journal" on dw-tv. >> coming up in the next half- hour -- >> may day marches in germany. >> aung san suu kyi as the u.n. secretary visit burma. >> and a stop to drug tourism. captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org-- >> it is the international date of the worker, and millions around the world have taken the

opportunity to make their voices heard. >> made a marches in europe -- may marches have taken place in europe. >> millions are not reaping all the benefits. >> tens of thousands did to the streets for rallies. in jakarta, in manila. workers across asia are demanding better pay and better conditions. many are worried they will lose out in the process of globalization. >> for the first time in 20 years, labor groups have banded together to support the passage of the security of tenure bill and to support for an across- the-board wage increase, to push

for lower oil and electricity prices, and more important to push for more rights to labor unions. >> here in europe, a spanish unions led demonstrations across the country. workers' protest against austerity measures. spaniards are angry. >> i am mad because of what i see now, and that is we are losing what we have been fighting for over the past 50 years. during the years of the working class struggle. the struggle for health care and for schools. and now the inquisition is taking everything from us. if we do not take to the streets, it will be like it was under franco. >> protesters were also out in force in greece, where authorities have responded with

strikes and blockades. so far, too little affect. one of the biggest labor day demonstrations is a straight -- is a state affair in russia with vladimir putin leading the march. but no one is going to rain on this parade. if russian workers have complaints, this may not be the best place to express them. >> here in germany, may day protest of a long history, and today is no exception. >> but workers are doing better in germany than elsewhere in europe. unemployment is at record low while countries like spain and greece are going through a mass of crisis. >> some unions in germany are calling for a change from the government in berlin with the new approach to the crisis that has put so much of the continent in trouble. >> mischa's talking about

workers in other european countries. if europe is ill, then germany cannot stay healthy. when things are rough for europe, things cannot continue to be good for germany, ladies and gentleman. this is unfortunately the reality. >> many trade unionists are expressing solidarity with countries where the economic crisis has hit hardest. >> this is where the eu was founded. the larger members need to stand by the smaller members. >> the key aim of the federation is to halt the european fiscal compact. members say it's intense budget discipline is hurting europe. >> this contact is the wrong tool. if germany had used this tool during the 2008 crisis, we would be on the bottom, still. nonstop

as we are now. >> it foresees an eight euro 50 cent minimum wage. >> for more on that, let's go to our political correspondent in the studio. simon, these demonstration by unions are an annual ritual. , influence do they have? >> there are between 7,000,008 million union members in germany. they are still a force to be reckoned with, although their numbers are declining. -- there are between 7 million and 8 million union members in germany. in germany, unemployment has been relatively low in recent years, so there are plenty of people with concerns about conditions and to see that on the streets today. >> it is quite a specific

european focus in these demonstrations, and a very strong rejection of this fiscal compact which was championed by angela merkel to end the debt crisis. tell us about that. >> the euro crisis has had a major impact here as elsewhere. labor unions have been reducing working hours. there have been cutbacks in the public sector as well. not as drastic in other countries. the picture is slightly better in germany. the economy is doing not too badly. as for the fiscal pact, the chancellor says europe needs a dose of financial discipline to get debt under control. and watering that down with injections of cash and to the economy is not the way to go. of course, the unions for their part say a growth pact need not

cost a lot of money. >> it is also not just the unions giving this message at the moment. also, we are hearing back from other european capitals and the man who may be moving into the house in paris also saying that. >> is likely there will be a socialist president in -- it is likely there will be a socialist president in france quite soon. the greeks are holding elections. of course, there is going to be a referendum in ireland at the end of this month. so chancellor martell -- merkel is beginning to look a bit lonely. >> it could be an interesting political few months ahead. thank you. we will be taking a closer look at the german labor markets later ron. >> first, french president nicolas sarkozy has attended an

event in paris. is five days before the runoff elections. >> he is down against the socialist challenger francois hollande. he received a blow on monday when marie le pen refuse to endorse him. >> dominique strauss-kahn may face charges after rolf. the judge refused to reject the charges on the basis of diplomatic immunity. >> the new york state prosecutors dropped the criminal case last august, saying they had doubts about the plaintiff's credibility. >> the u.n. secretary-general has held his very first face-to- face talks with burma's

