this is g.w. news live from berlin both are being counted in hong kong as people turn out in record numbers cities local elections are seen as a test of support for the territories probe aging government and the months long pro-democracy demonstrations we'll go live to our correspondent also coming up a potential battle of media moguls billionaire michael bloomberg joins an already crowded democratic field in the hopes of running against president donald trump and 2020 bucks does bloomberg have what it takes to attract democratic voters we'll

take you to washington d.c. for analysis plus pope francis takes a stand against nuclear weapons on just making a symbolic visit to japan but he calls upon the world's nuclear powers to scrap there are sometimes. i'm called aspen welcome to the program polls are now closed in hong kong's district council election and while we await results one thing is certain this vote was historic turnout hit nearly 70 percent that's higher than in any election in the territories history it's being seen as both a test of support for embattled chief executive kerry lamb and as a referendum on the pro-democracy movement that has rocked the city for close to 6 months now. the pro-democracy movement urged people to vote and they turned out in

record numbers these elections are the closest thing hong kong ors have to direct representation and nearly half a year of unrest has left many feeling that enough is enough. people have been long long you know your current. prime cooperate. is worth of my mortal thank you. this and to do was to the people. hong kong's chief executive kerry lam also encouraged voters to turn out and appealed for a smooth and peaceful voting we are facing an extremely challenging situation in all the nice in this year's elections but i'm pleased to say that with the concerted efforts of all parties we should have a relatively peaceful and calm and vironment to conduct these elections successfully the polis to choose council representatives who handle community level issues like garbage collection that may not seem particularly exciting in itself

district councillors don't have any direct political power and steam early offer advice to the cover meant but a song congress district councils have long been dominated by the probe ageing establishment pro-democracy voters are hoping to win majorities in some of the 18 districts this could earn them seats on the committee that elects hong kong's next chief executive. a let's head to hong kong now i'm joined by our correspondent on the ground charlotte shells until now charlotte of course we heard a record turnout today in hong kong votes as i understand are being counted now do we have any clue as to the results. so very early days here but some results are starting to trickle in we're seeing a number of pro democracy candidates flipping seats overturning seats from pro establishment figures that is causing a lot of excitement amongst pro-democracy activists and protesters online i do want

to stress that it is still very early days in the county harry for $400.00 seats do you need to be find out whether the pro democracy candidate can flip the seat from the incumbent the pro establishment candidate here this of course goes to show you just how much is it stake for both sides in this vote usually a vote that doesn't get much attention either in hong kong or in the international community as a whole this time the people watching very closely to see how the results pan out and whether or not it's looking like it's going to be a victory for the pro-democracy candidates or the pro establishment candidates here in hong kong now charlotte before the election officials had warned that they might cancel or postpone the election if by once broke out today what was the atmosphere like today was a relatively peaceful award the rani and the skirmishes in the streets. remained peaceful so far today there have been riot police at every polling station

there are some here at this polling station just here just calmly watching what is going on but we have heard from protesters pro-democracy activists that they did want today to remain calm there had been some fear in the days leading up to this vote that would use violence or any clashes as an excuse to eat the suspend or totally council these district council elections that are taking place here today so we've we've heard that they wanted to keep this as calm as possible but in a testament to some of the violence that's led up to this district council election we are currently in the constituency where pro-democracy candidate jimmy sharon is running he's a number of marches since this movement began in june in recent months he has been attacked twice most recently he said by assailants wielding hammers that just goes to show how highly charged the run up to this election has been here and exactly

what is at stake for both sides as this very town folds we have to mention that at least online there were some rumors of election fraud those accusations coming from both sides can we expect a fair result today. there has been some speculation online as is often the case in elections there was a particular amount of fuss about 2 ballot boxes that were brought into one polling station after the votes had closed but that's been cleared up apparently by election officials who say that that was all above board but what it does really go to show is just how closely people here are watching these results i'm sure you can see behind me the public and press watching every moment of this count as some ballots were being queried there were groans from the crowd as they tried to exactly find out what was going on his thoughts just

a sense of just how high the stakes here for the people here are in hong kong charlotte pill for us in hong kong thank you very much. iraqi security forces have opened fire on protesters in several cities including the capital baghdad at least 6 people have been killed in clashes today and dozens more injured it's the latest violence since anti-government protests began in october. before sunrise in the southern city of basra flames block the roads leading to iraq's major trading ports protesters no government workers will soon be trying to travel this way. it's not long before the pink dawn sky is filled with smoke and the empty streets are filled with demonstrators. was. across the country they're out in force from the south to the capital baghdad in

