to by our rajapaksa who oversaw the defeat of tamil separatists 10 years ago is facing a government minister premadasa the poll was monitored by thousands of election observers including dozens from the european union. to delhi is no mission just wall is in the sri lankan capital colombo and before polls closed she

sent us this look at the choices facing sri lankans and a painful legacy that this election is trying to heal. the today void sport its 8th president and voted on our show is already pretty impressive which is expected in this island nation which records height on outs amongst the highest in south asia 16000000 people ought to legible towards in this election and they have their work cut out for them to $85.00 candidates are whining for their board the ballot people alone is 2 feet long but that is to kioto frontrunner on the one hand we have both of you dodge barks out the brother of my hindu. president himself who thought it out so oversaw the defeat of at the end of the long process to a civil war he's considered a strong military nationalistic peter who supports tightening national security in the country in the off to match of the deadly easter sunday of dos the c.e.o.

on the other hand we have subject premadasa are considered a more liberal candidate who has spoken about improving the economy is advocating forward improving housing right. right but premadasa is also a sin hell a blood test to belong to the majority you're with your the issue is intrude on on just limited to national security even though that is a top concern but she lost an economy is a very sluggish debt it's also very high so it would be interesting to see who would just choose rajapakse as considered fun to worship also because of the fost of having overseen the end of the war and that is a concern amongst my own overseas that the nationalist would tighten security and may even crack down on them but even premadasa does not have completely clear credentials this might be a tight race and if it goes to good on last results might take a day or 2 more and it might take some time before we find out who the next

president of sri lanka is. that was doubly is the mission reporting earlier from colombo. all right 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 unrest on erupted after a surprise decision by the government to raise fuel prices by 50 percent and introduce rationing protesters blog traffic in tehran in other parts of the country demonstrations drew tear gas fire from the police. police have been deployed around key sites in paris as yellow vest 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 dwindled. germany's greens have reelected on a lane of bare bach and robert habeck as their leaders at

a party conference in the city of bilal felt both candidates got more than 90 percent of delegates votes for their credited with leading the greens to unprecedented levels of popularity. well livia's political crisis has taken a deadly turn after police opened fire on supporters of former president evo morales killing 5 people and injuring dozens now are as 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 as supporters of former president evo morales clashed with police in the town of sirte.

as the dead were buried emotions were rule 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. they are not numbers they are lives where is the justice that there are. morale those 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 yes has dismissed morales his allegations of a coup. you know mass money to learn or give the most manipulative thing that former president morales is doing now is to convince the international community that it was

a coup when the queue has been against bolivians on many occasion weeks. in which i hope or tony that i'm yes again drew attention to accusations of election irregularities and government corruption under morales. officials say that bad and civil unrest have claimed more than 19 lives since october the country's man has called for a government investigation into the use of force by the security forces police however lay the blame firmly at the protestors feet. 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. while force is used to disperse the crowds for the casualties seem an inevitability before stability returns. shocked appalled devastated that's how marie of a knowledge 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 trump wanted to appoint someone else or if it was only to help them investigate his political rivals which could be an impeachable offense. good 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 marie event of bitch publicly testifying against the president to the house intelligence committee. even if it says trump his lawyer and his allies derided and smeared her while she was still ambassador undermining american diplomacy presidents appoint and remove him bassett has but usually done publicly criticize them as donald trump has and in real time during impeachment proceedings as we see it or 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 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 you find of which wasn't in post when trump withheld 8 to ukraine at leisure to get ukraine's president to investigate joe biden troubles political rival whose son was paid significant amounts on the board of ukrainian gas company in the run up to the 2020 presidential election everyone is watching for is whether the threat of impeachment affects trump's popularity right now the polls say it doesn't. alright let's have a look at 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 well these were the scenes of the capitol hill thinking when finland beat listen stein 3 nil to book their place at euro 2020 some very excited fans there on the win secure them 2nd place in group say the high and italy. finland have never before made it to a world cup or european championship they'll be joined by sweden who also qualified . spoke to 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 something. not so many years you know we could even forget but now we are. in a major tournament so obviously that's you choose thing for us. and

a quick reminder of our top story. it's been 30 years since the velvet revolution brought down communism and what used to be czechoslovakia now checks are back on the streets demanding more democracy they're calling for the resignation of prime minister andres popish. gear up to date now on v.w. news from me and the entire news team here in berlin thanks for watching. i'm sure going to be. in support of. what's a big what's. over. the debris of what.

should and our feelings this is humid days speaking welcome to the show with your. talk of concerts.