captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org-- >> welcome to the journal. >> thanks for joining us. >> russian officials say that edward snoeden has applied for asylum. >> the muslim brotherhood says the egyptian cabinet is illegitimate. >> the notorious drug cartel.

the fugitive nsa contractor has officially applied for asylum and has been stuck in the transit level of the airport for weeks. >> he has offers of asylum in nicaragua and bolivia. he wants formal refuge in russia until he is in a position to travel to south america and it poses a dilemma for moscow. >> he could face torture and the death penalty. that is what they told russian state tv earlier today. >> if i asked them to come to the tragic area of the airport

where he cannot at present leave. >> he is aware of the request but the decision lies with the immigration authorities. they prevented him from continuing his trip. >> it will put relations with the u.s. on the line.

at bowling to u.s. pressure. if it seems they got themselves into a real political blind. >> we are joined by a correspondent that joins us from washington. the white house is still demanding that he is returned. isn't that a bit of a lost cause? >> you can tell by the way the white house is asking the return that they don't think it is a lost cause. the reiterated a version of what the americans have been asking for the last couple of weeks. it can be counterproductive and put him in a corner where he doesn't really have a choice. many experts say it is not a lost cause because he is very uncomfortable with the situation.

>> how do you think it will impact relations if he receives asylum? >> everything related to spying, they try to keep that out of normal working relationships. we know what you guys are doing and we know you're doing. it is such a high-profile case. they tried to take this possible explanation that they really don't have much of a choice because the americans have made sure that he can't go to places that have offered asylum in south america.

they have an interest to not let this impact their relation to much. >> thanks a lot for this analysis. >> it has become a pretty hot political issue. the opposition says the chancellor failed to protect germans from american surveillance. >> they have denied knowing about a prison program. leading lawmakers got a chance to grill the interior ha. they denied knowledge from the u.s. prison program.

the recent trend to washington. >> in effect, they reveal the results of their research but not the sources. >> they say the minister's responses totally inadequate. they came back empty-handed. to this day, i don't know what they said about the offices at the german government.

>> with so many questions left unanswered, the parliamentary committee will decide whether to put chancellor merkel in the hot seat. we're joined by the political correspondent. how dangerous is this for her? >> the scandalous in the sixth week and it has not harmed her ratings in the opinion polls. i've and it will continue to be the case. if it emerges that she did know, of course she will have them just two months before the elections.

she can be accused of lying and even having broken german law. >> there are also potentially vulnerable, after all, they are in government with her only four years ago. >> the same applies to them. it would harm, seriously, leaders within the party. the focus of the moment is much more fundamental. what kind of society do we want to live in? the key question is, to what extent is it justifiable to infringe human rights in the interest of security? that has not been conducted

across the land to occur across the english channel. >> bid questions as we had two elections. >> the muslim brotherhood has rejected a new cabinet as legitimate. >> they were forced from power by the military. >> neither belong to the main islamist parties. >> a new chapter written in cairo on tuesday. the transition government is a patchwork of creative credentials. the deputy prime minister will also stay on as defense minister.

they are rejecting calls to take part in national reconciliation. they see the new government as illegitimate and members as puppets of the military. >> the egyptian people will neither negotiate or except a compromise. >> of the muslim brotherhood is digging in its heels. at least seven were killed and hundreds injured as police crackdown on supporters. the brotherhood says it won't back down until he is reinstated. >> his government will release all political prisoners by the end of the year. >> they said he was confident a nationwide ceasefire could be

achieved within weeks. since taking office, he has, after half a century of military rule. panama has stopped a no. 3 and ship that was carrying undeclared cargo. >> it was planning to pass through panama canal on its way. they taught the vessel under a shipment of sugar. it appeared to include ballistic missiles. >> unions have been staging the fourth general strike this year. thousands hit the streets to protest against job cuts. >> it comes a day before parliament gets the next bit of

a bailout money. >> demonstrators streaming towards parliament to demonstrate against government cuts. public-sector jobs are on the block. lawmakers are expected to vote on proposals to cut thousands of public sector jobs by the end of 2014 and reassign another 25,000 civil servants this year. people have had enough. >> we do not wish to merely survive and we will continue until the end. >> we must fight back and take the power into our own hands and change our lives. >> much of daily life has ground

to a standstill. and the bus stops at train stations, post offices and shuddered with a note to tell customers to come back the next day. unemployment is already more than 27%. it won't get that next payout that finance ministers agreed to release last week. >> worries are hitting investors. bigger losses, 2665 was the closing there. trading currently, putting on gains for the euro agains the u.s. dollar.

more gloom for job-seekers in the eurozone. >> the situation is especially bleak where greece and spain are expected to see jobless rates exceed 28%. germany remains an exception. unemployment here could fall by 5% by the end of the year. more figures for the european car industry. vehicles a drop to the lowest level in 17 years. >> britain was one of the countries that bucked the trend. some carmakers have been able to upset with stronger sales in china and the u.s.

