>> this is the journal. >> the headlines at this hour. the u.s. congress is voting on a last-minute deal, but not everyone is happy. the asian markets welcomed the deal, but the dax has taken a huge dive. >> and there is more violence in syria. >> this is not the deal obama was hoping for by american lawmakers have a plan to avoid

going broke. this would raise the debt ceiling for $2 trillion in spending cuts over the next 10 years. the house and senate votes are expected tonight. >> all eyes are on the house of representatives, where the democrats are in the minority. the left-wing is upset about the deal because of the spending cuts in social programs. >> this is a path of budget cuts that will weaken the economy at exactly the time that we need to strengthen economic growth. >> many republicans believe the spending cuts do not go far enough. >> i will vote against this but i will read the bill and see if there is a way to get to this, because i respect the efforts of

the people who have worked on this. >> the political posturing has not gone very well. >> i am angry and i am disappointed at the state of the government. >> we need to change our way of thinking, and have something that is going to get us to 2025. >> the u.s. congress has quadrupled the debt ceiling, and this would provide $2.50 trillion to $2.70 trillion by the end of next year. barack obama had to make major concessions and the republicans succeeded in blacking -- blocking the tax cuts for the rich. and so this is on huge spending cuts with reductions in defense and entitlement, with social

security and health care for the poor and the elderly. >> we are keeping an eye on this situation. what is the word in washington. we hear that there may be trouble getting this through the house? >> of the two chambers, the house is much more difficult because of the diverse opinions since the midterm elections last fall. we're talking about the republicans but the democrats have changed as well. a lot of moderate democrats were voted out of the house last fall. we see major trouble with the bill, and that is why we have not heard that nancy pelosi is behind the bill. and you have tea party members and moderate republicans and 4 john boehner this difficult to

have all of this behind him, like we saw last week and we saw the bill on the republican ticket -- >> the democrats and republicans are unhappy about the details. what is the biggest objection from both sides? >> the democrats wanted a tax increase for the richest americans, but they failed in this, and that the other side of the aisle, those in the tea party say that this of not go far enough and the pentagon may be cut too much because of all of these mechanisms that say if the parties don't agree on the same cuts until the end of the year, there will be cuts out of the defense budget and this is something many republicans will not like at all. nobody is happy with the deal, but this may mean that this is a

real compromise. >> this is not just purely an american problem. >> the decision on raising the debt ceiling has consequences that go beyond social security and medicare. america is in defense -- is the biggest debtor, and a lady for -- and the fall on their treasury bonds will be devastating. >> these have had a aaa rating since 1917 and that is why investors continued to purchase them during the financial crisis. china has over $1 trillion invested in u.s. bonds, making them the largest holder of u.s. treasury debt and japan is second largest, followed by great britain. germany has bonds worth $61 billion, and the united states

played -- pays low interest, the ratings agencies say that without deficit reduction there is likely going to be a downgrade and it will be harder to finance the debt. u.s. bondholders would have to write down the value of their holdings. >> i spoke to wall street correspondent and ask what to expect from the ratings agencies if the vote goes through. >> this is unknown, and there may be a call for losses on wall street even if the deal is reached. a couple of weeks ago they said they wanted cuts of about $4 trillion, so these cuts may not be enough to prevent the agency's from cutting the rating

from the united states. this is unknown and this is one reason why the markets are lower today. >> will the united states remain credible as a debtor? >> a lot of people think so and maybe we enter a time where this rating is still good. and if you look around the globe, some nations have trouble with that and the united states is not the only place with this issue is looming. in the end, the investors may shy away from the u.s. bonds but may come back after looking and shopping around. but at the end the u.s. remains a credible, and a rather safe investment for the bondholders. >> thank you so much. after a rally on news of the

deal, european markets had a sharp reverse on monday. >> great relief here on the news -- but this did not last long. there was uncertainty what would be entailed in the future, with germany demanding that the united states get their deficits down even more quickly than the current plans included. and economic news from the world's largest economy, as they were nosediving down, between the highest point in the lowest point in the day, this was almost 5%. >> let's look that some of these market numbers. the benchmark index is at the

lowest level since march, with stoxx 50 at 25.93. the dow jones industrial is down, just a little bit, and the euro is trading for $1.42. >> the un security council is meeting to discuss the violent crackdown in syria. witnesses say that they're facing the heaviest attacks yet in the city. more than 100 people were gunned down during the weekend. >> the tanks are firing at the protesters and people are dying. this footage shows the city where six civilians were killed on monday according to opposition forces.

this damage to a mosque supposedly happened on august 1 during the holy month of ramadan. the residents of the city say that the worst of the bloodshed was on sunday. there are reports that support -- supplies of food and medicine are running low. >> this is more than just repression. we have to say that there is a massacre happening. >> asaad is still telling people that conspirators from abroad are doing this. >> i spoke to a correspondent in the capital of lebanon and asked

her about the un security council and whether or not there is continued the adobe continued international concern over this. >> it is not clear how much outrage they will have over this. the regime is more closely isolated, but the protesters have been disappointed that the international community is so has a tete with regards to the violence in the country by now. they're not asking for a military intervention, but they expect a strong international response to increase the pressure. the cost of keeping up the crackdown may go too high for the regime because syria is facing massive difficulties because of the conflict.

