>> hello and welcome to "the journal." >> thank you for joining us. >> more floodwaters threatened to swamp bangkok. five days after the devastating earthquake in turkey, a young boy is rescued alive from the rubble. there are clashes in tunisia after an islamist party wins the first democratic election there.

we began in thailand where the country's worst floods in half a century are threatening to submerge a large part of the capital, bangkok. the city is already at a record high and it could burst its banks. a huge mass of water approaching bangkok from the central plains. several parts of central bangkok are already inundated. >> there is water as far as the eye can see. it is easier to get around by boat to them on foot or in a car. tens of thousands have already left the city, others are trying. >> i did not expect the flooding to be this bad. i am prepared for it but they have asked us to leave. >> the premise to says that so much water is bearing down that there is little that the government can do.

>> the crisis we are experiencing is unprecedented in history. i would like to say to everyone that we cannot afford any political or by partisan wrangling. >> authorities fear that water levels will reach 2 meters 60 at the weekend, 10 centimeters higher than the major flood barriers. then the entire city would be the lead to -- would be deluged. >> we got this update just a short while ago. >> everyone is waiting what will happen next. the most critical situation happened saturday. people have very mixed feelings about this. on the one hand, they are leaving the city to escape the floods. people are looking to protect their houses and belongings. several people were ordered to

evacuate. >> they will be able to evacuate some of the flood victims. >> what are the economic problems? >> hundreds of parks and zones were completely flooded. the computer industry has been flooded. various people told me that they do not know what the future will bring if they will find work soon or they will be compensated. they are facing a lot of unresolved problems. >> thank you for that update. >> a strong earthquake has hit peru. the u.s. the geological survey said they had a magnitude of

6.9. the epicenter of the quake was 300 kilometers north of the capital. reports said that the strong tremors caused buildings to shake. and the pacific tsunami warning center has not issued an alert but they said that quakes of this size can cause a local tsunami. in earthquake stricken turkey, the u.n. refugee agency has airlift emergency supplies for the survivors of last weekend's powerful quake. relief workers say that providing shelter is the most important thing at the moment as winter temperatures and snow are rife. a turkish officials are appealing for assistance. workers are working round-the- clock to find more people. >> a boy is freed after being trapped under the ruins of an apartment block.

he spent 108 hours trapped with just rain water to survive on. >> he was taken to the hospital and he appears to be in stable condition. what stories are giving rescue workers the strength to keep working. they have been working around the clock to see how the earthquake devastated this part of eastern turkey. heavy machinery is being used and where necessary, but their hands. the freezing temperature is compounding the mystery for the survivors -- the misery for the survivors. >> our government is doing as much as it can and we're thankful but our tents are too

thing. we are freezing. >> they're struggling to provide food and shelter for the homeless. they say relief efforts have been hampered by the government, taking too long to accept international assistance. >> security forces have killed some 30 people during protest following friday prayers. this footage posted online claims to show mass demonstrations. many are calling on the united nations to impose a no-fly zone over syria. activists say that they might launch air strikes against the protest. the winner of tunisia's first ever democratic election, the islamist ennahda party, has said

that day are interested in human rights. violence broke out in one town. people are protesting against the disqualification against some local candidates. >> this video posted is said to show the offices of the ennahda party. the offices are reported to have been attacked and buildings set on fire. the protests came after election officials disqualified candidate at from one party for alleged violations of campaign spending rules. >> they saw the very first protest that sparked off uprisings across the arab world. now, the curfew has been imposed after the latest unrest. official confirmation of results came on thursday night. there were celebrations at the headquarters of the party. they later said they did not

want to introduce a strict islamic law. >> we promise to continue to work for the aims of the revolution -- freedom, independence, development, and prosperity. women, men, the religious, and then on religious are respected because to reject is for everybody. >> one test of how open the party is to other ideas will come over the next year. this will lead a government which will oversee the writing of a new constitution. >> the bosnian presidency has attacked -- has condemned a gun attack on the embassy. the lone gunman opened fire with a rifle. one policeman was wounded. the gunmen then moved through central sarajevo for half an hour before he was shot and wounded. there he is, falling to the ground. the attacker is described as a

