>> this is the "journal" coming to you from dw. here's a look at the headlines this hour. in its nuclear program. >> the violence as fierce as ever in syria as president assad announces a referendum on a new constitution. >> actress angelina jolie premiers her film about the

bosnian war in sarajevo. >> iran is hailing it as a major step in its nuclear fuel program, and it is likely to make relations with the west worse. >> iran's president unveiled iran's first domestically produced nuclear fuel rods on wednesday. he also said 3000 more centrifuges had been added to his country's uranium enrichment program. >> ahmadinejad also lashed out at western powers, saying they are trying to preserve a monopoly on nuclear power. >> it was an honor reserved for the president himself. ahmadinejad insisted iran's domestically -- first domestically produced fuel rods into a reactor. the inauguration ceremony was broadcast live on state television. iranian scientists presented as

national heroes. the get a video conference link, the president then opened two new nuclear projects. a plant in central iran can now enrich uranium to cent -- a 20%, still not enough for a nuclear weapon. the facility will also use a new type of centrifuge, capable of higher in richmond speeds than previous models. iran now appears to have mastered all aspects of the nuclear fuel cycle, defying the threat of sanctions from the west. instead, tehran is pushing back, cutting off supplies of iranian oil to six eu countries. tensions also mounting between iran and israel, following three bomb attempts in israel, georgia, and here in thailand. israel says it is further proof

of israel's terrorist activities. >> iran is the world's greatest exporter of terror. over the past few days, iran's terrorist activities have been revealed for everyone to see. iran is a threat to world stability. >> iran denies any involvement, but three iranians have been arrested in connection with the bomb plot. israel is now trying to increase the global pressure on tehran and has not ruled out the military response. >> as if tensions between iran and the international community were not high enough. >> on wednesday, iran and israel traded accusations over a string of bombings in other countries, possibly aimed, as we heard, at israeli officials. >> israel says tehran is to blame. iran says the israelis are using this as a prelude to a military attack. >> we have this report on how both sides are facing off over

the airwaves. >> the phone hardly ever stops ringing at the jerusalem radio studio. the calls come in from all over the world, including iran. the phone-in show of the israeli state broadcaster focuses on current affairs. >> there are two main worries in iran our days. one is the possible military attack -- nowadays. one is the possible military attack. the other is the worsening economic situation. they want to know where it ends. >> listeners have to dial in via a third country like germany. it is presented the show for the past 20 years. he says tension among the callers is more probable now than ever. the mood is tense in israel, too, and iran is the topic making all the headlines on israeli tv.

conflicting statements by politicians are fuelling fears of a possible military strike. >> israelis are saying we would rather it not happen. we would rather have a diplomatic solution, but if we need to stop over and from acquiring a weapon, everything must be done so they will not have the capability to annihilate the state of israel. >> every exercise is interpreted as an omen of attack, but is this just psychological warfare or saber rattling to increase pressure on iran? the next two months could be decisive. >> this is why i think we feel more word about the possibility of the military conflict. by june, iran could have enough enriched uranium to make a bomb, another bomb, if it wants to and enter into what is called the immunity zone where even if you attack it, they could still make a bomb.

>> the international community still following the path of tougher sanctions coupled with diplomatic pressure. israel does not want to go it alone against iran. the official line is that all options are still on the table. >> there is a consensus in israel that the iranian nuclear weapon is unacceptable and that everything must be done to prevent the ayatollah's regime from achieving nuclear weapons. >> the opinion is divided among israelis. >> and barry word and start to say that the world is doing nothing, and we are dealing with this psychopath. >> every step israel takes in this direction will escalate the situation further. it would be better to wait and see what happens. >> the show is popular among opponents of the iranian regime. the moderator was born in iran and gives his opinion.

