>> welcome to the "journal" here on dw coming to you from berlin. >> germany's highest court reviews the legality of the eurozone's newut fund. the finance minister warns against the late. >> the international criminal court sentences a former congolese rebel leader to 14 years in prison. >> power struggle in cairo -- the egyptian parliament convenes in defiance of the military and courts. >> there is a legal battle rumblings in germany surrounding

the eurozone's new rescue fund. germany is the biggest contributor. >> several lawsuits have been filed at the constitutional court to test the legality of the fund. judges have begun looking into whether the german president can sign this legislation into law. >> it covers what is known as the european stability mechanism and the fiscal pact on budget discipline. >> the judges are aware that the ruling will have far reaching consequences. it is unusual for the court to listen to oral arguments on an urgent motions, but that just underlines the significance of the case. procedures open with the court's president stressing that the constitution cannot be disregarded even in times of crisis. >> europe needs the democratic constitutional state just as the democratic constitutional state needs europe. those who tipped the scales in favor of one side lose the other. >> more than 12,000 legal

challenges have been lodged with the court. plaintiffs feared germany is giving away too much power to brussels. >> we do not want people like you and i, voters in germany, to wake up tomorrow to find that we are allowed to vote for german parliament, but that parliament has ceded key elements of laws governing budgets to europe. >> the court has invited a large number of experts to assess the case. the german government is represented by the finance minister, who warned that the markets could lose confidence if the new bailout fund is delayed. >> i am please we are having this hearing, and i hope that through a thorough examination of the case, the constitutional court will issue its ruling soon. >> first of all, judges have to decide if the federal president is allowed to sign the laws already passed by parliament. if so, they could come into effect, even if the court were to rule later that they are

unconstitutional. >> we are joined by a political correspondent. germany says the finance issue needs to be sorted out quickly. will that happen? >> the aim was for the court to rule on the substance of these challenges by the end of this month, but the president of the court has hinted today that it might take a bit longer. they are going through this methodically, allowing more than just even submissions, but everyone is aware of it because the whole project of reorganizing europe's economy and rebuilding the bureau cannot really proceed as planned unless germany, europe's biggest economy, has ratified these agreements, but at the moment, no one on the government side is willing to contemplate that possibility publicly, at least.

>> why it deals facing legal challenges in germany and not elsewhere in europe? >> in fact, the esm bailout mechanism has not been ratified in a number of countries, but the thing to remember is the size and significance of the german economy. these are such far reaching changes to the way europe's economies are going to be run, and there is the possibility that parliament's will be bypassed in the process. of course, there will be constitutional challenges because germany is the country that will end up paying for these bailouts. >> thank you, simon. we will be back to you in just a moment. >> the case is being heard by the constitutional court -- the cases being heard by the constitutional court focus on two pieces of legislation that involve handing over more power to brussels. >> germans are quite divided on the issue. here is a look at exactly what is at stake. >> the fiscal compact is

designed to assure the member states do not overspend said it debt ceilings are set and strictly followed. governments have to introduce a national mechanism to guarantee this. 25 of the eu's 27 members have signed the agreement -- all except britain and the czech republic. the pact requires them to reduce deficits and honored that limits. it is meant to take effect in 2013, but it still needs to be ratified by 12 member states. ratification is essential if member states want access to money from the european stability mechanism, which is designed to replace the temporary bailout fund. this new european stability mechanism will have access to 700 billion euros in capital. eurozone members will provide $8 billion of that directly and will make available another $620 billion in capital. germany is to be europe's

paymaster, bankrolling the lion's share of more than 27%. esm loans will be available to vulnerable countries unable to raise capital on the markets. the esm will even be able to buy sovereign debt on bond markets. if the constitutional court ruling prevents germany from contributing, the mechanism will not come into force. it needs to be approved by states representing 90% of its capital base, and that is impossible without germany. >> who are the people behind these legal challenges then? >> as we heard earlier, they come from a wide spectrum. some are lawmakers who feel responsibility is being taken away from them. others, ordinary citizens concerned about how their taxes are being spent.

