♪ >> welcome to the "journal" on dw. >> and i am peter walker. coming up, the growing refugee crisis in southern turkey as syrian to flee their country. bus tragedy. >> in sports, formula one is back as a millburn prepares to host the opening race. we will have a preview of the season. >> a u win the team is set to return to syria this week and to

hold more talks with the assad regime on stopping the bloodshed there. kofi annan says the situation needs to be handled very carefully to avoid destabilizing the whole region. >> he has urged the u.n. security council to unite behind efforts to end the conflict. internet video shows fighting continuing between regime troops and rebels in hama, homs, and idlib. battles near the capital damascus. >> it is causing a crisis on syria's borders. the turkish prime minister has proposed a humanitarian buffer zone for thousands of refugees who have been fleeing the violence. >> turkey says there are almost 15,000 syrian refugees living in camps on its territory. at this camp, refugees welcomed ankara's announcement on a possible buffer zone. >> very good. we want this. i do not know.

>> with this, civilians in the region can be protected. internal and external aid will come to the country. >> ankara is reluctant to get militarily involved in syria, but the turkish prime minister says the deteriorated refugee situation may force it to act. >> all of the options are being studied, including a buffer zone and a security zone. all of these options are being included, because it would be wrong to consider the subject from one. -- from one point. we are evaluating various alternatives. >> but it may be some time for the plight of the refugees eases and they can go home. turkey says it would seek international agreement first before establishing a buffer zone. >> in afghanistan, president karzai has reaffirmed 2014 as

the pullout date for international troops there. >> that is backtracking on his demand for an earlier withdrawal following a rampage by a u.s. soldier. karzai met with the families of the 16 civilians killed by the soldier in an afghan village last sunday. and he sharply criticized washington for refusing to cooperate with his government. karzai had demanded that the u.s. hand over the soldier to afghan authorities. meanwhile, the soldier accused of carrying out the killings is expected to arrive on friday at a maximum-security military prison in the united states. >> his attorney says his client was on his fourth war zone deployment after three tours in iraq. and he said he witnessed a series injury to a comrade the day before the killings. the 38-year-old staff sergeant will be charged with the killings of 16 villagers. the afghan government has expressed skepticism that a lone gunman could have carried out the attack.

meanwhile, a separate incident has overshadowed talks over foreign troops in afghanistan. >> a turkish military helicopter had crashed into a house near the capital kabul, killing 12 turkish soldiers and two afghan civilians. the turkish government said the helicopter apparently crashed while trying to make an emergency landing. belgium has held a minute's silence for the victims of tuesday's bus tragedy and switzerland. the seller -- as ceremony was held in switzerland before the bodies of the victims were taken back to belgium. >> 22 children and six adults were killed in an alpine tunnel as they were returning home from a skiing holiday. >> at the stroke of 11:00 a.m., public life came to a halt in belgium. trains stopped running, commuters and politicians alike observed a minute of silence for the victims. >> it was a poignant moment for many belgians. >> you have to do something.

i have young grandchildren. it is very moving. the minute os important to remember the children who died in switzerland. >> many used the opportunity to write in a condolence book set up at the brussels city hall. on friday, the belgian air force flew the coffins of the 28 victims back to brussels from switzerland. they were driven directly to their homes. in this town, attributes are growing for the victims. entire families have been coming here to remember the students and teachers who were killed. >> the tragedy will continue dominating public life in belgium. there will be further minutes of silence throughout the country, especially in its sports events. friday and saturday are the official days of mourning. >> moving on, lebanon, there are

calls for an investigation into the suicide of an ethiopian domestic worker. the woman allegedly killed herself after a video showed her being physically assaulted by an employer. >> the image is caused outrage when they were aired by a lebanese television station and focused attention on the plight of migrant domestic workers. >> these images were broadcast on the lebanese state television. one week later, the women shown in the video was dead. she is believed to have taken her own life on march 14. international pressure group human rights watch say the case said the ethiopian made is not an isolated incident. >> obviously, her death is a tragedy. what makes it an even bigger tragedies we think it could have been prevented. her case is not unique, unfortunately, lebanon. in a study a year and a half ago, we saw an average of one

