>> hello. welcome. you're watching -- the world this week. the peace maker. the russian president squarely is center of attention. as all sides scramble for a syria solution. some have called this his greatest week as president and pend a much discussed p ed piece in "the new york times" and flipping the bird, will it help or hurt the uphill challenge by german social democrat pier steinbrook as he

tries to unseat incumbent angela merkel and we'll give you the context of that and also their opinion. that's in "the world this week." and also we will check in with james creeden and our media watch segment. the hour beginning in the newsroom. let's say to nadia. >> these are our headlines this hour. finding common ground and kick starting a long forgotten plan for negotiated peace. the u.s. and russia make a show of optimism and unity in geneva having agreed to make syria's chemical disarmament their joint goal. an attack that shocked the collective conscience of india. a deli judge hands -- dehli judge hands down a sentence as a result of a brutal gang rape of a woman. and a sobering anniversary for diplomacy 20 years after the oslo accords, peace in the middle east still seems a distant prospect. with broken promises and bouts

of violence having reduced that historic handshake to nothing. after 2 1/2 years of violence, 110,000 people killed and an escalation of war crimes, the outcome of the syrian conflict be nearing? following another hour-long meeting in geneva this friday, the assad regime's main friend and foe appear to have at least found some common ground. russian diplomacy chief sergei lavrov and his counterpart john kerry agreed to continue their common push for syria to hand over its chemical arsenal. this is a way of avoiding military intervention. both sides have even announced plans to revisit the idea of a long-stalled peace summit in the weeks to come. earlier we spoke to our geneva correspondent who began by telling us about the relations between the two men. >> they're throwing everything but the kitchen sink. the americans have taken the lead today with mr. kerry making it very clear that any progress on the political

front, the so-called stalled geneva two process, has a link to a breakthrough and a solid deal on the syrians getting rid of their chemical weapon stockpiles. mr. kerry made it clear in the presence of mr. lavrov and mr. brahimi and when mr. lavrov and mr. kerry returned to the intercontinental hotel behind us where the talks are taking place, both of the secretaries took part in technical talks with their top experts from the u.s. and russia. and the u.s. team is very high level. just shows the importance. white house. their representatives here from the joint chiefs of staff, from the department of defense, and the top arms control officials from the state department, so this is very high stakes for the u.s. administration. and the russians are feeling the heat now. because the americans are making it very clear that they need a breakthrough on the chemical weapons before there's any solid progress in the peace

talks, which we won't know what will happen until sometime in october. >> so what does come next? what is the plan? >> well, the talks are continuing at very technical levels this afternoon. and there's a possibility they will continue tomorrow. the -- they need to get a broad parameter of what they can get to see as solid delivery from the syrians. that's the itinerary of weapon stockpiles and production facilities. and once they get all that, they can proceed to the process of destroying the weapons systems. but the syrians in thrashe presentation of the -- their presentation of the protocol have front loaded the initiative and basically have said they will not wait for the agreement to be ratified through the normal channels. so they're front loading their commitments. so that's a positive step. but you got to see what else will -- damascus deliver or will they start stalling? >> a judge in india has handed down death sentences to the

four men who gang raped and murdered a 23-year-old student in new dehli last year. it sparked a nationwide debate over the safety of women. and led to calls for the harshest punishment for the attackers. our correspondent bringsures the reaction to the verdict in new dehli. >> they brought shame upon this tiny slum where many are tired of the media attention. >> i don't want to talk. >> most residents of the slum knew the accused since they were little children. >> it's wrong. all of them did not deserve the death extension. >> they should have got one more chance. they were young, like children, still drinking milk. god knows when they started drinking beer. >> not everyone shares the indull gent view. -- the indull gent view. journalists have become a

common sight at the slum. >> get out of here. today they have assembled outside the home of one of the accused. >> don't make a scene. >> the doors remain closed. the mother of the accused learned of her son's death sentence through television news. outside the court, there are scenes of jubilation. protesters have waited for this for almost nine months. but the battle is far from over. they have to wait longer. defense lawyers will make an appeal soon and it could be two years before the sentence is carried out. it was a beacon of hope that has long since been snuffed out. 20 years ago today, on september 13, 1993, israeli and palestinian leaders shook hands on the white house lawn. vowing to bring peace to the

middle east. after a series of broken promises, bouts of violence, and two failed attempts at direct talks, the two state solution to the conflict still seems out of reach. this report from hebron where the oslo agreements ring empty to an entire generation. >> mosa was just a year old when the oslo accords were signed. 20 years later, musa who earns his living as a farmer in hebron says oslo hasn't delivered on its promises. >> i built an old house and want to build a new one but that's forbidden and they're building on our land however they want. but we do not have the right. all the homes are new but if we build the bulldozers will come to destroy them. >> a few hundred meters from m u.s. a's farm nearly 8,000 israelis live in the settlement of kiryat arba and many of its residents grew up disillusioned with the oslo accords.