>> at the end of june, germany's parliament voted to approve the fiscal compact and from a bailout fund. the move delegates a large degree of fiscal policy-making to brussels. that unleashed a flood of lawsuits. the citizens' initiative presented thousands of complaints to germany's constitutional court, arguing that the voting rights of ordinary people were being undermined. >> people have a right to vote for a parliament that has policy-making capabilities, especially on key issues such as budget law. that involves how our money is being spent and our country's fiscal and economic development. >> the initiative says the delegation of key policy-making powers to brussels should require a citizen's referendum. one conservative member of parliament has also filed suit and says the move damages his rights as a parliamentarian. >> in my opinion, it is no

longer justifiable for parliament to approve such transfers of rights without a referendum. it should require live generation by our sovereign power and ask the people. >> some legal experts say germany's constitution is in danger. a group calling itself the free voters is backing the constitution. >> germany's sovereignty is being damaged in a way the constitution cannot allow. >> the left party rejects it on both a legal basis. >> the path we are following is one involving the erosion of social welfare and democracy. we do not want europe like that. >> the fifth petition was submitted by an individual whose identity has not been released. >> time now to turn back to simon and ask about the people across the political spectrum. they seem to be unhappy.

is that the case -- does this reflect the population as well? >> i think people generally are not perhaps concerned about these constitutional arguments, but polls suggest that well over 2/3 of germans are very worried about the future of the euro and well under 1/5 believe that these bailouts mechanisms are going to deliver the desired results and secure the stability of the euro going forward, and that move is growing as this crisis drags on. germans recognize that they owe a lot to your, that their economic success is based on membership of the euro, and the overwhelming support for european unity continues in germany. on the other hand, a growing number of germans say they would like to see the deutsche mark come back. >> do you think it is going to be a decider in next year's elections? >> it is definitely going to be a key issue. it has been at the top of the

political agenda for a couple of years. chancellor merkel has looked good in her crisis management, but as the crisis drags on, that begins to look a bit thin. germans are worried about the future, and i think that will definitely be reflected in how this issue is treated in the campaign next year. >> thank you, simon. >> on to the markets, european shares rose for the first time in a week on tuesday after eurozone finance ministers agreed to give spain more time to get its budget in order and provide up to 100 billion euros in aid for spain's debt-strapped banks. also, better than expected manufacturing data out of italy and the u.k. helped lift sentiment on tuesday. let's look at the numbers kicking off in frankfurt where the dax finished up by nearly a full percent -- let's call it 0.8%. across the atlantic on wall street, the dow trading lower at this hour.

the year of struggling again against the dollar, trading at a value of $1.2254. after nearly two decades of negotiations, russia has taken the last major hurdle to become a member of the world trade organization. >> the russian parliament has ratified accession to the wto, but only by a small majority. many lawmakers expressed doubts about the move, about saying it would open the country to keep exports and create more problems than benefits. >> germany sees things differently and is hoping for easier trade ties with such a huge market, but there is still a lot of work to be done in winning over business owners in russia who are opposed to wto membership. >> it is harvest time that the state farm outside moscow. its director says his strawberries are better than anything else in the russian

capital, but he is worried about imports. >> if you list all the inspections we get, one page will not be enough. global competitors do not have that. that is why we are not competitive. >> about 500 people rallied on tuesday in central moscow in a leftist protest. opponents of wto membership say it could ruin thousands of businesses. >> there are serious fears that for many russian industries and agriculture, this will be devastating. there is concern that they will simply be helpless in the face of the global competition and will be overwhelmed and many people will lose their jobs. >> some analysts say it will serve to weed out inefficient businesses. for russia, it is unquestionably progress. it means the unification of the rules of the game.

it is an opportunity to prove to the whole world that we can compete in manufacturing. something as side of oil and gas. >> back at the lyndon state farm, the director says his biggest problem is corruption and bureaucracy. for example, he says it took three years to receive a permit to build a one-story cowshed. >> democratic republic of congo has welcomed -- >> it is the first case to be completed at the international criminal court. it has been operating for a decade now. then he is sentenced to a total period of 40 years in prison.