death per week of my great domestic workers in the country. they often commit suicide. it is a broader systemic issues. >> human rights watch is calling for a transparent investigation to help highlight abuses suffered by migrant workers in lebanon. and makes life unlivable. >> here in germany, political parties are gearing up for an unexpected battle. snap elections in the bellwether state of north rhine- westphalia. >> the minority government there collapsed after failing to pass a budget vote. the resulting election does not bode well for the coalition here in the capital berlin, especially for the junior partners the free democrats. >> if germany were to vote today, it is unlikely that the current coalition would return to the cabinet table. recent opinion polls show that the three government parties with no longer have a majority. the fdp would not even reach the 5% of votes needed to enter parliament. polls show the cdu and csu at

37%. that puts them ahead of the opposition spd at 30%. the fdp are at 3%. the left party remains unchanged at 7%. the greens remain the third biggest party at 13%, but they are under pressure, especially from a wild card newcomers, the private party, polling six%. the partisan now focusing on snap regional elections in north rhine-westphalia, germany's most populous state. the current state premier has a good chance of turning her minority spd green coalition into a majority government. polls put the cd you at 34%. the spd are had a 38%, more than in nationwide polls. the greens are 40%. the fdp would also fall short of the minimum here, managing just 2%, followed by the left party and the pirate party. the elections in north rhine- westphalia planned for may 13 are being seen as a litmus test for federal elections at the end

of 2013. >> ought to business news, apple's new ipad has gone on sale in 10 countries including germany, france, and japan. despite competition from cheaper rivas, the ipad remains the most popular tappet -- tablet on the market. >> and this has unleashed the usual apple mania. some fans of the in a lot of hours to get their hands on one. >> these die-hard apple fans in germany lined up the entire night to be the first to get their hands on the new ipad. [applause] earlier, people stormed apple stores in singapore and japan to get the gadget. apple is hoping it will attract as many customers as the previous ipad version. it sold 55 million devices so far. along with the iphone and mac computers, the ipad is turning out to be a real moneymaker for the u.s. tech giant.

the gadget's accomplishments have contributed to the company's success on wall street. apple's stock touched six under dollars briefly on thursday, surging by 70% in the past year. apple now has a market capitalization of around $555 billion and is the world's most valuable company. the ipad has a 75% market share of tablet computers. but companies such as amazon and samsung are trying hard to muscle in on the competition and lure customers with cheaper models. >> germany's second largest airline has unveiled another round of losses. diving 266 million euros into the red last year. >> after losses of under 100 million in 2010. they blamed rising fuel costs and a domestic air travel tax which tran director turnovers and a passenger numbers. another factor was the arab spring, which cut out terrorism

in the key north african destinations. airline intends to cut routes and be back in the black by the year 2013. to the market, door to bancshares were gaining at the end of a strong week -- deutsche bank shares were gaining at the end of the strong week. let's get a summary of today's trading action. >> despite the fact that the u.s. economic data came in rather disappointing, the german equity market was holding out. minimal gains on friday. if you look in the past week, every single trading day was a winning day, so we had a very positive week. a lot of focus today was on a deutsche bank shares. they had their supervisor board meeting. they were discussing their recent personnel decision inside the management board. the designated co-ceo's have already made their pick who is going to sit in the leadership

circle. apparently investors really like that idea. because the shares could add roughly 10% during the course of last week. >> let's stay in frankfurt for a closer look at the market numbers. the dax finished with modest gains. but let's a deposit of a new spirit the eighth positive close in a row, and the dax finished the week at 7150 points. the euro stoxx 50 up. on wall street, the dow jones trading pretty much flat, 13,249. the euro trading at $1.3171. well, as we were told in the report from frankfurt, after months of speculation, deutsche bank has finally named its new management team. they will have co-chief

