police have surrounded a have committed a series of killings is holed up. >> the united nations security council issues a unified statement aimed at stopping the violence in syria. >> in german soccer,-hopes with a last-minute win to reach the german cup final.

in an unfolding drama that has riveted france, about 300 police have surrounded a five-story building in a suburb of to lose where the gunman suspected of shooting dead seven people remains holed up. police negotiators say the man had planned to kill again before officers laid siege to his apartment in an early-morning raid. gunman told police he had received training from al qaeda in afghanistan. he has reportedly admitted to killing three french soldiers and four jewish people. >> it has been a battle of nerves in his residential district. police have cordoned off the area around the apartment of the 24-year-old suspect, a french citizen of algerian origin. the siege began at 3:00 in the morning. three officers were injured in an initial attempt to storm the

apartment. the suspect said he was prepared to surrender in the afternoon, but nothing happened. >> he claims to be a mujahad in and to belong to al qaeda. he said he wanted revenge for palestinian children and to take revenge on the french army because of its foreign interventions. >> president sarkozy spoke on national tv before going to choose. >> representatives of the jewish and moslem faiths, i wanted to bring them together to show that terrorism will not break our national community. >> latest reports say the suspect has promised to surrender this evening, but no

one can tell what he really plans to do. for now, an entire nation is waiting to see what will happen next. >> for the latest, we crossed over live now to our correspondent there. what can you tell us about the suspect? we understand he is a radical solophist trained in afghanistan. >> that is right. he said not only would he try to kill another soldier today, apparently, according to the anti-terrorist judges we spoke to, but he would also killed two policemen as well. he apparently has a bit of a track record. ad nauseum before going to afghanistan to train with the government. tonight, we are still in a major stand off. this is 18 hours later, and he has already told the negotiators tonight that he is prepared to

kill people, but he will not commit suicide. needless to say, the residents of that building have been evacuated, safely, apart from him, of course. 300 police officers beating the building right now, and there is no way he can escape. all he can do is give himself up or commit suicide, or expect him -- them to charge him. >> what else are police saying? do they think he was a lone gunman? did he have an outside support? where did he get his weapons? that they are pretty sure he has outside support. they have arrested his brother and mother and are looking for other people as well. they are pretty convinced that the others in the family at least knew about his extremist views. he had a camera, so he enjoyed filming some of the crimes he is alleged to have committed. they have that camera, and they are going to start looking

through that footage. they are convinced he had support. they do not know if others took part in the shootings or not or helped him plan it, but he had explosives. they are convinced he has quite a few explosives in his apartment. at 3:00 a.m., when they did try to get him, he shot three of them, injuring one in the leg, and one was very lucky to get by, according to the judge because he had allied protection jacket on. >> thanks for the update. >> the three children and rabbi shot dead on monday have been buried in jerusalem. the victims held dual french /israeli citizenship, and the family had asked for them to be buried in israel. members of the israeli parliament and french foreign ministry attended the funeral. >> the families of the victims wanted them buried in jerusalem.

the bodies were wrapped in shrouds in accordance with orthodox tradition. the 30-year-old rabbi, his sons, and the 7-year-old daughter of the school principal. the children held dual israeli and french citizenship. while the rabbi had previously lived in israel for years. hundreds of people turned out to attend the funerals. the speaker of israel's parliament delivered a speech saying that the jewish people in israel and in the diaspora were once again facing murderous attacks by beasts driven by hatred. the french foreign minister flew to israel with the bodies. he said france was determined to fight anti-semitism wherever it was found. >> every time a jew is insulted, hit, or assassinated on the territory of our republic, it is the whole of france that is targeted and that must react. >> the attacks have put anti-

semitism in europe at the top of the agenda for the israeli media. many israelis think europe still has not learned the lessons of the holocaust. >> the united nations security council has sent a united message to the syrian government and opposition. it has called on both sides to immediately implement the plan by the united nations special envoy aimed at ending a year of violence. >> the non-binding statement was approved by all 15 council members. it details the proposals, which include calling a cease-fire, securing humanitarian access, and facilitating a political transition. >> western powers reportedly agreed to tone down the statement to win the support of russia and china, which have threatened to block an earlier, tougher draft. the russian foreign minister was in berlin today to further talks on syria. >> the russian foreign minister

was in berlin today meeting his german and polish counterparts. all three say they are pleased the security council has agreed to issue a statement about syria after months of russia and china blocking proposals by western countries. >> we do have differences of opinion, including about the situation in syria and what the causes are of the violence, but what matters is that we now do whatever is possible to help the people there. >> the statement said syria has to comply with a peace plan drawn up by kofi annan or face further steps, but in accordance with russia's demands, it does not say what the steps might be or demand that president assad give up power. >> what is important is that we have now agreed on a text that does not set any ultimatums or make any threats. and now no blame is being assigned about who is responsible for the conflict.

