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tv   Journal  KCSMMHZ  August 8, 2012 2:30pm-3:00pm PDT

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>> this is dw's "journal" in berlin. i am anne o'donnell. >> and i am david laws -- david vigilant -- fazjullin. >> there is fighting for control of the syrian city of aleppo. -- [no audio] >> and a bag of medals for the germans with the cavaliers leading the way at the london olympics -- paddlers leading the way at a london olympics.
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the world is watching that trial in moscow. three young female punk rockers who stage a protest song against the president. >> the lead singer of pussy riot has been comparing the case to the stalin-era repression. she has spoken out after a full week of hearings, during which most of the defense witnesses were barred. >> the women face three years in prison for their performance. the judge has put off delivering the verdict until august 17. >> the three defendants are still looking strong and defiant. they are putting on a brave face, despite the possibility that they could be sent to a penal colony for three years. the women and their relatives are expecting a guilty verdict. >> of course, i am very worried about the prospect of them being sent to prison. in the five months that they
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have been in detention, i have gotten used to expecting the worst. >> it was for this performance in moscow's main cathedral that the three women may now lose their freedom. they were charged with hooliganism and inciting religious hatred. their supporters say the trial is politically motivated. >> the powers that be in the kremlin will not let anyone speak who has a different opinion. >> draconian treatment of the members of pussy riot is clearly a reaction to the mass protests against vladimir putin that we saw last winter. >> both opponents and supporters are camped outside of the court, but a whole world will be waiting for the verdict when it comes in nine days' time. >> we spoke earlier to walker and asked him what the verdict
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has been delayed until august 17. -- why the verdict has been delayed until august 17. >> it is very interesting. the court has rushed through the case. in a week and a half, we have had hearings until 10:00 p.m. every day, sometimes 12 hours per day, which is almost unheard of. all along, the idea seemed to be that they wanted to get this case over as quickly as possible, given all of the negative publicity it has attracted in russia and abroad. now, of course, the judge has said she will take nearly 10 days to come to her verdict. what the lawyers are suggesting is that the delay is really part of a hope that people might forget about this in the interim. a lot of russians are on their holiday. there is a hope that this delay will further reduce interest in the case. of course, it has been very controversial and has caused a lot of shock waves internationally. >> the syrian army has land --
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has launched an intense ground assault on aleppo. it could be a decisive battle for control of the country's commercial center. >> the real nude offensive is driving a massive wave -- renewed offensive is driving a massive wave of refugees. >> a week after the assassination, a prominent rebel fighters have signed a code of content -- a code of conduct to observe in their fight against the regime. >> they are reinforcing the posts they have literally defended for weeks. the rebels are maintaining strongholds in the south of the city, but they admit the situation is tougher in northern aleppo. there, government troops have launched a full-on siege. they are making headway. reports are emerging of brutal attacks with fighter jets and tanks. army officials say they have regained control of the salaheddine district.
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in rural areas, the army's drive into aleppo has left the path of destruction. >> the shelling is continuous. it is every day, 60 rockets a day or more. so many people have died. some have lost legs, hands, heads. >> thousands have fled the area. just last night, 600 syrians, mostly women and children, crossed into jordan, taking shelter in this refugee camp. >> unfortunately, what we do not know is how many syrians will be following. every night that we put up more tents, they are fully occupied. it is a never ending battle. >> as more fully the violence, the camps are set to get even more crowded -- as more flee the violence, the camps are set to get even more crowded.
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>> the egypt is declaring success in its crackdown on the sinai peninsula. >> the military has launched an unprecedented era tax on militants in the border area between egypt and israel -- unprecedented attacks on militants in the border area between egypt and israel. >> president morrissey has replaced the head of the national intelligence agency -- president morsi has replaced the head of the national intelligence agency. >> for the first time since the yom kippur war, the sinai peninsula is again for some. it is in answer -- is again a war zone. it is in answer to an attack. it was a retaliatory air strike. >> the government fully supports the armed forces and police in restoring security. we call on all citizens to stand together and help us in those efforts. i pledge to the egyptian people to pursue those who carried out the attacks on the border and punish them.
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>> ciena has long been a source of security problems for cairo -- sinai has long been a source of security problems for cairo. experts say the area is a fertile breeding ground for terrorism. further complicating matters, most of the sinai peninsula is desert, impassable to security forces. cairo's peace treaty for six the army's movements in the region. that could be about to change. israel has a vested interest in making sure egypt's cracks down on the militants. >> the number of civilian casualties in afghanistan has fallen for the first time in five years. it was a 15% drop for the first half of 2012. that does not meet the country any less dangerous. on wednesday, nato officials -- that does not make the country any less dangerous. on wednesday, nato officials say that free isaf -- three isaf troops were killed.
