ventura, with children's journey around the world. starts january 19th. ah ah, this is dw news live from berlin. russia's defense ministry says its forces have taken control of sola. dar, you've crane denies the claim and says its troops are still there. the eastern ukrainian town could be strategically important for russia in the dumbass region. also coming up on the show and explosion had the key natural gas pipeline and

central with the radio. the operators, as no one was injured and there's no immediate evidence of an attack. europe takes a big leap forward in the space race opening it's 1st satellite launch port on the european mainland and flood ravaged california braces for even more heavy rain forecasters are warning of the potential for disastrous flooding as powerful storms take aim at the state. yet again. ah. hello, i'm clear. richardson, thanks so much for joining us. russia claims its forces have captured the town of sola dar in eastern ukraine. if true, it would mark a rare victory for moscow after months of setbacks for its troops. ukraine's military leaders meanwhile, have rejected the claim saying its soldiers are holding the russian advance and

that the battle is ongoing. amid ukraine's freezing winter soldiers and solid up face oblique battle to fiend off rushes constant attacks. the fight here is proving bloody and brutal. russia is determined to take control of this small mining town, a rear pushed forward after numerous setbacks. it's defense forces already claiming victory or the learning of a complete control. so it makes it possible to cut off the supply lines of the ukrainian forces located in the south, west of back, moot van to block and enclose the ukrainian units located there in a pocket. typically, those claims have been swiftly rejected by ukrainian forces who say their soldiers are holding the line. the loss of solid dow would be

a major setback for ukraine after months of successes and retaken towns and territories. but the fighting comes at a high cost. it's close gone, but we have gunshots. yeah, we have for grenades, shrapnel wounds and so on. so this kind of wounds in the increased russia claims to have killed hundreds of ukrainian soldiers in the battle for salida, but they have been no confirmed death tolls. there are reported to be more than $550.00 civilians still in the town, living in horrific conditions with no running water or electricity. well, marina, myron is a defense analyst at kings college london. and earlier she told us about salazar's military significance. first of all, for russia,

it was politically important to take full adar because that will increase the morale of the army after so many setbacks. and in military terms, the plan was to take solid are and then to take buck moved to basically cut off and ukrainians, logistics, and advanced the words from a doors cancel events. so some russian military analysts point out that there are tillery, you would be able to reach from a tourist it then it remains to be seen. i don't think that it's within the range. however, it would give some a stronghold there. and at the same time, as has been pointed out, the defenses of the ukrainian forces might suffer a collapse in that region because that's right in the middle. so they will have to fall back to other positions. and so, militarily, it would be a sad back and also it would the fact the morale of the ukrainian forces,

especially because the korean government said that it wasn't that important. and then the question is, why were those troops there? and why hasn't the illusion withdrawn the troops as he wanted to, but the landscape didn't let him do that. so there are a lot of questions in terms of how the ukrainians will handle it, and what impact it will have while a powerful explosion has hit a gas pipeline in lithuania, close to the larvae in border. the blast st. huge pillars of flame into the sky, but no injuries have been reported. the pipelines operator is investigating the blast and at this point, it says it does not suspect sabotaged. flames up to 50 meters high, spiral from the damaged pipeline into the lithuanian night sky. the blaze prompted the evacuation of a nearby village boomers. oh gosh, i was about 300 meters away,

a shampoo and i was outside at the time. is jordan and when the explosion took place, oh you're suddenly. the whole area lit up and it was like daytime, i realized the gas pipeline had exploded water bottle code with probiotic esna's, when the government played don't any suggestion of sabotage while i think we are talking about the technical failure. i mean, the pipeline itself is quite old. we're talking about the pipeline, which is about 40 years old. so i think it's a very likely that is a technological failure. and of course, we cannot rule out her, you know, other possibilities. the pipelines operator, amber grid, said there had been no signs of outside interference. the cause of explosion, the will be clarify it under the investigation and to and the investigation that that's already started. so we expect to have the answers in the next several days. the pipeline carries gas from lithuania to neighboring latvia. amber dred said

supply would be restored within hours. the pipeline blast happened on the day that vilnius marked the anniversary of a failed attempt in 1991 by soviet troops to over through. it's nearly independent government with you any. i was the 1st you nation to been the input of gas from russia following its invasion of ukraine. well, europe has a new gateway to space. that's after e u. officials on friday inaugurated the 1st orbital launch pad on the european mainland. a new facility in arctic sweden will compliment europe's others baseboards in a french kiana. it's designed to launch small satellites, which among other things can be used to track natural disasters or to monitor active conflicts like the war in ukraine. or in the vast expanse of sweet us frozen wilderness, a spaceport. we launch satellites for the european union,

