>> live from dw studios here in berlin, this is your world news. >> welcome to the program. our top stories this hour -- a train driver strike slows germany's rail network to a crawl. the national operator takes legal action. >> under pressure -- a late report shows luxembourg helped firms avoid billions in taxes. >> more chaos in libya. the supreme court orders parliament be dissolved, -- orders companies be dissolved, but parliament rejects it. holding a nation to ransom --

that's how many germans feel about a four-day national rail strike that is disrupting europe's biggest economy. >> the strikes spelled chaos for many commuters and industry. there are concerns that production shortages have slowed many cars on the road. >> the train drivers walked off the job after union and management talked collapse. they want more money, and they want to work less. >> national railroad operator is seeking a court order to stop industrial action. >> i'm at berlin's alexander plant station, one of the main traffic hubs here in the german capital. it is rush-hour, supposedly, but most people seem to have given up hope of reaching any public transport today. while that's true for the trains up here, down here, thousands of berliners are trying to get the public's transport that is still running because the underground is not affected by this strike.

make no mistake -- millions of passengers are stuck all across the country, and increasingly, they are running out of understanding for this strike. >> i do not understand it at all. you see what is happening here -- people do not get to work. tourists that come to berlin this weekend cannot really get to the festivities to celebrate the fall of the berlin wall. >> it's very annoying because so many people are using it, and the thing is that everybody is annoyed. i don't think that i can get this train because it's so full of people. >> coach company is already the big winners of this strike. they have increased the coaches they run in some cases fourfold. we will check out this coach on how many people have switched from the train to the coach.

let me ask all of you -- who of you actually wanted to travel by train today and took the coach insead? who of you is considering traveling by coach more often in the future? looks like they might be losing some customers here. similar to pilots, train drivers wield a lot of our in times of strike. here, berlin's main station only around a third of trains were operating on this first stay -- first day of the strike, and this is about a lot more than just percentage points and pay in terms of conditions. it's about the very question -- who gets to negotiate these in the future? that's why there's no compromise in sight. this means that this might not become the longest strike. there might be even more strikes

to come. >> commuters in germany are not the only ones suffering from the trains grounding to a screeching halt across this country. businesses are scrambling to find alternative ways of transporting their goods. >> that's right. the strike is hurting german companies at a time when growth here is already sputtering. many in the business community fear the strike will have a negative impact on the economy. >> these cylinders of copper are bound for a pipe manufacturer in northwest germany. usually, they would make the trip on freight trains, but with the train drivers on strike, the copper must now be transported in trucks. trucks, though, can only take around a third of the weight of the average freight train. that means the copper producer has had to call in an additional 50 trucks to handle its deliveries. >> we currently have to supply 20% to 30% of our customers by truck to ensure that deliveries get through on time.

>> many companies face a similar dilemma, from steelmakers to chemicals firms. it's not yet clear how high the extra costs they face will be, but overall, german industry will be hit hard. nevertheless, the union that has called be rail strike insists it is not their fault. >> the have deliberately set out to make us look like the bad guys here. but it's all a diversion. at the end of the day, it's their responsibility to make sure the trains are rolling. >> for the companies affected by the strike, the biggest challenge is coping with the length of the walkout. such a break across several days disrupts whole supply chains. >> everything is linked to everything else. so many things are planned with such narrow margins it takes just one small thing to go wrong to destabilize the whole system and have a big effect beyond the

four days of the strike. >> for a few sectors at least, the strike does have its upsides. bus companies and logistics firms are doing record business. >> violent scenes in belgium where antigovernment protesters have clashed with police.p>> sow rocks and fireworks at officers who used water cannon and tear gas to disperse the crowd. at least 14 people have been injured. the violence came at the end of a largely peaceful rally. someone hundred thousand people took to the streets of brussels to protest the government's free-market reforms and austerity measures. >> for more now on the protest, let's cross over to our correspondent in brussels. we have seen a lot of anti-austerity demonstrations turned violent in southern europe. now things are getting nasty in brussels. what is behind these protests in belgium? >> the reason for this today's