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taliban has claimed responsibility. >> there was a typhoon that made landfall, causing wide spread destruction. >> authorities moved nearly 2 million people to save the. -- saftey. -- safety. >> people in the philippines are struggling to cope with flooding after several days of torrential rain. the capital is under -- >> it has left a trail of devastation in the coastal province. roads are under water. plyons -- electric pylons had been destroyed. it is causing mudslides in some places. the province is densely
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populated. rescue workers have not reached people living in remote areas. it is still not clear how many there failed to evacuate on time and are now cut off without assistance. in shanghai, at least 500 flights have been canceled. the number is set to rise. chinese meteorologis sts say it wil continue to rage for another two days. >> standard chartered as it back at allegations that it -- the chief executive says that claims are factually inaccurate. he says his bank has always complied with u.s. sanctions against iran -- tehran. they're working on a strategy to limit the damage. standard chartered lost more than a quarter of its market value on monday. new york regulators threatened to cancel its license. not ruffled the feathers of some british lawmakers, who -- that
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ruffled the feathers of some british lawmakers, who accused the u.s. of trying to undermine britain as a financial center. >> german exports are booming to countries like u.s., china and brazil, but are down sharply in europe. they dropped by 1.5% in june. exports within the eurozone took a 3% dive. exports to other regions are soaring, up almost 20% in june from a year earlier. germany is the world's second- biggest exporter after china. turning to the markets. equities cannot just keep going up forever. european shares sagged a little on wednesday. here is more. >> the number of disappointing german economic data is growing. the euro crisis is having strong or a fax than expected. -- stronger a effects than
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expected. the euro also suffered from this economic data. the financial crisis and the iraq crisis caused -- the euro crisis caused a huge capital problem. the bank has increased its capital by more than 8 billion euros. >> let's look at the performances this wednesday, starting with frankfurt. the german dax was down slightly, but ever so close to the 7000-mark. down 1/3 of 1%. the dow is up at 13,176. the euro is trading down slightly, 1.2351. another downgrade is now more likely for greece. standard & poor's has revised
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the outlook for athens to negative. its credit rating is already at junk status. >> the country got -- the country's government has agreed to more on popular cuts-- more unpopular cuts. >> these greek bank workers say they are not for sale. they are protesting against the privatization of this bank, in fear for their jobs. >> we will not allow anyone to destroy as. they want us to be handed over to a banker. he will just cover up for his corruption. >> the government sees no alternative. if the creditors are not happy, the cash applied to greece will be cut off. >-- the cash supply to greece will be cut off. >> the private sector can be the employer of all greeks. that will bring new investment to the country, which is
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necessary. otherwise, we will never emerge from the recession. >> rating agency standard and poor's complains that the reforms are happening too slowly. recently, it downgraded its outlook on greek debt to negative, based on fears that the country is not doing enough to continue to deserve its bailout funds. >> minsk is expelling all swedish diplomats and recalling its own representatives to stockholm. the crisis began when swedish activist drop -- activists dropped teddy bears all over to protest the freedom of speech. that there have been harsh sanctions imposed on minsk in the past. >> it was a human rights protest, but these teddy bears are not just fun and games, certainly not for minsk. the byelorussian government is
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blaming sweden for what it calls on them -- calls an unlawful intrusion of its airspace. >> the byelorussian kgb is investigating a criminal case on the grounds of an illegal crossing of the border on board a single-engined aircraft. >> belarus has been the target of eu criticism for its poor human rights record. this has ratcheted up the ongoing diplomatic crisis. >> it is a question that will be discussed at the next meeting of eu ambassadors. there are range of measures considered appropriate that the eu could adopt. >> with parliamentary elections in belarus just weeks away, it is likely that minsk has not heard the last of those swedish teddy bears. >> we are going to take a break.
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do not go away. just 60 seconds. >> see you soon.
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>> welcome back. as we mentioned earlier, the fighting in the syrian city of aleppo could be entering a decisive phase. government forces are pushing into districts controlled by rebels. >> the same happened in damascus last month. it seems the rebels are struggling to hold onto their gains in syria's most important cities. >> their firepower is no match for that of the government. where are they getting the arms that they have? >> some rebels are resorting to making their own weapons. that is not the whole story. >> this concoction is a recipe for explosives. the blasting agent is poured into gold medal -- old metal
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parts to make rockets. the maker says he for months -- says he worked for months to perfect the for mula. the explosive was made of chemicals, coal, and sulfur. of course, we cannot get that here in syria, so we have to smuggle it in with the help of some of -- of sympathetic countries. martyr 1 is what the group called the rocket that they launched last month near idlib in syria. the fighters take particular pride in their homemade cannon. for almost two weeks, the so- called martyr brigade has been calling the shots. it is a motley crew. it is difficult to determine the strength of their capability.
