enjoying this. we're going to have a lot of fun. we may be able to finish this in our next session then we'll start another miniature. we're going to have fun no matter what. so keep the cards and letters coming, we love to hear from you. god bless you, stay inspired, keep painting, and i promise i'm going to see you right here real soon on another yarnell school of fine art.

>> hello and welcome to the "journal" live on dw. venezuela declare seven days of national mourning after president hugo chavez succumbs to cancer. >> microsoft facing legal action for failing to provide customers internet choices.

>> thanks for joining us. huge crowds of mourners have taken to the streets of the venezuelan capital, caracas, and tributes have been pouring in from the allies of president hugo chavez, who has died from cancer at the age of 58. >> the socialist leader came to power in 1999 and had won a third term in power five months ago. he was viewed as a champion of the poor and the inspiration for the new left in south america. >> but he was a controversial and polarizing figure. he became increasingly authoritarian, antagonized his opponents and let the country's infrastructure rot. >> on tuesday, he lost his two- year battle against cancer, sparking an outpouring of grief from supporters. >> mortars thronged the streets of caracas, accompanying their president on his last journey.

the body to lie in state until friday. >> and manlike our commander-in- chief leads an irreparable loss. and heroic man who has fought for venezuela, especially for us, the poor. >> chavez lives. chavez lives because i am chavez and most of us are chavez. long live chavez. >> for years, the paratrooper held sway over venezuela. he pumped billions from his country's oil revenues into social projects and when the adoration of the poor. on the global stage, he allied himself with iran and others from the united states. his last foreign trip was to cuba where he underwent

intensive cancer treatment. leaders from all over latin america were the first to come to caracas to pay tribute. among them, the president of uruguay, argentina as francis, and the leader of bolivia. >> sadly, we have lost a leader. for me, he continues as commander of the liberating forces of america and of the world, of the anti-imperialist forces antisocialist people. >> germany's foreign minister said chavez's death offered the chance for change in venezuela and of the help of his government. >> the country plays a very important role in latin america. democracy and freedom are the right way to unlock venezuelas full potential. >> for now, venezuela is in seven days of official mourning. the state funeral for hugo chavez on friday is expected to

be an event of epic proportions. >> live to our correspondent in caracas. can you give us a sense of the mood there after the death of hugo chavez? >> as you clearly said, there is an outpouring of supporters on all the streets. the procession is going slowly because so many people have attended. there is a lot of heartfelt grief, as you can see from his supporters. we are just waiting throughout the day until he reaches the military academy. >> hours before his death, there were some strange comments by the vice president about enemies of the nation being behind it. what did he mean there? >> a few years ago, the body of simon bolivar was exhumed to

detail that he was murdered, when history showed that he died a natural death. he made comments about that, that in the future, chavez's body might do the same, and that his historic enemies are behind his sickness. at the same time, he expelled two u.s. military attache is that were here in venezuela because of assumptions of spying, and the u.s. has said that they might do the same as well. >> we will have to leave it there. thank you very much for speaking with us. right now, we are joined in the studio by professor tom o'donnell to talk about chavez's influence. you have lived in a cover-up is yourself. can you talk about how you would assess chavez's legacy?

>> you have lived in caracas yourself. >> he came to power at a time of great crisis in venezuela, a decade of economic and political collapse. the old political parties collapsing, and lack of confidence in the institutions. at first, he portrayed himself as sort of simon boulevard ii, the liberator of the poor and oppressed -- some on boulevard -- simon bolivar ii, the liberator of the poor and oppressed. he won election overwhelmingly, and on the one hand, he really does embody this awakening of the poor and middle-class is for a new democratic conclusive in just minutes with it, but he was also a practical politician who will the country for 14 years, and one has to look at that. institutions were collapsing in venezuela.

the task was to build institutions that could change the country, and even the cubans would criticize him for throwing money at problems. he did not even organize his own political party to 2008. right now, there is a very severe problem in security institutions, and that is a very big part also of his legacy. >> we are seeing a tremendous outpouring of emotion. there's also political uncertainty. any tips on what the outcome will be? >> unless there's some big surprise, it is quite certain that the vice president will win the election. as you can see, there is an outpouring of support and sympathy. they will have the full support, the full strength of the state behind them in social spending and so forth in these elections, as they have always had before. on the other hand, there are all sorts of rumors and talks, opened to the foods that are not

so aligned with each other that might be competing. -- groups that are not so aligned with each other that might be competing. i think that will keep a lid on things for some time, but as i said earlier, underlying in order to the minister the country, there's very serious economic and financial problems. even if the oil company has difficulty producing enough oil, and the problems will be difficult to solve without the great leader there to smooth over between factions. >> thank you very much. >> turning to other news at this hour, south korea has clearly warned north korea that it will retaliate if its territory is attacked. a spokesman also says that any counterstrike a target p'yongyang's top leaders. a day earlier, the north threatened military action against seoul over what it says are hostile actions by the south korean and u.s. armies. >> the u.s. has just provided details of new united nations

