>> this is dw news life from berlin. russia says it will hold on new airstrikes since the battle for aleppo is intensifying. syrian rebels say they have launched a fresh offensive to break the governments to month the. -- siege. the civilians caught up in the fighting. a historic agreement to create the world's biggest marine reserve in antarctica. scientists say it will protect one of the planets last unspoiled wildernesses. ♪

and a new german film shows how younger generations are taking a more relaxed approach to dealing with one of the country's most sensitive issues. i'm sarah harmon, thanks for joining us. russian president ladner putin has denied a request to resume bombing of aleppo. he says he believes another humanitarian cause was needed. the kremlin stresses that the will take all means to support the syrian army. this as they have launched a large-scale attack on aleppo held by the government. >> this footage is showing rebels heading into aleppo. it is surrounded by the government which is supported by russia.

the aim is to open up the east to deliver food and aid to civilians. and weapons to federal -- fellow rebels. the rebels include militants from so-called islamic state according to the syrian government. its biggest backer russia hosted a meeting on friday and vowed to intensify its fight against these terrorist groups. >> we have stressed for the continuation and intensification against the terrorists as well as the parallel improvements and the current cease-fire regime. also the urgent watch of the negotiations in accordance with the u.s. without any preliminary terms. the syrian government says it would consider a cease-fire but only under certain conditions. >> we are ready to again repeat

the attempt after we have received guarantees that confirmed the country supporting these organizations are prepared to act so civilians could use the cease-fire to leave the city. the rebels are determined to break the government siege of the eastern parts of the city making a cease-fire look less and less likely. sarah: let's pull in our visiting fellow at the brookings institute in doha. we're hearing that president putin has refused the request. we hear about rebel offensive on the city but what do you make of that? >> i think it relates certainly to russia's strategic calculus nests and there has been a lot of pressure on the russians this past week.

many in the international community house attributed to russia and its fighter jets. i don't think it represents a significant shift in russian strategy in syria. it is rather a question of what happens with this new rebel offensive and waiting for things to cool down. russia is still heavily invested in assuring the assad regime takes place. this current development will not change anything. sarah: is it fair to say that putin is refusing to resume his airstrikes because of that humanitarian outcry? >> i don't think the atrocities that are taking place in syria or allegations have a bearing on russia's actions and strategy in syria. there is a much bigger issue at

play here in assuring the assad regime stays in place and ensuring russian offensives are not the mike. it is possible that the allegations of human rights abuses and that humanitarian pools that they say is the russians are still implementing. it might be better to wait for things to cool down. there is no doubt about it. sarah: following today's meeting in moscow, can we expect to see any humanity charity and measures for the of aleppo? >> much of it will depend on how things evolve militarily on the ground. it is possible that the

humanitarian pools would not hamper their own military objective. that is certainly possible. i don't think the meeting itself relates to that aspect of the conflict. it is about ensuring their actions and strategy is in sync. it is an issue of coordinating politically and militarily. the alliances that have russians and syrians have is not long-standing. they are partnerships of convenience. sarah: that was our analyst at the brookings institute in doha speaking to us a little earlier. to iraq now. elephants have killed more than 230 people in mosul for refusing orders to be a part of a human shield. jihadists have kidnapped and

moved them to's strategic sites. humanitarian organizations expect hundreds of thousands of civilians to flee as the offensive continues. a landmark agreement has created the world's largest mersey -- marine reserve off the coast of antarctica. conservationists say it is one of the most pristine environments left. >> it is one of the world's most pristine wildernesses. home to thousands of species. now over one million square kilometers in antarctica is a

protected reserve. that is thanks to a historic agreement of 24 countries. negotiations have been going on for years with russia a longtime holdout. >> i've always had a view that it would be a miracle to get 25 countries to agree. this is the better deal than i thought we would get. over three quarters of the area will have a blanket ban on commercial fishing. scientists are eager for the sanctuary to serve as a living laboratory. >> it allows us to see where it affects climate change is having on the ocean as well as having a reserve or protected area that would allow the ocean to build

resilience. >> and the agreement sets of president. -- a president. outside of any single nation's jurisdiction. cooperation that will be vital is more of these vulnerable environments will be protected in the future. sarah: i spoke to the marine policy advisor and we asked him how important the creation of the arctic reserves is. >> david rivera is excited about this achievement. it is so important because arctic oceans are the most pristine areas of the and much

of it is untouched. it is teeming with life and we have a dynamic ecosystem. fish and other whales and dolphins are important there. sarah: in myanmar, several women say they were raped by soldiers during raids earlier this month. the sexual assaults allegedly happened when they were searching. the military denies that allegations but the u.s. state department has expressed concern . >> homes and markets torched in

the remote northwest. it has cracked down on militants. government troops put the city and locked out. now hundreds of women say they were sexually assaulted. when loading -- one woman recounts being great at gunpoint. >> they took me inside the house. two men held me. the other one help me by my hair in the back and they raped me. the women had stayed in their villages to prevent their homes being torched. the man had fled from government troops fearing they would be rounded up as militants. i told the security forces that they had run away because they were afraid. they also asked our muslim women