>> i remember myself running in the streets as a kid protesting against oslo. i was holding posters saying don't give them guns. don't give them a state. look what happened. they were giving guns but they shoot at us. i think there's no tkoult the agreement is a failure. also in the eyes of those who brought it on us. >> one of oslo's achievements was the creation of the palestinian authority. which granted limited self-autonomy in the west bank in gaza strip. but the palestinian liberation organization which negotiated the oslo accords with israel says it's time to look ahead. >> i think oslo has ended and it has worked out its usefulness and there should be a game changer or a whole new dynamic. there should be -- peace making and learn from the mistakes of the past. >> with a fresh round of peace talks under way, after nearly three years of stalled attempts, the success and failure of oslo continue to

hang over both sides of the negotiating table. first time the paris based women's liberation movement in france, activists were following a stunt in the cathedral of notre dame back in february. their way of celebrating pope benedict's decision to step down. the judge says that the women damaged its age-old bells and they in turn accused security of having violently manhandled them. following a request by the lawyer to have the security guards in attendance for the hearing the trial has been postal poned until next february. >> merry any, angela's -- germany, angela's merkel, a gaffe-prone politician -- the opposition to angela merkel, a gaffe-prone politician, -- >> imagine you are reading the paper when suddenly this.

it's not exactly the behavior you might expect from the man in the running for germany's top job. in fact, the picture part after photo shoot in the -- has drawn mixed reaction from ministers to the man in the street. >> it's not worthy of someone who wants to become the chancellor. >> it's a little provocative. but he has to do something to come out of the shade a bit and not seem as boring as he did before. >> the idea behind the shoot was to answer questions, not with words but gestures and facal expressions. the question itself was a reference to steinbrik's -- >> just did it. and i thought it was quite funny. i don't think anyone should scream scandal. where are we going if we can't laugh a little? >> one person who can afford to laugh is chancellor angela merkel. she said this week she enjoyed steinbrick's humor and ahead by

20% to 30%. >> and time to hand you back to the guests for "the world this week." >> many thanks for that. that's a topic we will be picking up on a little bit later. nadia in the newsroom. it's time for the world this week's seven days four paris based correspondents, ann bagamary of the tribune. dr. rokomonv author of heart of the russian power about vladimir putin. but you're looking tan because you're just back from -- >> greenland. >> where you're filming a documentary on -- >> on oil in the arctic. >> oil in the arctic. and also with us, lela justintu at the internet desk. who cracks the whip. >> as i will now. >> you can join the conversation on facebook and on

twitter. our #twtw. a week ago barack obama was embarking on that long flight home from aumt. trying to figure out was going to pitch to congress. a gun shy congress. the concept of military strikes in syria. at a monday press conference his secretary of state was asked what if the syrians hand over their chemical weapons? >> sure. turn over every single part of his chemical weapons to the international community in the next week, turn it over. all of it. without delay. and allow a full and total accounting for that. but he isn't about to do it. and can't be done. obviously. >> isn't about to do it. well, yes, please, wars the immediate answer from moscow where the russian-syrian foreign ministers scrambled together their second press conference of the day. assad has since said that he

would hand them over. it seems like everyone was caught flatfooted by the week's events as highlighted by canadian cartoonist badu sang. the problem is that the costumes have to be returned by friday. and it's really been a change of speed. >> well, i mean, yes, it has. but i'm not sure that the jury's in on whether this was a complete surprise to everybody. including the major players. or whether this is something that was pretty carefully thault out although seemingly very ad-lib. starting with kerry's seemingly off-the-cuff remarks in london followed by putin jumping onboard followed by obama, then making the speech to the nation where he said we're going to -- we're going to try this out and see if it works. but we're going to reserve the force option. i'm not convinced that this is as shambalich as it looks. i'm sure there was something or kesstrated and may not have been done perfectly on the public stage.

