this is d.w. news live from berlin australia is on alert amid fears of even more intense wildfires across the country the government is sending in the army to help the head of another extreme heat wave and strong winds also coming out. a mass exodus from northwest syria after 2 weeks of bombardment from syrian and russian forces the united nations says 230000 people are fleeing most of them women and children.

omarion evanston it's good to have you with us the australian government has called up the army to help fight wildfires burning out of control near the country's largest city sydney authorities are bracing for an extreme heat wave this weekend following a few days of cooler weather fire has destroyed vegetation and millions of hectares of land across the country over the last 6 weeks at least 9 people have been killed . not just thought you might expect at one of australia's most popular tourist sites visitors to the blue mountains west of sydney are forced to wear face masks because the smoke from nearby bushfires fills the ass. the iconic rock formations are barely visible in the haze. it's really disappointing to really

looking forward to seeing if you always want to see the blue mountains such a shame when we. all know this. but that problem is small compared to the challenge firefighters in new south wales are set to face at the weekend. after a brief or spite securing a few days of damp weather over christmas temperatures there again expected to soar bringing new risks. that's going to bring not just the heat of the service we're going to see the temperatures up into the larger mid forty's across a lot of areas but it's going to bring a very draw as well so that's going to elevate far by inches and we know the winds are going to start turning around to the west in the northwest which is war so much work is being going on over this last week walking visions of more more out. some 70 fires are burning near sydney new south wales more than 1000 firefighters and now the military are in action across the state trying to contain the fires and

prevent them from reaching more inhabited areas. way just putting it back in time and law in detroit prevent far from getting towards coastal villages already more than 850 homes have been raised in new south wales. authorities are also working to protect infrastructure surrounding a vital dam west of sydney that provides water to around 4000000 people in the city but which could be at risk if the fires spread. we're joined now from sydney by james morris he's a spokesman for the new south wales fire service james thank you so much for talking to us now the weather forecast for us trail in the coming days is extreme heat windy conditions what does that mean for all of you fighting the fires. a local you say yeah good afternoon mariano these are the conditions that we we

most fear obviously we're looking at severe and extreme far dangerous for our more populated areas certainly through the sydney area down in the new south wales south coast which of these time of year is a very popular i'll hold my location and we've got a large number of people in that area currently so i obviously are out there advice to them is particularly in regards to if you don't need to be in these areas on these more at risk daisy's to move away in and around the region and once those conditions of a's but far far as have worked significantly over the last week is out of commission it's like about oh yeah in regards to really bolstering and and not getting these can time and lawns in place before we say they say elevated conditions hoping that they've caused were mine within those can time and lawns ahead of these challenging conditions now this is extremely dangerous it's very stressful obviously for the firefighters it's tiring and how is everybody coping.

oh look at has been challenging tom you know some of these forefathers of fame working for around 5 and a half months in far as rod across the state as well as helping out in just like colleagues as far as likely not queensland and down in victoria as well so our big farms a lot of the work now he's is hog building can time lawns using hand tools are some cruising recent days and even on christmas day it's been making a ya hand to one from the top of one of our scotsman's all the way down through the rough trying in towards the creek beds are they says some of the work that has to be done that will allow us to contain these flaws so look for father's a very much exhausted thankfully we've sent him into the side assistance from a colleague's right around australia and even as far as the y. is new zealand and america and canada of where we do have cruising for 30 die deployment he they've just had a 1st child joe so we've got another 30 i die commitment here. on his part from

canada and america start certainly a lot of assistance going on but we're certainly not even into our west part of our . danger period of the stage well we do know that bushfires are quite common in australia and the prime minister scott morrison has been saying australia has always had bushfires but from your perspective how did this year's fires compare to what you've seen in previous years. exactly or our way of always had bush was he at different levels and depending on the climate and how much rain we've had during our winter period we haven't had essentially any run at all arguing our winter period waves saying a very active and dangerous bush was burning towards the middle and end of our winter period as what we would typically saying summertime we lost a lot of harms and a lot of bushland early on towards the end of july through august and even early september which is still within our winter period and some of those conditions were

as what we're currently seeing now in in summit on being that we're only a month into some 0 a worse conditions we typically say end of january beginning of february and we are still walkley to say those conditions continue until we get to see if you can run which at this stage from the bureau has not been full cost any harm in the near future it will still be a challenging time ahead here in new south wales we've had more than 3500000 hacked has a bushland burnt closest faucet isn't income plate was around 1400000 hecht his side obviously a significant distance we've more than doubled the hc has been unfortunate we've saying close to 1000 homes we believe that have been destroyed by the fire many more outbuildings and sheds and the law acts unfortunately of saying time of these here in new south wales 2 of those being fought foreigners 6 of those being civilian side it has been a very challenging season already and we still potentially got at least 2 or 3 months to go before we start to say and easing conditions james morris from the new

