do the ends justify the means. to do as we do since starts december 13th on d w. this is d w news live from berlin the votes are being counted in hong kong after people turn out in record numbers the city's local elections are seen as a referendum on the territories probation governments and early results are favoring pro democracy candidates will have team coverage also coming up a potential battle of media moguls billionaire michael bloomberg joins

a crowded democratic field in the hopes of running against president donald trump and 2020 but does bloomberg have what it takes to attract democratic voters who will take you to d.c. for analysis. i'm called aspen welcome to the program vote counting is underway in hong kong after a record turnout in district council elections the vote is being seen as a test for the pro-democracy movement and for embattled chief executive kerry lam now early results are already starting to come in and they show a wave of victories for the pro-democracy side 90 of the 1st $100.00 seats declared have been won by the movement including some former student leaders voting remained peaceful with turnout topping 70 percent higher than in any election in the

territories history the city has endured nearly 6 months of anti-government protests which have frequently descended into violent clashes with police. it was covering those luncheons for us in hong kong she was at a local polling station as those results started to come in well those vote results are starting to trickle in called what we've seen so far is the vast majority of seats that have been announced have gone to pro-democracy figures that really was unexpected here in hong kong a lot of pro-democracy protesters had hoped for some gains but just to be clear these districts council elections a usually dominated by pro establishment figures so these gains are really being considered very significant so far we've seen a number of protests stablish made heavyweights losing their seats to pro-democracy figures including pro beijing lawmaker jenius ho we've heard and seen images of

people celebrating on the streets with champagne at that announcement now in this particular seat at this polling station pretty moxy activist and convener of the civil human rights front which is behind a number of the rallies in recent months jimmy sham he has won his seat pushing out the incumbent in his victory speech he said that his win was a victory for all those people who have lost who have given up so much for this pro-democracy movement in recent months now there is still a long night ahead as hundreds of seats are still to be announced but for all those people who said that this was a litmus test for the popularity of this pro-democracy movement particularly given how violent the clashes have become in recent months they will be watching these results very closely and looking to see whether this is a contest a trend that continues throughout the evening. joining me now in studio is clifford cowen in his board extensively in the region now 1st of all i just want to get your reaction when we heard 90 of the 1st 100 seats declared at dawn to pro-democracy

candidates what do you think about that that's a wave that's that's that's big you know this is a massive massive move some key constituencies we don't know yet some areas but it's looking like it's a major victory for the pro-democracy side some people are still a bit anxious they're saying that maybe there will be a swing later on but realistically it's very hard to see how that could happen it's certainly a massive gesture in terms of the pro-democracy count maybe not so surprising given how big that turnout was now citizens they've been protesting for months this though is their 1st opportunity to really have a direct say in terms of the direction of the city is this election do you think maybe a turning point for all i think so i mean there's long been a feeling in hong kong among the people that they never been asked themselves about what they think and this was in many ways the 1st opportunity it was supposed to be about garbage collection and cultural events you know the district council but it's

turned into something much more significant and i think it really is being treated as that and we've seen great discipline people just going in and voting in huge numbers and then we're seeing what could possibly be allowed slide. results are still coming in there's a lot at stake here for both sides do you think we can expect these elections to give of fair result i think so i mean there are this is what some of the concerns are is that maybe later. there could be some later attempt to revote but it's very hard to see with such a strong early showing and there were fears maybe as the police were outside various election polling stations that that could intimidate people where people seem to have voted without any without any difficulty and so we're hoping that there won't be any rigging and you mentioned because these are local lections generally these are. are our politicians not a whole lot of actual power what would that mean then for the city if this does end up this trend continues and we see more pro-democracy candidates winning what would

that do how would that change politics in hong kong well i think what this is the best way to view this is as a referendum and charlotte set a litmus test to see how people are thinking when we have next coming up with the legislative legislative council elections the ledge elections which are quite controlled by pro beijing lobbies they're going to be very important but this is a huge boost for the pro-democracy side going into elections like that and it also is a strong signal to the hong kong chief executive that this is how people in hong kong are thinking and how people in hong kong are feeling. clifford cohen and thank you . our let's take a look now at some of the other stories making news around the world leaked chinese government documents revealed orders for the systemic mass detention of weaker muslims for decades at least a 1000000 people from the minority group are believed to be held in internment