but i have a feeling that this is something that's been percolating at least in some people's minds nor quite some time. >> and suddenly the syrians are owning up to the fact that they have chemical weapons. when you look at the consequences of all that's happened this week a good week for diplomacy. >> a confusing week for diplomacy. the opposite of diplomacy is chaos. and the past week, we have seen nothing but chaos. particularly in the united states, who's the other big player in this whole thing. you see political leaders taking their cue from twitter feeds. elected officials taking their cue from twitter feeds when they should be taking their cues from history books. you've seen this discussion of what is american exceptionalism now in the wake of vladimir putin's op-ed piece in "the new york times." you hear the beginning of the

week, you didn't hear any tub thumping, patriotic tub thumping. over the past two days, since the putin op-ed piece in "the new york times" we've heard a renewed tub thumping. so i still believe that this problem is all over the place. and i still believe it has absolutely -- has less to do with damascus and more to do with tehran and what the west is going to do about any confrontation with iran further down the road. >> on that score, we've heard that there have been conciliatory noises coming from tehran. there's even rumors that things could go well come the u.n. general assembly later this month. >> well, first, i want to say that i agree with you that it's not absolutely not -- and i'm sure that it was prepared. and i interviewed some syrian officials like three years ago. but i saw how it works in

syria. nothing can be decided at one meeting. that's not the way and the russians know what -- never do this. and on the other hand, i think was iran, when i was there, in december, it was absolutely -- it was practically the iranians are trying to find a way to renegotiate, stance without losing face. >> so i think it's the right moment for them. as well. >> so the obama talked himself into a corner with the red lines and from what tanya was saying the iranians talked themselves into a corner. suddenly everybody's talking -- is -- has come one something where they can try to save face? >> all these lines were good off the cuff. i have a question for ann, if it was not off the cuff how about russia seize this initiative and how did it turn into russia's propaganda tool? because russia on this round,

nobody believes i for one don't believe that we're going to go anywhere with this. but russia has seized this initiative. putin publishing letters to the american people in "the new york times." why wasn't that orchestrated? >> i think it probably was. i don't think vladimir putin and his people crafted that letter which was quite beautifully written in a week of midnight sessions. the americans and the russians have been talking about an exit strategy for syria for at least a year. a year ago, at the g-20, apparently, the russians said they would support some kind of a regime change in syria that did not involve the end of -- if you like, the bloody end of the -- would support a peaceful transition if it was supported by the u.n. so they've -- there's already been talk about how to orchestrate this. why did john kerry and why did the americans seemingly let the russians take credit for it? sometimes that's what you do to make sure it gs done.

if the americans go in like blunder saying this is what we want, you think they could have possibly got -- >> look, part of this american exceptionalism, part of the history of the world since the end of world war ii is that american leaders within the american litteri -- liturgy never look weak in front of a russian. it happened once, the kennedy-khrushchev event in vienna. it was fairly brief and it was covered under the rug and it was actually a minor tiff. since then, american leaders are expected, it is the legend of the united states, to have the leadership position. and vladimir putin completely and totally humiliated the president of the united states. >> i think, craig, that we have proof to the contrary on tape. fast forward to thursday. events moved fast this week.

and we saw john kerry, sergei lavrov, sitting down in geneva, the russian foreign minister, succinct in his initial assessment of the situation. take a listen. >> assad regime's commitment to follow -- >> i didn't prepare a developed political speech on the syrian issue. because our approach is quite clear. it is included in the last speech of president vladimir putin, and in his platform in "the new york times." i'm sure that all of you have read it. >> if the cold war is on, do you see leonid brezhnev or stalin saying read my piece in "the new york times"? >> the naivete of the west toward russia, the former soviet union, is really astonishing this time around. it really is. if you -- anyone who does not believe that russia is

manipulating this situation in a manner that america had always manipulated in the past and was expected to, i just point to the gorbachev-reagan summits as one example. then boy, i should just put -- i want to put a rat down your shirt and everyone else who believes that. the russian -- at the arbakov institute, u.s. and canada institute which you're familiar with run by the late george a rbakov, where this letter came from, something they said in the early 1980's, and in the 1970's when i was in herimans and russians laugh and say americans never get it. >> that was then and this is now. >> russians play chess and americans play a game of football. >> what makes you think the americans aren't playing a game of chess? everyone is trying to gain advantage. obama in the first instance is probably breathing a sigh of relief that now he has an exit strategy from the red line. and -- and the americans are

