>> live from berlin, this is the "journal" on dw. i am brent goff. >> and here are the headlines. the battle for syria intensifies. tens of thousands flee the fighting after the deadliest day so far. >> and an admitted massacre. 12 killed in a denver shooting at the premiere of the new batman film. >> the feminists punk rockers who scandalized the kremlin -- pussy riot get another six months behind bars. ♪ >> the violence in syria is

getting worse by the day, and united nations says it is not leaving. >> on friday, the u.s. security council approved a 30-day extension for its monitoring mission in a syrian. they are part of kofi annan's peace plan to end the 16-month conflict. >> there is no sign of any peace in syria. thousands are fleeing the country. fighting between military and rebels intensifies. >> diplomatic pressure has failed to break the impasse at the u.n. security council. for now, that means no sanctions against the assad regime. but u.n. observers will be allowed to stay on in syria. russia remains adamantly opposed to any resolution that would impose an embargo on damascus. moscow is coming under increasing criticism for its hard-line stance. the foreign ministry rejects the resolution as one-sided. >> certain western countries are blaming russia in part for the

escalation of violence in syria but this is absolutely unacceptable. instead of making rude insinuations about russian foreign policy, our western partners should be convincing the syrian opposition groups to find a political solution. >> but there's no evidence of that happening anytime soon. street fighting continues in the capital and other cities. witnesses said government forces have retaken some areas seized by the rebels. the opposition calls it a tactical retreat. the growing violence has led to a growing stream of refugees. the u.n. estimates 30,000 have crossed into lebanon in the past two days alone. the total number seeking refuge in turkey is up to 40,000. the regime has its supporters as well. a massive crowd turned out for the funeral of the defense minister. he and several other senior for souls were killed wednesday in a suicide bombing. -- other senior officials were

killed wednesday. >> let's go to our middle east expert. good to see you, as always. is the assad regime, based on what we're seeing right now, is that regime crumbling? >> it is severely weakened by events in recent days, especially rebels injuring central parts of damascus. as it seems, although the regime is on the defensive, it is still able to strike back. not only in damascus but also in other cities of the country. so i do not think that the conflict is over yet. >> all right, the conflict is not over. an important reason why the u.n. observer mission has been extended. but what is the point of extending this mission? i think everyone would agree it has not made a difference. >> no, it has not made a difference. it was clear from the beginning that it would not make a difference. >> so why have these observers there then? >> i do not understand this decision, but it might be positive just to have them there

in order to gain information about what is going on in the moment when the regime falls. and did nothing that will happen within the next months, but it will be good to have people on the ground. >> but to do what? what can this handful of observers do if the regime falls? >> they can only given permission to the security council. and they might even be able to politically rain in parts of the opposition one day in damascus, but i think that would be quite an optimistic hope. >> let me get your take on this bit of the leader of the syrian opposition has told dw in an interview that minorities in syria have nothing to fear if the assad regime falls. is that true? can we believe that? >> the problem is that the alawites, christians, and many kurds cannot believe it. the opposition has done its utmost to tell us time and again

that minorities have nothing to fear. but the minorities are afraid, and that is why the keep supporting the assad regime. that is perhaps the fundamental problem of the moment in syria. >> the world is worried about this, that you're going to have the blood shed with the assad regime being toppled. once that has happened, you're going to have another bloodbath with all these minorities being targeted. do you think that is a realistic scenario? >> it is a scenario, and the events on the ground show was that the country is moving towards a sectarian and ethnic conflict. so i do not think that the minorities are totally wrong in being afraid, because the opposition is sunni and islamist in orientation. and some of them are even jihadists. >> as always, thanks for coming in and giving us your insi in the u. atof colodoicare trying to eld in the killi a movat

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forget, the u.s.dinalst every . how it goes is there i ama discussion forple after that evertame >> a good way to assess the. we can see thelaflngt half mast behind you. another crime, another durng as always, thank you very much. >> eurozone finance ministers have signed off on ba os. the deal could see as muchs 100 billion euros shoring up banks>> thousands of public wors have been protesting the government's austerity measures inpa. the marches came on the heels of yestve

motrions in 80 cities across the country.a's demonics set to last with madrid morning it dtxpthe economy to grow again until 24 spain's economic weakness seems tla. stocks slid in the euro hit record lows a spain's heavily indebted valencia region called a which fuelled fears of the spanish government is moving toward a full-blown bailout. let's turn to our correspondent who sent us this report from t frkft ocexan. >> the news from spain brought orus pressure for valencia going underwater naiay and also the protests in at the street against the ror measures. that brought shares in madrid down by almost%. the market barometer they're going down by that much. itls brought tremendous pressure on two german shares in eupewide shares as well and in the bond market. there was arati situation.