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"once we were able to produce heavy weapons and had establish relations between the revolutionaries and the free syrian army across syria, we made the decision to launch the decisive battle." it is unclear how the free syrian army is financing its campaign. the group's statements would suggest are making do with weapons they have seized or made themselves. "we are not receiving support from abroad or from anyone within syria." yet the free syrian army's coordination office is located abroad in istanbul. experts agree that rebel forces are receiving massive aid from gulf states who are seeking to increase their status within the region. >> qatar and saudi arabia have openly admitted they are supporting the freeze syrian army. there are suggestions that the army is being paid by the gulf states. so, can be sure that all the
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fighters in syria are receiving financial aid and weapons from outside. >> fighting is contained within syria's borders. the involvement is national. neighboring -- the involvement is international. neighboring countries are involved. >> the country is under fire over one of its biggest policies, making a transition to renewable sources of energy. >> the plans are ambitious. the chancellor wants to cut carbon emissions by 80% by 2015. that requires a huge amount of investment. -- by 2050. that requires a huge amount of investment. >> we will speak to our political correspondent in just a moment. first, this report. >> environment groups are watching closely as germany makes the switch to alternative energy sources. it is a transition partly prompted by the disaster at the fukushima nuclear plant.
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conservationists say the development of renewable energy has stalled and the government is barely making progress on the mammoth project. >> the chancellor has verbally lent her support to the transition, but we do not have the feeling is the focus of her political considerations. >> the environment minister recently warned that the billions of euros in additional costs must not be allowed to overwhelm tax payers of the economy. economics -- the economics minister has said it would be almost impossible to complete the switch-over in time. business associations are demanding clarity. >> when it comes to energy policy, the government has to stop waiting around and act now. we also need clear and ambitious guidelines so that we can plan ahead. >> the government rejects the criticism, saying that many details still need to be negotiated. germany's move away from nuclear power remains an explosive
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political issue. it is time to head over to our parliamentary studios. green groups are not very happy with the progress going on at the moment here. they do not think the government has their heart in it. what do you think? >> i think the government is committed to this, but they are not idealistic. we are a year over in the switch. there have been some successes. last year, germany got a quarter of its electricity from renewable sources. that is a lot, but there has not been so much progress on reducing the demand, which is going to be an important part of this. and i think that you have got to remember that these technologies continue to require an awful lot of government subsidy and government input. it is not surprising there are
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skeptics, including within the government. >> there are also allowed the people who are completely against the energy transition -- there are also a lot of people who are completely against the energy transition. >> many businesses are concerned, saying that relying or hoping on being able to rely on renewable energy in the near future is taking a huge gamble in a country such as germany, which relies on its manufacturing industry. consumers are also worried about manufacturing. there is a lot of concern. we will hear a lot about that in the months ahead. >> thank you very much for that report. as we heard there, germany's energy plans call for lots of an extended power grid. >> the trouble is that things like wind parks are not always popular to people who live near them. there are plans to get
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communities to share in the benefits. >> in this town, the residents have contributed to the project 's success. >> the wind turbines are visible from almost every balcony. they do not bother anyone here. on the contrary, a group of these residents are pleased to see the reuters turning -- rotors turning because they are generating money. the town could not afford to fund the 15.5 million euro project. they came up with the idea of a wind park owned jointly by the town citizens. president invest in shares in the project. the town provides the land and permits -- the residents invest in shares in the project. the town provides the land and permits. but it has an affect on the landscape. the residents' acceptance is
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greater if the revenue remains in the community. >> the wind park has been generating electricity for more than four years. last year alone, it produced 21.5 million kilowatt hours, enough to power 5000 households. the park has also attracted visitors. this group is interested in initiating their own citizen- owned when park project -- wind park project. the manager explained that selling the market -- selling the product on the open market is profitable. >> we have been selling the electricity directly through a broker at the energy exchange. it is profitable, since there is a lot of demand for green energy right now. we're getting considerably more than 9 cents per kilowatt hour. >> the shareholders are due to receive their first dividend this year. at a nearby hotel, they say that
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the shareholders have only pump money into a project, without realizing any returns. the visitors are not discouraged by the risk. >> to gain greater acceptance, it makes sense to get as many shareholders as possible involved in the project so they can talk it up and bring the whole community on board. >> the visitors will likely have to deal with a lot of red tape. it will not be easy attendance their neighbors -- easy to convince their neighbors that a wind park would benefit their community, too. >> day 12 of the london olympics. jamaicans printers are looking to increase their dominance. -- the jamaican sprinters are looking to increase their dominance. bolt and blake. >> veronica campbell-brown will try to become the first woman to become -- to win three olympic golds at the 200-meter distance. >> the day began well for
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germany. >> team germany snagged the silver in the women's kayak 4. martin and andreas doubled. it was an impressive third place in the men's team table tennis after they beat hong kong. it was dimitrij ovtcharov's second bronze in london. china extended their dominance of the sport. the chinese women's team have already won gold on tuesday. australia sailed away with gold in the men's 49 skiff, giving their country's miserly medal
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tally a boost. switzerland got their first individual show jumping gold since 1954. the germans notched up the worst results in 84 years. recapping our top stories -- in moscow, the sentencing for pussy riot has been postponed. >> the battle for all level is escalating with a full-scale assault by regime forces on -- for aleppo is escalating with a full-scale assault by regime forces. >> don't go away. captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org--
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