still holding out the threat of military -- >> american -- >> a lot of people say is the only thing that gets everybody -- >> american exceptionalism does not seek exit strategies. american skecksalism if we are to -- if you are a believer in american exceptionalism, is you are supposed to take the upper position over the soviets. >> tom, let's hear what vladimir putin had to say on this very subject. in that op-ed piece putin finds alarming that military intervention and internal conflicts in foreign countries has become as he put it commonplace for the united states. he goes on to say, i would rather disagree with the case that barack obama made on american exceptionalism. stating that the united states' policy what makes america different and it's what makes us exceptional. and it is extremely dangerous to encourage people to see themselves as exceptional, whatever the motivation. we are all differently. when we ask for the lord's blessings, we must not forget that god created us equal. >> well, it just says that it's true that russian -- russians

have a long history of good writing. 19th century russian writer behind all this. i don't think that that was -- the president himself. and a lot of time in russia, the thing is that putin is this week, he played -- he won. at least internally. because in russia, nobody cares about syria. nobody. the majority of people do not care of what happened in syria. but they do care about america, who's imposing its will over russia. even if america is not enforcing anything. but there is this feeling which is very surprising because i remember the end of the soviet union. there was all this america. and number one, blah, blah. nobody really believed in it. the people just didn't care. america was very -- nobody believed in america attacking anyone.

we were more like afraid of china. and at that time when china was very poor. but still, now, well, normal will tell all the americans, they're trying to impose their will on everyone. so it was translated and repeated in russia -- and this is also to -- for his writings in russia as well. >> even the references to god? >> oh, absolutely. yes. >> you don't specify which god. >> so some have called this his best week ever. >> oh, yes. because he just -- i think that they were preparing. and they had this plan for quite a while. but they wanted to put it up in the best moment when it would be accepted by the americans. because obama was facing this vote which was shaky. that was a great moment. the timing. >> there's a russian expression here that in the day was used

by russian diplomats a lot. and i think it works here. "very cunning." this is russian cunning at its finest and its sharpest. putin is the winner. you go to the united states, you're going to be hard pressed to find anyone except maybe a few talking heads and columnists who are going to say oh, yes, obama won this one. no, he didn't. he lost. >> you know what? reading the comments at the end of that letter, i expected many more critical comments about putin, who is he to tell us this? but a surprising number of the comments were very well put. i agree with putin. more than obama. that's what surprised me. >> make no mistake. i don't think obama has managed this well at all. at all. this is one of the biggest screwups in terms of foreign policy and communication of what he wants and what he wants for america. that has taken place in his by now 1 1/2 terms. has not been a good inning for

him. on the other hand, i don't think you can entirely say that what happens from now on is the americans running around like chickens with their heads cut off. i think there was probably some very cunning negotiations that went on. maybe we have kerry to thank for that. for reining in some of the more ad-lib impulses of his boss. i don't think obama's out of the woods and i don't think america is out of the woods on the use of force, either. and that in the end may be a strength in this chess game. let me say one other thing about people trying to gain appear advantage out -- gain anang vaught off? assad will give you the chemical williams but here's what i want in return. pretty breathtaking. >> it is. and he's been giving out visas and granting interviews. one of the viewers keeping us honest here on this panel, you guys are feeding on these politicians' games of words. isn't this time something is done about this quagmire? people are dying. that brings us to the poignant words we heard from italian

journalist dominique kuroko and freed five months in captivity at the hands of syrian rebels and a veteran reporter who has covered the syrian con flect from the get-go. he paints a grim picture. >> when we talk about this country, we should not forget that it is ruled by a criminal, mafias owe, corrupt, old regime. at a certain point, this extraordinary revolution died. it disappeared. it does not exist anymore. it is marginal. maybe you can see it in aleppo or in some other areas for the free syrian army brigades resist. the rest of them have simply become a large jihadist offensive. >> he goes ton say they dream of rebuilding the sixth century and very bitter about his five months in captivity.