>> the country's warlords showed no emotion as his sentence was read out. always maintained his innocence and pleaded not guilty to charges that he adopted young children and conscripted them as soldiers in his rebel army, but during the trial, many witnesses testified he did exactly that. the court accepted that the former militia leader is responsible for thousands of cases of abduction and abuse of children as young as 11 during the civil war in congo between 2002 and 2003. >> the lead prosecutor asked the court for a 30-year sentence. his years at pre-child attention will be counted toward his sentence, meaning he will be free in eight years. but the process of bringing justice to congolese war criminals continues. two ml currently face trial on

similar charges. >> still to come, the latest from egypt. >> true art has a mind of its own. just like beethoven and the artists who interpret his work at the beethoven festival bonn 2012, from september 7 through october 7. order your tickets online. i like a banana parfait with bitter chocolate sorbet. >> helped the 800 people in the

world who go hungry next time you go up. donate the cost of a desert to the world food program. >> welcome back. egypt's supreme court has overturned a decree by the president to overturn parliament. with comes after the parliament had reconvene tuesday in defiance of the powerful military campaign and an earlier decision by the courts. >> last month, the army dissolved the assembly after the court ruled that the elections won by islamists were unconstitutional. lawmakers say they were not challenging the court's decision, just meeting to discuss its implementation. >> egypt's new president has assured germany's visiting foreign minister that he respects the authority of the constitutional court. >> the first western government minister to visit cairo since last month's presidential election. he told that germany would stand by egypt in this turbulent time,

but appealed to all sides to remain committed to the democratic process. >> we will make our influence within europe work so that the international community, europe, supports egypt on the path towards a stable democracy. >> democracy in egypt is facing one tough test after another. tuesday morning saw the deputies of the dissolved egyptian parliament convened briefly in defiance of the supreme court and the generals. the symbolic move was not supported, however, by mp's from liberal and leftist parties. they apparently have accepted the ruling that certain aspects of the election violated the constitution. there were isolated protests in front of the parliament building, but no serious confrontation with security forces was reported. whether the action was symbolic or not, wednesday evening, the supreme court halted the decree

to reinstate parliament. egypt's power struggle continues. >> for more on this now, we are joined from cairo. what is the next move in this power struggle? >> the first thing is to really understand his ruling of the constitution. everyone is waiting to find out how this could be justified, but of course, now, we are in the next step. the president already announced his speech for tonight, and we are all eagerly awaiting it. >> the german foreign minister has been in cairo pushing for democracy. the u.s. is calling for dialogue between the two sides. is that going to happen?

>> it may be more important from the minute -- and the mystery from a few days ago. he has gone to saudi arabia, so this is important to him ending the struggle with the military because the military holds the key for the state institution of military. >> thank you very much for that. an international peace envoy kofi annan says he should be part of the solution to the crisis in syria. after talks with the leadership in tehran, he said he had

received support to resolve the conflict peacefully. >> iran's foreign minister welcome date the envoy's efforts but warned that a solution needed to be found quickly to prevent the conflict spreading to other parts of the region. the u.s. and many other european countries have strongly opposed any involvement of iran in the quest for peace. a court in israel has found the former prime minister guilty of breach of trust. >> but the judge has cleared him of more serious charges of corruption. these were surrounding allegations that he received envelopes stuffed with cash and embezzled money by submitting double invoices for overseas travels. >> olmert says it is a personal victory, but is nonetheless the first prime minister ever to be convicted of a crime. >> he was visibly relieved of the verdict and hailed the decision as just.

