this is d.w. news live from berlin pope francis leaves christmas eve mass as christians around the world to celebrate the birth of jesus after a year that's seen the catholic church rocked by scandals francis uses his address of the vatican to urge christians not to lose faith also coming up to. tens of thousands of people are forced to flee their homes in the syrian problems of it is a live view when warns that children are bearing the brunt of the assad regime's latest offensive against the country's largest rebel stronghold. plus christmas in

argentina would be unthinkable without the ponderosa but the economic crisis is making even this retreat an affordable for many. american evanston it's good to have you with us. christians around the world are celebrating christmas marking the birth of jesus more than 2000 years ago at the vatican pope francis led the midnight mass at st peter's basilica his blessing emphasized forgiveness not just for sinners but for the church itself after a difficult year in which sexual abuse scandals continue to rock the catholic church francis urged christians to keep the faith.

orde i he does a ritual that dates back to the 1st centuries of the catholic church the midnight mass at some pages is a spiritual gathering there the pope is said to confide the word of god to the faith food of. it. that he may god who by the incarnation brought together the earth and the heavenly realm fill you with the gift of his peace and favor and may you share it with the church in heaven this was. for the pontiff and followers of the catholic faith it has been a trying him scandal has reached the very top of the church in many places. so in his sermon the pope appealed for believers to maintain the faith. that he

may we not wait for our neighbors to be good before we do good to them let us not wait for the church to be perfect before we love her let us begin with us so us and receive the gift of grace. celebrating the belief of the fight for was also one of the themes of the midnight mass in bethlehem there pilgrims of worship is gathered at the church of the nativity. it's a site where jesus is believed to have been born but it still listen this was led by the archbishop of jerusalem in the presence of palestinian president mahmoud abbas a nice homily the act bishop appealed for believe is to overcome hatred. ok to move each other to be something together to come to misunderstandings of those who do not share their desire for an encounter in peace. is an appeal for unity and for teddy the oxford ship said he hoped the result will be on the christian faithful in

a region where faiths mix and we believe too often causes conflict. well thousands of people flock every here to the birthplace of jesus to celebrate christmas journalist santa suckle has been following the festivities in the city of bethlehem we've seen a record number of tourists and pilgrims visiting both best and jerusalem this year and waters added to the festive atmosphere is the fact that the pope francis has given a relic this size a fragment of ward that has been in rome for nearly 1400 years and this is believed to have been part of the major part of the creed where jesus christ lay so it was received you with a great system ness and the belief here is that it will draw more tourists to visit

the city on the other hand israeli authorities have prevented yet again gazans from leaving and zipping the west bank visiting beslan and visiting jerusalem and even though last year they give a permission for 700 palestinian christians to leave the gaza strip and this is this year the number was only 300 so the disappointment in gaza was very high amidst very strong condemnations from the various churches and that was sam a subtle speaking to us from jerusalem. let's get a check now of some of the other stories making news around the world in the libyan capital tripoli 4 people are reported dead after a projectile exploded at a vegetable market forces loyal to libya's internationally recognized government have blamed rival groups answering to warlord khalifa have tarr of attacking a civilian area tars forces have been trying to seize tripoli since april. in

chile a wildfire has destroyed dozens of homes in the port city of ballpark. dozens of people thousands of people rather were evacuated as the forest fires spread from the surrounding hills to residential areas the blaze was fed by high summer temperatures and strong winds. a landslide in brazil has killed 7 people in the northeastern city of but a chief local firefighters said they pulled the victims from the wreckage of 2 houses according to brazilian media outlets g one a young couple and their baby as well as a 9 year old girl and her grandmother were among the dead. well now to syria where there is no end in sight to the misery inflicted on civilians in the besieged province of live the last major rebel stronghold russian airstrikes supporting the assad regime killed at least 8 people 5 of them children who were

sheltering in a school house the united nations is warning that children are bearing the brunt of syria's increasingly violent conflict. till now i'm in it live has become a ghost town people living here have fled the government offensive against rebels. shabab people. fled to live on the only trees this is a vegetable market there's no one here i haven't seen anyone other than journalists taking pictures of me and. most of those fleeing are hitting. north towards the turkish border. we ran away from the rockets out of our old and explosive shells. we were asking for allows mercy and for the united nations to see what happened to us because of bashar al assad and the russian army. they

