this is "the journal" on dw- tv. i am heather. >> and i have the business news. >> voted to admit palestine. >> greece says it will hold a referendum on the rescue deal agreed by eu leaders last week. >> and the world welcomes its 7 billionth citizen. the world population.

the united states has announced it is cutting off all aid to unesco after the cultural agency voted to let palestine be a full member. the white house called the vote a distraction from the least peace. others are calling it a historic moment. >> delegates from the unesco countries meeting in paris voted by a wide margin to adopt palestine as the 195th member of the organization. >> they have voted to adopt a draft resolution and decided to admit palestine as a member of unesco. >> recognition in the u.n. educational and cultural body strengthens the palestinian bid for membership and full membership. they are already calling it an important step forward in their long-running campaign to gain recognition and say that the unesco vote is groundbreaking. copper -- we became members of

unesco. it is the beginning of establishing this on the ground and really having people realize it. >> but it has caused a diplomatic shockwaves. israel says it is a setback for the entire peace process. >> we regret that they have opted to adopt a resolution of science fiction. there is no palestinian state. >> washington says it is stopping payments to unesco, more than one-fifth of the world body's budget. >> this triggered long standing legislative restrictions which will compel the united states to refrain from making contributions to unesco. >> 14 countries voted against adoption of the palestinian application, including germany. so the white house has cut off funding, but is that the end of this story?

i put that to our washington correspondent. >> the obama administration likes unesco, but they cannot ignore an existing piece of legislation that has been around for 15 years. it's as to cut off funding for any u.n. agency that takes on the palestinians as a full member, and even if the obama administration tried to find a way around it, do not forget we're heading into an election year, and the jewish population is watching this closely. the jewish vote is decisive. there is not much maneuvering space for the obama administration. is this the end of the story is so far? it seems so. >> is this going to influence thinking as the vote for fall and it -- full u.n. membership draws closer? >> you have to keep in mind that if there were a vote on palestinian statehood in the general assembly, there would be -- the security council is a

different story. it does appear there is a majority for their bid at the moment, and even if there were, the u.s. are going to veto it down. unesco is not going to change that. others say that this bid in paris was not helpful because it will make it harder for israel and the palestinians to find common ground. >> thanks from washington, max. >> there has been a surprise visit to libya. the congratulated the victory. the national transitional council had asked the alliance to stay on until the end of the year, warning that gadaffi loyalists still support him. but they turned down requests saying its mandate had been fulfilled. >> this is the first time the nato secretary general has been to libya. he has come to talk to the interim leaders before the interim operation ends at

midnight local time. >> at midnight tonight, a successful chapter in nato history has come to an end, but you have already started writing a new chapter. one that is based on freedom, democracy, human rights, the rule of law. >> but reconciliation is the last thing on some people's minds. there is just one of the towns suffering as old scores are settled. the town was loyal to gaddafi. some of the royals have to beseech ms. ronda -- msirata. now, all of its inhabitants are gone. many former rebels are determined to make sure they do not come back. most fled when the town fell in august. human rights watch say the few that have stayed behind have

been forced out. >> which came to see if the people came back or not, because we do not want them to come back. >> the new leaders have called for restraint, but what happened to gaddafi shows how little they can control some of their fighters. >> the arab league is waiting for syria to respond for a new proposal to end the violent crackdown in the country. a committee presented it to the delegation in doha. arab diplomats say it calls on them to withdraw security forces and launch a dialogue. the president has said he is prepared to and direct with the opposition but also warned western powers against intervening in syrian affairs. >> we spoke earlier to the german rights commissioner and asked how optimistic he is that the arab league will be able to convince the masochist. >> well, it is the best move that we can think of at the

moment. i think it is very important that the arab league is taking a stance against mr. assad and the things he is doing for his people. we have to have hope that they can live freely and that they can express their opinions on the street and that the blood said -- the bloodshed stops. >> does the world community have any way of influencing damascus? >> first of all, he seems to be afraid of pressure from abroad. we have put all kinds of pressure on them, sanctions, travel bans, political isolation, talks, all kinds of pressure that we could so far, we have put on him. i believe it is important that his close allies and friends, those countries that are very near to syria, and that is the arab league, that they put more pressure on him, and i really hope that he stop the violence

