captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org-- >> hello, bob and to "the

journal." our headlines, the british prime minister, is real sank or sanctions are under way. the german parliament begins debating next year's budget against the backdrop of the euro zone debt crisis. >> the swiss franc plunges against the euro. >> disputes in israel. it would be suspended all military ties with israel, threatened further sanctions. relations between the country deteriorated last week with the publication of the united nations report of an israeli raid on a gaza bound flotilla.

>> the turkish prime minister is in no mood. >> israel has always acted like a spoiled child in the face of human decisions. they think they can get away with it. >> it started in may of last year. activists were killed. a u.n. report last week blamed demanded an apology from israel. turkey says -- israel says that they're just doing what the turkish do. let by are the strongest and most important nations at the present time. even when we have disputes, we

should act out of our heads, not our guts. >> for now, turkey is still piling pressure on israel. but in all arms deals with this bill on hold. the prime minister says that he might visit gaza later this month. >> the libyan transitional council says that the last of the market of the supporters are about to fall. the main negotiators of the rebels said that an agreement had been reached with tribal leaders, but it remains unclear whether it will be a peaceful handover or if it will be taken by force. they said that the majority of inhabitants were on the side of the rebels. muammar gaddafi is not believed to be in the town. the european union is preparing

a new round of sanctions against syria. officials say that they above target economic entities that support the government of elah thought -- el assad. demonstrations on the internet coming from various cities. activists in the country say that at least two people were killed. united nations estimate is that 2200 people have been elected dead since march. afghan authorities said they have recovered the bodies of two germans that went missing, one of them by hiking trip two weeks ago. the bodies have been taken to the u.s. air base, where the bill be handed over to german authorities. the prime minister said that the identification process had not yet been completed. they believe that the germans were murdered.

in germany the parliament has begun to debate the 2012 budget. it calls for less borrowing and higher tax revenues. this against the backdrop of the roseau debt crisis, confirming the global economic slowdown. >> german leaders are anxiously waiting for wednesday to find out if the country's top court will rule that the euro zone bailouts were unconstitutional. if so, this could put a stop to german help for countries in trouble. when the euros on financial crisis came up, it was a big issue on the first day of the debate for 2012. the government says that it will reduce borrowing next year and that other european countries need to do the same period >> alongside better financial market regulation, the top

priority is to cut down the extensive public debt in most industrialized countries. all of the experts agree, excessive debt is the main reason for this crisis. what's while germany tells other countries to stop spending its own 2012 budget still has the government borrowing 27 billion euros to cover its spending plan. the operatives say that that is too much and that the figures are in any case, which of thinking. >> in the forecast they pretend that these numbers do not exist. it is a classic case of an overly optimistic budget. >> the chancellor also faces dissent in her own ranks. some members of the coalition may not vote in favor of the plan at the end of the month. >> our political correspondent was there to watch the debate. joining us now from our parliamentary studios, simon,

doubts continue over the euros on debt crisis. >> that is right. the entire debate has been overshadowed about the concerns over the euro. many parliamentarians on the government benches are not convinced that the measures agreed upon so far will be enough to put an end to the crisis. they are worried that other countries, besides greece, might be lining up in the future looking for bailouts. they say that germany has opened itself up too far too much risk. no one knows how much money germany but eventually have to contribute to these bailout. this uncertainty is spending to the german budget planning as well. >> under how much pressure is the german chancellor? >> this is a difficult week for the chancellor. wednesday, the constitutional court is going to rule on the

rescue plans for the euro and for greece and move whether the german parliament should be given more control over those measures. immediately after that, the chance of above have to defend her policies. she is already looking beleaguered. the rebels within her own party are saying that they but not vote for that -- for these rescue plans. it is a make or break week for the chancellor, i should say. >> simon e. young, thank you very much for that. the french parliament is expected to pass in favor of the bailout fund later this week. the french finance minister said that a yes from france and germany was essential to stabilize the euro. parliament is also debating 11 billion euros in spending cuts and tax increases. the measures are designed to

