that's not very much because. this is beautiful to use live from berlin and a waiting game for prisoners captured on both sides of the conflict in ukraine seems to be over families remain on edge as a prisoner swap between ukrainian soldiers and pro russian separatists gets underway russia says it's an all for all exchange but just who is gay talese people only be clear once the swap is complete. also coming up australia's bushfires have

placed a strain on firefighters today many volunteers who've taken leave from paid jobs to help the australian government has announced plans to compensate them and honor their efforts. omarion evanston welcome to the program ukrainian government forces and russian backed separatists have begun a prisoner exchange. these are live pictures of that prisoner exchange underway right now the swap is part of an agreement that was reached earlier this month at a summit between the leaders of ukraine and russia brokered by germany and france the swap is taking place at a checkpoint in the separatist wrong hold of done netsky. forces as separatists

have been fighting in eastern ukraine since 2014 the conflict has claimed more than 13000 lives. russia and ukraine swap prisoners last september raising hopes of a wider settlement but fighting continues despite a cease fire agreement. a major prisoner exchange with russia i'm pro russian separatists in september it broke inmates harm and fostered hundreds of the war nice to meet crime could soon be ending it was an early victory for ukraine's new president followed him is a lengthy. middle morally we have agreed the 1st step to one block dialogue or not it is returning our soldier was probably a little prisoner's. to more than 5 years the ukrainian army has been fighting russian back separatists in the country's aced doors cost around 14000 lives and

turned a keen duster region into a conflict saw in. efforts to stop the fighting have come to little when zelinsky was elected in i pro he promised to restart the peace process that culminated in a meeting this month with these french german and russian counterparts in which today's exchange was a grade. a state of mind an exchange between both sides in this conflict or form based on swapping every one of them thought appears with the true major exchanges complete by the end of the year the impetus in the coming 12 months will be on. diplomacy completing the exchanges is a way of building trust between russia and ukraine and a separatist. heart spondon david stern is monitoring today's events for us and he joins us now from kiev so david is it known and just how many prisoners are being swapped today and who they are. no actually we

don't know those details yet we hope to know them hope to find out fairly soon as we've said the exchange has begun that we can confirm this is taking place at one of the crossing points on the frontline between the 2 forces we are seeing pictures of prisoners exit in buses but what exactly how many people who they are what will happen next that all remains to be seen when we do anticipate however is once it's finished those that have been released by the by the separatists of moscow basque separatists who have returned to ukraine or ukrainian controlled territory they will be brought here to kiev where i am right now and there will be great they will be met at the airport the main airport bodies pulled later in the day david just how significant is today's prisoner swap is it going to help improve relations between ukraine and russia. well i guess you

could say any little bit helps how significant obviously depends on what the next steps are one should say that anything like this is this is a sign in the right direction and as we heard this is part of the talks the summit that took place earlier this month among the leaders of france germany russia and ukraine obviously what people are hoping for what would what president selenski himself has said that he's going to try to accomplish is a full peace in the in the east if this is in fact a major stepping stone to that we will see but. there has to be a lot more that needs to be done before we actually even get close to that point while talking about president selenski peace plan david what do people in ukraine make of this plan and russia's willingness russia's willingness to settle the

conflict in eastern ukraine. i guess you could say those are 2 questions let's start with the 2nd one 1st what do people think of russia's willingness very skeptical. i guess a way it remains to be seen what exactly russia will do and what russia is prepared to do as for the peace plan there are mixed feelings obviously people want they want the war to end they want to the killing which continues even as we speak there is fighting or has been fighting until recently that is going on there's also worry that perhaps mr selenski will give away too much and their opposition forces have been have been warning against that but we will see if when the their actual peace plan is announced whether what they've agreed on if they reached if they reach that very soon what exactly that will entail all right david stern reporting from kiev we thank you very much.

let's get a check now of some of the other stories making news around the world there's been a stabbing attack at a jewish holiday celebration near new york city authorities say 5 people were hospitalized with injuries 2 of them are in critical condition the attack appears to be the latest in a string of anti-semitic attacks in new york this month. in lebanon hundreds of protesters rallied outside the home of the country's new prime minister demonstrators fired flares and demanded the resignation of his sunday was backed by the islamist group hezbollah lebanon is facing its worst political crisis in decades protests against corruption and mismanagement have gripped the country since october. a truck bomb attack in somalia has killed at least 70 people the device exploded during morning rush hour at