executive officers. >> the pair took over after a decade of their past ceo to build up the investment and consumer banking businesses. he steered the company through the financial and sovereign debt crises. replacing him has turned out to be no easy task. >> the new joint chief executives received their first setback as germany's banking authority rejected their candidate for the post of risk management -- risk-management chief. a u.s. national like they'd necessary managerial experience. >> the bank supervision of 30 does not grossly interfere in financial institutions personal decisions. it does examine the suitability and managerial staff at all financial institutions. >> still, financial analysts see the rejection as a slap in the face for deutsche bank posing

new bosses. >> when the first major step is a flawed, it is bound to create negative headlines. that is sending bleach a bank really does not need. -- the deutsche bank does not need. >> investment bankers round off the bank's new board. frankfurt's twin towers are ready for the transition. but it would have liked to see tha's new their start. >> son's soccer news. the chappie and leagues quarterfinals turned up interesting pairings. munich faces more side. madrid against another team. chelsea against lisbon. the biggest one, melos facing barcelona. stay with us. we will be back in a moment. we will tell you why actor george clooney was taken into

police custody. >> and we will get to the opening of the new formula one racing season. all that and more. stay with us. ♪ ♪

>> welcome back. agencies are warning of the next major food crisis looming in africa. this time in a western region. >> unicef says 1.5 million people can be affected across a wide area that stretches from the west to chad in the east. poor rainfall, failed harvests, and low levels of food stores are to blame. >> matters will get worse from the end of this month as the dry season begins to take hold. and as usual, children are expected to suffer the most. >> fatima has survived several drugs in her lifetime. sub-saharan regions can go without rain for two to three years at a time. crops dry up before they can be harvested.

children are the worst affected. >> when children have too little to eat, they easily fall sick. they catch fever, develop diarrhea, and have no energy left. >> the drought and failed crops are part of life for people here. it is chronic poverty that prevents that cycle from being broken. for those with money, there's plenty deep in the market. but most people cannot afford the prices. >> prices for staple commodities that are significantly higher than they have been in the past, and that has made it very difficult for poor people to be able to afford to get enough to eat. >> this situation has been made worse by the arrival of 120,000 refugees from mali. fleeing fighting between rebels and the army. >> everything we had was stolen as we left. my wife and children have nothing left. >> the conflict has received little attention from abroad. but as the world ignores the

problem, supplies of food in sub-saharan countries are gradually drying up. >> the actor george clooney has been arrested in a protest outside the sudanese embassy in washington. " before his arrest, george clooney delivered a message to reporters. >> the second thing we're here to ask is very simple, for the government in khartoum to stop randomly killing its own innocent men, women, and children. stop raping them and stop starving them. >> george clooney is accused sudan of provoking a humanitarian crisis and blocking food aid. clooney is a high-profile critic of the khartoum government. >> the united states has condemned north korean plans to launch a satellite next month. >> north korean state television says the communications satellite will be lifted into orbit by a long-range carrier market to mark the 100th anniversary of the birth of the country's founding leader.

it was slammed three years go by the u.s. and its allies in the region as cover for a testing missile technology. >> returning to the world of sports. this week and will usher in the start of the new 2012 formula one racing season at the australian grand prix. >> the first training session has already taken place. it was a pretty heavy day. heavy rain turning the circuit into a skid park. few drivers managed to keep their cars on the track. some of them, like the defending champion, had a really terrible time. schumacher drew on his experience to upstage young stars with a rare return to the top. >> should marker, the most successful driver of all time is preparing for what is probably going to be his swan song season. ♪ >> schumacher on perhaps his final mission.

his contract with mercedes is set to end at the end of the season. it then means time is running out for him to achieve the goal he set for himself when he made his formula one comeback two years ago. >> our goal can only be to try to win the world championship, to be competitive, and to be at the forefront. >> a wi and tina per se a whatn. it invested 21 million euros a year in its superstar driver -- a team mercedes wants to win. the company also upgraded its technology and it got five of the best of formula one engineers away from other teams. >> we are in a building phase. formula one is a fight to be the best. you have to a dance step by step. a mixture of excitement and anxiety. >> of the new design of its front wings makes the mercedes car faster on the straightaways

and more maneuverable on returns. they hope the new car will be able to pose a challenge to sebastian fettel's world championship winning vehicle. >> we will only know how fast it really is when we see it in action in australia. aerodynamics for one of our weaknesses over the past two years. that is what we worked hard on. i think we made improvements. >> 43-year-old schumacher also must approve this year that he really is the number 1 driver on the team. he will have to hold his own against a young up and coming teammate. >> michael is really a super champion. when you become older, you have less pressure. you take life easier. >> but it will not be easy for schumacher to lead the young guns led by fettel.