>> the italian coast guard has discovered a boat full of african migrants, with 25 dead from engine for rooms -- engine fumes. at least 30 people were injured during a clash with police. there were angry at the delays in receiving refugee status. and after a month of drought, somalia is facing torrential rainfall. many refugees have been unable to withstand the rain, and fighting has disrupted the local food rations. several supplies of food and humanitarian aid arrived in the capital. we will have more later on in

the half hour. but first we have some business. >> there is another bailout with a major ratings agency paying close attention to cyprus. the credit rating was lowered in late may. the economy is closely interlinked with greece, and they have been hit with the crisis. and there was an explosion that destroyed the only power plants on the island. the finance minister says that there is no significant need for financing until december. hsbc surprised analysts with better than expected first half earnings. despite a bumper profits they want to slash 30,000 jobs over the next few years as part of a

major cost-cutting drive. >> hsbc intends to exit retail banking in places where it is struggling to compete, and the british bank has cut 5000 jobs since the start of this year with another 25,000 following over the next few years, according 10% of their global work force. they saw a sharp fall in profits in the first half of 2008, and the bank more than doubled their pretax profits last year, and surprise with another mild increase this year as analysts had been predicting a loss. the numbers are the result of the new management and their cost-cutting efforts. hsbc says that they will focus on asian operations or the outlook for profit is much more right.

>> luxury sports cars are back in style, with 16,000 sold the first month of this year. this is reflected nicely with the profit numbers. these are sought after by increasingly wealthy people in china. record sales are anticipated of 100,000 vehicles this year. >> the parliament of norway is remembering the victims of the attacks from two weeks ago. 77 people were killed when a right-wing extremist went on a shooting spree after a bombing attack on a nearby island. >> it is 10 days after the attacks and the flag on the parliament building is flying at half mast. inside, the names of the victims were read aloud.

this was an opportunity to contemplate how the country should move forward after the tragedy. among those in attendance were king harald and the crown prince. the prime minister called on politicians to show restraint in why the attack happened. >> we ask that they do not start the witch hunt against marginal use. >> the prime minister announced a national commemoration ceremony for the victims and their families and those who helped in the aftermath. the local elections are scheduled for september 12, but party leaders will hold off on campaigning and tell mid august. >> we'll be right back after a

short break. stay with us.

>> welcome back. east africa is facing one of its worst crises in decades. millions of people are in danger of starvation. some $2 billion are needed to help with hunger and disease. years of civil strife add to the problems. the militia is making the delivery of aid difficult. the union will hold a conference next week for the crisis, but this is no consolation to those who have been forced to flee their homes. children are among the refugees

forced to flee. >> these five children are from one family. they arrived at this refugee camp a month ago without their parents, and their mother send them away from the warfare in somalia so they would not die in the struggle. the eldest is now responsible for the family. they may never see their father again, and he is said to have been shot while looking for food. >> this is horrible. i carried the lowland's on my back and two heavy water containers. we walked for two days and some people took us in their car.

>> i was so tired i could not walk anymore and later on, somebody gave me camel milk so i survived. >> i was frightened of the alliance and the intelsat and the bandits. i was scared they would rape my sister if they caught us. >> and aid organization, save the children, has offered support to the children. only flour and beans are provided with no other vegetables. but the children are no longer starving and their mother would be released. she stayed home because she is

expecting another baby. >> a our mother will be here after the baby is born. she told us that she would come very soon. >> the children are safe here, and they will continue to help them. >> they are going through a lot and have been separated from their mother. and they have come all the way from somalia to this place. and surely, they are traumatized. >> over the next few days, a psychologist will talk to the siblings. there is an activity area for children to take their mind off of the war and hunger.

games and art and counseling are part of the therapy that is offered. save the children also provides training to foster parents, somalia at has a class society and despite the poverty, there is a willingness to help the children from the same plan who are in need. he has taken in three foster children. he left as a refugee 30 years ago to flee the civil war. he is critical of the al-shabbad militia, which prevents united nations from delivering food to the victims. >> they hide behind a mask of

islam, but the way the rule after parts of somolia has nothing to do with the koran. al-shabab wages wear that has nothing to do with islam. >> 400,000 refugees live here. his eldest foster son completed his entrance exam. ahmed has been with the family for seven years. >> i am happy that he took me in. i get good food and they look after me. >> the financial support -- he has established a small business selling vegetables. the aid organization calls for

the foster parents to have an independent income. >> they began by asking the long-term effects of the famine. >> the region is such that this is already very troublesome for somalia, and the center of this crisis is somalia. and then we have the piracy, and then we have all of these situations coming toge with two generations living there without hope. we have to do something there. this takes a lot of attention where it somalia has not on the forefront of the media, but now

we will take care of the problems in somalia? >> what is all of this providing? >> we provided $30 million, with 20% of the european aid, and then, from the world bank, the 500 million. we do a lot, with the ambassador in kenya and we will go next weekend and talk with the people that you see to see what can be done. we have people who do hospital management in the camps, and we have to mobilize what we can for this situation. >> what can be done for the famine? >> i think that we need more money and access to the people.

in mogadishu and somalia as well. this is a very tricky question, how we get to the refugees. and we have the man-made factors, with these systems that are more responsible with a number of animals and things like that. and this is beyond the actual crisis, -- >> thank you. this has been in depth and you are watching dw tv.

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