♪ >> live from berlin, this is the "journal" in berlin. another blow to finding peace in syria. kofi annan resigns as the united nations special envoy. >> ecb present -- the speech by ecb president mario draghi disappoints markets. >> the song of follows vladimir putin everywhere he goes in london. >> "it was impossible to do my

job" -- the words of kofi annan today as he resigned as special envoy to syria. >> the peace plan looks more irrelevant than ever as fighting in syria shows no sign of ending. >> kofi annan appeared frustrated man today enplaned name-calling and finger-pointing at the security council for his decision -- and blamed name- calling and finger-pointing. >> after six months of disappointment and frustration, kofi annan is giving up on his mission impossible in syria. >> i have therefore informed the secretary general of deep un and the set -- of the un and the secretary-general today that i will not continue my mission. >> he blames divisions in the united nations security council and lack of international unity. >> without serious purposeful united and international pressure, it is impossible for

me or anyone to compel the syrian government in the first place and also the opposition to take the steps necessary to begin a political process. >> observers say the mission only had an outside chance. despite repeated meetings with syria's president, the six-point peace plan was never put into action. meanwhile, the bloodshed continues in the syrian capital damascus. the opposition accuses government forces of executing dozens of people during raids. unverified internet video also shows fighting in aleppo, the country's largest city. there are few details to determine who is gaining the upper hand. the refugee crisis is also mounting as tens of thousands of syrians stream across the border into jordan and turkey. >> we are joined now from the german institute of

international security affairs. what is your read on his resignation by kofi annan? what signal does it send? >> the resignation is long overdue. his mission was doomed from the beginning. now that the country has entered civil war, i think he simply had to accept that his mission has come to an end, but a factor might be that factors like the united states are now seemingly entering a new phase of the conflict with a support their allies on the ground -- where they support their allies on the ground. >> let me pick up on that -- the u.s. sending $25,000 to aid rebels in syria. the report says it is mostly for communications equipment. do you believe that? how is that money going to get to the rebels? >> the money has already got to

the rebels. we have seen that in recent months. it was not a secret that the americans were supporting the rebels. you could see the communication equipment on the ground, and that was one reason why the rebels have made these advances in recent months. as it seems the americans are leading this policy through turkey. we have the u.s. with turkey with the saudis on one side and also reports that iran is giving help to assad. is syria becoming the next proxy war for conflict between world powers? >> as it seems, the country has already been such a base for a conflict, especially between the armenians and the saudis. of course, the danger is escalation.

>> what are the chances of the civil war coming to a peaceful end? >> i think that this civil war will take quite a long time. it might be years until the regime will fall. >> as always, thank you very much. the new government of egypt is now in place. the cabinet assembled was sworn in today. the new government will be led by the prime minister, who announced the other appointments earlier in cairo. one notable selection is that of feared marshall. he will remain the egyptian defense minister, a post that he held for two decades under ousted president hosni mubarak. >> spanish police have arrested three suspected members of al qaeda terror cell. officials say the men may have been planning terror attacks in europe.

one of the minutes from turkey while the others are from the other former soviet republics. police swooped in and it looked like the men were preparing to leave spain. the interior minister said one of the suspects possessed enough explosives to blow up a bus. >> it was what financial markets wanted to hear, but not enough. >> european central bank president today said the euro is a reversal and added that the bank plans to buy government bonds to drive down high borrowing costs. >> that is good news for troubled countries like italy and spain, but drug he was short on details and a timeline, which sent stocks plunging -- draghi was short on details and a timeline. >> last week, the european bank president said he would do whatever it takes to save the euro, but on thursday, he produced few results. >> the euro is irreversible.

the governing council may consider undertaking further nonstandard monetary policy measures according to what is required to repair monetary policy transmission. over the coming weeks, we will design the appropriate modalities for such policy measures. >> the ecb has signaled it may start buying government bonds, but there's still no concrete plan of action. germany opposes the strategy, saying the ecb's job is not to finance eurozone debt but to insure the stability of the currency. >> it can create more liquidity in concrete terms that everyone understands. it can print money, but the central bank is not a cash machine to solve the problems of the real economy or the problems of certain other countries. >> spain and italy's debt woes have been compounded by the high cost of borrowing.

