>> you are watching dw in berlin. this is." >> these are our top stories of the hour -- today, the universe came to pay a visit. a meteor shower and asteroid near miss in the space of 24 hours. >> corp. for paralympic superstar oscar pistorius, who denies killing his goal friend. -- this is the "journal."

>> call it a cosmic coincidence -- a media blast over the skies had -- just hours after a very close flyby on a much bigger asteroid. >> that asteroid is due to fly past the earth in a matter of minutes. more and that in a moment, but first, to the events of russia. the media or was first spotted at around 9:20 a.m. local time. russia's academy of science said it into the atmosphere at a speed of over 50,000 kilometers per hour and then shattered into pieces. >> the media is thought to have been just about two meters across, but that was enough to cause a massive sonic boom, and it was far from harmless. hundreds of people were injured, most of them by shattering glass. >> a rare moment caught on camera -- don turned to daylight as the media or into the earth's atmosphere with a bang -- dawn

turned to daylight. it streaked above the sky leaving a white trail. mobile phones stopped working. the shock wave set off car alarms, and local residents were left wondering what was happening. >> i saw something moving in the sky. then there was a flash. we thought it was fireworks. that was followed by an explosion. the weather broke. t, bread, and water -- everything felony floor. -- the window for. >> windows were blown out of dozens of buildings. most of the injuries were light. hundreds have been treated at local hospitals. authorities say they do not expect any more to free to fall, and background radiation levels are normal. >> it was in the media showers own. experts will provide more specific data later.

i would like to address people living in our city to ask him to remain -- aks them t -- ask them to remain calm. >> recovery crews are assessing the full scale of the damage, and scientists are hunting for degree to discover more about the media or that exploded in the sky. >> as we mentioned, there is a much bigger piece of space rock headed for the earth right this minute, but this one is all but certain to miss. >> we certainly hope so. still, it is being called the closest flyby of an asteroid this size ever recorded. it will zoom past our planet at a distance of about 27,000 kilometers, closer than many communications satellites. if the 45-meter rocket hit the earth, it could wipe out entire city.

earlier, we spoke to a representative from the institut for physics, and we asked if there could be any scientific connection whatsoever between today's brushes with the universe. >> no, there is no connection between these events. the two celestial bodies have a completely different orbit, so there cannot be a physical connection. >> do we know what happened in russia? >> it was probably a meter-sized meteorite impacting, and the sonic boom was heard. this kind of event happens maybe about once per year, but most of them go unnoticed. it is quite unusual to have this video coverage and more unusual to have very many injured. >> what about the asteroid? it is big enough for us to know

about it. what is the likelihood something like that could hit the earth? >> objects of this size probably hit the earth about once every couple of hundred years. the last known impact was the event that happened in russia and siberia, flattening many square meters of forest and also two people were killed due to fires. >> what can we do to protect ourselves against that kind of threat? >> we are now starting to catalogued objects like the bigger one. the meter-sized objects, we have no chance to detect them early, but the bigger objects are now being catalogued and traced, but there is no technology at the moment to really stop them from hitting the earth. >> thank you very much.

>> all right, back down to earth now and on to other news. track and field superstar oscar pistorius says he is not guilty of murder. >> the south african runner appeared in court today when he was officially charged with shooting his " friend said. he will remain in custody until a bail hearing on tuesday. >> oscar pistorius is used to media attention but not of this kind. the world-famous sprinter hit his head under a jacket on his way to the courthouse where a magistrates formally charged him with the murder of his girlfriend. he wept in the dark as the charge was and -- the charge was announced. she was found dead at his home yesterday. south african media are suggesting he shot her four times through a bathroom door. police are still investigating evidence found at the scene. south africa is in shock. there were the darlings of the press. she, a famous model, he and

athletic star. and national sporting hero. they've been a couple for about a year. her uncle spoke for her distressed parents. >> we will all know the true story but must never forget what she stood for. she loved people. she loved everybody, and it was her heart that went out. >> it is a dramatic fall from grace for oscar pistorius, who had become one of the biggest names in world sports. >> republicans in the u.s. senate are still blocking the confirmation of chuckhagel -- chuck hagel as defense secretary. >> they say they will eventually approve their colleague, but first, they want more answers from the administration for last year's attack on the u.s. embassy in libya. >> let's get more information on

the horse meat scandal in the europe. >> why not? officials have rated a reprocessing plant -- raided a reprocessing plant. >> that came as brussels give the go-ahead for the you-why dna testing on products and friends pointed the finger at another food-processing plant -- the go- ahead for the eu-wide dna testing. >> our inquiry shows they knew the meat labeled as beef could be horse meat -- at least they had a strong suspicion. >> horse meat in itself is as -- is not dangerous, and europe has clear rules on the food chain. of birth, the owner decides if an animal will end up on the dinner plate. it is all documented, including any medication administered.

