♪ >> hello, and welcome to the "journal" on dw. >> i am ben fajzullin. these are our top stories. greece gets an emergency government. new elections are set and fears on a run of the banks. >> goodbye mladic. the german -- a good buy norbert rottgen. this so-called butcher bosnian is part of a tribunal. ♪ >> all across europe this

wednesday, political leaders are bracing for what could be an emergency exit of greece from the eurozone. >> the german chancellor, angela merkel, has from repeated she hopes that greece will keep the euro. >> in athens, an interim prime minister has been appointed to lead the government until new elections next month. greeks themselves seem to think their days of spending euros are numbered. >> some analysts are talking about a run on the country's banks. since monday, greeks have withdrawn almost 1 billion euros. our coverage begins in athens. >> the newly appointed prime minister panagiotis pikrammenos with president karolos papoulias. the government is on hold. there's no mandate to take decisions. he has to oversee new elections. that is a heavy enough birding, he admits. greece faces a landmark decision. the election is now a referendum on whether the country keeps the euro or leaves.

>> some careful thinking needs to take place before the elections. there's not much room left for populism, demagoguery, irresponsibility, and trading on illusions. >> of the election nearing has already begun to the radical leftist syriza party which polls say looks set to make gains is walking a hard line. >> in today's meeting headed by the president, we asked that the interim government makes no further cuts to pensions, salaries, and public spending that undermine labor rights and lead to privatizations. >> there's a good chance the elections will result in a syriza-led leftist anti- austerity government. >> everybody is very worried. some people are urging me their money out of banks. they are worried we might go back to the drop much. it is crazy. is it like there is a war coming. -- they are worried we might go back to the drachma.

>> i expected it. it was natural that this would happen. >> the greek central banks say citizens withdrew a total of 700 million euros on monday alone. there is a growing danger that that fear could turn into panic. >> a dire situation. for more, we're joined by brian williams in athens. talk to me about this talk of a run on the banks in greece. is that what we're seeing right now? >> well, there is anxiety. there is nervousness. you can hardly have a conversation in greece now without somebody asking you for advice on whether to keep money in greece or send it overseas or put it under the mattress. but i do not think that anybody has said the actual panic button yet. i did my own in fall more -- informal survey, and there's no sign of kew said banks, no sign

of people lining up to pull out money. obviously, some people are doing it. it is happening. but not at the panic stage. >> is the election next month -- is that being talked about as a referendum on the euro? will the greeks go to the polls to decide between the euro or the drachma? >> that is very much however buddies talking about this election. in the last election, the 19 days ago, there was a very low turnout. only 60%. people are forecasting that this time there will be about an 80% turnout, which is the more usual greek turnout. the question will be, does greece stay in the eurozone, stay in the euro, or does it go back to the track my? there is a lot of feverish political maneuvering going on already. parties, particularly on the right, are trying to bring under an umbrella, one umbrella, the

conservative party, all the pro- austerity forces. on the left, there is a similar effort going on to bring into syriza's camp, small parties that were not elected to parliament but have quite a number of supporters and the voters. there may not be formal lliances, but accommodations are being made. >> ok, brian williams, thank you very much. >> the worries about greece leaving the eurozone sent european shares to their lowest level this year. wednesday's sessions of banking stocks took a major hit. let's see where that left us. the dax closed down by about 0.25%. the euro stoxx 50 also down, 2175. in new york, the dow jones is actually a positive territory. the euro is down, $1.2726.

german chancellor angela merkel made headlines on wednesday by saying she wants greece to stay in the eurozone, but insisting athens must abide by her debt deal. >> that was not the only flashpoint of merkel's day. she also fired one of her star kevin the members. >> norbert rottgen is no longer environment minister. is an intent to shore up her hold on power. here is more. >> the chancellor waited three days before acting, but sunday's defeat marked a serious blow for her party. environment minister norbert rottgen has to go. but energy remains a central policy issue. >> developing alternative energy sources are essential goal of this legislature time. the groundwork has been laid, but we still have a lot of work ahead of us. >> once a rising star within the party, rottgen made too many mistakes in his campaign. he chose the wrong issues, failed to engage voters, and claimed the regional poll was

