♪ >> hello, and welcome to the "journal" on dw-tv. >> and i am serra with the business news. >> our headlines double- targeting iran pose a financial resources, the eu embargoes on oil and freezes iranian central bank assets. egypt's new parliament holds its inaugural session, but its powers remain unclear. >> german chancellor angela merkel rejects imf calls to boost the eurozone bailout fund by 500 billion in euros.

♪ >> france, britain, and germany say they are willing to negotiate with iran if it will talk seriously about its nuclear program. that offer comes hours after the european union imposed an oil embargo on tehran and froze the assets of the central bank. the country's political leaders have rejected the latest round of sanctions as a psychological warfare" and threatened to shut down shipping through the strait of hormuz. >> the gloves are off in the eu 's fight to stop iran's nuclear program peter the german foreign minister said the new sanctions are necessary to a ramp up the pressure on iran. >> the prospect of a nuclear- arms iran is unacceptable. iran continues to refuse to work together with the international community.

that is why it is right for the eu to make decisions that will dry up iran's sources of financing. >> iran is dependent on oil exports to support its nuclear research, and the eu market is an important revenue stream. the eu says it is open to negotiations with tehran at any time before the oil embargo is due to come into force on july 1. >> the pressure of sanctions is designed to try and make sure that iran takes seriously the request to come to the table in need. >> iran has condemned these sanctions as an affair but insists it will keep pushing ahead with its nuclear program. >> the main eu sanctions do not go into effect until the summer. we asked our brussels correspondent, why the delay? >> well, partly because the greeks, spanish, and the italians have, as we know, deep

economic problems. they will lose a series opening for their oil. they get a lot of their oil from iran. if those sections were to apply immediately on the them, they would find it very tough, and europe is trying to shore up the economies of those countries already. but there was a big split. germany, france, the u.k., and other countries wanted more immediate sanctions. in a nod to the great problem, they delayed it. but no new contracts from today on oil from iran into the european union, and july 1 is the date by which existing contracts have to end. >> the eu foreign minister has tightened sanctions against syria, imposing travel bans and banning trade. in syria itself, the violence continues. new footage of loaded onto the

internet appears to show security forces storming a school in the city of homs. damascus has rejected a new plan from the arab league, calling on president assad to hand over power to a deputy and hold elections. egypt's new parliament has held its inaugural session. although it remains unclear just what powers it will have, the new legislature is dominated by islamist parties and will be appointed a panel to draw up the constitution. secular parties said the document should not good is from a central role in political life. but legislators say they have the mandate to do just that. >> supporters of the new lawmakers cheered them on as they arrived at parliament for the first time but the muslim brotherhood have particular reason to be happy. they hold almost half the seats. >> we are reaping the fruits of democracy and the revolution. today is a celebration. for the first time in years, we have a parliament representing

all egyptians. >> but not everyone felt represented. the liberal and left-wing groups that led the revolution to topple mubarak account for less than 10% of the seats. there is just a handful of women and a very few members of the coptic christian minority were among those elected. there were some signs of division during the swearing-in ceremony. the new members of parliament were meant to foul allegiance to the nation, its people, the constitution, and the law. but some added religious declarations to the script. >> i swear to defend the country and the republic so long as this does not contradict sharia law. >> i swear to pursue the goals of the revolution, and i swear loyalty to its martyrs. >> the interim speaker angrily told them to stick to the text. with the lawmakers now sworn-in, other questions remain.

the military council is still in charge. they say they will hand over power when a president is elected in june. what the role of the parliament will be, no one is sure. but for now, many egyptians are glad to finally beyond the democratic path. >> reports coming in from libya indicate there has been fierce fighting in the former about the stronghold of bani walid. at least four people killed. forces loyal to the late leader attacked the desert town earlier on monday. there are conflicting reports over who is now in control. bani walid was one of the last pro-gaddafi strongholds to surrender last year, and many locals do not support the national transitional council, which is now running the country. a rebel group in ethiopia's as four hostages kidnapped last week are alive and well. the two germans into the ethiopians were part of a group of tourists attacked in the remote region theafar. 5 europeans were killed in that attack, and it is not known