>> once the regime is change in iran, i have no doubt that the traditional friendship between israel and iran will come back because iran needs israel and israel needs iran. >> it has been decades since iran and israel have been friends. it could be many years yet before the hostilities of sides. >> staying in the region, syria 's president has announced a referendum on a new constitution said to be held on february 26. >> the constitution would allow a multi-party system. washington has dismissed the reports saying that assad is making a mockery of the syrian uprising. revenues of the referendum did nothing to ease the violence in the country, though. the syrian army continued its clashes with anti-government forces in homs.

this and verify and amateur footage is said to show a pipeline burning. members say syrian fighter jets selby -- shelled the area, but the assad regime blamed what it called terrorists. the government has started a major offensive in many areas across the country. there are reports that elite army units have stormed the district near central damascus. one city in the border of turkey has also been the center of clashes. these pictures are said to show tanks that moved in on tuesday. activists reported a growing humanitarian crisis in cities under attack. forces have been bombing homs for over a week. thousands of people are said to be trapped in the city. >> let's go to our correspondent in brussels. the european parliament debate the situation in syria today. did anything substantive, out of that debate? >> not really, except a lot of frustration at the billiard of

china and russia to support sanctions against syria. anchor against the assad regime, and a sense, i think, of evidence, too, about what europe is supposed to do. european parliament has passed three resolutions condemning syria and demanded the replacement of president assad. tomorrow, there will be a fourth resolution. it will probably say much the same, but i think anger was the overriding sense of emotion at the 1.5-hour debate today, with everybody buying -- vying to condemn russia and china for not backing sanctions against the regime and also wondering what europe should do or has to do next to try to get the leader in syria to back down. >> some commentators say europe should not focus so much and trying to change syria but should focus more on trying to change the thinking in moscow. >> yes, but i think there is no

real chance that is going to happen. as i say, everyone is condemnatory about that and suggesting all sorts of relations with particularly china, over the eu, the sort of thing, but this is just european parliament speaking, not ministers agreeing, the sort of thing, but the pressure is on from the european parliament to the foreign ministers to actually impose really strong sanctions, and the danish foreign minister was saying tonight we could send in a peacekeeping force or have an international corridor, but that might involve fighting for the international corridor, to keep it open. a lot is on the table, and we will see. they will make decisions the day after that new constitutional debate opens in syria. >> thank you very much. >> the death toll from a prison fire in honduras continues to

mount. officials say it now stands at more than 300. the blaze swept through the facility north of the capital. many of the victims were trapped in their cells. >> the fire broke out in the middle of the night, quickly turning the prison into an inferno. the cause remains unclear. some 100 inmates are thought to have died in their cells. >> we suddenly heard screams from the people trapped by the flames. we did not know what to do. then, they broke open the ceiling and somehow managed to escape. >> there were more than 800 prisoners in the jail. relatives have gathered outside, desperate to hear news of their loved ones. authorities still do not know how many inmates survive. >> what to do with grease -- greece -- eurozone members

reportedly considering what to do about parts or all of the bailout. >> the meeting is being replaced with a teleconference tonight, which in all likelihood will be a lot of talk and no action. an eu spokesman defended the decision saying at this has failed to show progress in plugging a 325 million euro hole in its budget. greek political leaders are also under pressure to commit to austerity measures. the greek finance minister says only a few issues remain and that they should be resolved by that teleconference. that inching along of the greek bailout plan did not help the mood on european stock markets today. our correspondent has a round above the day's trading action from the frankfurt stock exchange. >> the stock market lost ground towards the end of the trading day here in frankfurt. too many open questions remain regarding greece. nobody wants to predict what happens overnight, so investors

prefer to cash in previous gains on the stock market. eurozone economic data which came in during this wednesday did not look too bad. yes, the economy here in germany contracted during last quarter of 2011, but the contraction was smaller than anticipated. in france, the gdp in the course of the last three months of 2011 even managed to grow. several earnings reports coming in from european companies managed to beat analyst expectations. puma, heineken prove that times at the exchange could be very pleasurable if we did not have the trouble related to the eurozone debt crisis. >> indeed. let's get a quick look at those market numbers for you, see how the markets went into the evening. in germany, the dax was up by almost 0.5%. euro stocks that the index up by about 0.25%. on wall street, you can see

