>> live from dw studios in berlin, this is your world news. >> welcome to the program. our top stories this hour, republicans versus democrats. americans are casting their ballots in midterm elections and it's expected a will use the vote to punish president obama. >> mexican police arrest of former fugitive mayor and his wife. the couple are being questioned about the deaths and disappearances of dozens of students in the city. >> shiite muslims are gathering in an iraqi city for the ashura religious ritual.

voting is now underway in america's midterm elections. republicans are expected to make big gains. polls show they could wrest control of the senate from the democrats and they are also expected to increase the majority in the house of representatives. >> while support for president barack obama and his policies has waned during his second term. his popularity has hit a new low. although his name is not on the ballot, it may as well be. today's vote is seen by many as a referendum on his performance in office. >> voters lining up to cast their ballots in new hampshire. this is one of the states that will be watched closely as a result come in. most agree that if democrats lose here, their prospects of holding onto the senate will diminish. many think it could go down to the wire. >> i think it's going to be a very tight race, but i think this is what it's all about, to be able to vote and have a voice and hopefully select people that

you think are going to represent the state the most appropriately. >> i'm hoping we can have some republicans in the senate so we can have the votes going eerie >> democrats such as kay hagan of north carolina, another key state, are determined to stop the republicans from winning a majority in the senate. she has been campaigning until the last minute, doing all she can to encourage traditional democratic supporters like young women and minorities to turn out. >> i've got 100 locations across north carolina right now with 10,000 volunteers, hitting the pavement, knocking on doors, reminding people the difference in this race and the importance of exercising our constitutional right to vote. >> but the republicans are since success. most polls appear to be on their side. senate minority leader mitch mcconnell says a republican victory would have far-reaching consequences. >> it could have for the second

time in history taking us in a new direction. >> president obama and his advisers are playing down the impact of her republican takeover of the senate. but a recruiter there would give republicans control of both chambers of congress. it could make life even harder for president obama in the last two years of his presidency. >> voter apathy has been an issue in this election. we know that candidates have been rallying up to the last minute talk trying to win over undecided voters. what was the mood going into this election today? >> republicans and democrats have really spent a lot of money to win, up to $4 billion. never before so much money has been spent on midterm elections. as you can imagine, voters are

disgusted with it tone of many campaigns and the money spent on the negative ad that have been running for weeks and for months sometimes. they would prefer if they would just stick to their viewpoint without demonizing their opponent. a neighbor who was reluctant to answer a telephone call from a number he doesn't recognize fearing political messaging. for that reason he's just not willing to even use his phone any longer. >> tell us when will we know the outcome of this election? >> it's really hard to predict when all the results will be in. it's going to be a tight race. the worst case is that the final result won't be known until days to come. think of the runoff race, in georgia, libertarian candidate threatens to draw enough voters

to force a runoff between the democrat and republican candidate, and a runoff election within take place on january 6, about three days after the new congress is scheduled. >> thank you very much. we will get some more analysis now. joining us in the studio is a political strategist and campaign consultant who worked on both of obama's presidential campaigns. thanks for being with us. talk to us first about obama's role in this election. was he a liability for the democrats? >> you look at his approval ratings in the low 40's, some candidates were not too keen on being seen with him on the stage. "he him zigzagging across the country appearing at campaign rallies and so forth. he was very active in fundraising, making sure democrats had the necessary

funds to have an impact on this election. republicans are trying to make it a referendum on his presidency. you see ebola, the crisis in syria and people are worried about the country. he certainly has been a liability. >> julius, just assuming that this is the big night for the republicans and that they take both houses, what will it mean for president obama and his ability to push through the remainder of his the policies -- of his policies. >> it has been a do-nothing congress. republicans have been blocking everything. republicans have to take leadership and look for a compromise. that's what the voters want to see in this election. or the last two years of the obama presidency, there have been very pressing issues like climate change and others of

great concern. it's going to be an issue for the obama white house to push through in the last two years. but again, there is tax reform and issues that we hope he will be up to work with republicans. he will have to set the agenda and push republicans into producing some results. >> that brings us to our next question, what can we expect from the republicans? how can we expect them to build on what we expect to be there gains in both houses of congress? will they be able to put their stamp on policy? >> i think they will be in a tough spot. the 2016 presidential election is looming. if they don't reach an agreement with the white house on immigration reform, demographics have changed and the latino vote is going to be crucial. if they get stamped as the do-nothing congress for the next two years and block everything

obama is putting out there, they're going to be in a tough spot to assure they have a chance in the white house race in 2016. >> thank you very much for your analysis. >> we shift our focus to ukraine, where a day after pro-russian rebels held a controversial election, president poroshenko has deployed additional troops. >> he held emerged to talks with his defense chiefs to discuss the emergency crisis in the rebel from hold of donetsk. >> it has undercut the already tenuous truce between the government and pro-russian separatists in eastern ukraine. next two days after the disputed election, separatists declared the formation of their new people's republic of donetsk. a rebel leader was sworn in as the president.