opposition leader aung san suu kyi. >> this is the latest of top- level diplomatic visits to the country. >> this meeting shows how things have changed in burma. on his last visit in 2009, ban ki-moon was denied access to aung san suu kyi, who was under house arrest. now she is poised to take a seat in burma's parliament. suu kyi relented on her position, drawing praise from ban. >> we have differences on some issues, this flexibility is for the greater cause of people. and this is what she has done. >> suu kyi insists her

concession is not a setback. her party will continue to push for changes to the constitution which grants the military excessive powers. >> we have always been for flexibility in the political process. that is the only way with which we can achieve our goal. >> that struggle is said to continue inside parliament. the opposition deputies are said to be sworn in on wednesday. >> there has been more violence in syria today with reports of an army military attack and a firefight between rebels and government troops. both sides have been violating the cease-fire. >> the united nations mission is in syria. it was to speed things up but needs member states to provide manpower. >> so far, just a couple dozen u.n. observers have been

monitoring the state of the truce between syrian government forces and rebels. a senior u.n. official said tuesday that he is confident the full 300-member contingent will be deployed by the end of may. >> so that, of course, we rely on member countries to supply us with human personnel that are being deployed on the ground. and of course, we need to be given visas by the syrian authorities. >> with so few observers currently on the ground, there is still much scope for both sides to violate the truce terms. this unverified internet video claims to show a funeral march for victims of an army bombardments early tuesday. 9 of the 10 victims were said to be from the same family.

in homs, the heart of the uprising against president assad's regime, life remains a daily struggle for civilians. opposition militants still control parts of palms -- homs. residents say even there they are at the mercy of government sniper fire. >> to the netherlands now which has seen plenty of political changes over the last week with the government's collapsing in the anti-immigration party saying it wants more of a say in how the country is run. >> a new law has been introduced in some regions allowing -- insisting that specialty coffee shops to restrict the sale of drugs. >> cannabis is a huge tourist attraction. only a third of coffee shop customers in some areas are

local residents. the rest travel over the border. but may 1, the rules in parts of the netherlands are changing. coffee shops will become clubs for official dutch residents. some owners say they will ignore the new rules. >> to people who are not registered members -- then the mayor's office will close my shop down for three months. >> coffee shop owners want the issue to go to court. they see their livelihoods threatened. tourists seeking over-the- counter panamas bring in all lot of revenue. -- cannabis bring in a lot of revenue. >> that is not fair. >> once it is more legal, it will become more dangerous. >> i will definitely continue to buy cannabis. street trading will come back.

>> critics of the reform say it will open up a black market to sell drugs to foreign tourists. the mayor says he will make sure that does not happen. >> we will have a lot of extra policeman, extra people from local government to present that people go into different neighborhoods. >> the new rules go into force in three of the country's 12 provinces. others will follow later. >> not to sports and the english national football team has a new coach -- now to sports and the english national football team has a new coach five weeks before the national. this is after the resignation of capello. he has managed 16 different clubs in a very long career. back in a minute with a lot more

on the world of work. >> find out what it is like to be an italian scientist and what is new in germany. stay with us.

>> tens of thousands are out on the streets this may the. high unemployment is a concern in countries like greece and spain. >> germany has its challenges, despite the jobless rate being lower. the new jobs have no pension contributions and low-paid. >> we talked about what makes germany work and the potential pitfalls ahead with two leading economist. >> stefan works for the dhak.

the two agree on one thing. germany has weathered the crisis better than most. >> so many companies adopted the government's reduced working hours model. said they did not have to lay off workers. that allow them to bridge the gap until orders started coming back in again. this is one area where we are a model for other european countries. we see relatively few strikes. >> it is becoming more flexible with new forms of employment in germany. temporary contracts are increasingly common. temporary workers also earn less, and about a third of jobs advertised in germany are now for temporary contracts. >> of course you have to be

flexible in a globalized lamarck it -- labor market. we are not doing enough to offer people security. >> there are also new models in the retail sector, such as on call working, where only hours worked are paid. employers here say it makes sense. >> these are all types of flexible working. take part-time work for example. it is usually classified as a nonstandard working model, but many employees consciously choose to work part-time. working mothers for example, did not want to leave the labor market completely, choose to work part-time. >> but schneider says the government should be working to get the unemployed back to work. he also wants politicians to agree to a legally-binding national minimum wage. >> the labor market in germany