sanctions also backed by china and a punishing north korea aimed at carrying out a third nuclear test last month. >> the court in egypt has rejected a presidential decree, which called for parliamentary elections to start next month. the ruling could delay the vote and threatens to further deepen the country's political crisis. >> tensions between supporters and opponents of egypt's islamist-led government have fuelled weeks of unrest. there were violent protests wednesday in cairo and port said, which has seen days of clashes between police and protesters, who are protesting death sentences handed down in connection with last year's soccer stadium riot in which more than 70 people were killed. the arab league has lifted a ban on weapons, deliveries to the syrian rebels and has offered the syrian opposition to take a seat as the representative of the syrian people in the organization. >> rebels say they can get rid of the regime of the syrian

president if they get better equipment. the conflict has claimed more than 70,000 lives, and the number of refugees who are fleeing is continuing to climb. >> these assyrian refugees have made it to safety in tripoli, lebanon, but there living conditions are difficult, and have little prospect of finding work -- these syrian refugees. the number of refugees now tops 1 million. rebels seeking to oust the president want weapons. in brussels, the free syrian army's chief of staff says if his troops were better equipped, the regime would be gone in days. >> we need weapons and ammunition. to stop killing, to defend ourselves, and to defend our citizens. >> while the arab league says members can provide weapons, the european union has an arms embargo in place. some countries are providing

non-legal support. britain says it will deliver armored vehicles, body armor, and rescue equipment to the vehicles. >> each month of violence in syria means more death, wider destruction, larger numbers of refugees, and bloody military confrontation. international military cannot stand still in the face of this reality. >> the reality for the syrian people book inside and outside the country remains bleak. there is little sign the fighting will end soon. >> let's take a look at wednesday's numbers. 7919. 8000 not that far away. euro stoxx 50 dipping slightly. the data at this hour up by about 0.25% at 14,287 points, and you're down against the greenback, trading at a value of $1.2993. >> men -- german manufacturers could be facing higher energy bills to cover the move to clean

energy. >> since 2011, industrial power users in germany have been saved hundreds of millions of euros per year by german government exemption from certain power grid fees. these costs have been passed on to german consumers until now. the european commission is looking into if the government loophole amounts to a hidden subsidy of german firms, which will be in violation of eu law. >> the world's biggest travel and trade fair has opened in berlin with indonesia chosen as this year's partner nation. the number of exhibitors is down this year, though more and more people are traveling worldwide. the number of tourists has crossed the 1 billion mark. >> increasing numbers of chinese are trotting around the globe, spending even more than the travel-happy germans, but the germans are doing a pretty good job trying to catch up. >> this year's partner country

is showcasing diverse attractions, including cultural treasures such as traditional dancing and a world heritage site. indonesia's tourism board hopes the spotlight will help it attract even more visitors. despite the global economic downturn, it is a boom time to be in the travel business. germans in particular have wanderlust, and they are spending more money on trips than ever before. analysts predict they will spend around 66 billion euros on visits abroad this year. >> 2012 was a good year for us. 2013 has gotten off to a promising start. all operators, including in the hotel industry, are booked at. we are expecting between 3% and 5% growth this year. >> no matter where the ticket takes them, travelers are looking for unique experiences. they want to discover cultures and countries and the great outdoors, all without negatively impacting the environment. the number of people packing

their bags is on the increase. the annual number of tourists traveling the world is a record 1 billion last year. >> indonesia wants more visitors and is hoping to cash in on the global surge in tourist numbers. >> here's a look at one of the hidden treasures of indonesia. >> it appears to emerge from nowhere -- the temple rises from the jungle landscapes of central java. built in the 19th century, the temple complex predates europe's cathedrals and is one of the world's greatest buddhist monuments. neglected for centuries, the temple was rediscovered in 1814, buried under layers of a volcanic ash and jungle growth. >> we indonesians' believe that a lot of our heritage and cultural traditions are enshrined. this heritage can teach us how to be a good person and how to build a good person -- how to

build a good country for ourselves. and we can learn to respect each other because of our culture. >> the temple and its compounds i listed as a unesco world heritage site, attracting tourists from around the world. tourism plays an important role in the local economy. >> our infrastructure is ready for tourists. accommodations, transportation, and much information. >> about 200,000 people visit the site each year. europeans also make the long pilgrimage to southeast asia. >> actually, it is a big thing to visit in the middle of java. it is very interesting. even when we are here, it is interesting to see how it is baked and was undiscovered before. >> most people come to indonesia to visit delhi or something like

that -- to visit bali but something like that. it is a most impressive place to visit. >> it is a history group car by in stone. sculpted really tells the story. they also depict scenes from everyday life. badly damaged by the 2010 eruption. stone conservation experts are helping to preserve the monument. >> we can slow down the decay and help to get things to the stage where future generations, which will have newer and better methods will continue to preserve the site. >> indonesia wants to attract future generations of foreign tourists. it wants to make the historic complex its no. 1 attraction. >> to california now where the

golden gate bridge is, of course, world famous. a new art installation is putting the spotlight on its lesser-known neighbor, the bay bridge, which links san francisco with oakland. it has been outfitted with 25,000 led lights. >> they have been programmed to create a variety of patterns. and is said to be the world's biggest light sculpture, and it will be on show for the next two years. >> smartly, it is not visible to drivers on the bridge so they will not get distracted. highly visible for everybody else. more news for you at the top of the hour. stay with us. captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org--