>> welcome to "the journal." >> here are our top stories. >> french president nicolas sarkozy goes on the offensive as he loses the first round of elections to francois hollande. the european union agreed to suspend sanctions against burma. >> and the largest industrial trade exhibition gets underway in hanover. national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org-- president nicolas sarkozy and

his socialist challenger francois hollande have sharpened their attacks on each other since the first day of campaigning. >> francois hollande receive 20% of the vote, beating sarkozy. one of the surprises was the performance of the far-right national front, with its leader marine le pen scoring almost 18%. >> newspapers nationwide heralded francois hollande's victory. commentators said the socialist candidate's strong showing highlighted the desire for change after 18 years of centrist conservative presidents. >> i am very proud of him. >> but this voter disagrees. >> his program is one of anti promises. >> newspapers patrol -- newspapers portrayed him as a

fresh face. meanwhile, surrogacy is seen as a spent force who has lost his touch. there is strong support for radical parties, especially the far right national front, also of concern. >> marine le pen wants more rights for french people, not immigrants. immigration is changing our culture too much. >> the national front leader marine le pen has used the economy to attack sarkozy. she says during his tenure, he has driven many to the unemployment rolls. she has refused to endorse him in a runoff. but surrogacy will need -- but sarkozy will need her base. it is a tight rope walk because

the incumbent still has to sound presidential. >> of course, i want all the french people's votes. and what right and left. >> hollande will play at social justice in upcoming campaigning. -- played up social justice and an upcoming campaign. >> there are three debates before the final vote. the candidate agreed to one debate. >> for more on the impact of this election on europe in germany, we're joined by our correspondent. terry, what would a win for the socialists mean and fort angela merkel's management of the eurozone debt crisis? >> angela merkel has made it clear she supports the incumbent in this election, nicolas sarkozy. a socialist when would

definitely be a disappointment for her. her spokesman on monday made it clear the chancellor would continue to support sarkozy through the runoff election may 6. but he said that she will not been making any campaign appearances with him, and most importantly, she will cooperate with whoever happens to be the french president. now, obviously francois hollande is expected to become the french president's. he has a more than 10-point lead, i think. germany is concerned, particularly about european policy. the to expect -- they do expect him to push for economic stimulus, but they also expected to consolidate the fiscal situation. >> was the feeling in berlin about the turnout for the far- right national front?

"unsettling," that was the word from the chancellor. 1 number of government said he was relieved there were two strong candidates with strong positions on the selection. there are concerns that nicolas sarkozy over the last couple weeks will reach out to le pen to appeal to the far right by stepping up far-right rhetoric. >> terry, thank you so much. not only is france facing a major shift. the netherlands is looking at early elections. mark rutte tendered his resignation to queen beatrix today. >> the leader of the anti- immigration party said the impact of deficit spending cuts

ordered by brussels was too great. new elections will be held, possibly in june. >> it was shortly after 4:00 p.m. when prime minister mark rutte left the royal palace after handing the queen his cabinet's resignation. his government is set to continue its official duties. the premier drove away from the scene without a word to reporters. the cabinet met on monday to draw up its resignation. the minority government has been in crisis since it lost support for is badly-needed budget cuts. -- for its badly-needed budget cuts. >> and a few decades, the netherlands have showed fiscal, solid budgetary policy and this

will not change. >> negotiations came to an abrupt halt this weekend after an attack by it are right mean populist leader. he accuses them of doing the bidding of brussels. >> this is basically for the dutch citizens and the decisions, but the way, have not been taken by brussels. >> to the middle east now. in the coming days pending the arrival of next week's it monitors for the truce brokered by kofi annan. >> it is said that dialogue is the only way out of the crisis. the violence in the country continues. >> plumes of smoke rising to the

sky in central syria. this video hints at the region's continued instability. 23 people reported killed and in the midst of heavy shelling. just a day earlier, u.n. observers visited the city. they were hoping to check the status of the cease-fire. just after this after they left, the shelling began again. the u.n. observers are now back in damascus. the plans are to bring in reinforcements that will bring the total number of monitors to 300. germany will offer technical and logistical support. talks of already begun in new york. the u.n. hopes a more pronounced presence on the ground will bring an end to the pronounced human rights violations in syria. >> u.s. president barack obama