>> for more, we're joined by our sports correspondent to talk a little bit about the season ahead. we saw schumacher doing incredibly well in training. is this a sign of things to come? could he be in for a good season? >> a promising showing for mercedes in practice. as much of a legend that schumacher is, he is not the force that he was. he is 43 now. german fighter pirate -- fighter pilots start to retire at 41 because their reactions slow down. i think expectations on the team are pretty realistic though. schumacher was competing. he loves racing formula one cars. mercedes are benefiting from his brilliant technical analysis. that is driving the team forward. it is a sort of no-lose situation. >> what about sebastian fettel?

he was pretty dominant last season. he did not have a good performance at training. >> i think they're kidding their powder dry for the real event. i am is certain he will be the man to beat once again. he has matured into a very consistent driver. adrian has t best designer behind him. even though red bull was propelled at the start of last season and that was banned, i think the car will be the fastest on the grid. >> you are the people most likely to be getting in his way, the other big contenders? >> it is quite exciting. there's six world champions on the grid. there is the talent out there. realistically, i think it will be mclaren, but obviously look out for louis hamilton. if alonso can get control of a wobbly ferrari, he could be in the running as well.

>> a competitive year. thank you for joining us. here in germany, angela merkel has been holding her annual talks with industry leaders today. many of them are not very happy. >> no, they came with a long list of concerns from the ongoing crisis in the eurozone to problems finding qualified workers. >> one big worry is energy. after merkel's government decided last year to ditch nuclear power, many critics in german industries say not enough is being done to roll out the alternatives. >> even before the meeting began, chancellor merkel had to reckon with criticism. business leaders want to work on overhauling the electricity grid to speed up and better coordination of germany's exit from nuclear power. >> we must consider whether it would be wise to create a separate central body, a kind of energy ministry. we need to talk about that now and in the coming weeks.

>> discussions ran over an hour. afterwards, the chancellor characterized the talks as positive and constructive. merkel acknowledged that much work still needs to be done. it was decided last year that germany needs a new power grid, a very expensive piece of infrastructure that will require big investment. companies are doing a booming business at the trade fair. from insulation into solar panels to wind and water power generation. there is a big choice of energy- saving technology on display. >> and germany's customs authority has presented its report for 2011, and it charged an increase in the amount of illegal drugs entering the country. >> customs seized 29 tons worth of cocaine, making it the single biggest item on the list. >> an alert customs officer attending a reports presentation. he was there to guard several

kilograms of cocaine. but an estimated street value of 12 million euros. the packages of cocaine were discovered on an ecuadorean freighter in the port of hamburg. it is just a small amount of the illegal drugs that were seized entering germany in 2011. >> 1.6 tons of cocaine, 1.3 tons of marijuana, 1.2 tons of hashish, heroin, and over 24 tons of other drugs were removed from the black market thanks to customs activities. >> the customs authority is also in charge of preventing pirated goods from entering germany. these fake designer bags for part of a huge shipment. although they each sell for only a few euros to the calls -- cause enormous accumulated damage to jenny went brands. last year, customs prevented almost 83 million euros worth of

fake goods from going on the market. consumers must be able to rely on getting the goods that they have paid for. >> criminals are getting more skilled at smuggling narcotics, pirated goods, and money. germany's customs authorities say they are adapting to the new methods, but they have not rebuild exactly how. >> that is all we have time for now, but stay with us. we will have more news at the top of the hour. do not forget to check out our web site. >> that is at dw.de. thanks for watching. ♪ captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org-- ♪

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