the charges prompted the former israeli prime minister to resign from office in 2008. he has been trying to clear his name ever since. >> there was no corruption. i received no money. there were no cash envelops. there were none of those things they tried to attribute to me. >> olmert had been accused of excepting a large bribe from a u.s. businessman in return for promoting his country's in israel. the millionaire confirmed that hundreds of thousands of dollars had changed hands, but the court decided the evidence failed to prove guilt conclusively. for the prosecution, a bitter defeat, but olmert was convicted on the lesser charge of favors for a colleague during his time as prime minister. >> the court found me guilty of breaching trust in regard to the

investment center issue. i respect that. >> despite his acquittal on two of three charges, he cannot relax just yet. he still faces a second trial over separate allegations relating to his time as mayor of jerusalem. >> definitely not a vacation, but german chancellor angela merkel is on her first trip to southeast asia. she began to visit in indonesia where she agreed to establish closer cooperation in several key sectors. >> and she is committed to an agreement which covers security, economic, and development ties. >> but what is causing a bit of consternation is a decision by indonesia to cancel a deal with the dutch in favor of a new plan to buy 100 german leopard tax. >> angela merkel's flight arrived in jakarta in her first trip to indonesia since becoming chancellor in 2005.

both sides are hoping to boost business. merkel is traveling with representatives of major german companies. last year, trade between the two countries was around 7 billion euros, a 12% rise on 2010. the outlook is good. indonesia is especially interested in german machine tools, cars, and chemical products. but the president as word about the debt crisis in europe, an important export market for indonesia. merkel tried to reassure the president and pointed to indonesia is recent economic history. >> indonesia understands the situation very well. it went through difficult economic times at the end of the last century, and the indications i have talked to have pointed out that crises like these are a long time in the making, so they cannot be cleared up in instant. >> indonesia is reportedly interested in buying more

military hardware from germany. jakarta is said to be looking at german leopard tanks. but it is still unclear whether a deal will go through. on the sidelines of the political talks, merkel also made a plea for religious tolerance. in jakarta, she visited a church. christians make up around 9% of the population. muslims, 88%. officially, there is freedom of religion in indonesia, but there have been some attacks. merkel said faith should be a unifying rather than dividing factor. that led to a sports news now, the 2012 summer olympics get under way in just over two weeks time. germany will be hoping for its share of the metals. >> one of the team's big hopefuls is part of the men's diving squad, who picked up silver in beijing four years ago. >> the pull of the european

sports park in southern germany is no place to relax in the sun. his every job has just one purpose -- to help him win the gold in london. >> the priority is the synchronized 10-meter platform because we have had the most success with that and even won a medal in beijing. we would like to do that again. then, i am concentrating on the individual three-meter springboard because i think i have what it takes to be among the top in the world. >> to impress the judges, the judge has to be complex, and the landing clean. even a pinkie finger pointed in the wrong direction can affect the/and destroy the chance for a medal. >> if you go to the olympics, you want to come home with a metal, but we also know that the world's top divers have improved incredibly, especially the men, and the competition at

the top is very stiff. >> is also open to spend time relaxing by the pool, but not until after the olympic games are over. >> that typical shadow is back in sight. the tour de france team has suspended one of its riders over -- you guessed it -- open allegations. >> he was arrested and questioned on tuesday. magistrates say the investigation was opened last year when he was writing for the other team. they have a strict no-doping policy and will fire the rider if the allegations are proven theory to recap our top story for you -- germany's constitutional court has begun hearing a series of challenges to the european bailout fund and the fiscal pact on discipline. >> judges are hearing cases on whether the german president can sign measures into law. hearings began with the court's president stressing that the

constitution could not be disregarded even in times of crisis. even so, most observers believe the judges will give the green light to the legislation. >> you have been watching the "journal" live from dw in berlin. that is all we have time for now. >> do not forget, you can find out much more about us an hour show on our website. that is dw.de. >> thanks for joining us. captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org--