iraq center. and everywhere they're facing violence i know for the 1st time security forces opened fire on the protesters i think shot life bullets and tear gas i was since the unrest began in october more than 300 people many protesters have been killed and thousands more injured demonstrators are calling for a whole system change. lives but the outcome is we want all the government to leave we have no other demands we want the fall of this government and the introduction of a new one made up of all those people with diplomas who are sitting on the bridges why are they there we haven't been happy for 16 years there is no the current anti-government protests iraq's largest since the fall of saddam hussein in 2003

many iraqis feel the political system that has been in place since then has failed them corruption is rife unemployment is high promised reforms have not materialized and protesters say concessions offered by the government and not enough they want systematic change a complete overhaul of iraq's political system and they're prepared to die for it. are let's take a look now at some of the other stories making news around the world several people have been killed in a plane crash in goma in the democratic republic of congo the aircraft came down in a populated area moments after taking off rescue services say they have. so far recovered more than 20 bodies from the scene. contenders and israel's governing likud party are jostling for position after prime minister benjamin netanyahu was indicted on corruption charges the former minister gideon czar has called for a party primary saying he would run but israeli law does not require netanyahu to

step down unless he is actually convicted. former new york mayor michael bloomberg has formally announced he is running for president the former republican became a democrat just last year and is one of the richest people in the world he joins a crowded field of democratic candidates jostling to go up against president donald trump next year. for more on that joining us from washington is g.w. correspondent all of our solid now all over there are 17 other democratic candidates they've been in the race for months now we've already seen them take part in 5 different debates why is bloomberg getting into the race so late in the game. well you arrive carl and that's part of the reason in fact there are many candidates a very crowded field this time around with no real shining figure where you would say this is the type of political candidate that has all what it takes to beats

donald trump in next year's election so you have joe biden who's currently the front runner a moderate candidate former vice president under barack obama but he's had a lot of weight performances in particular in the t.v. debates that you just mentioned and then you have on the other end of the political spectrum a little bit warren as well as bernie sanders 2 senators who are very much progress if who are exciting for a lot of young voters but they're putting off a lot of these swing voters and in particular the swing voters are very important for the democrats this time around because those were the ones that were eventually that made the victory of president trump in 2016 possible and now this situation basically is where michael bloomberg sees his chance as an alternative to joe biden because he was also another moderate candidate lots of that said he is 77 years old so that is as old as joe biden which is one of the points he's criticized for you

would be another candidate of 70 years and 2 many critics say that this fact makes the democratic field seem a lot weaker in the end what chance does bloomberg really have i mean do democratic voters want another billionaire as presidents and even if he wins the nomination do you think he can take on trump. well it depends on several factors of course you have to look at the overall situation in the democratic party right now and as you know the impeachment inquiry is ongoing and it seems according to recent polls that the democrats although all the evidence that they collected in the hearings is overwhelming that they could not really make their point in particular with undecided independent voters then on the other hand you have that weakened democratic field of contenders but this is exactly where bloomberg wants to fill in but critics of course saying that he's just another billionaire with no experience in federal politics the crowded democratic field gets even more crowded correspond

with thank you very much. a pope francis has called upon world leaders to scrap nuclear weapons on just made the appeal during a visit to japan of course the only country to suffer nuclear attacks. and to catch a glimpse of the pope it's the 1st people visit to japan for nearly 4 decades enacted sakhi the pontiff lead a wreath at a grain see remove real for the 10s of thousands of people including 8000 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. inter-day as world where millions of children and families live in inhumane

conditions. the money that is wondered and the fortunes made for the manufacture upgrading maintenance and sale of even more destructive weapons are now front crying out of heaven at. the. the pontiff is also visiting her russia the site of the 1st atomic bombing in 1945 on monday pope francis will meet survivors of the 20 a live in fear because shimon you clear disaster he'll also meet japan's prime minister shinzo abbey and emperor not a heater and he will be hoping that they and other global leaders he has calls for a nuclear free world. you're watching news live from berlin coming up next world stories our look back at the week in reports in the meantime don't forget all the latest news and information available ram o'clock on a website that's d

w dot com or follow us on twitter at d w news i'm carl masson thanks for watching. now please look at me unfortunately you especially as you can. be near putin in the middle of his election campaign did you turn the camera back on course in the year 2000 a documentary secretly chronicled.