partly because austerity has taken on new meaning in belgium where there's a new government, and are from beginning a process of relaxing austerity measures because in the european union, governments are recognizing maybe they tighten the screw too much of we cannot get jobs in growth and the economy's thriving by hacking down on incomes and pensions and workers rights. far from taking a more relaxed attitude, the incoming prime minister has announced more austerity measures. i was out on the streets myself. for ordinary people, it was ok, so well advertise that the streets apart from demonstrators were largely free of people moving around, but as you say, there was violence late in the afternoon. this is not going to be the end of it, but basically, it's about plans announced by the incoming government to increase the retirement age from 65 to 66 and

then to 67, but not until 2030, and the usual austerity measures we've seen since the economic crisis will be reduced. >> this is the response to a long-term policy initiative. it does beg the question -- was thursday's protest a one-off event, or will we see a lot more demonstrations to come? >> i think this is just the start. it's a new government, a new set of demonstrations, and what we expect next is workers at steel firms to join in. certainly, there are threats to strike at the major ports. post office workers also planning to go slow. police were demonstrating here last and timber, and of course, this is happening in the capital of the european union with a new leadership, new president of the european commission, who will continue to oversee economic measures.

maybe this is a signal not just to belgian leadership but to eu leadership that deeper austerity cuts will bring more and more people out onto the streets and maybe they better think again. >> thank you very much for that. revelations of corporate tax evasion on a massive scale. thousands of documents leaked to journalists show the world's biggest companies doing secret deals with luxembourg. >> the tiny country is a sweet spot for multinationals looking to avoid paying billions of euros in taxes at home. while this leak comes at a sensitive time for luxembourg's former prime minister, jean-claude juncker, because he is now the men in charge of the european commission. >> he faces chris is him for turning his country into a tax haven. his spokesman says the eu is prepared to take action. the current leader of luxembourg insists their dealings are all in line with international norms. >> some corporations in

luxembourg allegedly paid less than 1% tax on their profits through complex financial structures in the help of the company's financial authorities. international journalist alliance blew the whistle after probing nearly 28,000 pages of confidential documents. allegedly detailing billions of dollars worth of tax breaks. implicated german firms include deutsche bank and energy group e.on, which allegedly transferred billions to a wholly owned subsidiary in luxembourg. the companies say they acted lawfully. >> i have no understanding for that. not everything that is lawful is awful -- also legitimate. big companies have social responsibilities. >> the allegations stretch from 2008 2010 when jean-claude juncker was luxembourg's prime minister. he became head of the european commission just a few days ago. the very institution that now has to investigate the matter. a spokesman for the commission said the inquiry would

nevertheless be impartial. >> mr. yunker -- mr. juncker is the head of the commission, and if the commission's job to apply the rules to luxembourg, france, germany, ireland, malta, the netherlands, u.k. -- a long list of countries we are investigating along these lines. >> a reference to an inquiry into lucrative tax deals allegedly made between everly european countries and multinationals, including apple, amazon, and starbucks. despite the commission's reassurances, the affaire threatens to damage jean-claude juncker's credibility as a leader in brussels. >> we shift our attention now to the middle east where iraqi state television has broadcast new footage of iraqi troops battling islamic state. >> the city some 250 kilometers north of baghdad houses the country's largest oil refinery. islamic state fighters have been

trying to take control of it for months. they have repeatedly preached a complex before being repelled by an iraqi soldiers, but the conflict has made the facility almost impossible to operate. the complex accounts for over a quarter of iraq's oil refining capacity. >> supreme court in libya has ruled that that country's parliament and government are unconstitutional and must be dissolved, but parliament has already announced it will not accept the court's decision. it is feared the dispute could further undermine efforts to stabilize the country, which has been wracked by violence in recent months. >> to north african country has been practically lawless since the overthrow of former dictator moammar gaddafi. hundreds of armed militia have popped up across this oil producing, and rival governments are now vying for control of libya's vast energy reserves. >> today's ruling is likely to add more fuel to the fire. the court engines parliament reelection, which was won by anti-islamic factions, was

