>> welcome to the journal. >> i am. >> pakistan's president makes his first visit to flood- stricken areas. russia marks the 10th anniversary of the sinking of a submarine. >> general motors announces its best earnings in six years. the ceo says he is stepping down. captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org-- >> u.s. marines and helicopters

have arrived in pakistan to assist in flood relief. help will likely be needed for some time. the u.n. says that dams are close to bursting and could cause renewed destruction. the president of pakistan made his first visit to affected areas on thursday. >> it was a small but symbolic gesture. the president helped distribute aid at a relief camp for flood victims in the south of the country. the president's first trip to deluged areas follows public outcry after his reluctance to cut short a tour abroad. what people see as a slow government response to the crisis. nearly two weeks after the disaster began to unfold, tens of thousands of pakistanis remain cut off from supplies, food drops the only hope of sustenance. the u.n. has issued an emergency appeal for aid as the scope of

the destruction becomes clear. >> a lot of us have not understood the scale of this disaster. it is horrendous. it is going to put us back so many years that we are not even starting on the infrastructure. >> in northwestern pakistan, the flood waters have largely receded, leaving people trying to salvage something from the ruins of their lives. many have little faith that the authorities will provide the help they need. >> any international aid will likely end up in the pockets of the government. i pray to god some will make its way through to us. >> until then, pakistanis will continue to help themselves as best they can. >> as international aid efforts gather momentum, germany has pledged 10 million euros. the public is also being asked for donations, but so far have shown a reluctance to give. >> billions of pakistanis are in

urgent need of food, water, and medical care. in germany, appeals for donations have fallen on deaf ears, especially compared to the generosity after the earthquake in haiti seven months ago. >> we have collected only a few thousand euros over the past 10 days. i know of one aid organization that has taken in just 150,000 euros after haiti collected 8 million in the same. >> the german red cross believed donors are uncertain whether their assistance will get to the people in need. they blame the lack of stability. >> the problem is the stability situation in pakistan. you have bomb attacks or riots. you have fights between taliban and the government. people think it is not a peaceful country. that is the reason they do not pay some much money. >> donations are now

insufficient to deal with a disaster of this scale. the u.n. has asked governments worldwide to provide 350 million euros to fund efforts. revenues have been slow to come in. >> barack's most senior military officer has criticized a perimeter pledge by the u.s. to withdraw the last of its troops from iraq by the end of this year. at the defense conference in baghdad, the general warned the iraqi military might not be ready to assume full control for another decade. washington says it is on target to and combat operations by september and to remove all troops by the end of 2011. in afghanistan, several thousand prostrated -- several thousand protested the deaths of three men killed by u.s. troops in a nighttime raid. they shouted, "death to america," and blocked a road. the victims were suspected

insurgents. the u.n. estimates that 300 civilians have been killed in afghanistan by u.s. forces this year. we will be taking a look at the challenges faced by german and international troops in afghanistan later in the show. poland has extradited a suspected mossad agent to germany. he is accused of assassinating a top hamas official in the united arab emirates earlier this year. this man allegedly provided a passport to one of the assassins. the target was murdered in his utah room in dubai. his assassins had arrived in -- on tourist visas. they have accused moscow of being behind the attack. ceremonies are held in russia to mark the anniversary of the submarine disaster that killed all 118 crewmembers. russian authorities came in for massive criticism for what was perceived as a slow reaction. some russians say they still

have not learned their lesson, complaining that local officials initially responded with indifference to the wildfires now raging across the country. >> it was a disaster that turned into a scandal. the submarine sank in the bering sea in august of 2000. it took two days for the government to report it. putin did not return from his vacation until six days afterward. >> putin has learned his lesson from this catastrophe. he realizes now he has to react quickly and decisively if something like that happened again. >> putin is attempting to do a better job of crisis management with the wildfires burning in central russia. he has traveled to affected regions, promised help, and piloted a firefighting planes. russians are losing trust in him. >> it is not acceptable that the

situation for pr purposes. >> it is a bit much, but maybe some people think it is a good thing putin is putting himself in the thick of it. >> on the ground, emergency services are overstretched. compounding the problem is the government's information policy. it took days for the government to admit the fires had reached areas contaminated by nuclear radiation. putin is still more popular than his successor, dmitry medvedev. >> peter has business news starting with a potential strike. >> they are definitely going to strike. the question is when. we know it is on the horizon. this is the big airport out of london. workers at the british airport operator baa have voted to strike over an unresolved pay dispute with management. the united union rejected a 1% pay rise offer, calling it

nothing short of confrontational. united is also demanding a 450 lb bonus, 540 euros, for its staff, despite baa having missed its earnings target. the union has to set a date for the strike, which could close london heathrow and five other airports in britain. the ceo of general motors is stepping down after helping to return the auto maker to profit. whitaker will leave his post on september 1. he helped gm are not $3.10 billion last quarter, its best showing since 2004. his replacement will oversee the automaker's ipo, which would allow the u.s. government to cut its 60% stake in gm. >> shortly before he took the reins of general motors, whitaker said he did not know much about cars. but within just a few months,

the 68 year-old with the nickname "big ed" turned the car giant into a profitable enterprise. last year, it posted quarterly losses of over 10 billion year rose. whitaker helped guide gm back into the black. the company return to profits in the first quarter of this year. earnings rose in the second quarter to over 1 billion year rose. now, whitaker is stepping down. as ceo, he launched a restructuring program that cost plant closures and tens of thousands of layoffs. his successor is not an automotive expert either. he has experience in telecom and finance. he will be in charge if gm makes an expected ipo later this year. he will try to repay government loans of almost 40 billion year rose. >> we spoke earlier with our correspondent on wall street. waskedhim what investors made

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the injured bus that happen to pass by. images from a surveillance cara inside the station showed the extent of the damage.the c't described the bombing as teorist act. police say rebels are a flock of colorful hot air ballnsootoheky above ukraine on thursday for day two the event pulled balloonists omhe ukraine, russia, lithuania, andhetook off from s. the festival was namedft t french brothers who pioneered the hot air ntury. stay tuned. ar in come back with our in-depth report. our in-depth report. >> do not go away.

