>> hello and welcome to the "journal" coming to you live from dw in berlin. >> here is what is coming up in the next half hour -- clearing the air in rome. mario monti and angela merkel meet after last week's show them. found the dog particle they were looking for. >> fashion week in berlin. the beautiful people are out in force as another season hits the catwalk. >> last week, they seemed like foes, but today, friends.

german chancellor angela merkel and italian prime minister mario monti put on a show of unity at talks in rome today. damage europe's debt crisis topped the agenda. monti insists his country will not need bailouts because of public finances, he predicted, the will be improving. >> the meeting offered a different mood compared to last week when the leaders were at odds over sharing europe's debt. >> a meeting to clear the air. after last week's eu summit, much was made of angela merkel concessions to her italian counterpart. the two leaders appeared to resolve differences. >> italy has taken important steps to set the course within a very short space of time. the prime minister made it clear that further measures will be decided in the coming days to

complete the process. >> i have assured the chancellor that we are determined to continue on the path of structural reform and budgetary discipline with a goal of generating near-term economic growth. >> the two leaders skirted questions on their apparent rift last week over the need to make the eurozone rescue funds more flexible. instead, merkel appealed for german-style discipline. >> what it boils down to is whether we can offer future generations room to maneuver. >> but room to maneuver is the one thing that neither have amid deepening eurozone debt crisis. >> we are joined now on the line by our correspondent pierre it was the mood as harmonious behind the scenes as it was in front of the cameras? >> str, although the two

leaders had nice things to say to one another, the impression they gave to the cameras was in the that perhaps behind the scenes, things had not been so friendly. while mr. monti was making his introductory remarks, the chancellor looked extremely grim, and later, when she said that she did not believe that there should be a new mechanism to help with the bailout of italy, if you got into trouble on the markets, it was mr. monti's turn to look a bit upset. >> monti seemed to be this quiet technocrat when he took office, but last week, he took -- turned into quite a fighter at the brussels summit. how is his style going over with ordinary italians? >> it is going over well, though his popularity is low because of the reforms and cuts

and tax increases that he has brought in. recall last week the summit talks took place at the same time as the euro cup, but i think that the temptation is growing at perhaps victory on the football field was not as complete as -- sari, the other way around. the victory on the football field was a lot more decisive than the one that mr. monti achieved in the talks on a possible new bailout mechanism. >> that, of course, victory against germany, something the germans would like to forget. we do not want to talk about that, but we thank you for your

analysis from rome. >> mario monti insists his government is on track, but new numbers show the state is far from balancing its books. italy's budget deficit rose to 8% of gdp this year according to the country's statistics office. that is up from 7% for the same time last year. the government is having to pay higher levels of interest on public debt, and with the italian economy in recession, costs are rising. monti hopes to bring costs down to 2% of gdp compared to 2011's figure of 3.9%. how did the markets react to that data out of italy? our correspondent has more from the frankfurt stock exchange. >> disappointing economic data from the eurozone seemed to be endless. italy is getting deeper into debt since spain's economy is strained by its weak banks. more and more, the euro virus is

spreading over to germany. this was a burden for traders in the currency market. deaths and euro have been falling, but traders hoped the european central bank has the right remedy to lower interest rates in order to make loans cheaper -- debt and euro have been falling. investors still have confidence because of high demand for german bonds despite the low rate. >> let's get a closer look at those market figures for you. the dax was lower fractionally their. -- there. investors are in a wait-and-see mode ahead of the eurozone meeting next week. the euro trading for $1.2533. markets are closed for the independence day holiday in the u.s. he says that he is sorry, disappointed, and also angry. those are the words of

barclays's ceo bob diamond as he testified before a u.k. parliamentary committee on wednesday. >> his company has been accused of manipulating the london-based libor rate, which banks use to lend money to one anothe. scandal has already cost three executives at barclays their jobs. >> diamond insists that the rating was isolated to only a few employees at the firm and that it is an industry-wide issue, possibly indicating the bank of england itself -- diamond insists that the rate rigging was isolated. >> he has become a symbol of greed and arrogance in the banking industry. committee members grilled him for hours, focusing on the role of britain's central bank in the crisis. lawmakers wanted to know whether the bank of england approved of barclays actions in 2008 in an effort to avoid further turbulence in financial markets. it is a grave allegation, and it

could adversely affect london's financial reputation. the libor bench mark determines interest rates used by banks to borrow from each other. based on information from major institutions, the benchmark indirectly determines how much businesses and private customers pay on the money they owe. the scandal has turned into a political powder keg. in parliament, prime minister david cameron voice his concerns about british banks and urged barclays not to give diamond a generous severance package. >> it is outrageous, frankly, that homeowners may have paid higher mortgage rates and small businesses may have paid high interest rates because of probably illegal activity in the city. people want to know that crime in our banks, crime in our financial services will be pursued like crimes on our streets. >> the scandal could be the tip of the iceberg. are around the world,

investigations are under way into suspected interest-rate manipulation by the banks, including germany's deutsche bank -- are around the world, investigations are under way. >> it is a major breakthrough in science. physicists have announced they had discovered a new particle which could lead to a new understanding of how the universe began. >> the director of geneva's european center for nuclear research said the discovery is a milestone. physicists say it is consistent with the long-sought [inaudible] >> the theory is that the particle came into existence within fractions of a second after the big bang and is believed to be responsible for giving other particles their mass. until now, this key component in understanding how these subatomic world -- the subatomic world came into being has been a mystery.