>> we are still down to conventional weapons that have killed more than 100,000 people. and it's very strange and it's true. what this read senior saying about we are talking -- what this reader is saying about we are talking about chemical weapons. forget history and what's happened the past two years? at the end of 2011, this was before any al qaeda groups were in it. russia blocked a resolution merely condemning assad's use of violence. how -- we are talking now about going back to geneva to -- with what? a transitional agreement that does not include assad? and we are really getting caught up in this chemical weapons spin. every day there's something coming out of geneva. yes, we report that. that's the news. they're going to talk about -- talking in the general assembly meeting. they're going to talk about in geneva. where does this conflict end and how did it come to the stage that a conflict is going to attract jihadists?

we know this. this has npped in -- happened in afghanistan in 1979. how did we let this instability get to this stage? where we can now say assad was right. putin is right. and if you talk to syrians, and i don't discount these rumors. they're always talking about some sort of deal with the military and some of these the islamist groups. militaries are known -- they can work with their -- they have good islamists. they have a history of having good islamists. just as the whole bandwagon for strikes was happening, a christian town in malula not strategic but very symbolic. , nostra entered the town and just as journalists were in the international media was in damascus, interviewing assad. you know, the syrian army has protected this town. where did the syrian army go? >> they're dying. and there are more rebels than

there are members of the syrian army. so the math of this is that some point this is why assad had to use gas. there are more people against them than he had in his own camp. and what you're talking about comes right back to this question of american exceptionalism. clinton is still crying because he didn't go into rwanda like bosnia. and if you believe in american exceptionalism, that you have a moral authority because america is the moral compass of the world, if you believe in that, then you have to enforce it. >> all right. and that's where we're going to have to leave it for now because we have to take a break. stay with us. we will come back with more here in the world this week.

>> welcome back. before we resume the world this week, a sample of the stories we will be following for you at

the top of the hour. in new dehli, death sentences for the four men convicted of the brutal gang rape and murder of a young woman last december. hopes of a syria peace conference soon. so say americans in russia on day two of talks in geneva. trying to stockpile damascus' chemical weapons arsenal. dream deferred orbiter memory, the memory of the jols accords yet to bring a -- oslo accords yet to bring a lasting deal between israelis and palestinians. and evacuations from boulder, colorado, amid spectacular floods, at least three killed. and uncharted territory. nasa's voyager one probe now traveled beyond the limits of our solar system. the furthest ever of any man made object. that's stories and much more at the top of the hour. welcome back. or welcome if you're just joining us. this is the world this week. and with us is craig capitas of

courts and the atlantic and baga murray of the international harold tribune. tanya rakmanova and lela jacinta. the rarest of rare categories which justifies the death penalty. those are the words of the presiding judge who handed down the maximum sentence for four men convicted of gang raping and murdering a 23-year-old student on a bus in new dehli last december. the case shocked india. and drew the world's attention to sexual crimes there. now it's coupled with a debate over capital punishment. >> we will be completely satisfied when we see them hanging by their necks. but right now, we are satisfied. because they've been given the death penalty. >> hanging, rapes come to a

stop. but if a case of rape happens within two months then all the talk about sending a message is wrong. and unjust. >> the death penalty is something unusual in india. >> absolutely. an eight-year unofficial moratorium on the death sentence. death sentences were handed. but they were never executed. and the first -- that broke last year, in november. when the -- the sole attacker of the mum buy attacks of 2008 was -- and two other cases of the death penalty. and this verdict comes as no surprise. yesterday, a day before the verdict the indian minister very surprisingly said there's going to be a death penalty. a strange statement in india where they pride themselves on the independence of the judiciary. you know, it has raised questions about political interference. but frankly, none of the

parties, we are heading to an election year next year. none of the parties could be seen to not support the death sentence. >> so this isn't saying something profound about india. this is political pandering ahead of an election is what you're saying. >> and it must be said that the -- civil rights groups, reports to the death penalty and you've been seeing the protests outside the court for the past week now. this is what the indian pop lifts want. given the brutality of the crime. the problem is having a death sentence is not going to solve the problem. just as hanging, the attacker, in the mumbai terrorist attack will not solve the pakistan issue. so it's -- this is a sad event in all circumstances. the brutal nature of the rape.

the death sentence. but it must be said, it's going to go an appeals process which could take at least two or three years. >> a question put to us on twitter. india has spoken. rape and murder setting a new precedent for the use of the death penalty. a victory for democracy or continued bar brism? >> well, that is the death penalty debate in a nutshell. there are all kinds of arguments about the practicalities of it and is it a real detarrant to the kinds of crimes that would get you sentenced to death? is it an unspeakable cost on the taxpayers, to keep people in prison for life versus running through an endless appeals process. both are incredibly costly. but what it really boils down to is what as a society does a country want to do? this is a debate that goes on in america. where i think it's something like 12 states still have the death penalty on the books and others have voted it off. india is going to go through it now. there are going to be plenty of people who say that this is not the kind of thing a civilized

society does. and there are others who are going to say this is the only thing a civilized society should do. that the victim's father who can blame him for feeling the way he did? a good thing victims' fathers don't get votes on whether perpetrators should be put to death. it's an incredibly emotional issue. and you're never -- i would go out on a limb and say you're never going to get people who feel strongly on either side to agree on what a civilized society should do. >> it's a huge problem there. in india, for years, these rapes were jokingly referred to as i believe the term was eve teasing. >> harassed -- >> and also included rapes and right now, in the indian courts, there are more than 24,000 pending rape cases. and last year in india, there was in the neighborhood of i believe 8,000 women killed. most murdered because of dowry disputes.

