♪ >> hello, and welcome to the "journal" on dw. >> and i am steve chaid. here is what we have coming your way. >> the greek conservative leader says he cannot form a government and hand back is amended to the president. >> a vote for change. francois hollande prepares to take office in france after defeating nicolas sarkozy. >> and the germany coach makes his preliminary choice of players to go to the european championships.

>> greece is on at the edge at this hour with conservative leader unable to warm a new government after elections that saw anti-austerity purdy's making massive gains. >> his party won the largest share of the vote on sunday and was given a first chance to form an administration. but he has already told president carolos papoulias that his efforts to form a government of national unity have failed. i did whatever i could, but it was impossible, antonis samaras said in a televised address a few hours ago to the greek nation. >> now that the mandate passes to the leftist party, there's a lot of talking to do. that is led by alexis tsipras. he will see the president on a tuesday morning. if he is able to form a coalition government, the greek

government would be controlled by political forces opposed strongly to the terms of the international bailout. for the latest line is quickly moving story, let's go to our correspondent brian williams in athens. can you tell us more about antonis samaras and what he said in his statement? >> well, he had three days to put together eight television -- nearly half today -- half a day -- [inaudible] 3 of the seven parties into the parliament. basically, it was over before almost began. >> can you give us an idea of the chances the next set of talks led by the leftist alexis tsipras have of being successful? >> it does not matter who tries

to form a coalition at this moment of political forces in greece are so split that it is going to be almost impossible for anybody to put together any sort of coalition or government that could run the country. there are no high expectations for this radical left coalition to come to being as well. >> ok, that is brian williams with the latest from athens. thank you so very much. and-austerity and anti-bank senate also won the day with voters in france. the socialist francois hollande defeated nicholas sarkozy byte 52% of those votes to 40%. >> hollande has pledged to unify the nation and focus on helping working class people. but first, a socialist president -- the first socialist president in 17 years. he has called for any kid -- a

renegotiation on a treaty of budget discipline, championed by angela merkel and nicolas sarkozy. >> a francois hollande supporters cheered when he appeared at the socialist party campaign headquarters. it had been a long night, but the incoming president said he was ready to get started on his new task right away. >> even though no presidential authority has yet been transferred, everything will be done on time. i must prepare myself. i have said i am ready. now i need to be. >> french newspapers are hailing the first socialist president in nearly two decades as the start of a new era. expectations are high. >> i really hope there will be a change and especially that he keeps his promises. >> the state coffers are empty in france. it will be difficult for the new president as well. >> i trust him, and i believe he

is a real break from his predecessor. >> on monday, nicolas sarkozy met with his eye korean counterpart, but otherwise, the outgoing president stayed out of the public eye. in his concession speech, sarkozy announced plans to withdraw from active politics. his successor will need to be very active, very soon. he has promised economic growth and more jobs but a balanced budget, too. that will be an enormous challenge. hollande's first trip abroad as president has already been scheduled. he is due to meet german chancellor angela merkel in berlin next week. >> is france and is europe seeing a new era in its affairs? for that, let's cross over to our correspondent in brussels, nina houser. following the elections in greece and france, isn't there a concern that voters are now looking for national solutions to economic problems and that

there is an erosion in european solidarity and faith in brussels? >> our economies in europe are so intertwined. there are no national solutions to economic problems anymore. and the single market, especially our common currency for cut -- for some countries within the european union, are a vital binding elements. but what we have seen is that out of fear, voters have been voting for detroit -- more nationally-oriented parties. that should make european leaders thing, because it has not just happen in greece and france but also in other countries across europe. this is something where we need to act, and the message of these elections that we have seen in greece and france was clear that the days of austerity-only are over. it is time to act and create jobs. that is what the european voters want. >> with the strong message sent by these two countries and others, holland, for example, is that brussels preparing for the possibility that some national

governments in the eurozone may want to reopen negotiations that their successors signed off on? >> we have just heard how complicated the situation is in greece in particular. brussels has no idea what the party stands for that currently has the mandate to form a coalition. this is something were brussels will have to wait until the great party comes up with what it says. yesterday, it said no to austerity. and when you look at france, you have to see the physical contact is something that francois hollande said he wants to have an add-on. he does not say he wants to abolish it. we're likely to see a mechanism to stimulate growth, and this is sending you here in brussels more and more. >> thank you so very much for that from brussels. >> speaking here in berlin, german chancellor angela merkel said she will welcome france but the new president francois hollande after his inauguration but to work together, the two

