>> hello, this is "the journal" on dw in berlin. >> here is what is coming up on this program. a suspected obama from -- a suspected boko haram fighter killed dozen in nigeria. >> remembering the victims of malaysia airlines flight mh17. the netherlands host a special memorial. we begin this program in nigeria where a suicide attack has torn through an all boys school,

killing at least 47 students. >> the attacker was reportedly disguised as a student. there has been no claim of responsibility so far, but the islam is extremist group boko haram has taken out many attacks on schools in the region. >> our correspondent is following this story for us. let's bring him in live from lagos. can you tell us the latest about these attacks? >> what we know now is the bomb was hidden in the backpack and detonated when more than 1000 students gathered in the assembly hall. the attack was obviously aimed at causing as much harm as possible. this is the stage where the school is located -- they just

gave a statement and ordered all schools in the region closed until further notice. also they were heavily criticized by nigeria's president. he says goodluck jonathan as to show that he has taken measures to protect people in the northeast to avoid further violence. some of that criticism underscored no doubt by the fact that this is no stranger to islamist attacks. >> yes, indeed. just one week ago, it was moderate muslims who were killed during a religious procession. also a suicide bomber behind the attacks. and they have been under an emergency before over one year now. this region together with the neighboring borneo state.

there have been a number of school jackson the last month. -- school attacks in the last month. one of the worst, last month where more than 40 students died when boko haram exact. >> and light of that and today's attack, just how broad is support in those areas for boko haram? it looks like they are gaining strength? >> of course, these supports among ordinary citizens has really dramatically decreased in the last year because the level of violence they use is really on imaginable. so, of course, not only the christians and the schoolchildren suffer, but also the muslim majority of the north of nigeria also suffer.

there are very strong. they have a lot of weapons, but they are not really supported by the ordinary citizens in the region. >> our correspondent joining us live from lagos. john philip, goodbye for now. monday saw more violence between israelis and palestinians. one person was killed and over a dozen wounded in two separate knife attacks. >> and attack came just a few hours after a palestinian stabbed an israeli soldier in tel aviv. israel's prime minister benjamin netanyahu says he will use whatever means necessary to stop violence. >> this is a developing story. let's go live to jerusalem. matthew, what has been the reaction in israel to these incidents? >> first of all, we have heard from you prime minister, benjamin netanyahu, today. he blamed the palestinian

authority leadership for inciting violence. he said it was an attempt to kick israel out, and he says israel will fight against what he called "this insight meant," and he invited anyone demonstrating against israel to go and live there. over the weekend, netanyahu said he would try to revoke the citizenship of demonstrators. and israeli security forces have stepped up their a rest's of hamas and other activists to clamp down on the wave of protests spreading across the country. and the foreign minister, victor lieberman, he said in any future peace deals, areas with large arab populations should be transferred to palestinian control. a very fierce response today. >> what are people saying where you are? are the concerns that these attacks could signal a new

intifada, a third intifada is approaching? >> that is very much the concern now. there is the fear these four months of protest could escalate into something very long-term and even more serious. >> matthew collins there for us from jerusalem. thanks so much for now. in europe, a london-based think tank says that russia and other countries are at risk over tensions in ukraine. >> the incidents have tripled since russia annexed crimea. >> one such example of brinksmanship happened last month with a swedish vessel. >> last month, sweden launched its biggest marine search operation decades, acting on what it called credible reports of a suspected foreign vessel in its waters. sweden threatens to use armed force. fingers were pointed at russia,

but moscow issued denials. the search was called off in october. a think tank study details for a dangerous incidents in the past eight months alone. one of the closest near misses was in march, when a scandinavian passenger jet with 132 people onboard almost collided with a russian surveillance plane off the danish coast, despite having communicated its position. there are also reporting -- reported incidents along the canadian and japanese orders. >> our guest is a research director and one of the co-authors of this report. he joins us from london. just how serious is this situation? >> thank you for having me. >> just how serious would you characterize the situation?

>> what we put together is a list of the incidents that go beyond a routine or near routine encounters between russia and nato and its partners, sweden and finland, and we have seen an increase in the number of incidents. we have also seen an increase in the gravity of the incidents. some were cited, but they also mention closing counters between spy planes and fighters, flags of warships in the black sea and baltic sea, and three cases and which russian fighters and bombers actually simulated bombing raids against sweden, against denmark, and against the united states. obviously the dynamics, it is very disturbing. and we are worried that these incidents can get out of hand. >> you are calling these

incidents disturbing and russia is simply saying we are improving our defenses. can we dismiss russia's characterization of these incidents? >> obviously we have seen more military traffic. so to say in europe, beyond ukraine, when we have seen conflict, but also along the nato-russian border, more exercises. obviously more surveillance, more reconnaissance planes assets put together by both sides. also by nato. but recently, some of the incidents actually go beyond this training and preparation. what we have that russian operatives are hijacking in estonia, counterintelligence officer from the estonian territory. we have a fishing vessel in the high seas, in international waters by the russian border