>> the security council statement is not a binding resolution, but the fact that all the members including china and russia, have agreed is a step forward. in syria, activists report more violence today. this video posted online claims to show the army shelling and a castle. and more shelling is reported in homs. >> for more, let's bring in our chief political correspondent. what was your impression about the visit today by the russian foreign minister? that there definitely is movement here on russia's part. as you can see in that report, the russian foreign minister was very clear about what he was not going to agree to. the statement could not have any threats, ultimatum, assignment of blame, but the fact is russia did agree to a joint statement, and that is quite a big change. many of us here remember the visit to the munich security

conference in february where he absolutely resisted any pressure at all from the german foreign minister or from the u.s. secretary of state with really quite defiant, and did not go along with the resolution passed at that time. were suggested at that time. the fact is we are seeing a change of position here from russia. it is a watered-down statement, but it is something, and it does give kofi annan some important support. germany is a non-permanent member on the council. was it doing to influence russia right now? >> frankly, it cannot do a whole lot. certainly not unilaterally. we did hear the german foreign minister saying there had been differences of opinion, and from the body language of the two gentlemen at the press conference, you could see that there had been some disagreement there. but germany is working with its other partners. it is working multilaterally in

the united nations to bring russia further along, and i think at least until russian elections take place, probably there is not going to be a lot of further movement on russia's part. >> thank you very much. >> drivers in germany are facing ever-increasing gasoline prices. the green party blames the oil companies, stating gas prices are on proportionately high compared to oil prices since last november. the association of the german petroleum industry disagrees and blames the cost of oil extraction for the higher costs at the pump. our report has more. >> prices at the pumps in germany have reached record highs. a study by the green party accuses oil companies of ripping off customers. since november last year, the price of a leader of premium gasoline has risen by 11.3 since, but the study claims that in that time, the price of oil

has only risen by 6.6 since. the claim is that oil companies have added another 4.7 cents to the price of a leader, costing german customers an extra 98 million euros a month. the association of the german petroleum industry has rejected the claims. they say oil extraction has become more expensive and this alone has been passed on to consumers. >> to the markets now. global stocks drifted lower after u.s. housing data was less a encouraging than expected on wednesday. government debt prices rose as investors sought safety in less risky assets. here's our summary of the day's trading. >> the decision for punishing solar imports in the united states -- not a good decision, according to the people here in the frankfurt market. to mild, they say, when you consider what strong competition

the chinese are worldwide, and that is a problem for the german solar energy industry. one point in case, the solar hybrid company reporting a bankruptcy now, share dropping by over 60%. all in all, not a terribly good day here in the german market. a lot of shares treading water, some losing. people say not enough fresh and good news in order to put fresh money into the market, but the dax over 7000 points. >> let's take a closer look at some market numbers now in frankfurt. the dax ended the day of almost one. -- almost 0.25%. euro stocks 50 ended the day down about 0.3%. 2567 the number there. across the atlantic, the dow jones is currently going down just a tad at 13,159, and the

euro is trading for $1.3206. >> it is certain to be the envy of many a blushing bride to be this spring and summer. the world's longest wedding dress train has just floated over bucharest in romania in a hot air balloon. nearly 3 kiloliters long, the ivory trade on the wedding gown modeled by a 17-year-old, was laid out for the first time over a main boulevard in the romanian capital. she then stepped into that hot air balloon to give onlookers and even better view of the train, which took 10 dedicated seamstresses about 100 days to create. the guinness book of world records marks the train as the longest in history, beating the previous record held by a dutch designer. that is a spectacle. a lot of fabric there. >> does not look so comfortable.

>> it would take a lot of little girls to carry that. >> hundreds. >> we will be back in just a minute. is africa facing another famine? we will be looking at that question. >> stay with us.

>> thanks very much for staying with us. aid agencies are warning of a looming humanitarian crisis in what is known as the hot house stripped. that is a massive area of land stretching across sub-saharan africa. climate change and drought are threatening up to 50% of countries in the strip, countries from mauritania and senegal in the west all the way to chad in the east. and not our region is already plagued by terrorism and crime, and matters have been made worse by the turn of mercenaries from libya. exceptionally high temperatures have already read hundreds of

temperatures of badly needed crops. >> this dried out rice field is the only hope left. she comes here every day scouring the ground for any rice she can find. "i'm looking for something to eat," she tells us, but it takes a couple of days worked his great much together. what does she do with the rice she finds? she stores it day by day until there is enough for a meal for her children. the rain came too late this year, and her own crops died. the next rainy season does not begin until june. the next harvest is not until august. with eight children to feed, this is her only option. "you have to shake it well," she

says. "then you can separate the grains from the house. that is how you do it." many families in the region are struggling with the same problems. better irrigation would bring them the better harvests, but they do not have the money for that. here in the capital, the farmers' association is grappling with the issue. the president comes from the south himself. he says technologies the answer. >> the climate is changing, and that changes everything. we have to adapt to the new conditions. we need to turn to research to be able to keep up production in this difficult situation. our ambition in the future is to be totally self-sufficient. >> but the people need a solution now. for this farmer, the rain's one- month delay meant he could only harvest half of his usual crop.

