>> your watching the "journal." here are the headlines this hour. chinese dissident wei wei is released and back home in beijing. >> germany finds ways to overcome the nation's critical shortage of professional workers. >> and a dark day -- russia marks the 70th anniversary of nazi germany's attack on the soviet union.

>> his detention was unexpected. his release is no different. the chinese activist is free after nearly three months in detention. tiny state media say he was let go after confessing to tax evasion. he himself has not confirmed it. so why was he released? some observers say it is a political move to avoid more international pressure and embarrassment. >> welcome back. >> after more than two and a half months behind bars, he has finally returned home. but he will say no more than that. >> the conditions you were held under -- can you say anything about that? >> i cannot. please understand that. i am so happy i'm home. thank you. >> he was arrested at beijing international airport in april. the move sparked an international outcry. he is an outspoken critic of the

chinese government and its record on human rights. many thought his arrest was politically motivated. he first rose to international prominence in 2007. at an art exhibition in germany, he displayed a collage of 1001 people from his native china. along with a tower made a 1001 doors salvaged from old chinese houses. he worked on the design of the stadium for the 2008 beijing olympic games, although he later distanced himself from the project. before his arrest, he was an active blogger and then toward a large following on twitter, but for more than two and a half months, no one has seen or heard from him. now he has been released on bail. >> we talk to our beijing correspondent and asked what she makes of the alleged confession. >> that is only what we have

read so far on the official agency. we have not heard about what he said or what crime he admitted to. he himself only said tonight when he returned to the meeting that he was fine, that his health was good, but he also said he could not talk about the circumstances of his release, so we have to wait until a few more details emerge. >> what about the timing of this? why do you think beijing is letting him go now? >> i believe there might well be a connection to the premier's trip to europe. maybe the authorities were looking for a way to relieve some of the pressure of they have been facing over the last of the zero weeks in connection with the arrest of ai weiwei. it was clear that he would have been asked in all three capitals, so maybe they were just looking for a way out.

>> and you very much. u.s. president barack obama will address the nation this evening and is expected to outline how he plans to bring u.s. troops home from afghanistan. he is expected to announce the first withdrawal of 10,000 troops, to be completed this year. white house officials say he will explain that this step will mark the beginning of the end of the war in afghanistan. >> the mission is winding down. media reports say 10,000 u.s. troops will be going home this year with another 20,000 expected to return by the end o. presidential election. kabul says it is ready to take over from u.s. troops. >> the afghan national army is capable of filling the gaps which will be created as a result of the withdrawal of these troops in some of the places.

>> washington is not alone in seeking an exit from afghanistan. germany is also preparing a phased withdrawal of its troops. >> this summer, we will begin to hand over responsibility to the afghan security services in our region. >> the birthdays of germany withdrawal is to be completed -- the first days of germany's withdrawal is to be completed by the end of the year. it is not known how many soldiers will be withdrawn initially, but all 5000 troops should be home in three years' time. there is still concern whether afghan forces can tackle the country's security challenges on their own. even now back by 130,000 foreign troops, they appear powerless to stop escalating violence. >> for more on this, i spoke to our correspondent in washington and asked who will be paying attention most to the president's speech in a few hours. >> of course, everybody is going

to listen to what he is going to say. the taliban, al qaeda, and afghanistan, but they do not expect any surprises. he will announce the troop withdrawal, the beginning of it. when he launched the surge in december 2009, he promised at the same time that he would start to bring some of the troops backed by july 2011. -- bring some of the troops back by july 2011. what we do not know is the pace, the process. we do not know whether he is going to say is going to pull out 5000 soldiers or 10,000 soldiers by the end of this year. maybe he will not mention any numbers at all. what i expect is that any american soldier that is going to leave afghanistan will not be replaced. >> what about the politics behind this speech? we know that for the democrats, this withdrawal cannot come fast

enough. >> yes, this is really true. american troops cannot stay there forever. afghan troops have to take over. not forget that president obama wants to be reelected next year. therefore, he has to listen to what main street is saying, and all those military engagements in afghanistan, iraq, in libya are not very popular here. reading the last polls, about 56% of americans are saying, "bring the troops home. the sooner the better. all those wars are very expensive. america has spent about $120 billion for afghanistan last year. they will spend about the same amount of money this year. so america is broke. does not have that money. republicans said let's stop rebuild afghanistan and start rebuild america. >> we know exactly where you will be this evening when the

president gives his speech. our correspondent in washington. thank you very much. opposing the minority in bahrain has come with a high price for 10 prominent activists. a military court sentenced them to life in prison after finding them guilty of plotting a coup. seven other activists were jailed for up to 15 years each. hours ahead of the verdict, protesters took to the streets in solidarity with the activists. they were arrested during mass demonstrations. the protest movement mainly led by the shiite majority, was crushed with the help of troops from saudi arabia. a group of african migrants has taken italy to the european court of human rights. they say they were illegally deported to libya back in 2009 after they were picked up at sea by an italian naval vessel. it the migrants when, european states may have to change the way they deal with migrants