guards. then we are going quite beyond what i would describe as normal military interactions. >> well, you are painting a picture of escalation here from these actions you are characterizing russia has taken. how can the west react without escalating from their own side? >> what we are recommending is to start with the russian leadership, to think of russia itself should rethink its policies. obviously, these are not isolated incidents. i think the russian armed forces and security agencies are authorized or encouraged to act in a more assertive way. and i think it gives russia no benefits. instead of intimidating its neighbors,hey actually are seeing more cohesion in nato and

beyond. the first recommendation is for russia. the other recommendations are for everybody around. first, exercise utmost restraint to make sure we have the rules of engagement for these types of incidents -- >> and we keep the military channels of medication open. tempe thank you for joining us from london. -- >> thank you for joining us from london. the netherlands have been holding an emotional ceremony to mark the victims of malaysian flight mh17. >> it highlights the ongoing grief of the families who are waiting for an and answers to what happened to that flight. >> [reading names] >> relatives read out the names of the victims of flight mh17.

this couple lost their son-in-law, daughter, and grandchild. >> [reading names] >> and with each man, a glimpse of a life cut short and a grieving family still joined to make sense of the tragedy. >> these women mourn their half-sister and brother. the dutch royal couple attended the ceremony along with the country's prime minister. he spoke of how the crash has shaken the country. >> when death suddenly strike so massively, it hits everybody. together, we are horrified.

together, we are angry. together, we are silence. >> 298 candles, one for each of the victims. this was a ceremony of remembrance, but for the relatives of those who died, it does not provide closure. four months after the crash of flight mh17, know it has accepted responsibility for bringing the plane down. >> we spoke earlier with our reporter catherine martin from amsterdam, who gave us her impressions of these ceremony. >> it was very sad. i want to share with you a thought of a father who lost his son and grandson. he says, you always died twice. the first time when you leave this life and the second time when you are forgotten. for me this perfectly illustrates what all of these relatives wanted today, to

remember their loved ones and to tell the stories behind this tragedy, the stories about the lost brothers and sisters, and parents and grandchildren. but behind all of that grief, the family has expressed it today feelings of rage and powerlessness regarding the dutch authorities and how they have handled so far these investigations. too slow and too little results. emotionally this day provided a process or this disaster, but there are -- the whole nation has expectations. the dutch government has to give answers to the questions -- what really happened and who was was sponsored ball? -- who is responsible? without, a relative told me, there cannot be anything but grief. >> catherine martin speaking to us from amsterdam there.

>> we're going to a short break. when we come back, more news including the book from catalonia to secede from spain.

>> welcome back to the show. by over 80% people in spain's affluence northern suburb catalonia have voted to break away from madrid and form their own country. >> regional politicians held the vote anyway even though it was not recognized. >> the narrow cut elan has taken another step. you sent a letter to spain's prime minister calling for a formal, binding referendum on independence. >> catalonia's leader artur mas enjoying his party's welcome at his headquarters. the vote is, he says, a lesson in democracy, meaning the government in madrid must confront the catalan question.

but the popular party in catalonia has denounced people, calling it undemocratic. >> the issue of independence is marginal and not a majority issue and catalonia. we must seize the political initiative. >> on the streets of barcelona, the pitcher is also mixed. the majority of those who voted said yes to independence. but fewer than half of those eligible to vote turned out. what many do agree on though is the need for talk and a new approach. >> we need to start a dialogue. catalonian's fielding needs to be heard. that is not being considered by the spanish government. >> hundreds of kilometers away in the capital of madrid, views range from anger to indifference. some side with the national

government's view that catalonian's have no right to decide and issue that affects the entire country. >> it is undemocratic. catalonia is ours. it belongs to spain. >> the government in the dreade% described the referendum as sterol and useless. and it accused mas of organizing an act of propaganda. but that is unlikely to deter mas and his party to forge ahead with plans to break away from spain. >> another accolade for germany's world cup winning soccer team. >> each member of the team received the silver laurel leaf. that is the country's highest sporting honor. and they also rubbed shoulders with political heavyweights. >> just like any soccer team, germany's politicians made quick lineup changes before the big event.