the risk premium for spanish sovereign debteaing a new record high in comparison with german government bonds. theie that the spaniards had to offer investors climbing to a opngev 28 -- 78%, a lot. the decision by theurea ceraba not to accept greek government bonds anymore as collateralorret. >> all right, let's take a closer look at somofhe te mke numbers. the dax closed almost 2 down, 6630. the euro stoxx 50ntth d mo 3% down, 2237. the dow jones is current gng down almost 1%, 12,829 the euro is trading at $1.2159. the world's largest mobile phone overodho is starting to feel the pinch fm europe's economic crisis. revenues fell by.7n e st quarter despite some gains

in emerging markets >>ne brightpot for the company has been germany, where data usage is stronger than er >> more and more germans are surfin the internet using mapping functions and sending photographs wh eima phes vodaphone perrming well in the german market were one in four people has more fun. revenue for mobile data services jumped almost 20% as conventional calls play less of important row. sales inheosimrtt roan market grew 4.2%. elsewhere, seser disappointing. customers in italy and spain cut back on spending. vodaphone saw sales decline in s meart, britain. the company has to contend with the slowing economy as well as increasing pressure from rivals who are interested consumers thheerlara pns >> chinese artist and dissident ai wei wei has lost an appeal to

ovtu ainfor tax evasion. >> the authorities are demanding that is designed to be pay about two million euros in back taxes and fines. ion of china's most prominent social critics and has had repeated run into authorities. >> eases the tax case ain him is politically motivated in part of the government's attempts to silence him. >> roads leading to the beijing cot us we ocd. but numerous and journalists from abroad as well as locals turned out. similar scenes around ai iwei's house. police saw protesters. the artist was not allotted to the trial. hisifin front of the outcome by phone. >> today's verdict means that in china, the truth is not respected authorities to not ve tpars or citizens the right to defend themselves. the legal system is in a dark state. >> a court on friday upheld a 2.4 million dollar fine for tax

evasion. during the trial, ai was held for three mthatn undisclosed location. he says the government is trying to muzzle his criticisms of corruption and human rights abuses in cna. his 2009 peace, remembering, is about the death of students in shoddi built schools that collapsed during the 2008 sichuan earthquake. his lawyer said the authority's board relevant testimo and evidence in their case against ai's design company. he said the ruling was made totally without reason. despe heavy police presence around ai's house, a supporter was able to leave a sts like the of solidarity with an artist who says he will not give up it. >> another legal defeat coming up after the break. six more monsn jail r female punk bank in russia. >> and one week to go to the olympic games in london.

we will be looking at all the different ways athletes will be trying to get the edge on their rivals, some of them legal, some of them not so legal. stay with us. >> stick around.

>> welcome back. three members of a female punk group in russia have become i talk -- icons of the anti-putin movement. >> their delaware sentence was raised six months. they stormed a church and was singing to the virgin mary to the throat by the return of office. >> attorney city jail sentence proves that the trial is being directed by the kremlin. >> the three women have been refused bail and have spent months in detention. in february, the members of the pussy riot collective sang an anti-putin protest song in moscow's or the box cathedral.

if convicted, they face up to seven years in prison. >> this is a political case in the government is giving it priority. they do not want to show weakness. the want to prove they can discredit dissidents. they want to turn a harsh sentence into political cloud. and they're prepared to be conservative. >> this footage is from the february protest which pussy riot uploaded to the internet. the refrain of the song is "holy mother, theroux putin out. the entire performance lasted less than a minute. but it has divided russia. >> these women have sinned. they have broken god's laws, and i do not want this sin to spread like a disease across russia. >> i am here to protest against the injustice the women from pussy riot are experiencing. >> on friday, police cordoned off the court building to

prevent scenes of chaos as the trial began. but opponents and supporters of pussy riot have a vow to continue their campaigns. >> the kremlin could have just ignored pussy riot. it -- even many of putin's opponents find a ofpunk band too radical. but the state takes a hard approach and the young women and by doing so turns them into icons of the anti-putin protests. >> coming up, the issue of doping at the olympics. >> first, a quick look at some of the other stories making news. israel has begun burying the five israeli victims of wednesday's suicide bomb attack in bulgaria. the israeli tourists were targeted when on the way to a coastal resort in the black sea city. the attack is still under investigation, but israel is blaming iran. >> the ceremony in berlin march the 68th anniversary of the failed attempt to assassinate adolf hitler.