the revelation that horses were in millions of ready-to-eat meals has not just prompted moral objections. it has also raised fears of contamination through drugs. the scandal has also put the spotlight on the complex supply chains that bring food to europe's dinner tables. the scandal suggests they are hard to police and easy to manipulate. national authorities in the european union need to act fast to reassure consumers about what is in the food they eat. that is the call from a growing number of politicians, from britain to germany. >> this is not just about speed. we have to get quicker, but we also have to get better. that is why we need a rapid response team to monitor this international market. >> german supermarkets have already pulled thousands of products off the shelves, and the scandal appears to be far from over. >> coming up, the latest round

of protests in egypt, this time in favor of president morsi. >> but first, we will look at some other stories making news. venezuelan state television has released photos of hugo chavez, who is recovering from cancer treatment in cuba. these are the first images of the ailing president to be released in months. venezuela reelected him last year, but he has not yet been well enough. >> the german finance minister fills a post which has been vacant since the previous chief was fired for incompetence nine months ago. >> airport security workers have suspended a strike in two major german airports for the weekend. the strike's over higher pay have forced the cancellation of

hundreds of flights. workers say they will resume the strike starting next week. >> in the gulf kingdom of bahrain, protesters have clashed with police for a second day. shiite muslims are in the majority, but the country is ruled by a sunni royal family and elite. a policeman and a teenage protester died in the clashes. >> over in egypt, thousands of hard-line islamists took to the streets on friday in a show of support for the president. >> the rally was held in front of cairo university. they are protesting against the anti-government riots that have rocked the country in recent weeks. at around 60 people have died. islamists accused anti-morsi protesters of trying to ruin egypt. >> many of the protesters see things differently.

they say they will mount protesters of their own until morsi resigns. >> "down with the muslim brotherhood violence, a" chanc" this taxi drivers and the others involved in the march. they are unhappy with the way the country is run. >> we've been protesting on the streets for a long time now, and nowmorsi -- and president morsi always says something nice about our demonstrations, but nothing ever happens. it is is the violence is the only way to make anyone pay attention. >> the ongoing tug of war leaves people full of doubt about their future. many say they feel betrayed by both sides. anger is often directed at the security forces who have a brutal history. >> the demonstrators are angry

because the people who committed crimes against them have not been punished. where are those responsible for the death of the activist meena daniel? where are those responsible for killing 46 in november 2011? none of those responsible has even appeared in court. >> hope that justice will be done appears to be dwindling. hate and distrust of the authorities are as strong as ever. >> no one listens to our demands. we are out demonstrating almost every day all over the country and nothing changes. we are not violent by nature, but we will use violence to defend ourselves. >> to make their point, the protesters brandished pictures of dead demonstrators. they say none of the killers has been brought to justice, and

they are determined to keep up their peaceful protest until justice is done. >> after five days stranded at sea, thousands of passengers on an american cruise ship have finally made it to shore. >> tugboats pulled the triumph luxury liner to shore in alabama. an engine fire cut off power to the ship, and in the five days that followed, toilets overflowed and air conditioning stop working. well, the prestigious world press photo war has gone to a swedish photographer whose image shows the funeral procession of two palestinian children killed by an israeli missile strike. >> he took the photograph of the brother and sister in november. judges sifted through over 100,000 injuries -- entries. the awards ceremony will take place in april. we will be taking a short break now, but we will be back in its

time and have the latest reports from the berlin film festival. >> we will also have the latest news from germany's second- largest bank which is -- guess what -- still in trouble. stay with us.

>> welcome back. it is a big bank in peril -- germany's number two, commerzbank, was hit hard in the financial crisis. >> and to get a huge government bailout and it is still struggling. >> adjust reported -- it just reported losses. the banks as its restructuring plan will help it get back on track, but the ceo admits there is still a long way to go -- the bank says its restructuring plan will help it get back on track. >> these are difficult times for commerzbank. there's a plan to get its back on its feet, but it is an expensive one. retail banking will bear the brunt of its loss this quarter.

>> unfortunately, the circumstances speak for themselves. for one, there are long-term changes to the market, particularly low interest rates. and the customer behavior has changed. there are fewer stock transactions, and more people use online banking services. >> commerzbank did see good business last year in loans to mid-size companies, but even as profits are expected to slow. blessing predicted a rocky road ahead. >> this year will not be easy, especially with respect to achieving our targets, given the challenging circumstances with regards to the economy capital markets. the situation in the banking sector as a whole will remain difficult. >> shareholders will not be getting a dividend, but german taxpayers are seeing their investment pay off. commerzbank is handing over some 150 million euros in interest payments on the government bailout. >> as you might expect, results

were a big topic on the markets in germany. despite those losses, shares made gains in frankfurt. >> shareholders now might really think that all bad stories that could have been told already have been. now it is time for recovery. this is why shares were up. investors were hoping that the bank will be able to earn money again, also because of the fact that the markets at the moment look more friendly. this makes it easier for banks to survive. the market in general today did not look too well after trying to get into positive territory. the dax went down, and traders said it was because of economic concerns, not only in germany and europe, but also in the u.s. >> we can take a quick look at the markets now. the dax lost 0.5% to close at