pave with the new european bailout fund. in italy as well? >> in deed. the prime minister in italy has bowed to market pressure and performed a major u-turn. the coalition is now planning to raise the sales tax, saying that they will not raise taxes for the wealthy for a balanced budget by 2013. tens of thousands of italians took to the streets to protest the austerity measures. >> tuesday's demonstration in rome ended with a rally at the coliseum. and the thousand had been marking -- marching under slogans about not meddling with employment laws. many italians feel that the proposed spending cuts are unfair. especially after silvio burlesque only dropped the plan to end taxes on the wealthy. >> an austerity drive of 45

billion euros. >> the biggest union in italy said that they went on strike because they are on the brink. >> the country is in a difficult situation. it is important to move fast. what many politicians from the ranks of the opposition joined the protest, including one important italian leader. >> if it was a normal country, the government would have revived a long time ago. >> the upper house of the italian parliament spoke on the debate. the government has indicated that passage of the measure will be tied to a vote of confidence. >> the swiss franc plunged on tuesday after the central bank intervened.

the bank wants to keep the exchange rate below 1.20. they have been putting their cash into less risky assets, a top budget assets demanded. for more on this story, we speak to christoph on whether the swiss national bank's is going to be able to keep the franc below its target. >> it is definitely the case that it will work. i think that they have even more tools they have used at the moment to keep the level where it will work. >> what kind of measures can they implement to stop the franc from strengthening further? >> first of all, they can buy

the euro in the market and again the swiss franc, so the buying of swiss francs from others, for example, they can purchase european assets. such as the purchasing of the euro and the settling of the swiss franc. but what about the timing? does it make sense when the euro zone is in major trouble? >> it is never doubt -- good timing. but it is something that can defend the swiss economy. if you think it is necessary to do it, you have to do that. >> thank you for that, christoph, coming to us from frankfurt. >> thank you. >> tuesday was another day of

losses. looking at the benchmark index, it was 1% number. down 1.2%. in new york, the dow industrials was also about where. the euro was at 139.94. pumping gas into the pulpit -- baltic pipeline to germany, the undersea pipeline is the first direct link to brush up. what's with the click of a mouse, the russian prime minister open to the valves in the pipeline. the partnership has reached a major milestone. [applause] in 2005, vladimir putin and the german chancellor joined the

board of the pipeline operators. it runs for 1,200 kilometers along the baltic seabed. protests against the project from environmental groups went unheeded. completion means that they can get their gas to the customers in western europe about having to depend on countries like the western ukraine. >> ukraine has been our partner for a long time. every transit country falls into the temptation of exploitation. now it no longer has an exclusive position. like squid 6 rome -- warned that they will become more powerful in the market. the first gas delivery to the baltic pipeline is expected by october.

>> telecom is facing strong opposition in its plans to selloff american opposition to its second biggest wireless operator, at&t. sprint has filed an anti-trust suit in an attempt to block the takeover. saying that give at&t too much of the market. at&t argues that it would allow the bringing of high-speed services to more people at lower cost. at&t may have to pay for a $6 billion break up. let's thank you, steve. -- >> and thank you, steve. 40 score people missing, countless stranded after the worst storm in years. emergency crews have been

airdropping food and supplies to areas, off by floods and landslides. >> just six months after the devastating earthquake and tsunami, japan has been it by another natural catastrophe. the worst storm in decades ripped across the country, leaving a trail of destruction. many communities are cut off from the outside world. >> i heard the sound of rocks tumbling down. i was terribly afraid. i thought that my whole house would be backed away. what emergency crews continued to search for survivors. this man's daughter was killed by the typhoon. his wife is still missing. >> first, i have to see how i

can help the people here. after that? i can think about my own family. >> downgraded to a tropical storm, they continue to drop rain of the northern islands. what you are watching "the journal" on dw-tv. looking at websites like facebook and twitter and their connection to social media events around the world, just after a short break. stay with us.