has pledged for an end to the violence in sudan and south sudan. >> the fighting is going on right now, and it is the worst sense sudan became -- sense sudan became independent last year. -- since sud becamean independent. both sides of the oil-field are claimed by both sides. >> fighting in sudan and sell sudan flared up on monday. fighter jets attacked targets the day after south sudan put its troops in egypt. south sudan had agreed to withdraw its troops, palin to international pressure. -- palin to international pressure. >> -- bowing to international

pressure. >> [unintelligible] >> both sides have been vying for control of the oil-rich region since the south declared its independence last year. >> the south sudanese president has repeatedly said he wants to avoid a fresh civil war. but the sudanese leader has rejected any future negotiations. >> the european stock markets plunged to their low cliffs -- lowest levels in three months, largely on the political uncertainty in the netherlands. >> the euro fell as investors took money out of germany. there are concerns that a consensus on solving the

eurozone crisis is frail. >> nerves are on edge at the frankfurt stock exchange. the socialists win in the first round of the french election is not calming nerves. >> hollande is expected to win the runoff. they worked well together, which has been good for your. hollande has said he would make changes. that is a sign of france going its own way. >> and the latest growth forecast did nothing to lift the gloom. spain has now officially slipped into recession. the country's economy has contracted 0.4% in the first three months of 2012. that followed a 3% drop in the fourth quarter last year. >> now to look at the market numbers.

the dax as well over 3% on monday. eurostoxx 50 in negative territory. across the atlantic, the dow jones industrials also down. at the euro is trading for $1.31. >> argentina is looking to nationalize the spanish oil giant. spain wants european and other global leaders to impose sanctions on westbury's. >> -- beuonos aires. -- buenose aires. >> the eu foreign ministers suggested some solutions to the conflict. >> politicians have been

discussing responses. now the eu has condemned the plan for the nationalization of the subsidiary. >> this action is of course risky and will have consequences. i have seen an eu commissioner that has responded with a letter to the foreign minister, and they have no support for it. a country cannot at this way against its international obligations -- act this way against its international obligations. >> spain has gone a step further by imposing a ban on argentine imports. >> i have heard they are apparently going to make a decision to restrict biodiesel as a form of punishment. i want to say to all the argentinian people -- our% biodiesel it is much cheaper than spain's.

>> they want to force them to handover a majority stake in ypf. >> ok. change of pace now. today is the 284th anniversary of that master storyteller, the king of english -- william shakespeare. congratulations. >> the world shakespeare festival highlighting the barn's universality -- bard's universality launched by a theater in new zealand. >> all 37 of his works will be dramatized in 37 languages. it will accompany the olympic games.

birthday, will. >> yes, yes. we will be back after a short break. >> and burma as well. >> do not go away.

>> thank you per staying with us. most of its sanctions against burma. >> the decision was taken on the same day parliament convened. but the pro-democracy leader aung san suu kyi and her opposition party decided to boycott the first session of parliament. >> they called it contrary to their personal principles. the ruling party has refused to amend the wording. >> it was supposed to be an uplifting parliamentary session. beat pro-democracy leader -- the

pro-democracy leader aung san suu kyi and the opposition party. the nld party refused to approve the constitution. they feel it gives too much power to the military. they wanted to change the wording from "state guard -- "safeguard" to "respect" the constitution. so far, she is not calling for a boycott. "we will have this resolved within 10 days," he said. he did not say how. the current tension is still concern. >> we are watching closely today. aung san suu kyi's considerations about the parliament. >> the president of burma has

not shown any sign of compromising with aung san suu kyi and her followers. the power struggle continues. >> we're very happy to be joined in the studio by andrea who has been covering these elections. this was supposed to be a new era in burmese politics. what happened? >> what happened is -- what really is at issue here is a separate story. you will get this at 2015, the next elections. i think this has a lot of positioning. this is because they are insisting on the constitutional change now, rather than go with the constitution. >> the eu has lifted almost all sanctions. germany would like to let them altogether. >> germany is arguing from the