the ukrainian government in kiev has rejected the vote as illegal and illegitimate. he said he is the boss here and he is pledging to do good things for the people. ask together with you, i'm going to rebuild the people's republic of no net -- of donetsk. we will get the factories and mines running again. we will return the houses that have been destroyed. >> kiev says that sunday's election violates the cease-fire accord signed in september. it required low shall -- local elections to follow national law. they fear it could escalate a conflict that has artie claimed more than 4000 lives. >> let's cross to our correspondence in kiev and east ukraine. thanks for being with us.

so far, kiev has been powerless to stop the rebels from doing basically whatever they want. president poroshenko announced he is rethinking his strategy. is he in any situation -- any position to change the situation in ukraine? >> his intention is clear, he wants to show that country that he has the situation under control. he wants to punish the separatists but he cannot hurt innocent people. for example the water and gas and power supply could be cut in the next couple of days. >> let's go to kitty now in

eastern ukraine. you were there at the swearing-in ceremony for the rebel candidates there. tell us more about that. >> it was a short event, but very russian in theme, russian colors, dancing, lyrics in the song. the new leader said he wanted people to trust him and he vowed to stop the conflict. the event was attended by officials from russia. no other country recognizes his status, but even as he pledged to stop the conflict, shelling was going on very heavy throughout the night and today. >> i understand there's an upsurge in violence where you are. what have you been seeing? >> there is shelling almost on a daily basis here, most of that fighting is focused around the airport. rebel forces and the ukrainian

army still fighting for control of that airport. what we've seen over the past couple of days since these results were announced, it's really an upsurge in the violence. it went on for most of last night and all of today. also what we're hearing from multiple sources is a lot of movement. convoys moving out of.net. we don't know what is in those convoys.+ ukrainian forces want to bolster their troops. we have heard from the leader here that he doesn't agree but he believes that rebels -- where the ukrainian government currently holds ground, the fear is they may challenge that. >> from your perspective in kiev, how did things stand between the rebel fighters and government? >> horsing go call the elections last week in flagrant violation

of the cease-fire -- or shin ko called it a violation -- or shin go -- the president said after his meeting with important chiefs here, the ukrainian army will be rebuilt once again. he said also other areas will be there. people are afraid there may be mor violence in the next few days. >> thank you both very much. >> next we head to the middle east, where hundreds of thousands of shia muslims are descending on the iraqis city of karbala for the ashura religious

ritual. it is one of the holiest days for shiites, but tensions are especially high this year. with the islamic state controlling large parts of north and west iraq. they have braved the threat of militant attacks to be here. karbala, the holy city of shiite islam and the destination for ashura pilgrims. the grandson of the prophet mohammed died in battle here. pilgrims inflict wounds on themselves in memory of his stuff of -- in memory of his suffering. security has been high this year. with more than 20,000 police and soldiers deployed to protect worshipers. the iraqi government fears an attack by islamic state militants. they control much of northern iraq. >> we will be back after a very short break. stay with us.

>> welcome back. mexican authorities have detained a former mayor and his wife who are accused of ordering the disappearance of 43 students back in september. >> jose luis abarca and his wife were arrested in mexico city city. they have been on the run for week, along with the local police chief. police are still looking for the missing students. the case has rocked the mexican political establishment and outraged people across the country. >> let's get the very latest on this developing story from sandra weiss, our correspondent in weblog, mexico. public prosecutors are questioning the former mayor and his wife. what do we know about the case and their involvement? and is there any news about the fate of those missing students? >> we know they were arrested in

the early morning hours in mexico city. apparently it was neighbors to call the police for the reward of about 90,000 euros. both the mayor and his wife were awake. they were taken to the prosecutor's office and questioned. the parents hope they will give them information about the whereabouts of the missing students. we are still waiting for a press conference later today by the authorities for more information. >> why did it take police so long to catch the suspects? >> after the shootout it took a week or so for the federal authorities to take over the case. when they started investigating the mayor and his wife and the police chief who were still on the run -- it was not easy to

find them in the area where they were caught this morning. >> thank you very much for that update, sandra. now to some business news, the legacy of europe's debt crisis lingers on. the european commission has announced it is slashing its growth forecast for the eurozone. >> putting pressure on the ecb to act and keep the eurozone from spiraling into another recession. euro zone economies are making less headway that had been hoped. the european commission has slashed its projected growth to 0.8 percent, down from 1.2%. it has reduced its forecast for next year even more sharply. add news for national budgets and labor markets. -- bad news. >> the current face of economic

activity does not allow for rapid approaching of maximum capacities. growth in 2014 and 2015 is expected to be limited. >> economic powerhouse germany is also expected to see slower growth than predicted next year. this could mean tough times ahead for europe's largest economy. german chancellor angela merkel said the slow growth stems from a number of factors. >> the economic situation in the euro area has not improved is much as we had hoped. his is partly due to internal issues within the eurozone. but also because of important geopolitical factors. >> germany can play a significant role stimulating the eu economy erie it europe will not survive if there's only one engine or two or three engines.