really a vote on merkel. peter altmaier has been nominated to replace him, a parliamentary whip from merkel's conservatives. he has the chancellor's trust. >> i am quite sure he will apply himself fully to the new task and ours will be a successful cooperation. >> the transition from nuclear power to renewable energy sources is likely to be a key issue in the next national election. so peter altmaier will have his work cut out for him. >> our political correspondent is on the the story and joins us from parliamentary studios. a very unusual step for the chancellor to sack one of her cabinet members. >> yes, it is a weapon once before in post-war german history. that was 10 years ago. -- it has only happened once before. we can only speculate about why she did it. norbert rottgen as energy minister did make some mistakes recently, quite big ones. he anchored people within his own party, important people,

about his suggestion to the solar energy subsidies. -- he anchored people. but the cannot be the reason. it is linked to the result in the north rhine-westphalia state election. he not only had a disastrous result there, but he made the big mistake of presenting this as a vote on angela merkel's on policies. >> it begs the question now, how desperate would you say that chancellor merkel is right now as she looks at her party's chances in those elections coming up next year? >> well, she is certainly worried and has to be worried about losing state elections, because the individual federal states control the second chamber of the german parliament. but regional elections in germany are generally fought on regional issues. it is an irony that on the day, in fact, that norbert rottgen came in with this disastrous results for the conservatives in north rhine-westphalia, an

opinion poll came out showing that angela merkel herself is the most popular chancellor in germany since 1973. and the same opinion poll also showed that a majority of germans across the political spectrum, all political parties with the sole exception of the small socialist left party, are in favor of her euro policies, including incidently a majority of opposition greens voters and even the protest pirate party. >> amazing. the chancellor everyone loves to love. thank you for the story. >> well, day one of the genocide trials of ratko mladic. >> the bosnian serb general is fronting the u.s.-bork -- she went back to court in the hague. >> as proceedings got under way, mladic taunted survivors of the sbrebrenica massacre, making a throat slitting gesture to a

woman who lost her son, husband, and brothers. >> mladic listened closely as the charges were read out. the former leader of the bosnian serb army faces 11 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity, accused of trying to wipe out bosnia's non-serbs. >> civilians were targeted for no other reason that they were of an ethnicity other than a serve. their land, their lives, their dignity attacked in a coordinated and carefully planned manner. in some locations, this attack rose to the level of genocide. >> mladic continues to deny all charges against him. he says he was fighting for a just cause. prosecutors said that during the war, he took charge of ethnic cleansing in bosnia. as chief of the bosnian serb army, he allegedly ordered the 1995 sbrebrenica massacre in

which more than 8000 muslim boys and men were murdered. prosecutors plan to call more than 400 witnesses to demonstrate how mladic and another bosnian serb leader pledged their war crimes. among those due to testify, survivors of the massacres. >> a survival will describe that day, he threw himself to the ground and pretended to be dead. as he lay there, he heard the sound of earth moving equipment. another survivor of this massacre will describe during the trial hearing one of the soldiers, and to another "it is all going according to plan." >> to speed up the trial, prosecutors dropped out of the original charges against mladic. the reading of the remaining 11 charges will continue on thursday. >> our correspondent nina is covering the mladic trial. we asked her to describe his behavior in court.

>> well, he came dressed in suit and tie and even applauded the judge's when they entered the courtroom. he listened closely to what was being said, kept taking notes. this is very different behavior to the last time he appeared in court were at one point he was thrown out of the courtroom because he kept disrupting this session. he kept provoking the people sitting in the gallery, victims and survivors, and he refused to take off his cap. there was hardly any of that today. there was one incident where he had to be reminded that to stay focused on what was being said and not make eye contact with the people on at the gallery. we also saw a sorrow cutting gesture by ratko mladic. this session was briefly interrupted. but all-in-all, you can say he stuck to the protocol. very different behavior to last year. >> all right, thank you for that report. >> coming up after the break, we will have more on the men and as the butcher of bosnia.