whether the rebel group is seeking a ransom or has any other demands. let's go over to sarah. the imf has really started putting the pressure on the eurozone. >> a political tug-of-war. the head of the imf, christine lagarde, made a raft of calls in berlin, including further increasing the newly bolstered bailout fund. she said without more action on the eurozone debt crisis from politicians, the world faces a 1930's style depression. but chancellor angela merkel is against christine lagarde's proposals, and she is not alone. >> on a visit to germany, the new prime minister of belgium give his support to german chancellor angela merkel. they both think europe should first get measures in place that have already been agreed before bringing in new ones. angela merkel is firmly against boosting the new rescue fund right now. >> i do not think it is right to

introduce new measures before we have even implemented at the last decisions we made. we need to get the european stability mechanism going, and that will be on the agenda next week. >> but imf managing director christine lagarde says she wants to see extra funding for the esm before it is introduced in mid- 2012. >> we feel that a stronger fire wall is needed. why? because without it, countries like italy and spain, for instance, that are fundamentally able to repay their debt, could potentially be forced into insolvency crisis by abnormal financing costs. >> but despite the differences of opinion, all the leaders agreed that the prime aim is to ward off a national bankruptcy's in ailing nations. >> and debt negotiations between

greece and its bondholders continue this week under hitting an impasse over the weekend. greece has been trying to strike a deal to reduce its debt on a 100 billion euros. it wants private creditors to voluntarily swap their old greek bonds for new ones with lower face value. the bondholders said they have made their maximum offer on how much they're willing to lose on their investments, but the eu, imf, and greece want more. >> the talks between greece's finance minister and his eu counterparts seem relaxed, but eu finance ministers are worried about the talks between athens in its private creditors on restructuring the country's debt. yet, the finance minister is confident. >> we have cooperation with the private sector, and we are ready to finalize the procedure on time. >> pressure on the greek finance minister is mounting. athens must strike a deal with private investors to get its next installment of the eu-imf

aid. as the talks continue, some ec politicians have started talking about a forced their cut. >> the most important thing for us is that greece can pay its own debt in the long term. everything should be on a voluntary basis if possible. that is not the main prerequisite. otherwise, we would not have a negotiating stance with the banks. >> fellow eu members are not about to leave the struggling country on its own, but time is running out. >> stocks in europe or higher on monday as investors hoped for a positive outcome to the greek debt deal. banks led the charge. our correspondent has more from frankfurt. >> the markets closed in europe, and people were still waiting for that result on the debt write-down agreement over greece. people expected the agreement to go through, and they expected that when it went through, it would be positive for the markets and for the eurozone, so that supported the atmosphere and the climate and the share prices in the markets.

one expert said with greece, from the table, one prominent case less. the commerzbank was the favorite of the day, shooting up in value. there was speculation that the requirements for capital for the banks would be partially and temporarily relaxed, and also, still a factor, the commerzbank's announcement last week on how plan to fulfil capital requirements without going to the state. >> let's take a closer look at the market numbers. in frankfurt, germany's blue- chip dax was higher on the day by 0.5%. euro stoxx 50 also higher. over in your, trading still underway for the dow jones industrial average, and it is little changed. it had been rallying earlier in the day. the euro gaining against the dollar, $1.3017. the spanish economy made it back into recession this year.

the bank of spain estimates of gdp will contract by 1.5%, putting more pressure on the country's already high unemployment. that jobless rate could soar to nearly 24%, according to estimates. spain may have to wait until 2013 before the economy is growing again. by what is expected to be only a modest 0.2%. rim as a new ceo. it says that its co-founders will step down from the ceo post. taking over will be thorsten heins of germany. he joined rim in 2007 and has a big job ahead of him as he tries to bring the cool back to the blackberry. the market value has plummeted by tens of billions of dollars in recent years, and new phones it deemed critical to its future have been delayed. well, he is accused of costing the entertainment industry millions, but the founder of the file-sharing service megaupload

has denied charges against him, which include internet piracy and money laundering. kim dotcom of germany asked the new zealand court to release him on bail, but the prosecutor at the end of a flight risk and claimed he has ample access to funds and multiple identities. the judge declined to make any immediate decision. for now, kim dotcom remains behind bars. >> thank you so much. here in germany, a new study commissioned by parliament has found that 20% of people living in germany show signs of latent anti-semitism. the report notes that anti- jewish violence is perpetrated by a very small and radical minority. >> neo-nazis on the march in germany. today's far-right continues to be a hotbed of anti-semitism. it is responsible for about 90% of anti-semitic crimes, like vandalizing jewish cemeteries. but anti-semitic attitudes are more widespread than that.