against these people, and i hope the arab league and successful in doing what they are doing. >> what is the human rights situation like in syria? >> it is one of the worst situations you can imagine. more than 3000 people have died in the last weeks or months, just exercising their very fundamental right to go out in the streets, for freedom, for freedom of speech, for personal freedom, for personal dignity, which many people have done successfully in the last month, and i believe that they have the right to be respected in their personal dignity, to be respected in their personal expression of their beliefs and political beliefs, so i really hope that something is going to move in syria. >> thank you. sudanese officials say government troops have killed hundreds of fighters in an all rich province in the south of the country. the governor says rebels

attacked a city early monday but were repelled by other forces. it is next to the border of south sudan, which declared independence in july. they accuse the south of backing the rebels, and that is something the others tonight. the heart of the thai capital bangkok is still dry, but some of the outer districts have been under water for weeks. on monday, hundreds of flood victims staged a demonstration near the capital. hours later, they agreed to open the barriers to allow them to drink. one area has been flooded to save downtown bangkok from rising waters. >> monika? >> greek prime minister george papandreou has called for a referendum. whether they should proceed

with the referendums that have resulted in strikes. he said greeks must start but -- must decide if they want to go through with the plans. it could put a deal in jeopardy. if the greek people do not want it, they will not adopt it, the prime minister said on monday, apparently caving in to protests last week. last week's summit to flashed the mountain of debt. investors remain unconvinced that it will work. and for more, we're joined now by natalee, standing by in athens. natalie, this referendum comes as a surprise. what prompted george papandreou to run this risk? >> the weak government, the socialist party. they have fallen to one of their lowest approval rates since the creation.

the second bailout, should call for some dialogue with his people, as he has been accused of depriving greeks from this need to approve the austerity, all of these measures. on the weather side, as well, his government and the prime minister himself have been accused of lagging behind when it comes to reforms, and now the greeks have to bear the brunt with excess of austerity. it is as if george papandreou is setting the record straight with them and offering them a chance to have a say. >> how are the greek people reacting from this -- to this? >> there was talk of some sort of referendum months ago. it was unclear of what that would be. there were also all sorts of questions about what the question in the referendum will be, whether there will be some sort of referendum on the eve

membership or whether it will have to do with fiscal measures, because also the constitution's have not allowed for the government to actually call for fiscal questions to be decided on as a referendum, so many questions there, but obviously, they are delighted, and they welcome the decision on their chance to actually sanctioned the decision of the greek faith, the decision taken at the european summit, which definitely has a lot to say for the years to come in greece and for the fate of the greeks for years to come. >> thank you very much. many investors remained concerned and that last week's measures to solve the crisis may not work out as hoped. there was the first casualty in the u.s., one company filing for bankruptcy. the company had that extensively on european government debt, and

at one point had assets of $41 billion. one of the biggest creditors is deutsche bank. the global collapse pushed for their pressure on major financial institutions holding large amounts of euro zone debt. and here in the euro zone, the g-20 will meet in the south of france later this week to discuss measures about heading off the global recession. on monday, the organization for economic cooperation and development lowered its outlook, underlining the challenges facing the group of 20. >> the farc -- current forecast is a far cry from the one made previously. back then, economies will grow by as much as 2% in 2012. it has now cut back dramatically, to just 3% for the euro zone as a whole. the paris-based organizations said economies of some uruzgan

members could actually shrank. they called on policy measures to address the debt crisis and recommended central banks lower interest rates and hope for solid economic growth across europe. >> european stock markets closed sharply lower, led down by the banks, as investors fretted of their possible losses as a result of the euro zone plan announced last week. >> the story is followed by a sobering up. that is often the case, and it is the case in the financial markets, at least at the moment. a gold in october for the dax, leaping up by over 12% and some profit-taking in the end. understandable but also increasing skepticism. skepticism? why? there was a lot of hope that this would help the euro debt crisis along, but that help may be overdrawn. a lot of people are worried

about how the decisions will be implemented. bank shares the worst performers, not only in the dax but elsewhere. >> frankfurt, let's take a look at the numbers now. germany's blue-chip dax closed the session down by 3.23%. the euro zone 50 following suit. across the atlantic's, the dow jones industrials in negative territory by more than 2%. >> 7 billion and counting. the world has reached a milestone. one of the babies from the philippines has been chosen to recognize the number. the 8 billion markets closer than you might think. >> she was born shortly -- shortly before midnight in the philippine capital of manila. yeah officials presented a cake to the proud officials.