>> including a look at how people in sbrebrenica are still living with the nightmares created by mladic. germany has signaled its ongoing commitment to afghanistan by pledging millions of euros in military aid to the country. >> it is meant to support afghan security forces after the withdrawal of international troops in 2014. the deal was signed here in berlin during a visit by afghan president hamid karzai. >> karzai's visit focused on the future of afghanistan after international troops withdraw in 2014. the agreement signed by the afghan president and chancellor merkel provides for continuing country. merkel called the accord a milestone that would cement the german-afghan relations for years to come. >> we want to help afghanistan helping itself. of course we hope that their structures will develop transparently, that the administration will improve, and that the people can count on an

afghan state that does not act arbitrarily. >> germany will continue to helping train afghan soldiers and security forces after international troops pull out of the country. the agreement also allied's future economic ties between the two countries and provides, but -- provides kabul with continuing german aid. >> madam chancellor, today is particularly important for me to express on behalf of the afghan people the gratitude of our people for the support that germany has given to us. selflessly and with dedication for the well-being of the afghan people. >> although the west as often doubted karzai's democratic principles, the afghan president has pledged to hand over power the same year as the isaf withdrawal. afghanistan does the constitution does not allow for him to seek reelection when his

current term ends in 2014. >> we will be back in a second with more. >> that is right. stay with us. we will be back in one minute. ♪ ♪ >> what is so powerful that it can make you overcome your greatest fear, turn your brother into an enemy, and leave wounds that scar long after the fighting is over? >> what is so potent it passes

effortlessly from mother to child, from generation to generation? >> what clouds brilliant minds? >> makes bad ideas seem like good ones. >> it is hunger. >> help us fight hunger. a day.- >> the world food program. >> more now on the high profile war crimes trial in the hague. ratko mladic is accused of carrying out a brutal campaign of ethnic cleansing during the bosnian war. >> among the most notable of the atrocities is the 1995 massacre of bosnian men and boys in sbrebrenica. our next report texas back to the city 17 years on. -- it takes us back to the city. >> well people there have moved on, the memories of what happened in july of 1995 still loom. >> from a distance, the town of sbrebrenica seems tranquil and picturesque. sbrebrenica means silver mine, and the local mines it did back to roman times.

the town is best known for the massacre that took place here in a july 1995 during the bosnian war. many of the homes here are still empty, but some of the people who fled during the war have returned, including ahmed. he came back to sbrebrenica four years ago. he works as a barber. >> i was born here m. it is tradition in my family to be a barber. my grandfather had a barber shop in this same part of town. >> his youngest son is two years old, and he was also born in sbrebrenica. in july 1995, he was 20 years old and managed to escape the massacres. he was among those who walked all the way from sbrebrenica to an area controlled by bosnian muslims, but many others were

not so lucky. despite the presence of u.n. peacekeeping troops, bosnian serb military forces led by general ratko mladic rounded up 8000 muslim men and boys and then murdered them. this film was shot by a serb cameramen. is to be introduced as evidence at mladic's trial at the hague war crimes tribunal. since the end of the 1990's, crews have been examined bodies of the massacre victims from mass graves. specialists have been using dna evidence to identify the bodies. as this grisly work continues, mladic is finally to stand trial on numerous charges in connection with the bosnian war. >> please be seated. >> this cemetery's part of a memorial site in sbrebrenica for those whose family members were killed nearly 17 years ago.

the pain of their losses as real today as it was then. they come here every day to grieve. for many of them, the bosnian war has never really ended. in sbrebrenica today, bosnian serbs and muslims live together in relative peace, but some serbs still said that the massacre did not happen. >> if you take a look of their referral numbers, i would say the muslims beat us. a lot more serbs than muslims died here. >> we do not talk about that. the serbs are avoiding the issue. they do not want to call it genocide. they say it was an accident. >> some people here actually make an extra effort to get along with other ethnic groups. a for example hmed belongs to -- ahmed belongs to an multi-ethnic motorcycle club. here he meets a friend that comes from belgrade.