>> the day that shook the world. the fight against terrorism continues. that threat has not diminished. it truly hopeless war at a high price. the 9/11 trap. starting september 11, on dw-tv. >> welcome back. we saw the role of facebook in

twitter in the uprising of the arab world, allowing people to circumvent authoritarian regimes. also visible in the london draft, thousands of people came from the streets. critics warned that we should not underestimate the power of social media. in our extended report, but at how communities of users operate their strengths and limitations. >> strength in numbers. when a school of fish behave like a swarm, the fish can better protect themselves from enemies and find food quicker. in the mass, individuals disappear. on the streets it does not book organized, but they can

articulate their goals and in most cases they anonymous. social network offer the means. protests can be ord -- organized and revolutions can be started. how strong are these networks? critics doubt the effectiveness. >> facebook, twitter, they can facilitate something like an initial impulse, creating a platform without any sustainable, social change they cannot build the structures within a society that lead to anything more than simply regime change. something that make sure that any thing can be carried out successfully. >> does that mean that the swarms are short lived and without a leader? what of the arab spring? it seems clear that without facebook and twitter, these revolutions would have taken

years, if they had happened at all. the entire world was able to partake in the protests which might lead to an overthrow the government in some countries. despite these successes, skeptics maintain that social network are not viable tools. like this should not be talked up too much. in principle, it is just a crutch that replaces political opposition but technology. this new narrative being propagated by be particularly technically inclined is that a wooden leg is better than the real thing, which is a bit cynical. let this type of criticism cannot slowdown was warm. -- >> this type of criticism cannot slowdown the swarm. every circle here stands for a

person. the bigger the circle, the more often that person's messages were sent again. this is what a twitter swarm but like. who leads this swarm? this is the press conference of the compact organization. using its website, they mobilized supporters for various causes, ranging from child rights to nuclear power. the current issue? german tanks sales to saudi arabia. in order to act with respect to the protest, a human rights activist reports on house saudi arabia helped to squash the pro- democracy movement there. the activist talks to last through the internet. >> the debate does not just a

place on the web. it is also always happening on the street. the protests in virtual space need to be connected to be effective. purely bad-based campaigns tend to lose momentum because most media and politicians concentrate on events in real space. there would have to be an intelligent combination between online and offline. >> in front of the chancellor's office in berlin, the protest has moved into real space. the swarm is small, but is making itself heard. in democratic countries it is fairly easy to organize demonstrations through facebook and twitter, like these demonstrations against unemployment in spain.

in other countries, the swarm has might be enemies. in china and the government has spies in the social network. the swarm is powerless. will it be caught up in the net of the dictatorship? >> regimes that can learn have learned to disguise themselves and sometimes pretend to be opposition activists. they pass on information that is not in the short term or medium term interests of the members, but can be adjusted to their interests. >> this is how when internet's warned about. messages and expressions of opinions. this shows how they spread and baht content they are working

on. but it is not always about politics, freedom, and human rights. sometimes it is just about violence. the riots in england were sparked by twitter. then the police started to take note of the internet and swarms reacted. suddenly messages started to be sent by blackberry pound, which the authorities can now access. the swarm, the mob, will be streets. what's it is not always morality and intelligence that are the decisive influence on what is going on. sometimes it is just events, headlines, or even a state of emergency that we find represented there. but the swarm can also be a group on the hunt. in germany they have set their sights on politicians who have copied parts of their work with

the doctorates. this man talks about his job with a ph.d. and for the prime minister. searching for style changes, always a sign of plagiarism, he worked anonymously on the internet but does not see himself as a hunter. let's imagine they hunted, wild animal that can escape as long as there are not too many hunters. when there are hundreds or thousands, they do not have a chance. but plagiarism, it is completely different. a single person can uncover it, they just need a lot of time. >> it also shows how quickly and effectively it can work. each collor stands for a person who has examined one part of a doctoral thesis. it is not hard to imagine that a swarm could achieve many other

things as well. >> one could argue that a new force is developing. one that anyone can take part in. you do not need to be educated or be a part of the elite. there is an aspect of grass- roots democracy about it. let there are now millions of people that have joined one of the countless swarms of mind. strength in numbers. they are fighting for social justice and freedom. they have only just begun. let the power of social media is the focus. stay connected, we are leaving with a look at the day's headlines.