a busy security checkpoint in the capital mogadishu the country's president mohamed abdulahi far montreaux blamed a militant islamist group for the attack. australia is bracing for another week of bush fires as temperatures are expected to soar firefighters have been trying to contain the fire since september 8th people have died 2 of them firefighters many of those on the front line are volunteers and now the australian government says it will pay them for their efforts. it's one of australia's worst bushfire seasons ever. with so many blazes to battle it's often volunteers who answer the call for help. giving their time and paying the costs. of. 1516 hour shifts in a row you're exhausted at the end of that you might have one day break and then they want you to go again. it just takes

a toll physically. emotionally on the family they don't see you and me it means i use my annual leave maine said i you know i use my time in leech time. now there is help for the helpers some volunteers to be compensated for about 20 days worth of income lost while fighting the recent fires. as very prolonged for sleaze this is putting additional demands on our forefathers in particular and it means that the turnouts in the call outs have been far more extensive than in previous years going well and beyond and above what is normally expected of those who are engaged in volunteer services. already public servants have been pledged additional leave to join the fight. with a straight these some are just getting started the country needs more helping hands

to step up to the challenge. and joining me now from sydney is james morris he's a spokesman for the new south wales rural fire service thanks so much for being on our program well there's been a bit of good news for the volunteer firefighters with the government saying they are now going to be paid just how much of a difference is this going to make to their lives. it's a mighty huge difference for those volunteers who have given so much time in the last 5 to carve a half months or so without bush was as you mentioned a lot of them taking on paid leave taking time out from the jobs especially those who were a business sign is small business owners in the walks who have lost income so they saw our forefathers who have been out for more than 10 deffeyes to be able to climb up to $300.00 a day with a maximum of $6000.00 off of hyman said look there are mighty few difference to the

daily living and in support of family and those people who have arm fortunately missed out during that on helping communities of youth off oil well unfortunately we are getting reports of further bushfires are opting just overnight and still apparently sydney harbor is new year's eve fireworks display is still planned to go ahead from your perspective is that a good idea. we continue to work with obviously the paro technique agencies and organizations as well as obviously other emergency services as well as of bureau of meteorology which we're keeping in close contact with at this stage 35 bands are predicted for the greatest sydney area after tuesday which is new year's eve we are expecting that change to come through sydney in the white afternoon noodles like a couple hours to to fully time through which will reduce the temperatures lastly the same increase in winds potentially through the early stages and hopefully

before those 9 o'clock fireworks but certainly they staged as there's no forecasted issues all the safety concerns with that we'll continue to work with other firefighting agencies such as foreign rescue new south wales to bolster and support their nehgs our should there be any heightened level of requirements needed ferries of course land in and around sydney harbor. james morris from the new south wales world fire service we appreciate you taking the time to talk to us and wish all the best to you and your colleagues. now to some more stories making news around the world. 3 skiers were killed when they were buried by an avalanche on a ski slope in south to rule in italy the woman and 2 girls all german nationals died when the sheet of snow broke lose above the toys at 2400 meters elevation 2 other people were injured in the incident. algeria's president to whom has named

an educator and diplomat as prime minister abdelaziz erasures said his top challenge would be to regain the confidence of algerian society protests against algeria's political establishment have persisted since to boone was elected earlier this month periods pro-democracy movement boycotted the election. just for its now with one of 29000 biggest success stories in german sports long jumper. she won gold at the world championships and doha but as we are about to see there's a lot more to her than just athletics. playing the piano just one of. many talents for me for me it's all about testing myself pushing my limits and the 1st. is to hunt for success. i'm always working on myself in order to be the best. germany's female athlete of the year 2019 the finishing touch to

a spectacular year in which she won gold at the world at that exchange kinships in doha. was having. never experienced that before feeling like a chief something truly extraordinary. a personal best of 7 meters 30 and 2019 she reached another level of consistency in passing the 7 meter mock at 7 different events. and remaining unbeaten throughout the season. becoming the best took a long time because you have to keep on believing in yourself just as all talk almost at the age of 8 me humbled discovered her passion for the long jump she then one gold at the under $23.00 european championships in 2015 shia minds by taking trips to asia and uses meditation to relax a script on to feel it gives you such

a deep sense of clarity. after her success at the world championships and the like coming home boys now favored to win the big gold in tokyo in august when misha returns over it would be a unique opportunity to surprise myself and even the whole world i think it's unbelievable. the humble is certainly honest on after what has been an incredible 2019. you're up to date on did up a news thanks for watching. bursts . of species. oh words if you can. get me those are big changes and most start with the smallest errors or global ideas tell stories of could induce people into innovative projects or world.