>> when i pass by the memorial, on the one hand to i am happy because you're still alive. i have my family and friends. but a lot of my friends are buried there. and we all know what happened to them. but life goes on, and if you understand that, it makes things easier. >> and life goes on in sbrebrenica. the trial of ratko mladic may reopen some old wounds among those who live here, but it may also give them a sense of closure once mladic is finally brought to justice. >> we spoke earlier to christian, an emeritus professor of international law at humboldt university in berlin but we began by asking what his expectations are for the trial after all this time. >> it is important that even top people, top officials can be made accountable. the international criminal tribunal has conducted many

versions, but all at the lower level. now, for the first time, the top people will be before the tribunal, and it is evident that they bear the greatest responsibility mladicresponsibility -- responsibility, including mladic. >> how difficult is it to put together a convincing case? >> in some ways, it will be easy. there are many witnesses and documents. but there was a large campaign for the instance of ethnic cleansing, and it depends to a great extent on how the dimension of the indictment, would you include a they could have included the whole war, but i think that have restricted themselves to the most atrocious occurrences, and that is right in order to be able to make it feasible and it really to come to terms with in a reasonable time. >> you have also been a member

of the u.n. human rights committee and the international law commission. what kind of message does a trial like this send to dictators? >> it sends a strong message to those dictators, and it shows that international criminal- justice is not just a hollow words. it is a reality, and people can indeed be convicted and sentenced. this has happened in the past, and probably in this case it will happen, too. if they're not acquitted, but that is not really probable. >> how long do you expect the trial to last? >> this trial may last for a whole year. it will really depend on the restriction or the breadth of the indictment. the indictment is really somewhat narrow, and therefore it will be possible to come to terms with the trial within a reasonable time.

>> all right, professor, thank you very much. >> some businesses. general motors has decided to stop advertising on facebook. the american car maker says the website's ads had little impact on sales. facebook relies heavily on revenue from advertising. the users do not pay to use the said. the decision comes as facebook prepares to go public later this year week. losing the auto giant is a major blow. the company's the third largest buyer of ad space in the u.s., spending almost $1.5 billion on commercials last year. here in germany, the crime rate went up last year after seven straight years of decline. almost 6 million crimes were reported in 2011. >> in berlin holds the dubious honor of being the german state with the most criminal acts. >> break-ins in particular were on the rise. the number of burglaries was up by almost 10% in 2011, according

to government figures. of those crimes, authorities were able to solve only 16%. it is an unsatisfying success rate, both for police and victims. the interior minister presented the report which cites 600 million euros in losses due to burglary. but the minister said the price was not just financial. >> people had their homes broken into and carry a heavy psychological burden. children are afraid someone will break in again. older people are haunted by the experience. they feel defenseless. >> berlin is also concerned about growing position of child pornography and hard drugs. one silver lining was the drop in violent crimes, although the interior minister was reluctant in his optimism. >> at first glance, it looks like good news. but we're not letting our guard down. we have relatively high rate of

violence, especially violent crimes among teenagers. that worries us. >> and the cases of drivers leaving without paying for fuel has risen. the nineties and increase coincides with rising prices at the gas pump. -- the 9% increase. >> what took place on the server field last night in dusseldorf was not typical for german soccer. hundreds of fans stormed the pitch during the relegation playoff against hertha berlin. >> in the end, foruna dusseldorf got a place in the division. the bundesliga berlin was sent packing. >> the match turned violent when fans through fireworks on to the field and rushed onto the pitch just before the end of the game. german police are calling for action to be taken. >> we have to consider whether the football clubs themselves should lose points for such behavior. that would force the fans to realize the effects of their conduct on the the teams. >> the on-field riot in

duesseldorf came after increasingly violent fan behavior. the interior minister says the club's need to respond. >> they have ownership rights over the stadiums, and they must exercise those rights. above all, the have to make it clear that fireworks in particular are forbidden. >> as for the game itself, there has been an official objection made to the outcome, and the team's consequent relegation. >> well, this year's cannes film festival has it begun, opening with a new film from wes anderson called "moonrise kingdom. the stars were there for the occasion. just one of 22 films subbing to win the prestigious palme d'or prize. who the winner is will depend on the jury that includes a designer and it is being headed by the italian director. the festival goes on for the

next 12 days. our correspondent scott told us about the faces that we can expect to see in palme d'or this -- in cannes this year. >> four directors have already won the palme d'or, legends. it is like a class reunion in cannes this year but each director wants to show the others there's still the best. this kind of competition has led gives it the appeal to juror film fans. not all the stars. >> all right. >> that is it from us for now. we will see you again in an hour. >> see you later. ♪ captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org-- ♪

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