leaders will have to overcome serious ideological differences. >> that is the case. hollande has pledged to shift the bulk is on growth programs instead of the austerity measures that many european countries have forced to adopt. angela merkel has reiterated that the fiscal pact de eurozone states and others will not be renegotiated. >> after the political earthquake triggered by french and greek voters, the german chancellor may face new challenges dealing with the european debt crisis. angela merkel faces an unclear party landscape in greece, and a new french leader has the views that are largely at odds with her own. she is running out of allies for her strict austerity plans but says she is ready for the new situation. >> for my part, i can say that i will welcome francois hollande to germany with open arms, and i will hold intensive talks with him.

that is because the german- french cooperation is essential for europe. >> angela merkel's coalition partners criticized her for endorsing nicolas sarkozy during the french election campaign. but the fdp says she will establish a working relationship with hollande. >> this is not about personal feelings and not about liking or disliking someone. the fate of europe is in the balance here. france and germany will be clever enough to realize that. >> these social the reds believe merkel will have to adapt to the new reality. they say austerity must be augmented to help europe's teetering economies. >> these -- if countries is part of their industrial base, you have to hike investment. that is best done through the eu. >> after his inauguration on may 15, francois hollande will be expected in berlin promptly. he and chancellor merkel will have much to discuss. >> they will, indeed. germany wants to remain at the center for the push for reining

in public spending. let's go to melinda crane in berlin. what type of realignment can we expect no in the german-french relationship? >> i think the relationship will certainly become a bit more awkward and a bit more bumpy. we heard angela merkel saying to issue plans to welcome francois hollande with open arms, but they're also be some red faces. she had said that she would support sarkozy. i think we can also expect a more adversarial relationship. francois hollande has made clear that he plans to push the germans. but we're hearing german leaders saying today they're not going to be ready to pay for a fresh stimulus program, so there will be some pushing back. but in the end, expect to see pragmatism prevailed. france and germany have to work together. they are the tandem the polls the rest of europe, particularly given the instability in greece. they will be looking for ways to cooperate. and i think both leaders clearly know that they are going to have to come up with some kind of

compromise, the fiscal pact not likely to be renegotiated. perhaps what we will see is some symbolic growth pact in addition with measures that perhaps, in the end, are very much a symbolic given the very limited freedom to maneuver here. >> as ever, to is a very much. >> and of course, investors were watching closely as all the election results came in. after opening sharply lower at the start of monday's trading, most european markets recovered over the course of the day and managed to finish with gains. the initial negative reaction to the election results in france and greece had sent shares plunging to four and a half month lows at one point. >> some real drugs. shares in greece took a beating. reassurance from the german chancellor that the fiscal pact was not negotiable. profit shares on the other market -- it prompted shares on other markets to rebound. >> the greek stock market plunged almost 7% at the end of

the day, with investors deeply worried about the country's future. if the parties did not manage to form a coalition quickly, the country risks not having a government in place to carry on negotiations on the next part of the bailout money due to be handed over next week. that would push greece even closer to default. a lack of liquidity is already having a drastic effect on the economy. >> and every week or month goes by, and means more and more lockups for greek businesses' if we continue in this same manner. by september, i think we will have an and additional 25,000 businesses closing up. >> but elsewhere, it was a different story. after dipping in early trading, other stocks in europe ended the day up. analysts say investors are not too concerned about france having a left-wing president.