so face it. i know it's not politically correct. india is a third world country. in these issues. ok. they make nice computers. but this is -- this issue is -- rape is the top of it but it goes much, much deeper. and what ann is saying is the debate that they're going to have to have. but the size of the population, the number of educated people, what has spawned all these rapes and dowry disputes. these medieval views of society. how many years can india afford to debate this without putting a dent in these horrible statistics? only the indian government and the indian people can figure that out. as the only man on the panel other than you, my solution would be if the court convicts, i think the victim should have a say in what the sentence --

no. if the victim is still alive or the victim's family should have a say in what the sentence is. that will -- that will go a long way to scare the beus out of i believe people who -- men who do this further down the road. >> disagreement from nibra on twitter saying death penalty doesn't solve rape in india and few cases make it to court and police should respond sensibly and investigate rigorously. >> i understand where craig is coming from. that the death penalty, there has to be a real detarrant to this kind -- deterrent to this crime whatever you call it. the death penalty pretty clearly is not. not because people figure i'll do this and i don't care if i die. it's because the justice is not meted out swiftly. there are so many years that drag on. and even one of the defense lawyers said to his client before the sentencing, you're going to get death. just take it in your stride. i am certain you will never hang. and he knows this because the

appeals process is going to go on for so long and in india the same as in the united states all the legal eye i's dotted and t's crossed and any number of ways the sentence, pardon the expression, won't be executed. and if you're convicted and the sentence is never carried out. so i think if you want to talk about deterrence, that's a debate to have. the debate about the place of women in indian society, absolutely. and i think it's pretty telling that the politicians have been very silent on this particular indication. >> and not just india. british medical journal the lancet publishing a shocking survey, nearly one in four men surveyed, and there were 10,000 surveyed, 10,000, they said they had raped a woman at least once -- most of those, their own partners, part of a wider u.n. study. it was done in bangladesh, china, cambodia, indonesia, new guinea and sri lanka.

most common reason, men gave for the violence was sexual entitlement followed by entertainment. and the wish to punish the woman. >> this is the main debate. and a little bit afraid. i don't know india well. but there are other countries in the same case. that this death penalty debate will change the public attention. now, we will be debating whether this is the right thing. and i think that the situation of women in this region, not necessarily only india. and the number of rapes, this is a real issue. but now, is it the real punishment -- well, only one case. >> so the case happened last december. has india changed since then do you think? do you think this has changed? >> absolutely not. there was a very high-profile case in mumbai which is a city

that has a better track record than new dehli of photo journalist who was brutally gang raped in broad daylight. and you saw the defense lawyers saying that if there is no rape case, before this -- before this appeal, we won't appeal it. so he's so certain that there will be another rape case reported. these are just the case that is are reported. and the reason -- among the many reasons why this -- this case sparks such a public outcry was a sense that the victim could have been one of us. it was extremely brutal. it shocked the nation. but in a country of one billion, where people at the bottom of the social living in wretched circumstances, we do not even hear about these cases. >> all right. the final point on this, we talked about it and remember, the -- in france here, there's -- recent statistics where one

woman dying every other day at the hands of a spouse in terms of being killed. and numbers are quite shocking in that regard. so it's not just obviously the developing world. >> wow. >> no. no, no. and it's clear that when cases like this come up, sensational cases, cases that grab the public imagination, the debate that takes place on the issues that spawned the incident in the first place is much more valuable in some ways. than the debate over this one particular case in the way justice is meted out. the death penalty brings up all kinds of other issues about what a society wants to do. but france had -- these cases are not remotely similar in their facts. but after the dominique khan business in the -- dominique straus chan business in the united states, will this change the situation for women and

will the laws be changed or enforced? how is france doing? how much have we changed in the last year? >> not very well based on the numbers francois just gave us. >> the public. >> where there's a will there's a way and when there isn't a will, nothing changes. >> we're going to switch gears and talk about politics. and the rude gestures they make and what is it about this particular week in the case of disgraced new york city mayoral candidate anthony weiner? we understand the context. he's pulled 5% on election primary night. he's chased by a media scrum and a little angry. ok. but what's up with peer steinbrueck? the general election in germany, photographed, weekly magazine, and you should understand the context. this is a segment where you can only answer questions with a gesture. and in this instance, the question was about the first weeks of the s.d.p. campaign.