a wreath was laid at the spot where the leader in four other officers were executed in 1944. the building now houses the german defense ministry, a memorial to those who resisted the nazi regime. >> the international court of justice in the hague has called on its cynical to extradite the former dictator from chad. he is accused of being responsible for over 40,000 deaths during his rule from 1982 to 1990. hissene habre has lived in exile in the senate call for 22 years. >> your's fastest computer has been switched on and near munich. the new supercomputer to process up to 3 billion calculations per second. that is 100,000 times greater than your average pc. the computer will be used for research into climate change and to heed the technology park where it is house. >> a lot of heat from the

computer. time for our london 2012 countdown. only seven days to go into the summer olympics. athletes have started to flock in and acclimatize themselves to the city. >> after years of hard training, they all want to be in the best possible shape for that one special moment they compete for gold. >> but the number of doping scandals in recent years have shown that many athletes do not rely on exercise and a healthy diet alone. >> this athlete is using biochemistry to boost his performance. a hyperbaric chamber creates a low oxygen environment and simulates the effect of high altitude training which is known to increase endurance. >> there's not much between the best in the world without doping. so i have to look at my options. if i am allowed to use an altitude, cryogenic chamber, or other legal means, then i should do that as a professional sportsman.

>> alongside those legal means available athletes are a host of banned substances. but both doping in high-tech training share one aim, squeezing the most out of the human body. >> the discussion we're having now is whether there are limits to athletic performance. there are obviously limits to what we can in door. the problem is that we do not know what they are. >> athletes and not just looking for a physical edge but also a psychological one. but can mental training, like meditation or hypnosis, really boost performance? >> at a psychological level, it is not about boosting performance. it is about athletes delivering the same levels of competition that they regularly do in training. only a third of athletes do that. >> some sports have taken a step

back from technology. after a flurry of broken records, swimming's world governing body slapped a ban on full-length bodysuits, shifting the focus away from high-tech fabrics and back onto individual ability. anti-doping rules of also been tightened. will athletes still look for an artificial advantage? >> perhaps there'll be a trend towards using the body's own substances, like natural testosterone or growth hormones. they will probably be used in smaller doses and with precise planning. athletes will look at when they can use those substances in the training phase without the threat of doping controls. >> those doping controls will number in the thousands at the london games. athletes have spent months if not years preparing for the big event.

but will the allure of olympic gold tempt some to break the rules? >> all right, the 18th stage of the tour de france was dominated by the max missile, the british side clerk who claimed the 22nd tour stage win of his career. >> in overall standing, nothing has changed. wiggins continues to wear the yellow jersey with an overall lead of more than two minutes bit of millions of muslims around the world have started fasting for the holy month of ramadan. >> devout muslims will abstain from eating and drinking from dawn until dusk as a sign of their devotion. >> in jerusalem, the focus of muslim prayer services is the al axa mosque. those services to got a special significance during the month of ramadan. security outside the mosque was tight early on friday as police prepared to start letting muslim

worshipers into the mosque. israeli authorities. banned most palestinian men from the site because of security concerns, but this year they have relaxed the restrictions to admit boys under the age of 12 and men over 40. muslims often end their daily ramadan fast with delicacies. fasting is strenuous in the summer heat. it is boiling in the west bank and gaza. >> we only have electricity for half the day. that is a problem, because it is really hot. even if you want to get something to but in the refrigerator, it will be ruined. >> the goal of ramadan is to strengthen religious belief and self-discipline and foster identification with the poor and needy. >> western countries seeing cutbacks in spending in crucial areas like police and firefighting services, they may want to take tips from countries like kenya that are using social media to fill the gap. >> we have already seen it

twitter and facebook and how they helped bring about a revolution in egypt, for example, but it does not have to be that dramatic. it twitter text can help keep daily life running smoothly. we have this report. >> school is in and today's lesson from the police chief is twitter. most villagers have a mobile phone, but almost no one has an internet connection. not a problem. the teacher's tweets are sent via text, and thus didn't get the message. it is a social network with real benefits for the village. >> when we send a message, people come together. they cooperate in come together. it enhances togetherness and enhances people's unity. >> another text message alerts the police chief to a nearby fire. with around a dozen villages on his beat, he does not arrive until the next morning. the house owner shows the height

of the flames. without twitter, his home would have been burned down. another overnight emergency. france's texted for help at 2:00 a.m. after discovering thieves at his house. he tells the police to tell the men tried to pry open a metal door. the alarm was raised via twitter and villages were there within minutes. the would-be robbers were forced to make a speedy get away. >> before, we can never sleep easy. there was always shouting at night. but no one knew where and for what reason. that is over now. >> in these remote communities of the canyon at highlands, emerges is services often arrived too late if they arrive at all -- in the kenyan highlands. now because of twitter, police had contact with thousands of locals. crime rates have fallen

dramatically. still, there are some problems not even twitter can help with. >> all right, let's forget our top stories. the u.n. has extended its observer mission in syria for another 30 days, but there's still intense fighting in damascus. >> in the issue of gun control is back on the agenda in the u.s. after a gunman shot more than 70 people, killing 12 of them, at a movie screening in denver, colorado. >> more on those stories and the rest of the news on our website, dw.de. >> we will see you soon. ♪ captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org-- ♪

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