illegal -- the court says the parliamentary election was illegal. >> hundreds to two the streets to celebrate the supreme court ruling. protesters called on the internationally recognized parliament and government to respect the ruling and step down. >> i am sending a message from this square in tripoli to the parliament and its government to be responsible and patriotic and step down like the former prime minister. >> libya currently has two rival governments in tripoli and tobruk. the internationally recognized administration and parliament led the capital after the city was taken over by militants in august. they installed their own islamist government. thursday's ruling looks likely to further cement the divide. >> this ruling means that what is called the parliament has become a thing of the past, and

is decisions no longer have any meaning because libyans have started a new on the road of constitutions, institutions, and the rule of law. >> it is still unclear how the supreme court arrived at its ruling. politicians allege the militants controlling tripoli have threatened judges and their families. the assembly quickly rejected the verdict. >> coming up, a love story with a difference. he was a foreigner living in west berlin. she was the woman who asked him to marry her so she could escape east germany. >> than the wall came down and changed everything. it sounds like the plot of a hollywood movie, but it's all true. we will have the full story after this one-minute break. >> you are watching me -- the "journal" on dw. >> see you in a minute.

>> welcome back. today, another round of health workers in mali are receiving an experimental vaccine against ebola virus. it's part of a first trial for the vaccine in africa, and so far, results are said to be promising since it began back in october. >> a few weeks ago, mali became the sixth african country to have the disease in its borders when an infected to euro girl traveled there from guinea. >> our african correspondent visited the region. >> it is as simple as pulling open a gate. this car crosses the border from guinea into mali. every day, some 2000 people cross the border here. they come in cars, on bicycles, or on foot. many are traders hoping to sell their goods in molly -- mali.

with such a high volume of people entering the country, authorities are concerned about the spread of disease. those entering having the temperature checked. most understand the need for such measures. >> i think it is good to have medical controls here at the border. it means you can find out who is sick and who is not. >> the good news for these passengers -- they are allowed to carry on into the country. but this man is not so lucky. he was told he has to wait a day at the border. his son is sick, and authorities want to keep him under observation at the local clinic. >> they said we could not drive on and that they wanted to examine my son. i told the doctor he has meningitis, and he confirmed that.

>> in the last few weeks, he has become more cautious than usual, especially since a two-year-old girl who had ebola was brought into mali. >> we are stopping every single car. the police and health officials are working together closely. as soon as a car comes, they check it. >> but the doctor admits that he is concerned about the situation. he is the only public health official in the region. there simply are not enough personnel to ensure complete control. >> everyone here is afraid of ebola, but the people want to keep the road open. they say they want to show solidarity with their neighbors, and that it is impossible anyway to keep people from entering the country. >> but people are nevertheless concerned about the outbreak in the malian capital, bomb a co--- bamako. the infected girl arrived at this bus station, though she died surely afterward.

we located one of the girls relatives. he's a teacher and is not under quarantine. he says he has had no direct contact with the girl. he does not want to be interviewed. he says that ebola is something the west has made up. elsewhere in the capital, though, people are deeply worried about the dangers of the virus. >> of course i'm scared. as long as people come across the border officially, they can be checked. but sometimes, they come across in remote laces, and then no one knows what condition they are in . >> these street traders are convinced the only thing that can prevent the spread of ebola is a successful vaccine. >> tens of thousands of people have marched through mexico city to demand that authorities do more to determine the fate of 43 students who have gone missing since september. students disappeared in the city of iguodala. >> relatives of a missing, political activists, and other

residents joined the rally in the capital. officials believed the students were abducted by police and then murdered by a drug gang, but their bodies have not been found. on tuesday, police arrested the mayor and his wife. they are suspected of having ordered the abductions. >> in business news, one quarter for zemin's -- the german industrial giant says profits were up by 40% in its fourth quarter. >> most of that is down to cost-cutting measures at the firm. the company's new chief executive has been implementing many changes, including a spinoff. >> siemens will not be selling products directly to consumers anymore. take its hearing aid business -- spun off to buyers, including an investment group, for 2 billion euros. it's the latest move by the ceo to restructure the group. but its energy business remains a problem zone. job cuts here look likely.

