sarah: this is dw news live from berlin. the russian opposition leaders calling for a boycott of the president about next year. this after the country's election commission barred him from running against president clinton. and outspoken critic, he is going to appeal the decision. also, in moscow, a bus crashes into a subway underpass, killing four people. several others have been injured. police are questioning the driver and investigating what caused this crash.

and, pope francis delivers his christmas day blessing and he got four israelis and palestinians to come together and resume talks aimed at a two state solution. they're called this the path to peace in the holy land. meanwhile, in his christmas address, germany's president urged germans not to lose hope in times of uncertainty as the country struggles to find a new government. we will bring him -- bring you the new message. i am sarah harman. welcome to the shell, great to have you with us. alexi novotny may have reached the end of the line in his bid to enter next year's presidential race. the country's election commission has rejected his candidacy, setting a past conviction. he is a kremlin critic and says

the move is only meant to stifle opposition to vitamin. >> election commission's vote was a setback for novotny. 12 of the 13 members reported a motion to bar him from running in the next election with one member staining. the opposition leader was ineligible due to a past conviction for embezzlement. >> the crime which he was charged with is a serious one. this deprives a person who committed that crime of the right to run for the post of russian federation president. >> the charge was trumped up to report his political ambitions. speaking before the vote, the kremlin critic said a candidate was needed to confront the country's problems. >> is not about novotny but a candidate is needed who will

finally speak openly about everything taking place in our country have. one who will describe how reality honestly, the lack of any future prospects and the poverty, i did that and that is why he won't allow me to take part in the election. just moments after the commission plus decision to reject his bed, he released a free recorded message calling on supporters to boycott next year's vote. >> we had as a boycott of the election. the way they want to carry out the vote is not a real election. it will feature only putin and the candidates he has personally selected. the one-two don't pose any threat to him. they haven't campaigned and they will not campaign. president vladimir putin is campaigning as an independent. polls show him on course to an a fourth term. this would allow him to stay in office another six years.

>> that sticking to moscow where emily has been following this story for us. quite a setback, he is calling for this election to be boycotted now. what is he really going to do? emily: he is going to appeal the decision as you said and he is also saying that in that video that you just showed, he wanted to turn his campaign headquarters all over the country into boycott centers, he says he wants to campaign against the election so we don't know whether that means protests as well, we will have to wait and he also called on his supporters not only to boycott but to monitor turnout during the elections and that is interesting because they were media reports yesterday that the kremlin is hoping to achieve 70%

turnout and a thing of people will vote for put in. that is their goal. obviously, if you can undermine whatever numbers they provide for turnout for even undermine that turnout by boycotting the election and calling his supporters to boycott the election, i suppose he hopes that will undermine the legitimacy of the presidential election as a whole. >> barred from running, are there any other opposition candidates? emily: there are, even the pollutant is widely expected to win with a huge majority, alexi has gone unpublished candidates to pull out of the election as well and i want to mention here is the opposition candidate, she is a former socialite and -- and journalist. she has said that she would withdraw if alexi's candidate --

candidacy was not allowed. she is widely seen as a kremlin candidate, a kremlin project, one the kremlin has put forward to make elections seem legitimate according -- i putting every opposition power. she has said things like the crimea attic extension was against international law. that is very customer -- controversial. that is one to watch so far. her campaign has not said anything on social media about this newest news. >> that is emily reported for us in moscow. ; staying in moscow, at least four people have been killed, others injured after a bust out into a busy pedestrian underpass. moscow authorities have ruled out terrorism and have detained the driver of the bus for questioning. >> cctv footage shows the bus leaving the side of a busy multilane highway and plunging

into a pedestrian underpass near the metro station. several victims were crushed beneath the wheels as the vehicle careened down the steps. emergency services rush to the scene to recover the bus, there is no evidence so far of any terrorist involvement. >> there are probably technical and human factors in play, the state of the road cannot have been a factor, it was clear. >> it is not the bus driver may have lost control of the vehicle because of a problem with the handbrake, police held him for questioning. for people to not make it, we managed to prevent the bus catching fire. the bus has now been towed out of the pedestrian underground passage, we have finished our operation here. >> the incident happened on one of moscow's busiest roads. monday is an ordinary working day in russia when the orthodox

christmas is celebrated on january the sevth. ; he is a look at the other stories making news around the world. at least six people have been killed in a suicide bombing in the afghan capital of cabal. this was near an office belonging to the country's national security agency. the islamic state has claimed responsibility. berlusconi said to believe a man who crashed his car into the headquarters of the social democratic party on christmas eve was trying to make -- who said he was trying to commit suicide. he has been hospitalized and always found several canisters of petrol in the vehicle. a rockslide in austria has cut off an entire village from the outside world. rocks, soil and trees fell across the community's main service road just 10 minutes before the rocks came down, a number of locals traveled the

road to get to christmas mass, no injuries have been reported. the queen has given her traditional christmas day address. she patriot to the cities of london and manchester for their handling of this year's terror attacks. the queen remember this 71 victims of the granville towers fire. we turn now to some christmas celebrations around the world as christians across continents and cultures have been celebrating the holiday. pope francis get the traditional blessing from a balcony overlooking st. peter's square, it is one of the most sacred addresses in the catholic calendar.