radical islamist. the u.s. embassy says that none of its staff were hurt. back here in germany, an emergency ruling by the consul cord says that the bundestag must give its support of for any country can be bailed out using the eurozone rescue fund. the plan was to let a committee of nine people approve decisions made by the government. two opposition's complaint to the court. they have criticized the move and said that they will slow down the decision making on the rescue fund. we have more on that fund and how european leaders are trying to get the money. >> who would like to buy some leveraged debt? there's a plan to attack the sovereign debt crisis by leveraging the european financial stability facility to one trillion euros. efforts are underway to bring in

foreign investors. this is made up of brazil, russia, india, and china and they are all sitting on large cash reserves. the head of the fund when off to china to look for potential chinese investment. >> china has announced -- has amassed the largest currency reserve and any country. they are hoping to get some of it to stabilize the euro. >> the exchange will go up every month and there is a need for investment. that is also my experience talking to the chinese authorities that they are interested in finding attractive, solid, safe investment opportunities. >> the chinese authorities are in no rush to make a decision. >> we need to wait for the

technicalities to be clear and also to carry out serious studies before we can decide on investment. >> in other words, beijing would like the eurozone countries to step up the reform efforts and provide better guarantees before they agree to invest any more cash. norway has already said that they are not prepared to put any more money in the eurozone rescue scheme. >> italy presented a list of measures that will bring their debt situation under control. investors remain unconvinced. and their first bond issue, italy was forced to pay a higher interest rates on almost 8 billion in bonds. demand was lower than in previous auctions and interest is over 6%, a record since the introduction of the euro. on today's market action. the german blue chips brought a

positive close to the best week in more than a month. we have this from the frankfurt stock exchange. >> it has been a late for a so- called morning after feeling but in deed investors started some profit-taking later this evening. no wonder after the big party that traders had been faced with on thursday. the dax closed slightly in positive territory while investors have been reminded that the debt problem in europe is still remaining. italy tried to issue new bonds. this is in the amount of nearly 8 billion euros of the yield. italy must play more than 6% for its 10 year bond. this is the highest yield since the beginning of the euro. >> we will take a closer look at the numbers. the dax finished the week at

6346, up just a bit. euro stoxx 50 giving up some ground. the dow closed at the top of the hour, a close with modest gains finishing at 12,241 points. the euro is trading lower against the dollar. germany is expecting less debt than previously thought due to an accounting error. the state owned bad bank says that they miscalculated collateral for derivatives. as a result, german debt was 24.5 billion euros lower than previously announced. that means the overall debt was 83.2% of gdp. that is less than before the error was discovered. the end of an era in music publishing is fast approaching.

the british record company emi is about to be broken up and sold. their owners, citigroup, are reportedly close to an agreement with a german company and warner music and how to divide up the spoils. they own the rights to act like the rolling stones, cold plate, and nor jones. warner is going for the recorded music division. the deal is expected to be announced next week. >> back over to megyn. >> thank you very much. the extraordinary stress faced by soldiers often follows them home affecting them long after their tours of duty come to an end. soldiers who had difficulty in coping when not receiving much support from the army. now, parliament has voted to improve compensation and care for the country's veterans. >> 84 of duty and cosell left

this sergeant with posttraumatic stress. he suffered from anxiety and sleepless nights. he found it hard to cope and he got no help from the army. >> i really thought, i expected that because i put my life on the line, that my employer would look after me accordingly. >> the german armed forces are taking an increasingly active role in international military missions. that has consequences. the number of traumatized soldiers has increased. this year, 600 returned home. now, the soldiers and troops will have a statutory right to a job and increase compensation payments.

>> it is a really important day. a very interesting milestone. namely, that all of the group's work together to improve the situation for the soldiers. >> this means that he has the prospect of a job. no legislation can take away his psychological scars. >> one of the oldest and most famous theaters in the world has reopened after a 700 million euro facelift. the bolshoi theater had a gala performance to celebrate the end of six years of renovations. the president described the restoration as a miracle. office performed an item about the workers to rebuild the theater as well less some ballet. -- as well as some traditional ballet. we saw some of it live on television.

>> you were impressed with the dancers leg muscles. >> very impressed.

