beethoven's 9th for the more starts to simmer down on t w. this is news of live from berlin venezuelans vote for a new parliament known as the national assembly polls have opened but some opposition leaders boycotting the elections alleging it's rigged in favor of the ruling socialist party will president nicolas maduro use the opportunity to type his grip on power. outgoing u.s. head of state donald trump makes his 1st major appearance since losing the

presidential election but he's still refusing to admit defeat to the dismay of growing numbers in his own republican party. and a heavyweight fight to remember in football the top 2 teams in the league go the distance we'll tell you who came out on top between leipsic and reigning champions pioneer. have you with us venezuelan president nicolas maduro is expected to tighten his grip on power in sunday's parliamentary election people are gathering at polling stations as voting gets underway but some venezuelan opposition leaders are boycotting the election claiming it's rigged the country is in the midst of a deepening economic crisis that's now being. stretched to the breaking point by

the coronavirus spend some voters are wondering whether these elections can bring about real change and stop the country sliding further into crisis. is afraid since falling ill with covert 19 he suffered kidney damage and now needs dialysis martinez became sick last summer even though he's receiving treatment he fears frequent power outages in venezuela could put his life at risk. one night was terrifying you could hear doctors and nurses running through the hallways calling for help. there some patients were on ventilators. 3 of them died because the power went out. to take his monthly salary of $85.00 covers neither the cost of his treatment nor his medication he's been forced to turn to a fundraising campaign. i mean. the treatment costs $400.00.

you know and i don't have the money. venezuela is mired in an economic crisis and martinez must work to feed his children he's doubtful that sunday's parliamentary elections will bring change. i don't know if it's worth it to vote. one year ago there were high hopes that national assembly president. could force the country's ruling socialist from power but he failed to win the venezuelan military to sign 3 quarters of venezuelans no longer believe that he can bring about a change of regime has been barred from taking part in sunday's vote the country's supreme court has also ousted the leaders of his political party is calling for an election boycott. the international community including germany and the e.u. are already refusing to recognize this fraudulent election. but a boycott by the opposition is likely to lead to an easy victory for the socialist party following president nicolas maduro to tighten his grip on power. to some

socialists also want to take legal action against opposition figures. that we will all vote to ensure a totally read parliament will drive out the dirty unpatriotic opposition who in the last 5 years have sought to destroy the success of the revolution. martinez has been told many times not to give up hope but he fears his country could slip even deeper into crisis. i'm now joined by correspondent 100 mira's he joins us from bogota most western nations and the venezuelan opposition called this parliamentary election a fraud and yet all indications are that president maduro will be a big winner in this election detail for us just what he stands to gain here. he is going to win. control of the national assembly something that he that is in

the hands of the opposition since 2015 it means the he's going to get control on every state institution in venice all of this is all it's also a bit symbolic because nicolas maduro is already half past the control of the country in venice well of a he wants to crush the opposition but at the same time he's going to lose because in the international community heat losses even more credibility so it's contradictory even if he gets more control he losses because it's clear that this election is not fair look he chose the electoral authorities the people who are going to count the votes are chosen by nicolas maduro and he even chose the candidates that are going to are participating in this election the opposition political parties didn't want to participate in the. believe there are some of this political parties and put in their places leave their slows to us. and they are

participating in this election so this is not for and they are even threaten people with not given them a food if they don't go to vote what does this election mean for the opposition. the opposition is going to legally. lost the control of the national assembly from the 5th on that one this new national assembly is going to take power but this is just in theory because in practical terms the opposition hasn't had any control of the parliament since 2015 when they won the election actually but in the end that moment the justice system often is of nicolas maduro took away all the powers of this national assembly so for the whole period for 5 years this national assembly. hasn't created a lost cause and legislate so i tell you before this is symbolic i mean the national assembly this parliament of one is lawson nothing because actually they

have already lost everything is parliamentary election of course comes amid a humanitarian crisis in venezuela how do the vast majority of people feel about going to the polls. this question depends on who speaks of an isolated a very divided country so for people who support nicolas maduro this is a fair election and the opportunity to get out of the crisis for the people who support the opposition this is a circus this is a fraud but at the end of the day there is just one reality and venice while there is a country in a deep crisis economic crisis shaken by the pandemic in venezuela the minimum wage is $1.00 per month and you need $44949.00 to buy the basic basket so even if there are 2 versions political versions the humanitarian reality is just one and this is very a country deep in