let me ask you to play political strategist here, tanya. was that a smart move on the part of peer? why don't we take that picture out? he said keep it in. do you think it was a smart move on his part? >> i don't think so. i don't think so. as much as i know german people. especially german women. i think he's a little bit playing against himself. at least i hope for germany. after our indian discussion. i hope for germany that he's playing against himself. maybe he wanted to show that he's human. >> where all talking about it. we're all looking at it. so it served one purpose. that to me looks like the gesture of somebody who really doesn't have anything more to lose. he will lose the election and if he's in the government going to be in a diminished position and so why not? why not make a splash? how many pictures have we seen of him over the last year and pictures of angela america snl >> have you seen how he's

trending on social media sites? >> look, this is a world that is in need of churchills, dare i even say even a charles de gaulle that needs leaders. and these are the kind of clowns who we are given and the local electorate brings up to us to vote into power. and then we sit around here asking why no one can make up their mind and dither on syria. why there's problems in india? this is the kind of leadership that the world has right now. >> so are we absolutely certain that de gaulle did not flash the bird? >> that's not -- that's -- you're making a rhetorical point. if this -- this candidate believes that giving the finger in some kind of ridiculous social media-driven television show were a politician a.

leader, is supposed to -- >> a magazine spread. >> magazine spread. by hand signals. i doubt winston churchill. i doubt bill clinton. >> but he points -- you say it points to lack of leadership. >> i think it does. >> it could say also point to the fact that it's a strange german election. where there's consensus on a lot of issues. the incumbent is popular. as ann was saying. angela merkel, her ruling christian democrats, the runaway favorites in all the tracking polls, and yet she might lose her free rein. she may have to govern with some kind of grand coalition or finding some kind of a different partner. and the outcome is very uncertain. to get out the vote, mettle workers union ige metal trying to stir excitement among the

german voters. >> doesn't like clips that go viral. but this one is basically saying -- getting people excited about some of the problems they need to solve. and trying to get them interested in an election where -- let's see. consensus mostly on europe. there's consensus mostly on syria. there's even consensus you can say on the environment. which is another big issue in germany tonight. >> i think in some ways -- well, you're right. now we don't have strong characters. strong point of view. so everybody sort of figuring -- the elections, the campaigns are very mild. at least in europe. so it may be what he wanted to do. and i think he did. he just like showed himself different.

very easy to remember. very easy to understand. so there is a part of the population probably that people who are tired of more than politics. and we know that in europe, there are more and more people who are questioning the whole system. maybe that was his target. the people questioning the whole system. so this is something different. it's not that. it's not more intelligent. and it's different. so we'll see. >> and our award for -- we do like bad puns at the world this week, our award for best newspaper headline of the week, hands down, goes to u.k. daily, the independent, with why meat eating germany can't stomach its greens, the greens being the green party. which went as high as 23% in the polls. at one point, now hovering around 10%. the kiss of death, well, the

article suggests, have gotten roasted over the suggestion of a once a week meat-free school lunch. and to promote more vegetarianism. and the complaints are pouring in that this is the nanny state. how dare you tell us what to eat? the greens making the case that we eat too much meat and not good for the environment and not good for -- not good for -- cruel to animals as well. and that we should -- we should be eating a little -- not good for our diets as well. and this has been the point on which people have been focused on. >> yeah. and i think -- i would agree that we need strong leaders. and we need charismatic leaders. although time will tell who is a strong leader. i mean, look at the glow that attaches to nixon right now. who was run out of town on a rail 30 some odd years ago. >> question his foreign policy, and run out of town on a rail -- >> something else we need. we need better advertising.

you look back at some of the political ads that run in the 1960's and ads for goldwater, for even for nixon, for kennedy, they send chills down your spine. with how elegant and simple and memorable they were. and you can watch them on the television show "madmen" because they dredge them up as part of the storyline every week. no. i think we need better communication of the people and people demanding better communication. and better information. >> and in germany we have a very smart chancellor who's managed to get consensual politics. his agreement on the major issues it seems. >> well, there's agreement on the major domestic issues in part because angela merkel has been willing to bend on certain domestic issues in order to get reelected. she's still pretty firm on some of the european and foreign policy issues. >> hang on. firm and flexible. doesn't that sound like a great leader, the kind that craig capitas -- >> merkel right now, by default, is leading europe. we are a european union.