>> in individual cases, there are structural cases, and we will certainly respond, but vision 2020 is a growth program, and innovation program, and a concept for changing our culture, not a job cutting program. >> technical problems in wind energy operations, for instance, with new rotor blades, have been devouring cash. altogether, the group shelled out 900 million euros in one-off costs last year. the company says it wants to avoid such costly mistakes through better risk management. up to 800 million euros will be invested this year in high growth as this is, but that will not pay off immediately. >> the european central bank has hinted that there could be more monetary stimulus on the way for the eurozone. >> the ecb chief mario draghi made the comments after the bank's governing council eating. analysts are speculating the measures could involve the purchase of corporate or government bonds.

the ecb also left its key interest rate at a record low .5% -- or 5%, i should say. apologies. we have the latest on how druggy -- how mario draghi's talk went down on the floor with investors. >> the anticipation of further monetary easing by the central bank caused investors to buy shares, but this was not the only reason why people here were especially anxious this time to hear what mario draghi had to say at his press conference. during the last few days and weeks, many rumors went around frankfurt around opposition within the council of the ecb against mario draghi, but he countered these rumors quite elegantly, saying that his official monthly statement about monetary policy was signed unanimously by all council members, and a dinner the council members had went quite

successfully and better-than-expected. so whoever thought that this thursday the cards in the game of monetary policy of the eurozone would be reshuffled probably was disappointed. >> now to something altogether different -- the drummer of rock band ac/dc is facing criminal charges, including trying to hire hitmen to kill two people. >> phil rudd appeared in a new zealand court charged with attempting to arrange a murder, threatening to kill, and drug possession. police searched his home. if convicted, he could face 10 years in prison. in just a few days, germany will celebrate the 25th anniversary of the fall of the wall. all this week, we have been hearing from berliners. some of them, our own colleagues, about what it was like to live in the divided

capital at that time. >> today, we follow in the footsteps of adrian kennedy, originally from britain, and his account of events begins, like all good stories, with a love story. >> as a dw talk show producer, adrian kennedy is usually active behind the scenes, but in the early 1990's, his fall of the berlin wall story was the subject of a documentary. in spring 1989, a woman from east berlin he hardly knew asked him to marry her. he simply said yes. >> we had this plan that we would establish a kind of fake relationship and then apply to get married, and then katerina would be able to leave the german democratic republic. >> in order to build up the fiction of a relationship, it was necessary to make regular trips to east germany. soon they became a real couple.

adrian regularly passed through the border crossing. berliners dubbed it the palace of tears because people from the east had to say goodbye to visitors from the west here. today it is a museum. the cabins where adrian had to show his passport are still there. >> of course, you needed a visa. as a west berliner, i was entitled to a multiple visa. you can see i was here on the ninth through 23rd of september, 1980 nine. >> as the east german regime celebrated its 40th anniversary, and demonstrators clashed with police in the streets, adrian and katerina's fears grew. they were worried border crossings would be closed and they would not be able to see each other, but adrian was able to cross into east berlin. >> people feared there might be

a tiananmen square type reaction from east german authorities. katerina had telephoned and said that she had seen tanks in the streets, so she was very worried. she was a bit panicky, and i knew we had to kind of acts -- we thought we had to act quickly. >> but then east germany decided to open the border. >> as far as i know, it takes effect now, immediately. >> the couple was not kept apart much longer. on november 9, adrian kennedy came home from work and turned the television on. initially, he was not sure what it all meant. >> it was soon clear to me that there was a good possibility that my fiancee would turn up on this evening, and i lived together with a few other young men. the flat was not so very clean, so on this historic day, i spent

a lot of time actually just waiting for katerina to turn up and cleaning the flat. >> eventually, katerina did turn up. a month later, they married, even though it was no longer necessary. th marriage lasted three years. today, katerina lives in washington, d.c. adrian still lives in reunified berlin. >> nice story. >> love conquers all. >> you are watching me -- the "journal." >> see you at the top of the hour. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org]

this week on "wealthtrack" the state of corporate morality is the primary responsibility to american companies to their stockholder or to stakeholders as well, including employee, customers and xwlounity? richard silla and paul steiger share their perspectives next on "consuelo mack, wealthtrack." the art life along with mainstay family of mutual funds offers investment and retirement solutions so you can help your clients keep good going.