a check of his store shows there is virtually nothing left for his family. and he is managing to feed his family. he has a job at a big farm in the area. it pays about 1.5 euros a day, but the poor harvest has pushed prices higher. buying enough seats for his field will be a struggle. planning for the next season is a luxury he cannot afford. she is living from day to day, trying to speak to -- scraped together one more meal. >> so how long is this going to go on? earlier, we talked to the head of the united nations world food program in germany. i began by asking how many people are currently at risk in the region. >> unfortunately, the situation

is affecting almost 9 million people needing food assistance. we have to scale up our assistance. right now, we only need it to support 1.5 million people in the region, it is a six-fold increase. we really have to act now. >> this has been an especially bad year, but it is not just the weather, the drought making things especially difficult. there are other factors as well, are there not? >> indeed. in one way, the fact is this is the third drought in many countries in very few years. people are affected much more because they have already used their savings. they have hardly any coping mechanisms any more. in addition, of course, we have to do much more to make these people able to cope with these droughts and manage the impact

of climate change we see more and more in these countries. >> why has that not been happening? this type of situation is nothing new. it has been going on for decades. why has there been nothing done to help the people on a long- term basis up until now? >> i think the impact has been too little. governments did not have a big focus on overdevelopment, on agriculture in the past, as there was a sense that food was available worldwide in surplus. but we know by now that food prices are on record levels for several years now, and secondly, the assistance to the country has not focused on this area as well, so we urgently need to shift in that direction. >> at a time when europe and the united states are focused on the debt crisis, do you expect the same levels of aid as in the past and the usual speed of delivery? >> the speed is a key question

because we could avoid the crisis if we acted earlier. we can act now to prevent the catastrophe in the region, but we are really afraid that it is not taken because only the funding we need -- we lack 3/4 of the $800 million we need so people can stay on their fields and do not need to sell their cattle. the speed is a key question, and indeed, funding levels need to be at least maintained if not to live up to the promises to increase them substantially. >> thank you so very much. >> thank you. >> colombian troops have killed 39 rebels in operations across the country. it is part of an aggressive government strategy to demobilize a leftist group. >> the country's defense minister said most of the rebels were killed in an operation involving ground troops in air strikes near the venezuelan border. several militants were also captured.

they have killed tens of thousands of people in the last half a century in its war against the government. >> the belgian king and dutch crown prince joined thousands of mourners in a highly emotional tribute to the victims of last week's fatal school bus crash in switzerland. thousands of relatives and friends of the debt pact into a community hall in a dozen town, home to 17 of the dead. six were dutch nationals. >> members of the belgian military carried the white coffins to the funeral service. a soldier walked ahead of east cask -- each casket, burying a memorial -- bearing a memorial photo of each child died. thousands of people attended the service at a community hall to remember those who lost their lives in last week's bus crash. the children's classmates added

roses to this heart made of flowers. the mourners were led by king albert ii of belgium. the belgian prime minister. and the dutch crown prince were also in attendance. as was the swiss president. mourners also gathered outside where the service was relayed on large screens. a separate memorial will take place tomorrow and home to several other children and two adults who died in the crash. >> we will be reporting, of course, on that as well. coming up, we will have all the soccer action from the german cup for you. >> but first, here is a look at some other stories making news around the world.

mitt romney has won the republican primary in illinois with nearly all the ballots counted. he has won 47% of the votes compared with 35% for rick santorum. the result takes romney a step closer to securing the republican nomination for the presidential election in november. >> on the second day of the state visit to berlin, israel's defense minister visited the holocaust memorial at the capitol's train station. between 1941 and 1943, not seize sent 50,000 jewish berliners to their deaths. track 17 is now a memorial. >> passengers traveling through frankfurt airport can breathe a sigh of relief. the long-running pay dispute between the airport operator and ground staff is over. the two sides said they reached a deal to hammer out the details of a new work contract. more than 1700 flights were canceled in recent weeks due to

the strike action. >> some german soccer now. first bid for the german cup final ended in a very heartbreaking fashion last night. >> that is right. having battled it out with the german champions for over two hours, they fell to a goal in the dining seconds. >> as the case in such a closely fought battle, lady luck had a hand in the results. >> players could barely believe their luck. he fought hard and made it through 120 minutes without letting a goal by, but then, the suspense was ended when the final whistle blew. earlier on, a hard-working furt allowed one chance, a header. in the second half, the club said dominated but could not find the net. the midfielder's header was herod, and he missed narrowly

again. meanwhile, he was unable to make the most of this chance. the team kept the pressure in overtime, but then, the shot hit the post and bounced off the back of the keeper and into the net for a last-minute victory. and they will soon find out they will be facing in the final. the second semifinal is about to kick off. we will, of course, have that later on. >> that is it for now. you have been watching dw-tv. please go to see more on our website. >> all that action coming up in the next program. stay with dw. >> see you soon.

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