before deporting them. >> starving in the desert close to death, migrants faced a perilous journey. often what awaits them at the end are overcrowded camps. for many seeking a better life in europe, the journey ended back in libya. this lawyer said that what is what happened to his clients. the migrants from somalia and eritrea were on a boat headed for italy, but they never reached european soil. they say the treatment was a clear breach of human rights conventions. >> they were rescued in high seas and absolutely convinced they were going to be brought to the military on boy appeared officials on board did not say anything, and when they saw the desert on the horizon, they understood that they were betrayed. >> he wants to convince the court that his clients were illegally deported to a country where their lives were in danger, but they government,

which at times enjoyed good relations with libyan leader gaddafi, says nothing illegal was done. it says the naval vessels saved the migrants from drowning and brought in to shore. >> the arguments are just a formal -- formality. that are completely absurd. >> the plaintiffs are not in accord. they have not been given an entry visa. -- the plaintiffs are not in accord. >> in germany, there are not enough doctors, not enough engineers. is there a plan? >> measures are being implemented now. has been a problem for a while. present plans to recruit doctors and engineers possibly by adopting an immigration point system to speed badly needed professionals to the front of the queue. other measures include a fast track for jobs paying more than 66,000 euros a year, but more emphasis would also be plain -- placed on training homegrown talent. germany has been trying to

attract skilled workers from abroad for some time, but with little success. the shortage has reached a 10- year high. >> skill for a worker's -- skilled foreign workers are still a rare sight in germany, but berlin would like to change that because highly qualified non-u citizens could help german companies build jobs. the shortage of skilled workers is threatening to put a brake on economic growth. in may, there were more than 150,000 job vacancies in technical industries alone. the biggest shortfall during a mechanical engineering sector with over 30,000 vacancies, and electrical engineering with over 17,000. the german business and industry representatives say the government proposals do not go far enough. >> this should only be a first step. in the medium term, we need a comprehensive immigration policy like a system that awards points to potential immigrants according to their skills and the demand for them.

>> if the government wants to make it easier for foreign physicians and engineers to qualify for german work permits, but once industry and labour unions to make the most of germany's own human resources. >> this includes increasing employment opportunities for older job-seekers, making it easier for people to balance work and families and better training and education for young people. >> above all, the government wants young germans to learn the skills industry needs. that is not a new idea, however, and past efforts in that direction have produced few tangible successes. >> in washington, the federal reserve lowered its expectations for the u.s. economy and signaled that it would keep interest rates low in the coming months. speaking at the end of the meeting of the bank's board of governors, fed chairman bernanke acknowledge that the u.s. economic recovery has lost momentum. he also said the central bank believes growth will pick up soon. the federal reserve is ending

its program of buying government bonds or quantitative easing, which is designed to stimulate the economy. let's turn to the markets now. traders remain positive about the european single currency. all correspondence sent us this report from the frankfurt stock exchange. >> this wednesday showed that if a company does not have a real hot story to tell, it's ipo is anything but a small cellar. the clothing retailer atla only just made it to the stock trading floor. the stock price lost. and prime office, a real-estate company, of an estimated value of about 400 million euros, completely called off its ipo, which had been planned for friday. quite obviously, the time for ipo's in frankfurt are not quite that rosy anymore. >> let's take a closer look at some of those market numbers.

the blue-chip dax closed down words at $72.70 it since. the index of leading your blue chips finished down as well. in new york, the dow jones closed just over 0.5% down, and the euro was trading $1.4349. russia and the eu signed a deal to resume fresh vegetable imports. under the terms of the agreement, each state will have to certify the origin of the produce and the absence of the deadly e. coli strain. -- impose the import ban at the beginning of june as the number of victims of the e coli bacteria continued to rise in germany. moscow set up the time that it would lift the ban only after no new cases were reported in the eu for 10 days in a row. >> no more bad cucumbers. >> that is right. >> we like that news. russia is marking 70 years since nazi germany attacked the soviet

union. on june 22, 1941, hitler gave orders to invade soviet territory. millions of people were killed in four years of fighting. >> this is an important day for boris. he has come to the kremlin to take part in the reverse. he still remembers the day hitler's forces mounted the attack. he heard the news on the radio and immediately volunteered to go to the front. >> we were young. we had no idea what war really meant. it was only when we got to the front line that we realize we had to fight to defend our country. >> june 22, 1941. the start of operation barbarossa opened a new and brutal chapter in world war ii. it was pushed to the east, came at the cost of some 20 million lives in the soviet union. boris fought in the battle for

moscow. he was wounded three times and has long since made his peace with the former enemy. >> we did not fight the germans. we fought the fascists. i do not blame the german people. >> he can forgive but not forget. for him, remembering the heroism of that time is still vital, a unifying heritage is that he says russia still need seven decades later. >> british fashion designer britishgalleano has gone on trial. he is accused of using and the semitic language when he accosted customers. he could face up to six months in prison. he told the court that his behavior stems from drug and alcohol addiction. the designer has been one of the fashion industry's most enduring talents. after his arrest, he was immediately fired as creative director at the house of dior.

we remember that. stay with me. we will be right back with our "in depth" report. we will look at the dynasty in syria. stay with us.