>> but that extra drive isn't likely to come from france. its government deficit is expected to grow, further handicapping the eurozone second-largest economy. >> while the gloomy growth outlook had a knock on effect on european a premarket, our finciarepoer wptuy's tdi actionm the frankfurt stock exchange. mix again less economic growth in the eurozone. this scared off investors and make and sell shares. also most earnings reports coming in this tuesday were weaker than expected. for example, the earnings report of hugo boss, the tailor catering to bankers and business people, feels weaker demand here in europe and also asia. they ended trading deeply in the red and now many people think that an old dream of hugo boss might have to be buried.

promotion to the dax, the first leak here at the stock exchange. >> time to get a closer look at tuesday's numbers. starting in frankfurt, where we just heard the eu's downgrade was weighing heavily on investors minds. the dax finished almost 1% lower. the stoxx 50 dropped by 1.5%. on wall street, trading is still underway, the dow up by .2% and currency markets, one year will give you $1.25 u.s.. -- one euro. as we just heard, the ecb is under pressure. it's just assumed its new role as europe's banking watchdog. >> it will directly oversee 120 largest banks under one is called the single supervisory mechanism. until today, each member state was responsible for supervising its own bank. the aim of the mechanism is to ward off another euro

threatening crisis. four days of chaos. that's what train passengers in germany can look forward to from thursday onwards as the union representing train drivers raises the stakes in its ongoing dispute with germany's national railroad. >> the timing could not have been worse. the country will be marking 25 years since the fall of the berlin wall. passenger associations are up in arms and say this time, it unions are taking things too far. they want the parties to return to the negotiating table. >> at 2 a.m. thursday morning, german train drivers will walk off the job for four days. it will be the longest right so far in this dispute. as the union representing the train drivers turned up the pressure. but it's fun to demand more money, but should it be at the expense of the customers? in the end, it damages the company, too and the train

drivers jobs. >> the union is demanding a 5% raise and a shorter work week for train drivers and wants to new contract to also apply to gdl members and other jobs. those have traditionally been represented by a rival union. it rejects the demand, saying he doesn't want to contracts were people doing the same work. >> what we really need is a mediator to bring both parties, both sides to say precisely what they want. >> the strike will not only pose a problem to millions of passengers in germany, but perhaps to the overall economy. freight train drivers will be striking so other industries could suffer bottlenecks and production losses because of supply delays. >> u.s. president barack obama has signed a declaration for emergency help for a hawaiian in town threatened by lava. >> lava from the volcano has been moving slowly toward the town of pahoa four weeks.

residents of about 50 homes are on evacuation alert. the lava has already covered part of a cemetery. the volcano has erected continuously since 1983. >> we continue our weeklong special coverage of the anniversary of the fall of the berlin wall. it impacted the lives of countless people. >> putting some of our colleagues here at dw. he worked for the east german radio service. he witnessed the protests that brought an end to communism, but fear made him keep his distance. >> a trip back in time. the images take him back more than 20 years, to an autumn in 1989. >> now of course, i get goosebumps. the memories are everywhere. you can see the images all over the city.

the city is remembering what happened 25 years ago. >> that autumn, a growing crowd of people took to the streets commanding freedom and political reform. 70,000 marched through the city on october 9. henrik was there, but he was watching, not marching. >> it was a great fear which stopped me from taking part. stopped me from experiencing what my father was doing. to know afterwards that i should have joined them is an internal conflict which i'll never be able to resolve. that's just how it is. >> this is the nikolai church in the old city. it was here that the pastor helped to form the resistance. of course the government focused its powers here, too. >> the police vans were on the side street and body bags were

stacked there. it reminded people of china. tiananmen was not so far away in terms of time. there was hope, but also fear. >> the marchers made their way on the nikolai church through the city. his father was with them. two men climbed the church tower to film the now famous images of the demonstration. a couple of hundred meters for that further along, the former head corners of the secret services. the demonstrators passed by here, too peavy >> everyone knew what was in there and everyone in there knew what was happening outside, possibly the beginning of their ends. >> he had to join the socialist party but he resisted attempts to recruit him. but i think overcoming this fear

of the surveillance state no longer holding yourself back, but voicing your opinions, i think that was the hurdle which had to be overcome so this peaceful revolution could happen. >> henrik failed to overcome his fear again. he and hundreds of thousands of others. >> that is all for now. >> thanks so much for watching. see you at the top of the hour. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org]

maybe you have some energy- saving appliances, like an energy star-rated washer and dryer. but what about your tv? chances are it's on more than your washer, dryer, and kitchen appliances combined. did you know that if half of us in the u.s. replaced our regular tvs with an energy star model, the change would be like shutting down a power plant? you can find the energy star on everything from standard to high def to the largest flat-screen your heart desires. ow that makes sense.

here is your host. >> hi there and a warm welcome to our "highlights" edition shaping up this time with the following top reports -- we check out the latest works from british artist alex chinneck. ulla-lena lundberg of finland gets her inspiration from her island home. and in adventure. we go on safari in this picturesque region of spain. he's touted as the guy who makes houses melt, slide, turn upside down and even float. alex chinneck is a 30 year-old british installation artist who's fascinated with structural elements and tricking the eye. his latest project is presently on show in london in a prime position at covent garden. take my lightning do