7593. euro stoxx 50 also finished at a loss. on wall street, the dow was down slightly, and the euro is trading against the dollar at $ 1.3354. >> g-20 finance ministers meeting in moscow to look at ways to boost the global economy. >> at the top of their agenda is stopping currents -- countries from using their currencies to gain an unfair economic advantage. japan's bank is under particular scrutiny for currency manipulation. the bureau has gained around 25% on the yen and the dollar about 15% in the last three months. >> austerity in europe, governments are watching every penny, which means tax dodgers are getting more attention. >> not just rich plutocrats, but global companies as well. for them, it is standard operating procedure to hire lawyers to look for loopholes that could save the millions in

taxes. >> now, a london-based group is trying to change that. >> can these men stop global companies from dodging taxes around the world? tax officials from australia, britain, and china analyze complex schemes to reduce company tax burdens. this one leaves from england to australia, taking advantage of tax havens along the way. the authority of tax officials often ends at the border. investigators request information from authorities and other countries, but it is often not enough. >> when you start looking at very complex affairs, then a simple letter is rarely sufficient to fully explore the issues. by working together, we are able to understand the cultural

differences that exist between our different countries. >> in britain, u.s. coffeehouse starbucks sparked outrage when it was revealed the company paid very little tax in the u.k. its trick was to pay high licensing fees to reduce its corporate tax rate. activists say starbucks is no exception. >> there's a lot of online-based companies like amazon, google, facebook, that are avoiding tax, which is outrageous. >> apple, for example, has seen overseas earnings surged in recent years, but at the same time, the company has managed to reduce its foreign tax burden without breaking any laws. officials from the joint international tax shelter information center cannot change the laws, but they can highlight problems and suggest revisions of current legislation. >> we are not reinventing the wheel. we are acting on a legal basis

to try to use our personal contacts to be better, more efficient, and react more quickly. >> when the chinese delegate discovers a tax trail leading to germany, he can simply stepped into the office next door, and his german colleague is glad to help because he might need information from china the next day. so far, germany and china have only provided one delegate each to the center, but at least it is a start. >> it seems there might be a ratings war in the offing. a downgrade by u.s. ratings agencies can be bad news for any business, but moody's ratings agency has downgrade one of its biggest rivals -- mcgraw-hill, which owns the world's largest ratings agency, standard and poor's. it reflects a recent lawsuit filed against s&p by the u.s. department of justice in connection with the 2006 housing market collapse. a group of german politicians are on a trip to turkey to try to make amends for the mistakes

the country's police made in the course of investigating a murder scheme. >> the nationalist socialist -- the national socialist underground group killed 10 people between 2000 and 2006, targeting immigrants, but it took german investigators until 2011 to crack the case. >> many in turkey feel the investigation would not have been so bungled i of nine of the victims had not been turks. >> the german politicians had come to apologize for the failures in investigating the neo-nazi murders. in talks with the turkish justice minister and other high- ranking members of the government, they emphasize that germany is taking its responsibility in this matter very seriously, and that includes investigating why the police did not even realize for years that this was a series of racially motivated murders. family made it clear that regardless of our different party allegiances, we are all in complete agreement about our job, and that is to cast light

on the matter. >> the neo-nazi group murdered nine people with immigrant backgrounds and after every killing, the german police pointed the finger at the victim. they suspected that the victims or their families were criminals. they never seriously probe weather neo-nazis were to blame -- whether neo-nazis were to blame. >> i am confident that the reports analysis of past wrongs will lead the way to preventing a recurrence of them. >> the turkish media will closely follow the trial of neo- nazis suspected of involvement in the killings. the alleged ringleader of the group goes before the court in april, and berlin is inviting turkish politicians to attend the trial as observes. >> all right, time to get to the berlinale now, and as the film festival draws to a close, the audience will have a chance to check up the latest work by the

french diva in the competition. >> she plays a woman in her 60's who hits the road and finds out about herself along the way. in another young man enters her life. the director wrote the film especially for her. >> ok, scott is down on the red carpet for us. thanks for joining us again. what is your take on this movie? >> it was definitely the right film to end with. after all the depressing traumas we've had and the heavy political films, it was great to have a nice, fluffy french film to end with. very fun, very entertaining movie, and a great role. another fantastic role for a woman of a certain age we have seen at this berlinale. we have seen so many great female roles this year.

my personal favorite, paulina garcia, a chilean actress, in the film "gloria." it has been the case that the female actresses have put their male counterparts to shame. i think the best actress award will be the tightest race. >> we are approaching a climax now, almost wrapped up. what have your overall impression spend of this year? >> sadly -- maybe it is not fair to compare with last year, which was a real banner year. we had some really great films. two oscar-nominated out of last year's selection, but this year has been a bit weak, and i think it will be difficult for a jury to pick the best films of this year's crop. i think it will go into a political, which means they will probably pick the iranian film,

or they will pick the best film of this election, in which case, i hope they will pick the chilean film, which for my money was the absolute must see of this year's berlinale. >> berlin is, of course, always compared to ken in venice -- to cannes and venice. is it managing to keep up? >> it is difficult. last year, i would say they definitely did compete. this year it slipped a little bit. i think they will have to pick up the pace and get more big films in here if they will really compete on the same level as the cannes film festival. >> all right. we are out of time. stay with us. more news in 30 minutes.