>> welcome back. this thursday, st. protests in afghanistan shoanorve civilian casualties, even when it is clear that -- but even when it is unclear that those kle reivia. there is a 30% rise in civilian deaths tsea most were at the hands of the an afghans blame foreign troops and the u.s. for uncearsuering. we sent our camera team to the north of theourywhe german troops are getting support from u.s. soler a mixed blessing. >> it w spodtobe normal sunday night soccer match, but it ended in bloodshed.

a suicide bomber blew himself u amg the spectators, killing three people and wounding 19. security is deteriorating i northern afghanistan. combat operations have increased veldn east year, ratcheting up the risks for boer steros. at the start of april, three german solerweildand eight wounded during heavy fighting. for german soldiers were killed on patrol. usa few days ago, a german convoy came under atta aas hit by explosives. u.s. troops are now spoin the german mission in the north. >> the more u.s. troops there are, with their specific style of waging war whh me aggressive than that of german soldiers, the more resistanc there will be from the local population. > local afghan politicians are

using the resistance to their own en. they hoped to win over voters before steer's parliamentary elections. the recent wikileaks snd has made matters worse. germanmports were also implicated by the material. atasmp proof for some that germany is doing america's bidding in afghanistan. >> in ahast, op d not make a distinction between who did the killings. they see the international rc aon the military presence has been tolerated less and less. >> analysts say it is important eur tt local soldiers and police can take over security operations. >> i think it is more cotrti and sensible to concentrate less on fighting insurgents and more on training

afant's n ldrso they learn how to fight insurgents on their own in the future. >> for the moment, german troops will remain on therod,nd often in the firing line. >> obama wants to begin withdrawing americanros next summer. an international conference in kabul earlier this year agreed afghanistan willtaitow security by 2014, an ambitious target. even hamid karzai has said his country will need a long te bere it is capable of defending itself. our reporter visited to see how german and american soldiers are rkg realize an exit strategy. >> the budeswehrbase in northern afghanistan. the group is busy early in the morning. for weeks, the u.s. has bn flying in reinforcements. supplies need offloading.

the camp is growing. in addition to the german ntge, 5000 american soldiers will be living here. the presence of u.n. troops will boost the capabilities of the german forces as well. >> regarding equipment, we have made a lot of progress. we need to improve in some aasbu e equipment we have now is up to the requirements of crypts going on missions. we are alwayslenian making improvements were necessary. >> the americans, with seemingly unlimited human and material reurs, wl soon take over command in the north of afghanistan. but cooperation is the watchword, like here at the milita hpil. the u.s. and german medical teams are working well together, despite initial difficulties and the language barrier. >> there are no problems with personal or professional quits.

its more that we come from different systems with different points of view. of crs wea t to do the best possible for our patients. it is just that we sometimes have different ways of doing that. >> ns at the americans were coming to northern afghanistan provoked concerns in germany and in the bundeswehr. some suggest that are not up to the job. but that is not how it is nng t. >> i think it is a good thing for the americans to demonstrate that we are willing to come and work underneat soone else's command and authority and essentially follow their orders and the things that are accustomed to. it gives us additional flexibility and credibility with our other allies. >> the multinational medical te tat afghan patients as well as international forces. right now, a local village

policeman is in hospital after being broughty german colleagues. he was suffering from severe abdominal pain. botched operations in afanistaand pakistan have put his life in danger. >> i am very hopeful we will be able to keep him alive. it will be two or three weeks until the abdominal cavity is healed, but from what i have seen today i am hopeful it will go well. >> in the coming weeks and months, the field hospital here could he lo more to do. in addition to long-running civilian reconstruction and police training projects, more important military operations are being carried out under the leadership of the afghan army. and they are being carried out with support from german and other allies. >> there are 19 nations

represented here. we see ourselves as a combined team. in the second half of the year, we are focusing on bringing the mission we just started to an end. it is taking place in an area we consider very critical. we have to focus on the elections, and i do not want to let the winter delight us. we want to take more territory and hold it. >> the german commander and high-ranking officers from other countries are meeting with the new overall commander of international troops, u.s. general david petraeus. >> as each of you knows well, we are engaged in a tough fight. after years of war, we have arrived at a critical moment. we must demonstrate to the afghan people and to the world that al qaeda and its network of extremist allies will not be allowed to once again establish

sanctuaries in afghanistan from which they can launch attacks on the afghan people and on freedom-loving nations around the world. >> petraeus said afghanistan must be stabilized this year if international troops are to begin withdrawing in the foreseeable future. with afghan forces taking responsibility for security and reconstruction. a german general is overall spokesman for international forces in afghanistan. he used to be commander of the space. >> it is an important juncture in afghanistan, both in political and military terms. politically because of a series of key events. we have the london compass -- we had the london conference this year. we will also have a lisbon summit. a lot of important and successful military missions are going on with the afghans. with the transfer of power from mcchrystal to petraeus, continuity has been assured. >> the day is coming to an end.

in the months ahead, german and u.s. troops will take part in military operations in the region, operations represent more risk for everyone involved. >> that has been our in-depth report. thanks for watching.

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