people remember that. >> an economic policy for the euro zone that's proven to be a dismal failure. mario dragi saying whatever it takes. angela merkel wasn't willing to do whatever it takes. she was willing to flush large parts of the euro zone down the drain of austerity. >> but she is -- >> she's popular at home. right? >> like carla was saying in this campaign of clinton, it's the economy, stupid. >> finally, the french government. this week, confirming a story that was broken by news week since mid august a ban in this country on the use of smart phones by cabinet members. and-and-my ranking minute -- and high-ranking civil replaced conversations with encrypted phones. we were talking about he had edward snowden and people were saying this is stuff we knew before.

why are we making such a big deal out of this? if it was such a big deal, why are these bans coming to ministers to keep people -- >> the extent is being known and being revealed from snowden's leaks. but this is not new. >> but this proves that snowden's leaks were significant. >> it proves that. it also proves that government -- france has known probably not the extent of t but i remember in afghanistan, in 2005, the french embassy was told not to use skype. this was when the -- for fear of u.s. officials and diplomats listening on their conversation. this was in afghanistan, france and the u.s. were in a joint fight. a nato mission. and having encrypted phones for -- for your government officials, a lot of -- states do that. >> and i don't understand why they didn't have them before. >> apparent they did but

nicolas sarkozy complained about them. saying that he didn't like the fact that when you used those encrypted phones you have to wait 30 seconds before you can actually make the call. and -- >> didn't we have something about barack obama's blackberry? >> yes. and since when does the head of state make his own phone calls? but ok. >> and wants to call a friend. >> we're going to leave it there but before we say goodbye, let's say hello to james creeden with our media watch segment. james, we've been -- we've been talking about syria and we'll talk a little bit about more at the end. and we were mentioning the former french president nicolas sarkozy and you have evidence that he is on the sly perhaps thinking comeback? >> well, i think he's never stopped thinking about the comeback really. and apart from making his own phone calls nowadays he's also wearing a football jersey. he is a fan of football. with n.s. havunk on the back for 2017 and nicolas sarkozy coming back. that was a gift from his bunch

of cheerleaders known as the nikolai association, the nikolai comeback association and a group of people committed to his making a comeback in 2017. that photo went up on their facebook page. not his facebook page. he very humbly let them do it for him. and elsewhere in the french media today, they're talking about two meetings or that nicolas sarkozy is preparing later this month. one on the -- on september 18, giving the legion of honor to an ex party m.p. and the other meeting, perhaps more interestingly is in the south of france at the end of month in cannes, the big indian giant that owns jaguar, landrover and his first private speaking event on french soil. we don't know how much he will get for it. >> speaking abroad up until now. >> and the whole private-public role that he's -- and can you

make all this money and hope to make a political comeback? and in any case one person who thinks he's not going to make a political comeback is marion lapen. national front party and spoke to the french sunday newspaper. and she said if he's not carried off in handcuffs within two weeks, it will be a miracle. there you go. so what else would she say? a couple of other stories making waves so to speak. this is the second most read story on the huffing ton post french language version. it happened in the u.s.a. down in virginia. at that moon rocket launch on september 6. now, you might notice a detail there, francois and might need to be blown up a little bit pardon the pun perhaps. that's a frog that got blasted off into, well, maybe not outer space but at least in that direction. along with the ladi unmanned rocket. you can see there that he got

projected upward along with the rocket. much to the rather dark humor of many. so that led to tweets such as that one. more or less -- >> and clearly a lot of people with spare time on their hands. >> another story we will be looking at francois, were you talking about it this evening, is of course syria. just one or two articles on that. there was the infamous putin opinion piece in "the new york times." the times of london had an opinion piece, satire, penned by vladimir putin, not. and humiliated obama and undermined european leaders and my plan is work. a a satireical piece. and according to her on fox news, a couple of days ago, he helped to avoid world war iii. little issue of chechnya there might be worth mentioning. and that's the former reagan advisor in question. and that's right. so that another story is later,

francois, on syria. >> james creeden, many thanks. many thanks to our panel and thanks to you for joining us here for "the world this week." all right. remain seated. ♪