camps right now in the far western region of china u.k.'s chinese ambassador dismissed the documents as big news. several people have been killed in a plane crash in goma that's in the democratic republic of congo the aircraft came down in a populated area moments after taking off a few services say they have so far recovered more than 20 bodies on the scene. former new york mayor michael bloomberg has formally announced that 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 upon now saying his bid for president bloomberg said that he is quote uniquely qualified to take on trump. for more on that joining us from washington is d w correspondent oliver 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 take part in 5 different debates why is bloomberg getting into the race so late in the game where 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 is 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

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 but 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 wants another billionaire as presidents and even if he wins the nomination do you think he can take on trump. 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 1 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 say that he's just another billionaire with no experience in federal politics the crowded democratic field gets even more crowded correspond oliver salad thank you very much. packed like sardines that's the motto of the new italian grassroots movement challenging but. and his far right lead party thousands of demonstrators have been packing public squares in italy holding fish shaped banners that's the symbol of a growing movement against our right oculus protesters say they want to halt rise to power of pivotal local elections. and your border federica baggio joins me in studio with more on those sardines so how did this

movement get going well karl it all started with a pretty spontaneous flash mob in the city of blowing in northern italy on november 14th on that day mantissa leaning was visiting the city and 4 young friends from that city they set up this facebook event calling upon fellow citizens to gather in one of the city squares to pack the square like sardines or look at. and they were hoping to reach 6000 participants but actually more than double and that's more than double participants came to that square and that really has now turned into as part similar rallies across other cities. in the region and also outside of the region with more planned in the next weeks and those protesters they say that they want to stir italians to challenge the league's migraines message and this is

what they had to say. we're here to say that salvation is ideas will not take root here or at least they will not have the success he's hoping for. i came here because i'm against populist politics i believe that politics should be about sharing and not about populism and exclusion and that's what his policies bring about it so unique. because we were touched by this movement of young people who stand up against nationalism. so we thought why don't we elderly people also give a hand. if you're not already you see those kind of handmade signs i mean it's a grassroots movement what chance does this have going up against i mean much as it remains the most popular party in italy and that's even after this after the big blow over the summer when mentos have been pulled the plug on the coalition

government with the 5 star movement and now the league is in the opposition but recent opinion polls did give it still give it where 30 percent popularity there really strong also the regional level also in the region in the region where the sardines movement was. launched but this movement has taken by surprise you know for a long time he has been the one filling up the squares and and using social media to fuel his popularity and now for the 1st time we see like a counter movement here really sparking this kind of participation and momentum. he has responded ironically proposing for example this new league logo on his facebook page with the slogan getting kitchens with. cats. so he's been trying to play it all down but it looks like he hasn't really found a strategy to to deal with this counter movement now it's which is has been stealing the scene at least in the last days and it's still quite fresh so we have to see how it develops and whether it will actually have an impact on voters all

right federica thanks very much thank you. all right moving over to sports in the boondocks league is early sunday games are in the books let's take a look now at all of those results mindsets demolished and i'ma. work win over hearts of elin 4 nil the newly promoted lin upset 1st place byron munich dominating dusseldorf rb leipzig defeated cologne $41.00 leverkusen and freiburg ended in a $11.00 tie took down bremen false burke down to frankfurt to nothing and on friday dortmund drew with a pot of war. all right well how's this for an unlikely romance a baby giraffe is found a new canine friend an animal rescue center in south africa take a look at this this is jazz the giraffe and hunter the guard dog they both live at the brine no orphanage jazz was found abandoned when he was just 2 days old and

despite well their relative size difference hunter's protective instincts kicked in and he has been helping to take care of that to raf and the 2 have been pretty much inseparable ever since. are you watching the news line from berlin up next turkey 1st subtle one shows off his vocal stylings on our program that proves i'm calm assman i'll be back with more news at the top of the. cool only the adventures of the famous naturalist and explorer. truce in the racial politics on the phone while it's 250th birthday we remember going on no 4 you tube discovery. expedition voyage on

t.w. . welcome to house me.