that is the warning from the commission. its members say prejudice against jews is not dying out with the wartime generation. >> modern forms of communication, especially the internet, making it almost impossible to stop these ideas spreading. anti-semitism has long been a taboo in public discourse in germany, and there is not a threat that is being undermined. >> the experts criticize existing measures to tackle the problem, sang their to piecemeal and failing to prevent the spread of anti-semitic attitudes. >> in germany does not have a far-reaching strategy to tackle anti-semitism. we have put together a list of recommendations to develop such a strategy. >> although the commission says the strategy should concentrate on mainstream german society,

they caution against ignoring the country's ethnic minorities. they pinpoint extreme islamists as a vocal source of anti-the jewish prejudice. >> to italy, they have found two more bodies on at the shipwreck, bringing the official death toll to 15. the search is continuing for at least 17 people still missing. officials say the ship is stable enough to start pumping out is the fuel tanks as the operation continues. salvage teams hope they can prevent an oil leak from damaging the water. german soccer news, it was a hard-fought match, to say the least. but in the end, this team prevailed. theri win allows them to stay in the chase for the top spot. this team is having dangerously close to relegation. >> the winner with a powerful header later in the game. they took the lead after the

ball went into his own net. 10 minutes before halftime, the lead was doubled. 2-0 at the break. but they struck back in the second half. polanski pounced on the rebound in the 50th minute. and marco drew besides a level three minutes later. lars it home from a corner to seal the 3-2 victory for the home side. >> the glitterati or walpin the -- will amend the return of versace. it has made a comeback to the haute couture shows in paris to the luxury body armor and the glamorous gladiators, those of the buzzwords for a collection steeped in imperial roman references. the look presented the near future in a head-on a collision with a past. this is donatella versace's

first high-fashion show after presiding over a lucrative collaboration with the brand h&m. where is all the tension in the region around the brand heading right now? we will be going there in just one minute here on dw-tv. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> this is ana.

to make sure she does not start smoking, she uses something rather unique. ♪ >> nice try, ana, but for advice that really works, visit the website. ♪ >> thank you for staying with us. iran hit with a new round of sanctions from both the u.s. and european union. they are the toughest to date. the include an oil embargo and crucially the freezing of all assets of the iranian central bank. eu foreign ministers coordinated their actions with the united states. both the u.s. and the eu accused iran of trying to develop nuclear weapons. this is a claim that tehran has repeatedly denied. in recent months, the dispute has been heating up, with iran threatening to block the strategic strait of hormuz.

pride to the announcement of the new sanctions, an american aircraft carrier, the uss abraham lincoln, passed through the strait and is now stationed off the iranian coast. u.s. defense the promises it will be joined in march by the uss enterprise, which was actually scheduled to be scrapped. the u.s. naval buildup comes on the heels of iranian military exercises. [gunshots] >> it was an ostentatious display of military might. the iranian navy carried out weeks of training in the gulf, giving the world a chance to see their country's armory. iran even threatened to block state -- duplicate the strait of hormuz. such a move could impact seriously on oil supplies. up to 40% of the world's oil passes through here. those threats were a direct provocation to the u.s. the navy's fifthly patrols the region, which is a strategic importance to washington.

u.s. iranian relations are characterized by such tit for tat provocations. >> the u.s. is already ratcheted up its sanctions on iran. iran wants to send a signal to the u.s. into its own people that it will not about to such threats and that they are in a position to retaliate if necessary. >> president barack obama signed into law a package of sanctions on iran. the eu has followed suit. they are among the toughest sanctions imposed on the islamic republic, and they get hit the economy hard. their real bone of contention is that tehran's nuclear program. international talks on resolving the issue have been frozen. countries in the west hopes sanctions will persuade iran to come back to the negotiating table. that is why the oil embargo does not take effect until july, giving iran a chance to talk with western nations.