>> of the new president, francois hollande, does not have much room for maneuver. the objective has been set. it is the reduction of the deficit to get on top of the debt crisis. all he can decide is how he is going to do it. so we're waiting to see what measures will be announced in his big speech. >> there is not too long to wait. hollande is due to take over from sarkozy next tuesday. >> so, let's look at how things finished up in europe, starting off in frankfurt where the dax -- it did manage to post modest gains, up by more than 0.1%, 6569. the euro stoxx 50 up by more than 1.5%. on wall street, the dow down by just a tad bit over 13,000. and you're been managing to make gains, up by a good little margin. tiny, but it is of the value of $1.3049.

we will have more on the elections in france and greece later in the show. straggling year is an economy, spain says it plans to inject public funds into one of its biggest banks later this week. the bank's had has since announced his resignation. the bank is at the center of concerns over whether spain will have to seek international bailout. the new government has unveiled plans to set up a so-called bad bank that would buy and sell other banks' toxic assets. parliament is due to consider the move on friday. opel will be facing a warning strike at its main german plant on tuesday. union officials have called workers off the job at the plant near frankfurt. the dispute is over alleged plans by management to end the production of the astra model in germany, and that would leave it being produced just in england in poland. opel continues to be plagued by poor sales and high losses. its american honor general motors says its european subsidiary has lost about 10 billion euros over the past

decade. >> when we come back, we will be going to the kremlin for a look to the start of the new era of vladimir putin. stay with us. ♪ >> ture a -- true art has a mind of its own, just like beethoven and the artists who entered his work. at the beethoven festival bonn 2012, from september 7 to october 7. order your tickets online. ♪

>> welcome back. thank you for staying with us. it was not only france and germany. there were also elections -- france increase, rather. there were also elections in the federal state of schleswig- holstein. this cd you lost in that ballot. although the cdu won most of the votes as coalition partners, the fdp suffered serious losses. >> the opposition social democrats did not do quite as well as they hoped, but they do not want to form the government in coalition with the greens and a small regional party. >> chancellor angela merkel congratulated jager, but he is

unlikely to be able to put together a majority coalition. the national leadership is not making any demands. >> this is a local matter, not something we need to discuss at the national level. >> the social democrats and finished second. there's not enough support for their preferred two-party coalition with the greens, but they have just enough votes with the backing of a small danish minority party. >> a majority is a majority, and with the six parties competing up, it is clear that it will get harder to put together a coalition. so i am just glad this will work. >> the fdp candidate delivered a better than expected showing, boosting spirits ahead of next sunday's bigger poll in north rhine-westphalia. >> we reversed the trend. the fdp had its second-best result ever in a schleswig- holstein election. >> a c d u-as the peak partnership is still possible, but a three-week coalition is looking more likely. >> to russia, or vladimir putin

has been sworn in as the country's president for the third time. the elaborate ceremony took place in the kremlin's st. andrew hall. >> after large anti-putin rallies on sunday, thousands of riot police were on the streets of moscow this monday to crack down on groups trying to protest against their new president. many protesters did however try to defy the ban, and at least 120 people were arrested. >> as putin starts his historic third term as president of that country, we take a look at what this means for russia and its relations with the u.s. and europe. >> vladimir putin's return to the kremlin was full of pomp and symbolism. whether as president or prime minister, he has steered russia's cause for the last 12 years. now he has begun a new six-year term. >> i hereby swear as president of the russian federation to

uphold and protect the rights and freedoms of individuals and citizens. >> during his campaign, putin made a lot of promises. he has pledged more government spending and growth with the goal of becoming one of the world's five biggest economies by 2015. it is an ambitious target given the country's many problems, including corruption, bureaucracy, and political stagnation. >> i do not think putin has a magic formula up his sleeve. one that is going to allow him to really succeed in advancing russia's development. >> putin is focusing on russia's military strength. he plans to invest nearly 600 billion euros over the coming years. it has been decades since russia's armed forces were on a level playing build with the u.s. the country has slowly been falling behind in nato's capabilities. with moscow feeling threatened,

putin has criticized the alliance as an unnecessary remnant of the cold war. >> putin's language is sure to get tougher. i do not think we can expect any major compromises soon. >> putin aims to restore russia's influence as a great power. one of his ideas is a sort of eurasian union made up of former soviet states, and he's not afraid of using energy resources as a bargaining chip to get his way. >>but putin is also keen on havg good relations with the european union, and especially with germany. >> for putin, germany is the most important partner when it comes to modernizing his country. that is also russia's most important export market. >> putin envisions a russia once again pulling strings in world affairs, but his options for asserting power internationally are slowly diminishing.