right there, trading almost down 1%. tensions running high in the german city of stuttgart. >> last night, police began locking down the site to make way for construction work. scuffles broke out with protesters who were trying to save scores of trees from the chain saws. >> we will have a full report on in just a moment, but first, here is a look at other stories this hour. opposition leaders in bahrain said over 120 protesters have been injured in clashes with police. in the capital, police to thousands of people from foursquare on the eve of the

protest movement pose a first anniversary. protesters want by rainbows seeking to start a transition to a constitutional monarchy. >> passengers planning to travel through frankfurt airports on thursday should expect delays and cancellations. unions have announced plans for a seven-hour strike. and that is all for now. we will be back in a minute. don't go away. >> stay with us. >> you decide what you want to watch. all the images, all the programs, the whole package. dw on the internet. the media center on dw.de. >> she is a woman with a vision.

she introduces high-quality seeds for farmers. she began small, convinced the bank would give her alone -- a loan. bank that a woman can be equally competitive. >> give women opportunity. >> welcome back, everyone. the french president, nicolas sarkozy, is set to real -- we launch his campaign today. >> as part of the campaign, sarkozy just launched his personal twitter account and is expected to announce his bid on french television. >> sarkozy has been eyeing campaign mode for months, but has waited until now, less than 10 weeks to polling day, to officially confirm his candidacy. >> recent opinion polls showed the conservative sarkozy trailing socialist rivals by a big margin. a presidential rival contest

takes place in two rounds in late april and early may. >> we are on the line now with clay, who was in paris for us. why has sarkozy waited so long to declare his candidacy? >> he has a weighted very long, and he -- initially, we expected him to announce candidacy even later. the reason being is the nicolas sarkozy wants to maintain a presidential or write until the last minute. he is eager to portray himself as a statesman negotiating with other leaders of the eurozone to solve the crisis hitting the eurozone today, and he has always insisted right until today that he is too busy saving the french economy to campaign, and indeed, he has introduced the last minute reforms to convince people he is the person capable of taking on yet another mandate. so far, that does not seem to be working, and i think that is why

he is hitting the campaign trail now. >> i was going to pick up on that and ask you -- how popular is he really? what are his chances? >> opinion polls show that sarkozy is lagging far behind the socialist candidates, and that gap has remained stable over the last month. his main disadvantage is that he has little results to show what really matters to the french people today when it comes to jobs, deficits, and this sort of lending attitude that in 2007, is it going really down well. he is campaigning on very right wing topics like immigration and cutting job-seekers allowances, territory covered by the far right that was very popular back in 2007. so today, the question is -- will that formula worked again? >> all right, thank you very

much. >> ethnic serbs in the north of kosovo are voting in the second day of a referendum aimed at highlighting their desire to return to being part of serbia. it is the first poll since kosovo split from belgrade. analysts expect an overwhelming vote against recognizing kosovo 's ethnic albanian government. >> hollywood star angelina jolie has just been to serbia for the first screening of her film as director. >> the film is called "in the land of blood and honey." it is about the war in bosnia. >> jolie said she hopes the film will be a wake-up call to the world and she hopes it will pay more attention to atrocities to -- an act to stop them.

>> 5000 people came to the screening. tickets sold out quickly. >> i need this bill not just to remind the world of a particularly dark time in history, but also to show the world the immense talent and beautiful art an extraordinary country that is bosnia. [applause] >> the film is obviously a thought-provoking journey for many. >> i was here in the war. the film is accurate. >> it is a fantastic movie. it is wonderful. >> i'm still totally emotional and so tied up in the film. >> i need a little time. >> the people in sarajevo live life under siege for three and a half years. the movie is banned in some parts of bosnia. >> but i also know the serbian