a very difficult crisis your 100 years in bogota thank you yohan. to the us now in his 1st major public appearance after losing the u.s. presidential election donald trump has spread further unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud speaking at a rally in georgia where crucial senate races underway outgoing president trump insisted he had won a 2nd term but increasing numbers of his own republican party are tiring of his rhetoric. the show must go on donald trump returned to the rally stage showing defiance in the face of defeat he repeated his unfounded and discredited claims of victory at last month's presidential vote present and history but they say we lost the only way as they stuff the ballot for president from one. trumps democratic rival joe biden has been declared the winner by enough states to ensure victory and

more than 30 of trump's legal challenges have failed in the courts but the president sees an alternative reality i. if i lost i be a very gracious loser. if i lost i would say i lost and go to florida or not take it easy and go around that circuit a good job. but you can't ever except when they see. the rally in georgia was for republicans contesting the state's runoff senator election in january but something trump's own party are growing weary of his rhetoric georgia's republican governor has refused to take steps to override the state's probe barden poll results. georgia's runoff election is especially critical the outcome will determine which party weighs power in the senate. in germany intensive care units at some hospitals are reaching full capacity with

seriously ill coded 1000 patients according to the head of the country's. federation there are currently 40 percent more covert 19 patients in intensive care units then during the 1st wave in the spring and summer hospitals have hardly any capacity left and are having to turn away patients also a high percentage of nurses are off sick or in quarantine. political correspondent julia south delhi is with me in the studio julia put this into some context for us just how bad or things in germany is hospitals things are certainly concerning here in germany what right now but not yet dramatic what we see is that some smaller hospitals and hospitals in rural areas are struggling and are almost at full capacity we've seen one of the biggest hospitals in germany here in berlin last week start considering to stop the admission of emergency patients but what we have

to keep in mind is that germany is one of the countries in europe with the highest number of intensive care beds and that means that obviously when they are filling up it is worrying but it also means they do have a bigger capacity at the moment of the $27.00 about $27000.00 beds in total $5000.00 or are still free and that means there is still some capacity to be filled up what is concerning is the lack of health care professionals and specifically specialized nurses who can care for people in intensive care that has been a worry for quite some while and it remains so now that many are falling sick of course as you know germany has been a long time for 5 weeks now and the numbers still aren't going down so what's the remedy there going to be more restrictions come yes so we've seen numbers stabilizers stagnating now but not dropping significantly and this week we registered the highest death toll since the beginning of the pandemic so it is worrying. the government has agreed with state leaders that there will be actually some loosening of restrictions during the christmas period that has raised concerns

among politicians and doctors and just now. very amok has announced that he will introduce further restrictions starting on wednesday which will see a limitation to the reasons for people to leave the house they can only leave the house for very important reasons although that includes christmas shopping at the moment. there will be a ban on consuming alcohol outdoors and in areas with the higher incidence of. also a nighttime curfew and he is also the clear to state of emergency in the region so we see some concerns also in germany's regions as to whether these current nationwide restrictions are enough we only have about 40 seconds left really but i want to get this in there despite all of that german chancellor angela merkel has said quote we are now seeing light at the end of the tunnel as she hopes for more vaccines to be rolled out germany's vaccination plans so germany's health minister

. has said this weekend that he hopes to see the 1st vaccine starting to be administered around the new year so we're almost there and he also said that he expects mass vaccinations to be in place by the summer where even doctors offices can administer them and germany has come up with the plan they have the nation centers around the country so they're hoping to get the ball rolling quite quickly no. political correspondent julie thanks so much for that thank you. to bundesliga football now where a match up of the top 2 clubs in the league absolutely lived up to the hype by munich hosted leipzig in a game that was far from perfect on the pitch but for fans the wait to see these 2 teams go head to head on match day 10 was well worth the wait. a true battle of the blunders leaders heavyweights in munich and for biron keeper might well neuer he was a rough ride from the start a decision he'll hope to forget led to leipzig 1st goal. he left the line to head

off christopher and cuckoo but he sure didn't get there on time. his side rebounded with 17 year old jamal most eola i in the 38th minute right-wing the ball into the bottom right corner after that biron took the lead but this time it was the night secretly bringing it back to level just in clover alone in front of neuer and to what the half. second half neuer again left without any help as emil forsberg powers in the header. once more byron's defenses bailed out by the attack kingsley coleman crosses to muller in front he goes high to head in the equaliser 33 and that's how one smaller 2nd goal tonight coleman's 3rd assist saves a point for the league leader muller in leipzig coach helion novels men know by on his fortunate to stay on top. you're watching news up next our technology

show shift living in the digital age a michael oh cool i'll be back with more news headlines at the top of the hour for now for me and the team here in berlin thanks so much for watching. i'm going to. stay up to date don't miss our highlights. program. w dot com highlights.

is a master of the art of confrontation this is wrong measuring of combat doesn't mean you're going to see the ox clock beat.