ecb intervention could help them access cheaper money. following talks on the eurozone crisis, mario monti and his spanish counterpart both described the ecb measures as positive. >> not everyone wants the ecb to intervene and buy those national bonds. i talk to a representative from the frankfurt school of management earlier and asked for his take on mario draghi's pledge today. >> i would say this is a severe step towards high inflationary policy. particularly the policy of starting to monetize government debt is a policy resorted to by failing banana republics. i think the increase in the money supply -- this is what such a policy stands for -- will not solve the underlying problems, will not save the euro, but will cause additional problems, and it will erode people's lifetime savings. i think it is a severe

announcement to say that the ecb will buy additional bonds. >> the final decision is due in september. is that a realistic time line? >> the number of countries in the your area which like to see higher inflation in order to get rid of the dead because the electoral -- electorate is not willing or in a position to agree to structural reforms, i think this is a very dangerous path for the euro. pthere is no reason for celebrating what has been announced today. >> are we seeing the european central bank undergoing a change in how it defines its own role? >> absolutely. the ecb has started a model which has been abandoned. the european central bank has

become politicized, and the policy, which is highly welcome by and many economists even and many politicians in the euro area is ramping up the money supply, but that will sooner or later lead to an erosion of the purchasing power of the euro, and that is a very costly policy. >> we will have to wrap it up there. thank you very much. >> let's get more on how traders reacted to draghi's comments. >> a big disappointment -- this is not what people wanted to hear from mario draghi, the president of the european central bank. last week, he had raised great hopes in the market, and now he disappointed, in their view, with his remarks at the press conference after the meeting of the council of the european central bank. it was all too vague. too many details were missing.

yes, the ecb could step in with bond purchases, but the measures for that would have to be worked out in the next couple of weeks, and besides, first, the governments would have to play a role with their bailout funds. that was a disappointment. not just shares went down in the euro, but also spanish and italian bonds. >> let's get a closer look at those market numbers for you. germany's blue-chip dax down sharply on the day, more than 2%. similar for the euro stoxx 50, which was down 3%. the dow jones industrial average is also in negative territory by about a percentage point, and the euro trading for $1.2172. >> 8-has slowly made its way across taiwan -- a typhoon has slowly made its way across taiwan. >> the entire island shut down

on thursday because of the extreme weather. >> it has been raining nonstop. the only way in and out of this house is by vote. >> it is horrible. when we woke up at 5:00 a.m., the water was up to my ankles. by 6:00, it was up to my knees. the flood is just coming to fast. >> in the capital taipei, local residents have been struggling to save their homes and belongings from the water. >> my car has been flooded. i have been living here for six years. it is the first time this has happened. outside the capital, at least one man was killed when the road he was walking on collapse. its foundations have been washed away by floodwaters. and at taipei's main international airport, dozens of

departing and arriving flights have been delayed or canceled, leaving passengers stranded until further notice. >> a signal that the kremlin does not want the judge to use a heavy hand in the trial of pulp band -- punk band pussy riot. >> vladimir putin said the women in the ban should not be judged too harshly, but he also said their protest against him was nothing good. >> pewter -- putin has been getting an earful since he arrived for the olympics. he has been facing criticism for his government. >> the defendants say they are being deprived of sleep and not being fed properly while in custody. as they arrive for the fourth day of their trial, supporters were there to begin another day of protests outside the courthouse. the women's defense team says the judge is not allowing them to bring the witnesses they

want and claim conviction is a foregone conclusion. >> the verdict will be guilty. we cannot rely on anything to change the course of this trial. this case is entirely politically motivated. the defendants are being punished for voicing their opinions. >> vladimir putin was the target of the punk protest prayer. he was in london for the olympic games and for talks with british prime minister david cameron, which focused on the economic crisis and on syria, but the issue of free speech has pursued the russian leader. a number of prominent british musicians were among those publicly calling for the case against pussy riot to be abandoned. they want the trial against the punk rock trio to be fair and transparent. the women face several years in

prison. >> coming up -- housing prices going up in germany. >> and the latest on the olympics is next.

>> welcome back, everyone. time now for a medal tally. >> germany won another gold medal this time in recycling sprint after a bit of drama. the gold was claimed after china's record-breaking time was invalidated by the judge is due to a lean and fraction. the chinese were relegated to silver with australia winning runs. -- invalidated by the judge's due to a lane infraction. >> in digital competition, it had a famous onlooker -- russian president vladimir putin was in the stands for what turned out to be a good match for him to see.

>> he is getting a lot of attention there. >> president vladimir putin joined the athlete on the floor to congratulate him on his gold. germany clinched the bronze in the same weight class with swift work and a stronghold. after the competition, he said his win was a dream come true. dmitri turned out to be a lucky name for germany. ocharov won the bronze in table tennis. and the u.s. rowing team successfully defended their title from beijing. >> the american is just one yet another gold. this news just in.