>> we will take a short break and when we come back, mexican authorities have scored a major coup against the drug cartels. >> see the sales surge during the muslim holy month.

>> welcome back. mexican authorities have scored a coup in the ongoing war against drug cartels. morales was captured on monday morning as security forces intercepted a pickup truck loaded with weapons and $2 million in cash. >> of the drug cartel has earned the reputation of being the most brutal and terrifying in the country. >> mexico city in the dead of night. a convoy pulls up with specially

armed officers. in the vehicles are some of the most dangerous men in the country, captured on the u.s. border in an altercation. >> a helicopter from the mexican navy intercepted a pickup truck and made a new liver -- made a maneuver to forced the vehicle to stop. the people that got out were arrested. >> most infamous was the leader of the that curious drug cartel and one of the country's most wanted criminals. besides drug trafficking, he is believed to be involved in kidnapping in human trafficking. >> there are seven outstanding arrest warrants against this man

that were ordered by federal judges. he has been implicated in 12 previous investigations. >> the mexican government promised to drive down the crime levels. rival gang members apply to control the cartel. >> the country currently in debate about the rights of abortion and rape victims. >> whole laws prevent her from having a determination. >> abortion laws, the president

says it is high time they were changed. >> particularly, their reproductive rights. >> designed to ease the blanket ban on abortions. >> i asked him to personally look after this girl posing health. she impressed us all with her

maturity. she wanted to take care of it despite the pain she suffered by the man that rape her. >> the issue has divided society. many people support the ban while others say reform is long overdue. >> i support the right to have an abortion and not just for medical reasons. >> abortion is solely the mother's choice. >> the issue remains a political one despite the legal abortions carried out every year. >> no president has dared to touch this issue, not even the socialists. she did not go near it. >> whether or not to tackle abortion laws, after a

november's elections. >> protests over the trayvon martin murder trial verdict has turned violent. >> police have been attacked, and arrests were made and pressure is building on the u.s. attorney general to bring civil rights charges against george zimmerman who was acquitted of murder. 800,000 people have signed a petition backing a civil rights trial. the florida jury rejected the argument that he acted out of racial hatred but it has not stopped the country from engaging in a fierce debate.

>> of the social worker takes a lunchtime stroll through the washington neighborhood of anacostia. there is one main topic of discussion today, the acquittal of george zimmerman, a neighborhood watch men who killed trayvon martin. >> as a mother, i am torn and disheartened. i am a single mother of a 13- year-old sought and to know that the criminal justice system acted in due process, however, did not go extensive into the problem is a concern for me. >> the problem is racism, especially in law enforcement.

research shows that white people are more likely to get away with crime. >> what the police do is strictly speaking legal because the people they arrest are people who have done some minor offense. but if you look at a city of 600,000 people, 400,000 people are doing something they could be arrested for but only black people get arrested for them. >> many believe he was a victim of racism. >> he got killed, for what? walking down the street and going tohome. >> we all have problems. they will put him away for some years and we had never seen him

again. >> she is proud of that fact. >> i am glad that we did not riot. we had decorum. yes, we were pissed and we had questions. the youths were disheartened and discouraged. >> she says that she hopes the verdict will start a serious debate about the continuing problem of racism and the u.s.. -- in the u.s. >> muslims around the world are celebrating ramadan, a monthlong fast from sunrise to sunset. >> and even good business. the feasting begins and it means the rush was specialized.

>> not much lunchtime trade in the western berlin district, but the staff are already hard at work preparing for the evening. the family that run the restaurant and store produce from the local turkish supermarket. it sells goods that are made in compliance with islamic guidelines. the meat is slaughtered according to specific rules. customers come here because they don't trust mainstream german supermarkets. >> you always have to be wary about what you are eating. it is better to come here and is safer. you know what is on your plate so it goes down better. >> he can get authentic produce from turkey, products not in

major german supermarkets. >> you make it with water and milk, is dry and varied than. it breaks easily. >> the supermarket sells double the amount of some foods. people have an appetite comes sunset. he >> you can notice, there is a big spike but comes down after two or three weeks. that is how it is. >> it is good for sales at first? >> we have to keep replenishing stocks. >> they largely ignored the market. a few stores sell produce depending on location in demand. the demand is growing according to one change. it is not a clock 30 in the evening.

some diners tucked into their meals and the muslim guests wait until the sun sets. they make up for the abstinence. it is action stations for the service staff. >> in the evenings, it is non- stop. and we still have plenty of customers when ramadan is over. >> it is clearly good for business. the guests spend even more time breaking their fast in the restaurant. >> more news and a half an hour from now. >> stay with us.