new doors to speak. our opening at this 3, spi, fenton in sweden. european officials inaugurated the arbiter launch complex, the space. it's a big moment for europe. it's a big moment for europe, space industry. the 1st arbiter launch site on european mainland this space port offers an independent european gateway whose face is exactly the infrastructure we need. officially, i hopeful the new facility will help strengthen youth security. the current geopolitical situation, not least, of course, the russian invasion of ukraine has demonstrated how important it is, but the european union has access to space the faith both. we also allow you to better monitor climate, change pollution deforestation,

and to track natural disasters. that data can help countries and taking better deficiency and devising environmentally friendly strategies. the fact that like largest expected next year, and that would make food in the 1st country in europe, besides russia, to launch a satellite from its land. let's bring you up to speed now with some other stories making headlines around the world's brazil. supreme court says it will investigate former president shire bull scenario for allegedly inciting last sunday's riots in the capitol. holes in our supporters ransacked government buildings in brazilian under the false belief that last year's presidential election was stolen. both neural himself has never publicly acknowledged president louis election victory for his president, deena boulevard. ty has made a televised apology for dozens of deaths caused in protests in recent weeks, but says she will not resign. she also wore in 3 new cabinet members after

a string of resignations. supporters of austin president visitor castillo, are demanding new elections, and the removal of blue i tay and swedish climate activist gretta to embark has appeared our protests in germany against the demolition of a village being clear to allow open cast home whining. she criticized with lease operation to remove people from new to rotting, the west of the country. germany has extended its use of coal in power generation due to the energy crisis. happening while forecasters are warning that disastrous flooding could hit parts of california this weekend, the west states has been battered by a series of storms that have killed at least 19 people near record rainfall. over the past 3 weeks has left the ground in many areas waterlogged. and unable to absorb any more rain the water liver,

a district bar in north western, california continues to rise. the public is on alert as a total dis worn of more rounds of stormy weather. the ground is saturated, it is extremely, extremely dangerous, especially in these high ball neural areas. and that water can continue to rise well after the storms have passed. so our message is clear, please know your surroundings. there's thousands of bikers of crop land could be inundated by the overflowing diverse heating the warnings. farmers stick out drainage ditches and offer shorts of work to stop rivers from breaking their banks . the operational brody in preparation for that is to ensure that the water stays within its brains. so if we were assessing a little levy structure, we're, we're assessing here what we can do to divide the flood. that relentless and buffer

for storms have caused devastation in many areas, gars and homes remain supp marched and house and stream mean under evacuation, or does the reams have east extreme drought in the state? but at the huge cost assigned to fate, climate change is responsible for more frequent and in dense storms. while after 33 years, international football has returned to iraq, fever band iraq from hosting international matches. after leader saddam hussein ordered the invasion of kuwait in 1990, but the band was lifted last year and now iraq is hosting the much watched and gulf cut tournament this month. ah, after decades of waiting, iraqi fans are celebrating the return of international football. iraq is hosting the gulf cup for the 1st time since 1979. the year it won its 1st of 3 titles in

the competition, political survival, one who lives here and busted out was so excited about the gulf cup that when the tickets were posted online, they were sold out in just a few hours clean. while i sat coming, i did that fee for band iraq from hosting internationals. after the invasion of kuwait, the band was only fully lifted last year. and now locals in the host city. boshra are excited to show the world a brighter, lighter side of life in a country emerging from 3 decades of upheaval. i won't have been known, i will, allan, we want to show the world our life is more than just war. we have another part of our life that's beautiful apart that loves happiness, life and positivity. and that's the most important thing with the fall is the hot issue and the iraqi government has cancelled standard $200.00 visa fees to try and further encourage foreign fans global lesson. on that along, we used to hear

a lot of things about iraqi yell of me, but when we came here, our view totally changed home on there is security and love for that. and our journey to get here was safe. we feel as if we were in kuwait to look at it. there was it to the come to the quick iraqi fans are hoping to see their team succeed in basra is brand new stadium. just as importantly, they want the world to feel at home as they resume their role as international hosts are. well dancing enthusiasts have descended on vienna as the famed winter ball season gets into full swing again in the austrian capital. after being postponed for 2 years, due to cove at 19 restrictions, ah, over 2000 dancers wants the night away at the flower ball in vienna, city hall. one of hundreds of balls hosted in the austrian capital each season. the flower vall showcase is i catching floral arrangements. organizers say ball season

is making a roaring come back after its enforced absence. that is your news update at this hour, coming up after a short break is world stories including a report on lafayette unease over russia's war in ukraine. you know, his also where he's at now on our website too. at d, w dot comp, am claire richardson in berlin for me in the team. thanks so much for watching. ah. i tried several times. i went one on 6 times to grissom.