oh. and respect. the fact that. this is news live from berlin there is record turnout in hong kong's local elections chief executive terry lamb is under pressure pro-democracy protesters want to send her and beijing a message also coming out. pope francis takes a stand against nuclear weapons the pontiff makes a symbolic visit to nagasaki in japan where he calls upon the world's nuclear

nations to scrap their arsenals. for maybe a social democrat if your presidential hopes for an upset victory as she faces incumbent president close your highness in a runoff election. nick spicer welcome to the program. and we start in hong kong where record numbers of people are voting in a simple actions the vote is seen as both a test of kerry labs probe aging government and a referendum on the pro-democracy movement that has rocked the city for months. on conus are used to queuing for restaurants conventions but not for an election especially not on a sunday morning and even before the polling stations open. moments after the queues started to form came a familiar face pro-democracy leader aung he himself was part from running.

your action is that you action in more complicated base district constitution issue instead of overall hong kong political system reform but i still urge people both in the action to show i want this called head to beijing many voters see these local elections as a referendum on whether the public still supports the protests hong kong has been rocked by almost 6 months of unrest some of it violent but calm returned in the run up to the election protests his feet the government my call of the vote we are facing an extremely challenging situation all the nice in this year's elections but i'm pleased to say that with the concerted efforts of all parties including of course over 30000 civil servants in many departments working today we should have a relatively peaceful and calm and vironment to conduct these elections subsets

that. for now peace has temporarily returned to the city but this to change depending on the results. and for more i'm joined now by our correspondent on the ground charlotte chelsea charlotte tell us what's happening where you are. that district council elections like this one rarely attract a huge amount of found say here in hong kong or internationally of course as well but this year has been very different record numbers of people have registered to take part in the vote we've been standing at this polling station most of the day today most of the majority of the day they've been huge crowds lining up to cost their ballots in these district council elections people we've spoken to tell us that they think is that judy is hong kong citizens too to have tests a $2.00 to cost their ballots here and now all eyes of course are on this vote

because it's being considered a litmus test a referendum if you like only the authorities here and the pro-democracy movement which is now in its 6 month 6 month people here say that they want to to send a message either for or against those protests through the ballot box here now today by these district council elections so tell us a little bit more what's at stake here if you would at once symbolically and in strict political institutional terms. well this is the 1st time since the unrest here began in june that people have had the opportunity to go to the ballot box to vote in a election to to send a message to authorities or to the pro-democracy movement whether they are for or against them dress that has. taken over hong kong in recent months so it will of course have a very symbolic meaning at this election that's taking place here today the pros

standish mint parties of long dominated the district council elections they're going to be on the defensive they want to make sure that they hang on to their support any sign that it's slipping away to pro-democracy candidates will be taken as a slight against the authority said pretty moxy candidates meanwhile a really battling to take their fight to the ballot box to prove to legitimize what they've been taking to the streets for for so many months now now on a more practical level this will also impact hong kong's future going forward in the way that its government governed so 6 district counselors will be able to join the legislative council hong kong's parliament if you like going forward as well number dozens of these district councils will then join the committee which will appoint the chief executive next time around so pro-democracy candidates really see this as one of the district councils don't have a huge amount of power it is a step for them if they do make gains in the right direction you've been there for

weeks and months covering the weekend demonstrations occasionally marred by violence is there any fear of reoccurring today. yeah the weeks leading up to this election was some of the most violent that we've seen it with in this whole of 5 over 5 months pro democracy movement of the days ahead of it was quite quiet there was an uneasy calm here in hong kong we were seeing and hearing from pro-democracy activists that they wanted to do you keep the peace here they didn't want to give the authorities a reason to council suspend these elections so they have been calm the scene on social media groups they've been urging pro-democracy activists not to come to these polls wearing wearing black or chanting pro democracy slogans anything that could stop them accosting that ballot so today has remained very peaceful so far there are riot police who are patrolling all the polling stations to ensure that

that stays the case throughout the evening just those a testament to the violence that has gripped hong kong for so many months now this is in fact the constituency of a local candidate local politician whose ear was bitten off during an attack by an assailant not so long ago this vote has been gripped by violence in the lead up to have number of district council has faced similar attacks today the peaceful place for that he chose until reporting from hong kong romanian voters are casting ballots in the 2nd round of presidential elections but they're doing so in a climate of political instability and public anger over allegations of corruption spark huge street protests voters will decide between the incumbent president close your highness and for prime minister yoriko done show up his government was recently ousted because of alleged corruption whoever wins will have no executive