and the continuous protests against his election are a reminder that post -- putin does the biggest challenges are not in the global arena. they are at home. >> coming up, we will have some sports, with a look at the team germany is putting together for the european soccer championships. but first, a look at some of the other stories making headlines at this hour. >> serbia's main parties are tied after presidential and parliamentary elections on sunday. the incumbent will face the challenger in a runoff poll for the presidency in two weeks' time. the parliamentary results left the socialists in a position of kingmaker with the ability to support the coalition government. >> syria has held parliamentary elections despite the ongoing violence in the country. the ruling baath party faced competition at the ballot box for the first time but opposition groups boycotted the poll which they dismiss as a sham designed only to keep president bashar assad in power.

>> the chinese dissident chen guangcheng says he is confident authorities will let him leave the country and travel to the united states. the human rights activists calls the major -- caused a major diplomatic dispute last month by escaping house arrest and fleeing to beijing. >> and tornadoes have caused severe damage in eastern japan. one person was killed and nearly 50 injured when the twister cut in half -- at a path through two provinces. the storm knocked out power for tens of thousands of people and damaged nearly a thousand buildings. >> india has delayed the introduction of controversial plans to crack down on tax evasion, that after criticism by foreign investors. those plans included provisions to retroactively apply a tax on mergers and acquisitions and going back a half a century. a number of multinational companies warned that it would

leave india if the legislation was adopted. the rules were drawn up to prevent annise from avoiding capital gains tax by rerouting investments through tax havens. >> welcome the indian government has also moved to lower the amount of money it pays out in assistance to the port. it has done so through a technicality, by lowering the country's poverty line to just 28 rupees per day. that is the equivalent of about 40 euro cents. >> it is far below international standards. the world bank considers people who live on less than 95 cents a day to be living in poverty. democracy activist to promise to fight the new moved, and this designation means that millions of people are no order eligible for the type of aid traditionally available for the poorest of the poor. >> this 27-year-old laundry worker is angry at the indian government for lowering the

poverty line. according to the committee, those who have at least 28 indian rupees a day to spend, roughly 40 euro cents, are not considered poor. critics say that is absurd. >> what the government has decided is unfair. it means poor people like us have to live worse than animals. >> he has been married for six months. he lives in one small room with his wife, his mother, two nieces, and a nephew. the new setting of the property line comes at a time to less of the poverty line comes at a time when the food prices are rising drastically. this soaring 40% for a stable. >> how is anyone supposed to live on 28 rupees a day? just 1 liter of milk costs more. it is not enough for flour either. how is it possible to survive and 20 rupees a day?

>> india's new poverty line allies well below internationally recognized the levels. the reduced level means many indians could lose state- sponsored assistance, like food rations and cheaper fuel. the opposition and experts alike say the change is unrealistic and out of touch. >> it is very small amount, and under this, you know, not many -- it is one way of reducing the number of poor. >> the laundry worker from delhi is aware of his country's social problems. he and his wife would like to have children one day, and he worries that he will not be able to afford to pay for their he wants the indian government to raise the poverty level, not lower it. >> it change of pace now. soccer news. german coach what team --

joacdhim low has chosen players. >> there is one surprise player who will be getting a chance to line up for germany. >> the surprise name on the list is the uncapped 18-year-old from a shotgun -- shalke. it is because of the huge potential. the goalkeeper has had a tremendous season at his club, and the uncapped player has also been selected by low. as usual, many of those names play for bayern unit. eight of them are on the provisional is. five boardman players may also be going to the tournament. a player from madrid -- players from madrid a part of the election. two of four non-bundesliga players on the list. after the announcement, he addressed the issue of human

rights in ukraine, the co-host country of the tournament. >> of course, i am deeply convinced that human rights of -- are of ultimate importance. and of course, i, and we as a team, identify with certain values. with freedom of the press, freedom of expression, the protection of minorities. and the humanitarian treatment of yulia temeshenko. >> most of the players into a weeklong training camp on friday. but low will have to wait for his dortmund and bayern picks to come. they are having finals this again. the bavaria's will have another big match a week later when they face chelsea in the champions league final. ♪ captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org--

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