by accelerating subatomic particles to the speed of light and colliding them, they simulate conditions that are believed to have existed in the big bang. after analyzing the data, they announced their spectacular find. >> i believe we have achieved a major discovery here. we found a particle, presumably the one we have been looking for for half a century. we have to confirm now whether it really is that particle, but what we have discovered is consistent with the theory. >> physicists say statistically it is highly unlikely that the find could be anything other than the ink particle, but more research is still needed -- other than the hinks particles. >> assuming it is the particle we have been searching for, i would not say it is boring, but it is what we expected, but if it is something new, it would be unexpected and a lot more exciting. >> scientists say they expect to know the answer by the end of the year, and then they will be

a little further along in their quest to understand how the universe started. >> for more, let's go to a physicist in geneva. your colleagues are not absolutely sure yet. what is your feeling? is this really the haigs particle -- higgs particle? >> i would say yes, we have found it, but clearly, this is just a belief. you have to go closer and closer. so far, this means we have to take more data and analyze more properties of this particle to be absolutely sure that it is this particle or something which looks like it but maybe a different variety of it. >> why is this sometimes called the god particle?

>> it is really a funny story. a famous physicist wants to write a book because physicists at that time had already looked 20 years for it, but his editor did not like the name because he thought it might hurt some religious feelings, so he called it god particle and thought that was so much better. joking aside, it is a particle which gives them which determines some of the properties of the universe. it gives all particle's mass and properties and is somehow like cosmic dna. it is really important. >> we thank you very much for the -- that. >> and elation has turned into a

tragic cost and submitted hostage situation. a man who had been asked to leave his apartment barricaded himself inside, taking four people captive. >> police stormed the apartment and found all five people dead. >> more than 200 police officers descended on this leafy suburb. they sealed off a wide area around the block and evacuate nearby buildings. the drama started to unfold at 8:00 a.m. on wednesday. a bailiff accompanied by a locksmith and others came to the apartment to enforce a court ordered eviction. for three hours, the gunman was barricaded inside his apartment. police knew he was holding people in there with him, but they did not know how many. tactical units were called in amid indications the hostage- taker was heavily armed.

police expected a drawn-out negotiation and around noon came the decision to storm the premises. >> the operation did not work out as we had hoped. a few minutes ago, special forces were compelled to enter the apartment because they could smell something burning. they discovered several dead bodies. >> police found four people dead, all with gunshot wounds. one of them was the hostage taker himself. another woman died later in the hospital. a police spokesman said the killings resembled an execution. only a social worker managed to escape unharmed. >> european parliament voted down the anti-piracy treaties. >> the controversial agreement sparked protests across europe from those who feared it would limit internet freedom. it is meant to establish international standards for enforcing intellectual property rights. so far, no country has ratified the deal. >> stay with us.

we will have more on the olympics after a short break. >> unimpeded access to education and knowledge and the same opportunities for everyone. a central goal of the global community, but what is the reality on the ground? education for all. dw's multimedia special relates personal stories and highlights

extraordinary project the world over. find out more on the internet. dw.de/educationforall. >> welcome back. with the olympic games due to kick off at the end of the month in london, the german team is focused on one thing -- bringing home the gold. and they have some reason to be optimistic. germany was no. 5 in the metals during the beijing games, and this time, they want to do even better. german athletes have a history of success both in and on the water. they took home 16 medals at the beijing olympics and are aiming to do the same in london. the swimmer won two gold medals in 2008 and is back in top form and recently picked up the three european titles. but the big favorite is the german eight-man rowing team. they have been world champions for three years running and have

continually improve their performance. their motto -- go for gold. >> we have not been beaten for three years. we put in the hard work and now are going to make it count. >> the sprint team is also shooting for glory. she is already a four-time champion and now wants to add the individual kyack title claim london. germany will be competitive in many different disciplines. in beijing, there was a winner on the podium in 19 different sports. the triathlon team will also be top contenders in london. four years ago, he was a surprise gold medalist and is now considered a favorite. >> one-day race is definitely my thing. i can focus myself 100% on that day and be very disciplined. >> germany's chances are limited this time around in ball sports.

only the field hockey and volleyball teams manage to qualify for the london games. >> the training these athletes and door in order to reach these levels are unbearable for most. >> it is not something most people have, but we met up with one german athlete who was going the extra mile for the upcoming olympic games, and she is no stranger to the process. >> going up 2,500 meters in a cable car might be exciting enough for some people, but not her. she uses the mountains of southeast switzerland to train for the london olympics where she hopes to win another medal. >> i would say that half of those in the olympic field have the potential. in any case, it will be a hard- fought race.