, where are the men? and then they beat them up. a spokesman for the local border police had this to say. >> we will take action if we find out they had carried out this physical abuse. we cannot let this happen. government dismissed the accounts as propaganda from muslim groups. the u.s. has called for a thorough investigation. it is the worst to hit states since 2012. sarah: the u.s. where the fbi says they are re-opening their investigation. the sba already spent about a year investigating her e-mail use after it emerged that her classified server -- personal

service included gospel documents. -- classical documents. now they are looking at more e-mails and it all comes less than two weeks before the presidential election. let's get more now from washington. how bad is this for clinton? >> i think it is a mess for her. they were better to the leader of congress and said there is a new investigation. it is bad headlines a couple of weeks before november 8. i don't think there will be an answer to that question in the days to come. these new e-mails were found during the fbi investigation of anthony weiner. whom a avidin is philip -- huma

abedin is hillary clinton's closest aide. this is really bad for hillary. sarah: has also responded to this news? >> yes he has said of fbi made a terrible sake not to continue the investigation. just think for a minute, she could become a president under investigation. the president is appointing the fbi director. how could president hillary clinton do this? sarah: thank you very much. don't forget, you can always get dw news on the go. that will give you access to the latest news and you can get push notifications.

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>> looking back, you are watching dw news. 40 years of war in afghanistan have led to million afghans living as refugees. the government in islamabad now wants the refugees to lead. they include popular afghan editions -- the distance -- musicians. they are reported -- forced to return to the country they barely know. ♪ >> he sings an old afghan

folksong. they tell the story about them packing up and leaving. after 40 years and pakistan, that is not what he has to do. >> i was born and brought up here. we fled afghanistan because of the fighting. our circumstances have improved. the government is not allowing us to stay anymore. they are sending us back to afghanistan. afghan music is popular here even if the lyrics are a foreign english for most pakistanis. >> i have all the top afghan songs. but not everything is so popular. frictions between islamabad and

couple have led to increased friction. this rise and regional tension has prompted pakistan to intensify efforts. some 200,000 have returned this year alone. it's any don't want to leave, they say the war-ravaged economy will leave them with few opportunities. one afghan musician now returns to play. with the right papers, his visit is free. >> my wishes that those who are going to afghanistan should not fear that they are breaking off with pakistan for good. they should keep all the memories of this place in their hearts. they should keep coming back again and again because we have great love for pakistan and

especially for the city. sarah: now for business news on how the u.s. economy might influence the election. >> will be economy decide the u.s. election? it shows that it is added strongest for a few years now. the gdp has expanded 3%. this puts pressure on the federal reserve to raise interest rates this year. in the meantime, the u.s. election is just around the corner. donald trump accuses the democrats of poor economic management but the numbers are telling a different story. >> donald trump has regularly

blamed the democrats for stunting growth. hillary clinton has said that the republican is the poster boy for everything wrong with our economy. much of the growth has been educated to a jump in exports along with low unemployment. different sectors are going strong. and internet giants are investing heavily in infrastructure. amazon has expanded. donald trump has said that the a obama economy has ruined it. not everyone is benefiting from the growth in gdp. those in exports section are are not helping people in kentucky. they are angry and it clues -- accuse hillary clinton of forgetting about them. >> donald trump is the only hope

we have got. >> they are taking our industries away. >> both candidates will try to turn the announcement. whichever of them gets the nod, the next president will have an impact on growth. sarah: time to bring in our financial correspondent on wall street. democrats are using the word strong growth while the opponents are saying that the economy is falling below expectations. >> overall if you just look at the headline numbers, that will not decide the election. there are some people who have

profited from the growth. there are a lot of people who did not participate in the growth. on the republican side, there is always the that the u.s. is having one of the lowest recoveries in history. growth has been subdued for some time. we also see one of the longest expansion in the u.s. in history as well. it is tough to tell. overall it is doing rather well. this number is not going to decide the election. sarah: the economy is an important issue in any election. how will they influence the outcome? >> it really depends on single industries and single states. who profits and doesn't?

putting those numbers aside, what we saw here is some turmoil in wall street. there might be a new investigation into hillary clinton and that caused quite some turbulence this year. wall street prices dropped for a bit. that shows there is a lot of insurgency popping up only a few days ahead of the election. sarah: thank you so much. the vast majority of german films doing business in russia want sanctions lifted. they say the pew -- punitive members are not working. despite the current situation and they are already preparing for taking on new staff. >> even the most hospitable regions attract german investors. they are rich in raw cereals and

companies have been working there for years with russian oil and gas companies. others manufacture and supply the hard lines. they are just as important to the industry and german carmakers have also invested. they are taking the approach that conditions there will stabilize. most of the companies surveyed say they stand by their commitments there. 91% of them want to maintain their current activities. 56% of companies surveyed plan to expand operations and 54% forecast an increase in sales. 86% want to see an end to sanctions. those companies say the sanctions imposed are not achieving their purpose and simply that abstract foreign investors.

-- obstruct foreign investors. sarah: thank you so much. a new film being shown at a festival here in germany is making headlines. the blue of yesterday is seen as a sign of changing times. the people tackling collective guilt about world war ii. >> is a holocaust researcher tortured by his family's not see past. not least because his own family was the use of the not seized. -- victims of the nazis.

>> the odd couple in this romantic comedy. he says he is not making fun of the holocaust but approaching the way we deal with it with irony. this thought-provoking film is often poetic and moving.

eventually he does manage to loosen the stiff german. sarah: you're watching dw news live from berlin. more to come. stay with us. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org]

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