power but could have significant influence over the future direction of the country . proud romanian staunchly pro europe and a level headed champion of the rule of law. that's the carefully crafted image of romania's incumbent president klaus yohannes he's been in office since 2014 and secured 40 percent of votes in the 1st round of the 29000 presidential election. i'm going to let all that old woman should i have always believed in romanians this is a great joy for democracy. this 60 year old member of the centrist national liberal party has also presented himself as a vocal critic of corruption the various she brought his political opponent to her knees. former prime minister have your ticket done sheila and

a social democratic government stood by parliament last month following an era of corruption scandals that steered the country onto a collision course with the european union. but done she is hoping for political resurrection she's tried to shift the focus on to economic achievements and social reform. mainly of well being of guaranteed rights for a safe and proud romania i voted so romanians don't live in fear of tomorrow when they won't have anything to put on the table and won't have money for medicine or bills i voted against the cutting of the pensions and salaries i voted against austerity. already on both. their general once and us in a country struggling with widespread poverty these are words that could go down well but political observers say the dumb shit us party just isn't managing to shake claims of corruption the issue that voters of all political persuasions are

fed up with. in the past 3 years romania has seen massive anti corruption protests. the weather wins the presidential run a photo will face close scrutiny by voters and the here. and there are some of the other stories making news around the world. security forces in the southern iraqi city of nasiriyah have opened fire on protesters killing at least 3 people the demonstrators have gathered on 3 key bridges in the city demanding the overthrow of a political class they see as corrupt and serving foreign powers while many iraqis live in poverty. and the government protesters in colombia have taken to the streets for a 3rd consecutive day thousands marched in the capital bogota but were stopped and dispersed by police using tear gas the protesters are angry at president do kay's economic social and security holes. contenders in israel's governing likud party

are jostling for position after prime minister benjamin netanyahu was indicted on corruption charges former minister gideon starr has called for a party primary saying he would run israeli law does not require need to step down unless he is convicted. pope francis has called upon world leaders to scrap the nuclear weapons the pontiff made the appeal during a visit to japan the only country to suffer nuclear attacks. huge crowds turned out and braved the rain to catch a glimpse of the pope it's the 1st papal visit to japan for nearly 4 decades and not exactly the pontiff laid a wreath at a grain see room oriel for the 10s of thousands of people including $8000.00 catholics who perished in an atomic bombing in the final days of world war 2. francis told the crowds that he believes a world without nuclear weapons is both possible and necessary and the money spent on them could be put to better use. the

days world where millions of children and families live in inhumane conditions. the money that is. and the fortunes made through the manufacture upgrading maintenance and sale of even more destructive weapons. from crying out to heaven at. the pontiff is also visiting her the site of the 1st atomic bombing in 1945 on monday pope francis will meet survivors of the 20 live in fukushima nuclear disaster he'll also meet japan's prime minister shinzo abbey and emperor not a hito and he will be hoping that they and other global leaders keep his calls for a nuclear free world. activists in paris are demanding the french government take

stronger steps to combat deadly domestic violence with more than $130.00 women killed so far this year by their partner france has one of the highest rates of domestic violence fatalities in western europe. was put pressure on politics and solidarity with the women there loud and determined to be heard that demonstrates is gathered in paris to vent their anger france has been discussing the issue of violence against women for months. so that's one of her ministers we fight for all the women everyone knows at least one person who is affected but it's. going to just take action just to see it when i am here in memory of my mother who was murdered before my eyes in 1982 when i was 13 at the time zone with a fear in march our daughter was murdered on corsica by her ex partner was 1. $121.00 women were killed in france last year alone by their partner directs

partners according to the ministry of the interior. was world wide the un says that 137 women a murdered every day these activists a calling for an end to violence against women demanding decisive political action . will not talk we demand a rethink in politics a spark of the fight against this violence the moment the government must put more money on the table to end sexist and sexual violence be active you know 66 years and their demands are specific better policing judicial protection harsher penalties and an additional 1000000000 euros for assistance and violence prevention . coming up after the break it's the bundesliga mechanic live on match day 12 battle back in this league surprise leaders for several weeks now but the berliners are also good for a surprise at home i know what happened much more the honestly i

. that's coming up next and you can find out more news on headline news 247 on our website. that's. probably spicer thanks for. the culture but. there it goes against. their rivalry.