>> 10,000 catholics and tourist gathered outside st. peter's to hear the pope's traditional blessing, what it means to the city and the world and the pope also had a worldly matter on his mind. in his address, france is repeated calls for solutions to the ongoing conflict in the middle east. this was recently stoked by u.s. president donald trump's recognition of jerusalem as israel's capital. >> on this festive day, let us ask the lord for peace for jerusalem and for all the holy land. let us pray that the will to resume dialogue they prevail between the parties and that a negotiated solution can be finally reached. one that would allow the peaceful coexistence of two states with internationally recognized borders. the pups christmas eve mass was no less political.

he told catholics to be welcoming toward people you have been driven -- who have been driven from their hnflicts, comd joseph's journey to bethlehem with the mass migration seen today. the holy couple had arrived at a place where there was no room for them to stay. >> so many other footsteps are hidden in the steps of joseph and mary. we see the tracks of entire families forced to set out in our own day, we see the tracks of millions who do not choose to go away but driven from their land, leave behind their dear ones. the pope's support for refugees

has put him at odds with some politicians but already, it has become a key feature of his tenure. >> turning now to german soccer where they are enjoying it will end winter break. after the one of the most compelling first pass in years, the huge controversy over the new video referee system, there is hardly than a dull moment, here is a look back at the season so far, >> the comeback of the year saw them replace him and return for a fourth stint as the coach of bayern munich in october. buyer now has an 11 point lead at the top of the league. there was a flying start.

dortmund posses and fell apart as they went eight league games without a win. the dutchman was fired in early december. he was replaced with peter sterner. let go by cologne, no one would have beieved the story if it had not happened. >> he had departed cologne with his side routed to the bottom, having finished an impressive fifth and reached europe last season. after anthony modeste left for china, their campaign nosedived with injuries also not helping. the sporting director and coach -- paid the price and relegation now beckons. in contrast, second place been one of the positive surprises, the 32-year-old coach has found the perfect mix. there has been no magical football, just hard work and

huge team spirit as shown by the incredible draw having been down for-no. the big talking point is term has been the video review trial, rather than limit controversy, the system has caused more confusion with the rules over its use, referees are in the spotlight more than ever. >> editing using the evidence is correct but the way we have implemented it has been a catastrophe, both internally and externally and that is what it will surely hit both. >> like every thing football, it is important to keep your eye on the ball, quite literally, robin will be making that -- want to making that mistake again. they will hope to have a bit more focus for the second half of the season starting on january 12. >> russia's deputy prime minister has stepped down as head of the country's football federation for a. of six months. his comes just three weeks after he was handed a lifelong ban by

the ioc for his alleged involvement in the state-sponsored doping of russian athletes. despite the interim resignation, he will remain the chief of the world cup organizing committee, the tournament will take place in june. time for some business news and it has been a mixed holiday season for retailers. >> he has made his list, checked it twice and now father christmas can put his feet up. retailers will be taking stock of the run up to today's festivities. here in germany, small shop owners said sales were below expectations but major retail chains and department stores sold a lot of books, toys, clothes, gadgets and cosmetics, more people than ever before also went online to buy items for their families and friends, the german retail associations as online sales increased by 10% this holiday season to 12 billion euros.

many of the big my spending products are from the world of tech, both the serious and the silly. >> look at the little drummer boy to -- playing without a drum set. he's playing on free drum, using sensors to track it drummer's movement. throw in a roller coaster and copenhagen, you can write a dragon through a fantasy world. for enjoy the thrills of a hyperrealistic london skyline -- skyline adventure when you're laying in an advanced swivel chair. virtual reality made a big splash in 2017 but not only for thrill seekers. the art is a learning tool as well. this lets you look inside the body, a lesson in biology. wearables were all over the place. dressing humans and dogs with a collar that connect to gps and other devices.

and if wearing your tech is not personal enough for you, how about implants? shipping people sounds like an orwellian or scenario but it is quite practical. once chipped in place at a swedish company can open the door at his web with a hand. >> i want to be part of the future. >> a future where even information about your train ticket is stored under your skin. a feature where you pay using your fingertips. privacy issues -- not for these early adopters. >> my facebook account knows more about me than this company will ever know about me. i am not really bothered by that. >> humans and technology taking another step toward each other in 2017. you do the walking, the avatar follows. at least for now. >> we are staying intact, bitcoin swings over the holiday

season, prices have ranged between 11 and $40,000 within the last 24 hours. the overall has lost a quarter of its value in the past week alone. some observers suggest that many investors were cashing in on a massive gains as the most of their books out of the holidays. despite the recent selloff, bitcoin has still rallied since the beginning of this year. around 1300%. israel's market regulator wants to ban bitcoin, the authority is looking to step up and is business in digital currency from trading on the tel aviv stock exchange. the move will be subject to approval by the board next week. israel's treasury says it will introduce a challenger to bitcoin, a digital shackle. the aim will be to stop millions of dollars worth of value exiting the company by a global cryptography. that as more countries investigate digital alternatives to cash.

britain's railways are mostly closed for repairs of the christmas but one of the country's busiest terminal stations, houston has been open to two people normally hunt the shadows there. 200 homeless people were given christmas dinner along with warm clothing, sox, clubs and lucky bags. the charity event was funded by a total of 45 companies. something to warm the heart for christmas. >> think you for that heartwarming story, daniel. you are watching dw news. we have more coming at the top of the hour, will leave you with this, the christmas address from the german president. we'll see you soon. >

elaine reyes: there is no cure, but there is new hope in preventing dengue, the mosquito-borne disease that affects millions. i'm elaine reyes in washington, d.c., and this is "americas now." first up: dengue fever, the type that can kill you, is on the rise. now after decades of attempts, researchers have developed a vaccine. translator: the vaccine still saves you lots of money compared to what you'd have to spend if you got the disease. [man speaking spanish] reyes: correspondent gerry hadden reports on fighting dengue in mexico, and tells us about the vaccine's availability in latin america. next, imagine a bicycle blender that can not only grind corn but also make shampoo. for this week's game changer, meet the founder of maya pedal-- mario juanes.