she represents a global population milestone, and unlike many of her peers in the philippines, she is already off to a privileged start. her unreal title as the seventh billionth baby comes with a college scholarship. but the world is concerned the world population is growing too quickly. china is still the most populous country with 1.3 billion people, but china is expected to surpass china in just one decade. they warn of the challenges of a growing population. >> we wanted to decrease population growth through education and planning. >> just 12 years ago, kofi annan and welcome the world 6 the billionth baby in bosnia. the global population is expected to go to 8 billion by 2025, but the u.n. says in the long term, the trend could reverse itself. just as the population in europe

is currently declining, the world population could also start to sink by the end of the century. >> you are watching "the journal" on dw-tv. we will be right back after a short break with "in depth." >> welcome back. it is a studio steeped in the silver screen. the babelsberg studio came from the last decade of the german empire. it's history mirrors in germany's own history. it was ultimately used by the nazis to make propaganda and per

war films and then by east german communists to install the joys of the workers' paradise. they have been competing internationally. here is a look at the studios journey through 100 years of history. >> the studio today is a huge complex that is home to cinema and television productions. and this was how it looked one century ago. in 1911, a glass of film studio was constructed some 20 kilometers outside of berlin. >> ironically, one of the things in their favor is that there's nothing here. it was unused land, which means it was good for the exterior shot. infrastructure was in place, a train station and an address to plant. >> soon, new studios rather added. it was the era of silent movies.

fritz lang, one of the most famous directors, shot many of his films here, including his masterpiece "metropolis." babelsberg expanded. "the blue angel" with marlena dietrich shot here, one of the first sound films, and it was a great hit. >> ♪ [singing] ♪ >> it became later a studio involved in propaganda film making. they said there was no place here for jewish workers.

many directors had to emigrate. it now stood for anti-semitic propaganda. one of the first postwar films made at the studio, "murder is among us," dealt with the course of that recent past. they were then taken over by the state, which commissioned the film's, though some critical ones did slip by the censors. after german reunification, the studio was modernized and expanded again. the french media giant vivendi bought it and put another in charge. he was an artist, not a businessman. nevertheless, he was able to attract the first international productions.

things really took off in 2004, when the company came under the ownership of some others. more and more blockbusters were produced there, and the studio finally moved back into profit. >> if you look at the history of cinema and the studios, it is amazing is been able to survive such political disruption and social changes. >> and at the ripe old age of 100, it is again one of the world's top film studios. >> one of the best known contemporary directors to take advantage of the studios has come out with blockbusters like "independence day" and "2012," but his latest film "anonymous" about shakespeare was not found

in it stratford-upon-avon but in babelsberg. let's go on a personal tour of the studio now. our guide is none other than the man who runs it. >> for the last seven years, he has been running a studio, studio babelsberg. >> we can do anything here, and the film, animation to the jc currencies and the defenseteh -- animation to the chase scenes, the "bourne." they and the guggenheim museum

built here. it is especially well known for its exterior is, and a set designer knows every inch of it. he has been involved in most of its construction. >> roman polanski made "the pianist" here. we had tanks shooting into the sides of the house is. >> the film is about a jewish pianist in poland during the nazi occupation. it won three academy awards and also draw attention to babelsberg, where the streets became world famous. >> after that, we turned it into paris and an san francisco for 80 days, and then we turned it into new york. >> this is very much a story of their success.

one explains why they still need studios like this. they provide a quiet environment with plenty of artificial light, and they are extremely flexible. >> when you are making films, you need big sets you can dismantle quickly, and you need a big art department. you basically need everything. a sculptor. you need every trade. >> and another other selling points is there experienced crew. they are particularly in demand for films that during the second world war, such as one from clinton tarantino. he even had a street named after him at the studio. >> we thought long and hard of it, but now we are glad he is there. >> he clearly had a great time shooting its film here, and its

success has given this another boost as well. it was nominated for eight oscars, winning for best actor. and now it stands in for wartime paris. word has got around that they can provide big outdoor sets, one of the reasons another chose to shoot his latest film here. the full-scale replica of a theater is another set. it is speculated that shakespeare's works were actually written by somebody else. >> we are doing well. we have won a lot of trust from the industry. all of the famous actors and directors right in the book, and they say what an amazing history and that they want to make films here. >> and here is where we have to stop filming. this is the top-secret area

where they are shooting a new film in cooperation with the brothers of "the matrix" fan, coming soon to a theater near you. >> a century of babelsberg. that has been our "in depth" today. thanks for watching.