let's have a look at the medals table as we come to the end of day 5. china have won the most gold, but the u.s. is tied with the number of medals. host britain have jumped into fifth, followed by germany. be careful what you wish for. london is usually a major tourist destination with up to 1 million visitors a day in august, and the olympics were supposed to draw even more tourists. >> that is right. but travel chaos and high-priced hotel rooms have scared off many vacationers. >> london tour buses rarely see so many empty seats, and the view of the inner city is anything but normal. instead of bustling shopping district and crowds gathering around famous landmarks, the streets are relatively empty. >> do you think we might have a

problem finding space on the bus today? only a few people are on board. >> there are more of the seats in the west end theaters, which are complaining of a huge drop in ticket sales. only one event is really drawn the crowds, and that is the one at olympic park. >> we have 5000 06 thousand olympic spectators, but they are all at stratford. they are in strafford because they are interested in sports, interested in watching the games. they are not coming here to shop, go to the restaurants, visit the theaters, going to the museum. >> for anyone planning a spontaneous trip to the british capital, there are plenty of vacant rooms, and prices are falling. for operators hope it is business as usual once the olympics are over aretour -- tour operators hope it is business as usual once the

olympics are over. >> first investment for mainland china in a foreign sports team includes a a new stadium for the italian first division club to be built by 2017. the investor group is now the second-biggest shareholder. >> the olympic flame is a reminder of ancient greece and its proud legacy as the place where the first games began. >> but these days, the southern european nation is more infamous for its debt woes. >> although athens says it will be able to avert a looming bankruptcy, many fear for their future. >> the budget has been cut so much that even e u-funded projects are no longer stimulating the economy as planned -- even eu-funded projects. >> for the last years, this factory has been empty. local officials are frustrated

and would like to turn the abandoned structure into a much needed sports center. it would cost about 1 million euros. there are hundreds of potential projects like this scattered across greece. >> greece used to have to pay a 25% financing share for such projects. now it is just 5%. this gives us enormous motivation to take the money. we have enough for our small share. interest in such projects is growing rapidly. >> unemployment in this part of athens is over 20% -- that is the national average. creating new jobs with eu subsidies should be a top priority, but these two local officials find the greek bureaucracy is working against them. the latest problem is caused by municipalities across the country. the intent was to save

administrative costs, but the details, it turned out, were not thought through. >> jurisdictions were redistributive, it is not yet clear who is responsible for what period before, if we wanted to build a kindergarten for example, we received a permit for a specific department, but after the reorganization, no one knew who was responsible for distributing this kind of permit any more. >> this is where the kindergarten was supposed to have been built. still a vacant lot. eu subsidies are welcome in greece, but it turns out that spending funds is not so easy. that means their usefulness in stimulating the economy is minimal. >> we will not see any direct results this year, but we are assuming that in the near future, these key projects will help put an end to the recession, so the economy can at

least stabilize. >> the hope now is that the kindergarten can be built next year if the whole country does not go bankrupt first. >> month over month, spain is seeing some glimmers of hope. the unemployment number has decreased for the fourth time in a row. seasonal employment accounted for most of those decreases as employees in the -- businesses in the tourism sector continued to make summer hires. that means not all spaniards who found work over the last month will be able to stave off unemployment once the ball rolls around. >> the flame that lit the fire of the eurozone debt crisis begins with a property bubble that went bust. >> many in germany who are watching their own property values skyrocket worry that history could repeat itself. >> the price to buy a home keeps

on rising with no sign of cooling off period >> construction sites seem to be popping up like mushrooms, especially in urban areas. for the first time since the start of the financial crisis, property has won back its nickname -- concrete bowl. investors are seeing annual returns between 4% and 9%, sometimes higher. -- concrete gold. the price of residential property has risen about 10% over the past 10 years. in urban centers, it is ias high as 30%. despite the already high prices, analysts are not concerned about a possible bubble in the german property market. compared to other major cities around the world, the cost of housing in berlin is still relatively low. >> in just a minute, it is heavy medal heaven. >> first, a look at what else is

making news around the world. >> an unmanned russian spacecraft has arrived at the international space station after a journey of just six hours, setting a new record. the ship usually takes two days. the cargo ship is delivering supplies, fuel, and scientific equipment. >> firefighters still battling wildfires in the u.s. state of california. one hillside home has already been destroyed in marietta, southeast of los angeles, and others are under threat. officials say more than 200 acres of land have been affected. >> german sporting goods manufacturer adidas has raised its annual forecast after second quarter earnings beat expectations. profits were up almost 18% between april and june compared to the same time last year. the company says the olympics and euro soccer championships have helped to boost sales. >> all right, get out my

earplugs for me. it is loud and while -- the world's biggest heavy metal festival is taking place in germany -- it is loud and wild. fans come from around the world to attend the festival. it ends this weekend. >> all right, well, u.s. carmaker general motors continues to be plagued by concerns over its european subsidiary opel. the company has posted second quarter losses of more than 360 million euros. opel has been sluggish in sales in europe as the debt crisis ways on consumer spending. gm pointed to the company's restructuring drive across the atlantic as reason for optimism going forward. >> all right, you did not like

the heavy metal, but he might like this sound even better -- a genie in salzburg -- puccini and salzburg. the new artistic director of the salzburg festival has shaken things up a bit. he has brought one of puccini's most popular operas. >> a little better for the ears. that is all we have time for now. >> thanks for watching. >> bye bye. captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org--