chancellor angela merkel, prime minister joachim gauck, and the interior minister on hand to meet the world cup winners and award them the highest sports accolade, the silver laurel leaf. >> everyone back in germany felt like they were world champions that day. what a strong team. what a likable, athletic, and all-around exciting team. >> there was a degree of deja vu. the national soccer team won the award after coming in third in 2010. now they are back as winners. >> many of you have been here before. but this time we are back here with the world cup, making the day even more special. it was our generation, our team. that is what makes it so

amazing. >> that special feeling was not wasted on the german president. joachim gauck looked every bit the world champion as he posed with the trophy. >> next up for the team -- a new documentary feature all about them and their big world cup win. our correspondent was there for the team's red carpet arrival. you have seen this film. what can we expect? >> it is really a documentary that looks at the whole world cup campaign for the german national team. of course, this is their fourth world title. it starts right at the beginning with the pre-tournament training camp they held in south-year-old -- south tyrol, and goes on every game they scored. it goes on right up to berlin where you had millions of people on the streets here welcoming them home and helping in them --

helping them celebrate. >> it seems like an up close and personal look at the team's journey. do we get to know any of these players better during the course of the film? >> we perhaps get to know one player little bit too well. thomas muller, the forward who lost a bet, actually with one of the team's physios early on and as a forfeit, he had to dress up in a dirndl, which were those of you who do not know is bavarian traditional dress for women. and also some of the players -- it may seem strange, but we had one player on the red carpet. he was telling us all these months on, it has still not sunk in that he is a world champion, the germany won the world cup. is said he was hoping that this film would help it hit home with him, i think. >> i am sure that was a fickle.

i know you are an arsenal man. thanks for joining us. >> to russia now. >> the central bank are now announced they will allow the crushing ruble to float freely on the financial market. >> it has lost a quarter of its value this year. >> president vladimir putin said he was confident the ruble would stabilize. >> after its recent losses, the ruble recovered slightly on the day, 3% against the euro and u.s. dollar. across the continent, the russian president spoke at the apex summit in beijing. >> fluctuations in the ruble's exchange rate are the result of speculation. i think that is going to stop soon because of the measures being taken by the central bank against the speculators. >> many russians share putin's

confidence in the currency. prices are on the up at supermarkets and stores. this family pays 10% more for groceries than just a year ago. >> this is something that concerns us. we are buying more russian food now and less imported food. for example, we are not buying french cheese anymore. we used to buy quite a lot of it. >> low oil prices have put downward pressure on the ruble. russia's economy mains heavily dependent on the export of raw materials, while foreign investors who could bring in fresh money have been avoiding russia over the ukraine crisis. russia needs to attract a great deal of inward investment from foreign investors to create a new growth driver, and that of course, is going to be much more difficult the cause of this

crisis. russia's central bank is now allowing the ruble to live freely. that is meant to calm the nerves of savers and markets as moscow tries to keep the ruble from accelerating into a full-blown economic crisis. >> for more on how the markets reacted to that news as trading got underway, here is our correspondent at the frankfurt stock exchange. >> the ruble rose after the announcement, but many investors think this is only a flash in the pan and the ruble will continue its fall, which is bad news for the economies on both sides, the russian and also the european economy, because a low ruble means russian firms are not able to buy european goods anymore, and this may weigh on the ballot sheets of european exports. the dax has not been hit by that

. it rose slightly after the beginning of this week. >> we will start the market numbers where he let us know the dax is up two thirds of a percent. the euro stoxx 50 european index was up by nearly a full percent. over new york, the dow jones industrial average, they are still trading there. it now stands at 17 60 three. at the moment europe is slightly off against the dollar. >> three international astronauts are back at home here on planet earth after a business trip of epic proportions. >> the trio traveled well over 100 million law matters to conduct some experiments on the international space station. >> the research laboratory is operated under the partnership of 15 nations including russia, the u.s., and germany. >> mission accomplished.

a soyuz spacecraft bearing international astronauts from kazakhstan touchdown. the russian commander, german astronaut, and american astronaut were all smiles. the journey from the space agency earth takes about just for hours. -- 4 hours. the capsule is exposed to extreme temperatures as it enters the atmosphere and slows down from a speed of 30,000-some kilometers per hour. they performed about 100 scientific experiments over six days. in his last interview from the space station, gast revealed he was looking forward to returning to earth, especially luxuries.

>> if i watch a movie in my computer and see someone eating a pizza or burger, i have an incredible desire for it. >> he had a lot of space fans down on earth. everyday he tweeted about life in space. from there, he says he is learned to see the world in -- through different eyes. >> that is a short flight. four hours? >> seriously, i cannot get back to the united states that fast. >> that is all we have time for. thanks for joining us. >> keep on watching dw. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org]

>> hello and welcome. i'm damien mcguinness. and this is "focus on europe," showing you the people behind the headlines - the stories you -- from every corner of the continent. i'm really pleased you could join us. on the programme today -- croatians hope to heal the scars of history. in switzerland, property boom turns into property destruction. and in finland, betting on an end to austerity. but first, here in germany, a trial is about to open which should shed light on one of the most mysterious crimes of the cold war. the former head of the secret police of croatia is accused of involvement inhe