south wales rural fire service we appreciate you taking the time to talk to us and wish all the best to you and your colleagues thanks for it's our marian our. let's get a check now some of the other stories making news around the world in chile police used tear gas and water cannons to break up anti-government protests demonstrations against president sebastian pinera have rocked the country since october on friday he did a key demand of the protesters and set a date for a referendum on a new constitution. russia's defense minister says its new intercontinental hypersonic missiles became operational on friday according to the kremlin the missiles travel up to 27 times the speed of sound and can make sharp turns allowing them to evade missile intercept systems. in the gulf of oman iran has begun naval

exercises with its russian and chinese allies the drills are taking place near a vital transit route for the world's oil tankers and the rain and admirals says the drills show that the country cannot be isolated on the scene. at least 12 people have been killed in a plane crash in kazakhstan the back air passenger jet with 98 people on board went down shortly after takeoff passengers say the plane will struggle to gain altitude more than 50 survivors have been hospitalized. to northern syria now where more than 235000 people are reported to have fled their homes in italy province the united nations says the exodus began more than 2 weeks ago after syrian and russian forces began an offensive on the region it live is the last remaining rebel stronghold in syria and is home to around 3000000 people including many displaced from other parts of the country. bumper to bumper

traffic on the road towards the turkish border people packed into cars and trucks with whatever they could take with them displaced by a 2 week long russian backed offensive in series last significant rebel held on klav the fortunate ones finding refuge with family or friends near the turkish border those less lucky have to shelter in the camps and often squalid conditions. normal. in this rain the water is pouring into attempts to the children have no clothes and are falling sick from the cold war we have nothing it's a terrible state of food in these tents are really cold and you can see what it's like here shortly all of us who. it's estimated that 80 percent of the displaced are women and children and many don't know where to go next when and if they can leave the camps. and then though did i become i'm the wife of

a martyr now 5 children and we need help i cannot live in tents we left our homes and fled the bombardment of woman we need a latina but in the mossad that. but u.n. funded supplies to syria may stop entirely in the new year last week russia and china vetoed a u.n. security council resolution that would have extended deliveries throughout 2020. well the year is coming to an end and here in dublin we're taking a look back at the best reports filed by our correspondents from around the world the next one looks at how russia is keeping alive the memory of the battle of stalingrad when soviet troops halted nazi germany's invasion of russia to honor this victory russia constructed one of the largest statues in the world near the site of the battle and as yuri rachet a reporter from russia it is now being restored.

a call to arms against hitler army a cry of victory of a nazi germany. the motherland towering at $85.00 mi thomas commemorates world war 2. the view from up here is breathtaking is the motherland cole stock is the tallest in the europe and it's reconstruction now here in volgograd it's in the most extensive reconstruction it's meant to be and has had its unveiling in the 19th 67. the monument has aged quite a bit since then winter weather have taken their toll and since chunks of concrete have fallen off in some places this dot you could have been to visitors. extensive for innovation work began 3 years ago. when you just project is

unique so all the work here is unique to the statue was female so we treat her like a real person which i. think you did there are sort of she's a woman who's suffering from various illnesses that we're healing after 50 years. like anyone her age she needs a range of doctors who can help her in different ways to somebody i mean when you're previous what visit us can see this done to skeleton. the jag antic structure is supported by almost $100.00 steel cables that the way it can withstand strong winds and the cables also have to be replaced. this culture is the centerpiece of a memorial on the my my if he'll in a ball grad formerly known as stalingrad. it was here that one of the world's bloodiest battles ended in 1943. with more than 700000 that. the battle of

stalingrad 3 for this obviates marked the turning point in the battle to hold to. this isn't just any construction site. it's a symbolic place for russia. working here is a big honor for all of us and it requires a very specific approach. that's why we're busy around the clock. over the. busy model and calls still covered by scaffolding but had to be unveiled in time for the 75th anniversary of the soviet union's elijah victory of a nazi germany. a quick reminder now of our top story. fios trillion army has been called in to help find wildfires

raging near the country's largest cities did meaning forecasters expect an extreme heat wave in the next few days to raise the fire risk. here of today don d.w. music stay tuned for shift living in the digital age omarion and his team thanks for watching. my 1st boss also sewing machine. for all women are almost by this. woman something as simple as learning how to ride a bike is that it goes isn't. it since i was a little good i wanted to. but it took me years to them despite their. finally they gave up and went with buying. returns because so we've machine sewing i suppose was more appropriate for girls than rising a bottle.