are killing us. with heavy shelling. and a strikes. syrian troops have been pushing into it live. and identified syrian pennell said the offensive is to clear the province of terrorism. i left the syrian army cares about civilians lives what that. the military calls upon them to leave the areas where the terrorists are not. that should go to the areas under the control of the syrian army come to save them from terrorists and terrorism and i've been with you more than 40000 people have been displaced by the time and in recent weeks. to hong kong now where demonstrators have clashed with police in christmas eve protests riot police fired tear gas as protests swept through a major shopping district activist blogs streets and smashed shop windows the

anti-government protests in hong kong are now in their 7th month w.'s fevicol was at the scene and sent us this update. festive lie has descended into question in hong kong a tear gas return to the streets also protesters turned out for demonstrations at shopping malls across the city tonight but the riot police into the shopping centers quickly to disperse crowds because they accused them of attending illegal assemblies the rounds of the rounds of tear gas rubber bullets and other kinds of protests tells the worst shot throughout the night some protesters even they flew paschal bombs and other objects at police vehicles some even found allies raanjhanaa to express their anger to us police crackdown on one of the fundraisers in recent days so ho ho people are definitely have no silenced nights on christmas eve many of the shops were closed at its peak and maybe more as more protests

are planned on upcoming holidays. 30 years ago today romania's revolution came to an end with the execution of dictator nicholas. it was the final and bloody is chapter in the series of revolutions in 1909 that overthrew communism in europe military prosecutor played a role in ending the tyranny when the revolution broke out in december 1909 was in the thick of it this barracks integra vish to remain years had to dictate to nicolae ceausescu and his wife elena were on trial when a young prosecutor at the time cross-examined the couple. they thought they were at the top of it which osha shochet school was a dictator if you consider all the atrocities he committed only one charge was possible crimes against humanity and there's only one punishment for that.

political when it. wasn't. were executed immediately after the trial they had no chance to a pale it had little to do with the rule of law but after the short trial broadcast life the shooting in the streets stopped the death toll in romania had already reached one sounds and prosecutor dunn valena insists the summary execution was justified he points out the bullet holes where the cheshire screws was shot against the wall but 30 years on he's still waiting for a truly fresh start for remaining. genever its time the new generation followed their feelings began to build the rule of law that young people back then gave their lives for. through got a social secretary cutting their. danville in often visit the cemetery where the revolution's victims are buried most of them were under 30 teenagers students and

workers many of the perpetrators have yet to be identified. through books such as even to this day for all these young people who were murdered in december 1809 there is still no justice. the wounds left by remaining as communist era and the bloody revolution that ended it 30 years ago a still gaping wide. well many argentinians have little to celebrate this christmas as the country endures its worst economic crisis in years the government has just introduced a package of emergency measures to overcome the crisis well now one of the country's favorite holiday treats is becoming unaffordable. christmas fruit cake argentinean style. lemon peel the nullah raisins nuts run cinnamon cloves and of course lots of sugar. pant also his red.

progeny ns can survive the days between christmas eve and new year without it. italian immigrants who brought it with him in the form of catatonia. and it evolved into something south american. for bakers add that means over time. you might lose if they don't eat or and don't traditionally belongs to every christmas in argentina but now it costs up to 10 euros people can hardly afford it anymore but i will. once again argentina is in the midst of an economic crisis workers are being laid off incomes are falling while inflation is rising. prices for electricity gas rent and food are all increasing as well as the number of soup kitchens many people can barely afford to buy anything at all including the beloved christmas cake but master baker serafin a regular says that's not acceptable his pendle say is low priced and highly

political. been drilled hopefully we'll meet again in a couple of years be able to say see what we got through it it's like this all over the world only if we work hard things will get better. than the. in the past 4 years argentina was led by a pro-business president somewhat unusual for the country but since october elections a left wing paralysed is once again at the helm sarah few know already goes pondering the change in political direction with his planned also his fruit cake costs just 3 year olds cheaper than the competition he donates the proceeds to soup . kitchens. that. we have and hugely as i'm enjoying we will find solutions to overcome the crisis that we've been living with for so long in the. government policies should benefit the people the workers not like it has to be and

i'm telling you where only a few rich people benefit the masses but why should they get out on their must. be argentinians are probably south america's most politicised people even on christmas eve. you're up to date on the w.c. thanks for watching. colby promise he was. never defeated me.