people are very intelligent, open-minded people, and that they will know the difference between what is being forced upon them and what they feel in their own hearts. >> the hollywood star denies her film is anti-serbian. >> in berlin, the film festival is in full swing, and things got a little brittle today with steven soderbergh pose a new thriller. the lead role is played by a woman, a martial arts fighter, who stars as a u.s. blacktops agent. she is double cross and targeted by assassins, and she does not over punches when dealing with the threats. all right, someone else who has a good set of boxing gloves is our correspondent. scott, what was your impression? >> -- i think i should be embarrassed to say this, but i loved it. it is a full line kick-but action movie, and it comes at

the exact right time. after a week of seeing very difficult political dramas and human dramas, all very good films, but very heavy, it is great to have a fall on hollywood blockbuster movie where you know you can just sit back, enjoy, have your popcorn, and have fun. it has lifted everyone's spirits, and i think everyone came out of the theater feeling just great. >> what else was contacted at to help improve spirits? -- what else was on tap today to help improve spirits? that another film that was a good movie but was not want to lift the spirits was a chinese film called "white the airplane -- "white deer plain" about the communist takeover. more difficult film, but quite good. i think it could be a golden bear candidate because it is the

right mixture of a political serious film, done very well. these types of films usually win here, so we shall look at this as being a potential golden bear winner in a few days' time. >> in said the crystal ball of scott reporting for us there from the berlinale. >> 6 train hours from berlin, citizens protesting a controversial rail project in the city of stuttgart said police used excessive force to remove them. >> 1000 demonstrators gathered at the main train station, which is about to undergo a multi- billion euro transport -- transformation that will make the city a major european transportation hub. >> it took hours for police to clear stuttgart goes a gardens. opponents of the project it to the trees, determined to save them from the chain saws. their protest camp has been since dismantled. the operation began in the early

morning. there were some scuffles with demonstrators, but police reject claims that they were heavy handed. >> at the beginning of our operation, we met some resistance, but very briefly. as the first officers into the park, batons were used for a short time. >> the protests over the new train station raise calls across germany for more transparency in political decision making. local and state governments have already approved before billion euro rail project, but opposition soon grew against the plans to replace an above-ground terminus with an underground through station. politicians face a growing backlash. locals complain of the ballooning costs and the lack of public consultation. thousands took to the streets to have the project stopped. the confrontations reached a

high point last autumn. an outside mediator was brought in to resolve the dispute, a first for an infrastructure project in germany. some even hailed it as a new era for grass-roots democracy. eventually, a referendum was held, but despite the vocal opposition to the new station, a majority of voters gave it to go ahead. now, the construction phase has begun. more than 170 trees are being cleared. >> those trees are being held come hell or high water, and it is leaving a very painful and dennis behind. that is why i'm sad. >> stuttgart's multi-billion your face lift is a done deal for city hall, but it has come at the cost of deep divisions in the local community. >> our political correspondent is in the studio with us now to talk about this. explain this to our viewers --

why does this project continued to make people so upset? >> this construction project has become a lightning rod for protesters who are passionate about all sorts of things. there are those, of course, who feel that this construction project represents a massive waste of taxpayer money, but there are those also who feel that they simply do not want a construction site in the center of their city for the next 10 years. there are those who want to preserve the city's architectural heritage. they feel this will put in that. and, of course, there are those who are very much -- literally, some of them -- attached to the trees. obviously, there are many reasons why people are upset, but some of these reasons have nothing to do with the construction project itself, and this is what is interesting. about a year-and-a-half ago, the police broke up a demonstration there at this construction site and use heavy-handed tactics, and from that point on, this

demonstration, this protest movement, took on a life of its own. it became the people against the powers that be. >> there was a referendum, and the outcome was it is ok to do these reconstruction works. why do people not stick to that? >> excellent question. this referendum did settle it for most people, but there is a hard core the simply refuse to give up. they will not have a referendum or any other instrument tell them what to do. about 59% of people voted in favor of going ahead with the project, but there are still quite a few left over who are going to hang on until the bitter end. >> as always, thank you very much. that is going to wrap up the "journal" for this hour. keep watching dw. >> we will be back soon. captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org--