>> on sunday, the people of kurdistan go to the polls to elect a new president. this is the first election since the autocratic leader was ousted in april last year. 16 candidates are standing to replace the interim president. she will step down at the end of this year. since she took office, presidential powers have been limited and reforms were introduced making kurdistan the first -- kyrgyzstan the first democracy in the region. they are deeply divided between the relatively prosperous north

where russian influence is strong, and the south with a large uzbek population. there was violence in 2010 which left hundreds of people dead. >> in april 2010, clashes between ethnic groups engulfed the southern city. the traces of that violence are still evident. this isn't uzbek family that returned after the riots. they're now rebuilding their home with the help of foreign aid organizations. this is a slow process. now, they are worried about the approach of winter. >> we have no coal to heat with and no money to buy any. >> our government does not care. no one asked how we are doing, whether we need help collect the

region is poor, predominantly muslim and ethnically mixed. that helps to make this a powder keg where anything, including an election could trigger new violence. the security forces are on alert. for the most part, people only trust candidates from the region. >> i am for our general because he helps people here during the riots in 2010. i just want there to be no violence. we want a good life. everyone should live with each other in peace. the country could break apart. i don't want that to happen. >> a campaign as and in southern kyrgyzstan. the pie minister is running for president and is seen as a front runner. -- the prime minister is running

for president. he has little support here. despite the reception, he tries to reach out to his audience. >> we need to prevent every day ethnic strife and nationalism in our country. >> he also promises to help the economy and help with corruption in the country. 300 kilometers to the north lies the capital. this is the political power base. other presidential candidates have accused the prime minister of running an unfair campaign. some have hinted that they will call for demonstrations after the election. >> if anything happens after the election, it will be the responsibility of those who are conducting an unfair election

campaign. they are misusing money for their own purposes and they are manipulating the election. >> many politically active young people say such accusations make a mockery of democracy. they say the ones to complain the most today were guilty of the kinds of abuses in the past. >> these problems can be solved only by a completely new political generation. the old politicians just change sides. we need new and young people at the top. >> many of these young activists had been training to serve as election observers. they believe parliamentary democracy could work in kyrgyzstan. they also see a danger. >> for 20 years, the politicians saw how smoothly things ran when

the politicians -- when the citizens had the power. 20 years later, another violent revolution. >> these young activists remain hopeful and they keep distributing their fliers. >> most of kyrgyzstan's neighbors are former soviet republics as well. after the end of communism, authoritarian rulers established themselves across the region. the move to democracy is being carefully monitored in the regional capitals. most of the regional leaders have been in office since the early 1990's. turkmenistan is mostly in the hands of the president. many of the strong men control the vast natural resources though they have made small

concessions to demands for more freedom and they are not anxious to give up power. >> celebrations in honor of the president are common in kazakhstan. he has ruled the central asian country since the breakup of the soviet union. he controls the army and the secret police. he is not the only firmly entrenched autocrat lost turkmenistan, tajikistan, and is pakistan are those -- he is not the only firmly entrenched autocrat, turkmenistan, tajikistan also have similar rulers. >> they need to feel important and are unwilling or perhaps incapable of letting power go. >> national parliaments in elections helped the despot's to

polish their democratic credentials. they do not allow for open criticism. opponents say that the oppression is worse in lose pakistan -- worse in uzb eukistan. >> the laws are rigid, people died after a mysterious circumstances. >> when the president came to brussels earlier this year for meetings with european and leaders, there were protests by opponents of his regime. they say the west should not court dictators. many european and american politicians disagree. the central asian countries have major oil and natural gas

reserves and are strategically important in nato operations in afghanistan. german troops stationed in afghanistan are supplied from a base in uzbekistan. >> most western leaders are pragmatic. when they realize they cannot change or break these regimes are make them more democratic, they decide to work with them anyway. >> rulers in the region use those relationships for money and influence to help them consolidate their power and keep ethnic groups or clans under control. they see themselves as stabilizing forces in dangerous parts of the world. this is why they don't want a democratic move to take over in kyrgyzstan and upset their comfortable arrangements. for the despot, that would be a

nightmare. >> central asia from despots to democracy. thank you for joining us.