>> welcome back, everyone. what kind of leader are you when your own people are willing to give up everything just to get away from your role? that is the question many are posing right now to syria's president. more than 10,000 people have fled across the border to turkey. these refugees are not necessarily the people protesting for democratic reform. they are simply scared that al assad pose a security forces will turn the guns on them. our next report is on the people running for their lives. >> home is only a short distance away. at the moment, there is no chance of returning to his home town.

a week ago, the computer technician took his family and crossed the border to turkey. he said he was fleeing for his life. >> i took part in demonstrations. many people were killed or wounded. some were killed after they were arrested. i took my wife and children and came here on foot at night. >> thousands of people are still camped out on the syrian side of the border waiting to cross into turkey, trying to escape the military violence. the turkish government is planning for the arrival of another 10,000 refugees in the coming weeks. more than 10,000 already live in makeshift camps on the turkish side of the border. the authorities have restricted access to these people. other refugees are staying with relatives in the arab villages on the turkish side of the border.

they hear images and stories of events in syria. when he thinks about the future of his country, he thinks of turkey as an example. >> i want free elections like the ones currently being held in turkey. if it is possible here, why should it not be possible in our country? we want to choose our government ourselves. nothing can prevent us trying for that. >> villagers along the border have mixed feelings. turkey and syria agree to relax these requirements on each other's citizens only a year ago. relations look like they were improving, but the process is in danger. and few turks regard a brutal dictator. and our government should build a village. they cannot go back or they will be killed, so they certainly should not be deported.

>> we do not have that much ourselves, but when we see the children and women, we feel sorry for them. >> he takes his family for a walk. his wife does not want her face to be shown. she is what -- were about putting her family at home in danger. despite the endless series, the family cannot stop thinking about what they have left behind. >> we were doing fine. my job was well paying. but others were not so fortunate. just say one thing wrong, and if someone reported you, you could get sent to prison. >> i do not feel good in turkey, even though we have been made to feel welcome. i miss my friends and relatives who stayed behind, and i feel lonely.

sometimes, he thinks about sneaking back to this house for a few hours to pick up some things he needs or find out how his friends are doing. but the syrian army is moving closer and closer to the border. >> we hope the syrian army joins the people. many ordinary soldiers and officers have already done that. with god's help, we will win in the end. >> the turkish government has promised not to close the border to people seeking help. more people are set to come, as long as there is no end to the killing in syria. >> this is not the first time the family has cracked down on dissidents. go back to 1982. his father was in power. he sent troops into a considered a nest of anti-regime protesters appeared as many as 30,000 people were killed. with a family structure capable

of pulling off a massacre like that, are still very much intact today. >> bashar al assad, the sole source of authority in syria. that was the image given by state tv on sunday. yes almost unlimited powers as president. if he wants something, then is supposed to happen. like this promise of a moderate approach to his opponents. >> we want a political solution, and we hope the army returns to the barracks as fast as possible. ." >> there is no sign of the regime and its oppression of the protest movement. one of the reasons for that could be the president's brother, the most powerful man in a series of forces behind the army goes a crushing of demonstrations. he has chosen a hard-line approach. many officers would have a lot to lose if serious reforms were in -- if serious reforms were

introduced. that is also true of syria's richest man. he is the president's cousin and has become a billionaire on under the regime and a symbol of corruption. he has immense influence on business in syria and has no interest in change. >> it could be hard for assad to push through reforms like these if reform is what the president wants. >> so is he really pulling the strings in syria now? earlier, we talk about that with someone from the german institute for international and security affairs. >> there is a lot of speculation about what exactly happens behind closed doors. i do not really think the question is really that relevant. the regime seems to be acting

with one mind, one well, and one strategy. who exactly might be pushing for a harder line and will for a softer line inside does not really matter to us and to the people who have to endure the results. >> how likely is it that the syrian regime will open itself up to democratic reforms? >> i did not think it is likely at all. this is a regime built from the top down, and distributing power and favoring downwards. the moment you relinquish power, the whole system is very likely to unravel very quickly. they know this, so they are not going to move anywhere near real reforms relinquishing the monopoly on power. >> what chances are there for the international community to influence syria? >> unfortunately, the chances are slim.

we know that russia and china are opposing any movement of the security council. arab neighbors do not support such a stand. that being the case, i think the regime will hunker down, try to survive this crisis with many losses, but they are ready to endure the losses. >> what signs do you see that the opposition is organizing and strengthening? >> the opposition is organizing, has been organizing. there has been a confluence recently -- conference recently in turkey that brought together a different spectrum. they are organizing inside the country. they are getting stronger, which means this conflict is going to continue. it may very well continue into ramadan, which means that at that point, the people who are partly propelled by religious sentiment will be even more willing to sacrifice themselves,

so the violence is likely to continue. >> ok, we have to wrap it up there. thank you for talking with us. that has been our "in depth" report on syria. thanks for watching.