development and the. they say you cannot have development unless you have sanctions. the other argument is as a political tool, we have to have something. we just cannot drop them overnight. >> ok. he was calling for the unconditional release of all political -- the eu is calling for the unconditional release of all political prisoners and the end of all ethnic conflict. >> this is the real test of the military's willingness to reform. a lot of political prisoners have been released. there is controversy about some prisoners, whether they are political prisoners or they just pretended to be. and the government has really reached out to the ethnic minorities. i think generally the government has made a lot of effort. we are going to see how that

plays out in the parliament. >> great talking to your. thank you so very much. >> hanover messe is under way with 65 exhibitors from 700 countries. >> the dominant country this year is china. he wants trade with germany to increase by 50%. especially green tech. >> green technology is the buzzword in hanover this year. this exhibit shows a new cooling system. in immerses -- it immerses with solutions. this also save some material. thanks to ground-breaking design and construction, it

weighs much less than other generators of similar size. >> it is 60 tons lighter. that means renewable energy will get a boost and become more competitive. >> one company has licensed its technology to a chinese company that has become the country's biggest producer. is also developing its own system. another case where china is learning from its european partners. >> to china where the real estate market is in trouble. and growth is the lowest in decades. bair in an expansion of course -- they remain in expansion of course. >> the maker of electrical switch boards and electrical systems -- it has to find new

ways to meet its goals of expanding in the international market. >> the chief of customer operations has a look at production. the company uses 600 electrical control cabinets. not bad for wind power plants are around china. the production line began here in 2004. since then, it has increased fivefold, and it is ready for another spurt of growth. >> the mean goal of the five- year plan -- the main-goal of the five-year plan is to promote energy. we have already seen that in investments, and it is a significant business for us. >> the plans to double their chinese business over the next three years, and that it once

the company's growth is beginning to cloud over. there is the possibility the real estate market there could collapse. the government has set a target growth rate of 7.5% this year. that would be a 20-year low. at the same time, china is not inexpensive. wages are rising. cities like shanghai are feeling the pressure. but the economy is felt slowing in some areas. that has not hurt the outlook. >> the growth engine of china is not the only decisive factor. we are looking for the magnitude of the market. the sheer immensity of the market. the same as in germany or the

u.s.. >> 20% of the production in shanghai is exported throughout the asian region. the rest is sold in china. the company calls itself "the global market leader." >> ever since the arab spring revolution swept across north africa, there have been calls in morocco for democratic reform. a young girl committed suicide after being forced to marry her rapist. >> this story has caused outrage inside and outside the country. but it is unclear how this suicide will affect the rule of in mom's -- imams. >> every day, the parents visit her grave. she was only 16 years old when

she decided she no longer wanted to live. she took her own life by swallowing poison. her mother said she was kidnapped last year and used for two weeks. her voice is full of sadness as she tells the story. but she also had a hand in her daughter from a fate. to protect her daughter's name, she insisted that she married her rapist. >> people spoke badly about my daughter. no one would have taken her after that. she was used. she wanted to be forgiven. she should have used her right to get married. >> it is not just the conservative rural areas where such views hold sway. rapist can escape punishment if

he marries his victim. that is what happened in her case. is not an isolated incident. this particular case sparked outrage on internet forums and in the media. >> we have had enough. we must change this law. we must change the penal code. >> her mother feels guilty because she insisted on the marriage between the then 13- year-old daughter and the much older man. >> we categorically reject the marriage of miners. -- minors. the authorities made this marriage possible. both are responsible. this has to change. >> the greatest of fresh.

the parents are in mourning. -- the grave is still fresh. yet they still follow the dictates that cost their daughter's that. they have agreed to reexamine the lot. -- the law. >> that is it for now. thank you for watching. >> stay tuned for more news at the top of the next hour and the top of every hour.