>> the mountains are ideal terrain for building insurance and testing techniques. -- building in durance and testing techniques. she has no tolerance for colleagues who see the need to use chemicals to boost their performance, a point she also makes on her website. >> i cannot say that nobody turns to doping and that there are not black sheep in mountain biking, but those who had been caught and tried to make a comeback are sidelined and ostracized. >> she is currently the world's most successful female mountain biker. she has picked up medals at the olympics and at the sports european and world championships. winning gold at the beijing olympics in 2008 was a personal high point and brought her new sponsors. she also founded her own team, but the media coverage has fallen short of expectations. >> 18 million people in germany

have a mountain bike at home, and 8 million or 9 million ride on a regular basis. so when you consider that, the amount of mountain biking that is shown on tv is really pretty small. >> she is a relative latecomer to the sport, which she only took up at age 22. she says it is a passion that requires more than just strong legs. >> the sport also demands good coordination, and you also have to practice various techniques to get a feel for the bike and for the ground below you. that way, you are at one with the bike. >> at 40, she has no plans to give up competitive racing anytime soon. her first mission is the london olympics. in september, she will have another shot at proving she is

the best in her field at the world championship in austria. >> stake in sports, a german cyclist has won the fourth stage of the tour de france. to the finish line -- he eked out a victory. damage to tennis now -- >> to tennis now. the defending champion did away with germany in straight sets. he did have to fend off a break in the first set. " it is a dream come true for a

south african athletes. >> the w -- a double amputee known as the blade runner will raise at this summer's olympic games. the 25-year-old will now be able to compete on his carbon fiber blade at the olympics as well as deep in his gold medals at 100, 200, and 400 meters at this year's paris olympics -- paralympics. >> switching gears, documenta is well under way in germany, but what you may not know if there is another going on in afghanistan. >> it might not come to mind right away as a hub for art installations, but he might be surprised. young afghans surrounded by war are using art as an outlet for their hopes, fears, and frustrations.

>> it is a beautiful summer afternoon. in the gardens, the atmosphere is peaceful. it is a relaxing place, a refuge high above a city torn apart by war. afghanistan is a country without legs. he is 48 years old. like many other afghans, he is disappointed in his country. >> here, you can see the it is a symbol of disability, politics disability in afghanistan. >> time and again, he says books have covered -- have provided salvation for his country. at times, the works of lenin. at others, the koran. >> people are much different and

could not bring this together. all the problems, all the fighting started because of this. >> with the taliban ruled afghanistan, they banned art and considered it to be unislamic. thousands of kilometers divide these exhibitions, but at times, afghanistan feels very close. on the right is the palace in kabul. on the left, the castle. the two have remarkable similarities. she has only no war in her country. she is 22, lives in kabul. an art student, she paints when words failed her. >> australia -- it has affected

my thinking. i do better with the drawings, paintings. >> but does everything have to be politicized? he finds the taliban dull and makes sound collages. he wants to be a contemporary artist, not a political one. >> talking about war. we already suffered from everything. let's become united. let's have peace, and it has just become too much. everyone talks about the -- about that. that kind of art may be sells better. >> here in the garden, it is easy to forget the war for a while, but everyone knows a peaceful summer afternoon in kabul can be over in a heartbeat. >> white collars, flowing fabrics, bread-and-butter -- it is fashion week. >> the german capital has put itself on the map when it comes

to showcasing well-known designers, and this year's fashion event is no different. >> get your pen and paper ready. it is time to take note of what to wear next spring and summer. >> fashion week has descended on the capital and pitched its tent on one of berlin's central boulevard. along with the parallel train fares, it is bringing more than just glamour to the city. it generates 120 million euros in earnings for berlin. the shows in paris, milan, london, and new york are bigger, but the german capital is known for fostering fresh creative talent. >> we have established brands, but we also have many young designers. their presence has shaped our distinctive profile. a designer for tomorrow were handed out here seeks to discover new talent with a particularly creative edge the works really well here in berlin. >> them unique label kicked off

the fashion week with a collection strong on color and light weight fabrics. throughout the week, more than 50 designers and brands will showcase their summer 2013 collections. berlin's biannual fashion event attracts more than 200,000 industry insiders. >> not too thrilled about the issues they are suggesting, but everything else looks good. >> they were nic. >> i like them. >> you are up to date at this hour here on dw. thanks for joining us. captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org--