is becoming increasingly americanized. since the reforms of 2004, people on welfare have to accept almost any job they are offered at almost any pay rates. unlike our european neighbors, we have no national minimum wage. >> finding a job as a challenge for many in germany. women with children or who want to have children, for older people, and for the young. one quarter of 18 to 24-year-old work as an unpaid intern. but many more are worse off. >> unemployment in germany is lower than any other country in the european union. here it is under 8%. in spain is as high as 50%. statistically, germany is in a good position, but we have 20%

of employees in the low-wage sector. they can barely survive on their paid -- on their pay. >> experts agree that that is an area where reform is urgently needed in germany. >> for all those problems, germany's market does look healthy and is becoming more attractive for job seekers from all over europe. >> that is especially true for highly qualified workers. we met an italian scientist who made the move here, discovering is not all that easy. >> the biggest obstacle facing rosana is learning the german language. the italian biochemist speaks good english, but knows for many employers fluency in

german is an absolute must. >> it is very important to me to learn german. of course because i want to find a job. but also so i can understand what other people are thinking and saying. i want to be able to chat with my boss when we run into each other. mostly, i just want to belong. learning german has been the most important thing to me since i came here. >> the 34-year-old lives with her boyfriend's in a small city near frankfurt. she did her doctoral research on cancer tumors. still, she struggled to find suitable work at home in italy. she has been out of work for a year-and-a-half. her last job was as a lab assistant earning just 1000 euros a month. fed up with the job market in

italy, she decided to move to germany. >> it is very difficult to find work in italy. especially if you of a ph.d. they say you're overqualified. -- especially if you have a phd there are papers on molecular biology and international journals. but for companies, that just means they have to pay more. the pay is the problem. they prefer to take someone not as qualified and pay them less. >> more and more qualified workers are prepared to leave their home countries to find a good job. there has been a quarter more spaniards, portuguese, and battalion signing up for german courses than a year ago. she has signed up for a more advanced course in the institute.

-- at the institute. >> a british parliamentary conclusion on the findings of the phone hacking scandal at rupert murdoch's newspapers. defines murdoch responsible -- it finds murdoch ultimately responsible. news corp. says the conclusions are unjustified and highly partisan. but the company acknowledges serious wrongdoing. they have admitted to hacking at least 800 phone calls. >> german carmakers have reported strong april sales in the u.s., volkswagen up 32%. chrysler -- be carmaker that is majority owned by fiat of italy

-- jumped 20%. >> pp saw profits -- bp saw profits jumped 20% compared to a year ago. they have sold some 23 billion euros worth of assets to pay for the cleanup. it must still sell 15 billion more, including some assets in the gulf of mexico itself. >> and delta will become the first airline to cut fuel costs by producing its own kerosene. the investment will save twice that amount in cost every year. the deal will also save thousands of jobs at the refinery. >> many european markets were closed on tuesday for the labor day holiday. let's take a look at the numbers on the other side of the

atlantic with the dow jones well up 0.75%. the your sliding against the dollar, $1.3236. >> shell has permission from the u.s. to drill exploratory wells in alaska. 13 different countries were in the ice breaker. greenpeace says that if shell strikes oil, that could inspire a russian in the fertile region. -- a rush in the fetile region. -- fertile region. >> no doubt there will be screens heard from sotheby's

auction house. -- screams heard from sotheby's auction house. >> if it is an iconic image of desperation. "scream," considered a masterpiece of expressionism. with its radically what expression of emotion, "scream" was a watershed for art on the cusp of the twentieth century. >> one reason the picture is so famous is everyone can read something into with. allows for different interpretations. the work was shown under the title "fear." ultimately its displays the isolation of the individual in the modern age.

>> this is the only version that will go up for sale. >> the picture is an icon within modern painting. in that sense, it is unusual that it is on the market. there are four versions of the picture, and if there is only one version that can be fought over, the price is sure to be high. >> the picture is being sold by a norwegian businessman. he will use the proceeds to build a museum. >> we will have more on the u.s. president barack obama arriving in afghanistan. stay tuned.