but there are doubts about the iranian regime's ability to agree on policy. the leadership in tehran has been plagued by in-fighting for many years. >> there are disagreements, some a very serious disputes in the conservative camp about who should succeed after ahmadinejad. he will be leaving office in just over a year. >> the outcome of that power struggle will influence the situation in the gulf in the coming months and years. >> let's bring in our brussels correspondent. europe relies, in part, on these iranian oil imports. can it do without them? >> the calculation by the foreign ministers at these talks is that, yes, they can manage. of course there will be an impact. heavy sanctions against iran are bound to bounce back and affected countries in europe,

particularly those in the streets, greece, italy, and spain, who rely to a reasonable degree on iranian exports of oil. so there will be an effect on europe, no question. but the calculation is this is something we will have to bear if we're to get iran to take notice of our concerns over its nuclear program. >> iran says under international law, it has a right to civilian nuclear power. can it really be expected to change its path as a result of these sanctions? >> no, but the eu foreign ministers are emphasizing that this is to bring the iranians to the negotiating table. they are not saying in return for lifting these sanctions, you must do x or y, just come and talk. international talks have been frozen, and that is the name of today's decision. that is all that is being demanded. foreign ministers were emphasizing we do not think that is too much to ask. >> in the past, sanctions for

iraq, for example, we have seen them winding up hurting the people, not the regimes. is there a concern about that in brussels? >> yes, there is. the likelihood is these sections will have a big effect on the overall economy. of course that trickles down to ordinary people. again, it is calculation, a risk, a gamble. but eu for ministers say we have to reason and that really hurts the regime, and inevitably there will be a knock-on effect for the people. but the idea is to get the regime to the negotiating table, so they think this is a gamble worth taking. >> we just heard that tehran is considering closing the straits of hormuz in response. what are people in brussels saying about that? >> a simple message to tehran. that is illegal, you cannot do it. you could say that is almost warlike talk, but that is a fact. they say you cannot do that and you will not do that. all you have got to do is come to the negotiating table, and we

can talk about what your nuclear program is really all about. that is all we ask. just do it. it is a gamble. maybe that will not happen. >> as ever, thank you so very much. one country that has been working behind the scenes to de escalate the situation is turkey. located on iran's northwest border, it is among iran's top five trading partners, and it is also a member of the nato military alliance. politically, the west's push to isolate iran has left them doing a balancing act. the sanctions already in place are cutting into the livelihood of those involved in bilateral trade. >> here on the outskirts of the city close to the turkish- iranian border, this driver is waiting for his truck to be loaded with scrap metal. he has been transporting waste metal across the border for five years. he says business has never been so slow.

>> five years ago, there were a 300 trucks a year crossing the border here. today, it is just a handful. business has been falling for a year. >> the number of trains crossing the border into iran has also fallen. on paper, the volume of trade between the two neighbors stand at 11.5 billion euros, but that is mostly because turkey gets more than a third of its oil and gas from iran. visiting the turkish capital, the iranian foreign minister tonight relations were in crisis. tehran sees ankara as an important mediator in its dispute with the west over its nuclear program. he says he expects new jobs will take place in istanbul, but a date has not yet been set. but at the same time, iran has said turkey should not host a warning radar base, part of nato's plan missile defense

shield. peace activists also oppose the installation. but turkey is a member of nato, and as such, would have to retaliate if iran attacked its fellow nato member, the u.s. turkish industry representatives complained their country is increasingly being dragged into the middle east conflict. >> turkey cannot afford to alienate the iranian spy throwing it -- throwing in its lot of sunni arabs. iran is still an economic powerhouse and an attractive market. that. >> strains in iranian-turkish relations are bad news for this man in his cross-border scrap business. he is relieved that turkey has not yet joined the western embargoes. but he knows that as long as relations are tense, it'll be sometime before cross-border

trade takes off in the region. >> that is our "in depth" look at the ongoing impasse with iran. thank you so much for joining us. we leave you now with the latest news headlines here yet dw-tv. ♪ captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org-- ♪ ♪

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