anchor: live from the dw studios here in berlin, this is "the journal." anchor: our headlines at this hour -- facing the public -- demanding from the nation during his annual tv: show. anchor: more migrants miss -- risk their lives trying to get to europe by boat. anchor: and the controversial story of the german grandmother pregnant with quadruplets at the age of 65. anchor: you wouldn't get the impression russia is struggling with a deep, deep economic

crisis if you had been listening to the words of president vladimir putin. anchor: on thursday he painted a rosy picture of the russian economy despite the fact is contracting by 5%. lower oil prices and sanctions imposed by moscow -- imposed on moscow over ukraine are weighing heavily. anchor: putin was very upbeat saying nothing first and everything working. he's even promising a return to economic growth in two years. anchor: we're going to start with this report on putin's marathon national pep talk. reporter: once a year, flatter putin answers donations questions on tv. nearly half the population tunes in. putin answered 90 questions from over 2 million submitted. most focused on the country's economic faculties. sanctions have hit russia hard but president putin pointed to

the first signs of recovery. the ruble is stabilizing, he said. it is unfair to say every thing is bad. satellite links abroad in questions from across the country. people in crimea asked what the future hold for ukraine. putin was scathing about the government of ukraine. among the studio guests was a former liberal politician who asked if russian troops were fighting alongside separatists in eastern ukraine. i can tell you directly and affinity very -- and definitively, there are no russian troops in ukraine. western leaders will not be attending events in moscow marking the 70th anniversary of world war ii on may the ninth. this has pained many in russia. putin said it was up to the west to improve time. the most important precondition is respect for rush upon

interests, he said. >> vladimir putin presented himself as a manager, telling people to prepare for more economic hardship to come and preparing for a standoff with the west over ukraine. he also said no one wants to reestablish the old empire of the soviet era. anchor: there are two high-profile deaths rocking neighboring ukraine. a politician and a pro-russian journalist have been shot in the space of 24 hours. police found the body of a former lawmaker in his apartment on wednesday evening. anchor: he served in the government of the ousted president. journalist oles buzyna was gunned down outside his house in central key of this afternoon. in yemen al qaeda militants are said to have taken control of a major port, and oil terminal in

the provincial capital. they have overrun one of the cities, an important city in the south. anchor: saudi arabia continues to lead airstrikes in yemen targeting rebels. they have the backing of iran and have forced the president to flee. the united nations special envoy to yemen has resigned, suggesting failure of efforts to move toward a political solution . the almost daily tragedy of migrants risking and losing their lives trying to cross the mediterranean to get to europe now has religious conflict to make matters worse. anchor: italian police say they have arrested 15 muslim migrants who allegedly threw 12 christians overboard following a dispute on one of the boats crossing the mediterranean. anchor: the christians, said to be from ghana and nigeria are all feared dead and europe is no

closer to finding a solution to the tidal wave of people coming from north africa. reporter: many did not survive the journey but these migrants did. they are some of the 580 people who arrived in an italian port on thursday. these two men are twin brothers from syria. they have just arrived to another destination for migrants. they say they paid more than $3000 to smugglers who then abused them, but they were determined to try for a better life in europe. if we had stayed in the middle east, we would have died, he says. you only die once in your life we decided to risk life to start here. conflicts across the middle east are feeling a surge in the number of migrants attempting to make the journey from north africa to europe. numbers are up one third compared to last year and improving weather is expected to

bring even more. italian authorities are struggling to cope and the european union seems unwilling to take responsibility. >> the european commission cannot alone do it all. we are putting all of our energy into developing a comprehensive approach into managing migration. we will be coming forward but we do not have a silver bullet or any panacea that is going to make the situation go away. and no amount of finger-pointing is going to change that. reporter: as the boats continue to arrive, there is still no eu meeting in place or agenda. little hope that the migration crossings into europe will beast resolved soon. anchor: -- will be resolved soon. anchor: it is israel potter

member and's day. they will pause to remember the millions of jews killed by not see germany. at auschwitz, 10,000 young jews from israel -- killed by nazi germany. in auschwitz, the site of the largest extermination camp is now a memorial and museum. around one million jews were killed there in for it was liberated by red army troops 70 years ago. anchor: marking the anniversary injury was slim, benjamin netanyahu issued a dire warning. he says the government of iran wants to wipe out the jews just like hitler did. reporter: it is chilling -- it's supposed to be. at the stroke of 10:00, sirens wailed through israel. for two minutes, the country stands and silence remembering the 6 million murdered by the nazis.

an official ceremony took place at the holocaust memorial in jerusalem. prime minister benjamin netanyahu issued fresh warnings against iran, this time with a genetic comparison. prime minister netanyahu na: just as thezis tried to destroy civilization and wipe out the jewish people, so is iran striving to take over the region. on there they will spread on words with the declared aim of annihilating the state of the jewish people. reporter: he slammed the deal recently struck between tehran and the west on a ron's use of nuclear power. -- iran's use of nuclear power. premised are netanyahu: the deal being made with a ron the lessons of history have not been learned. in the face of iran's aggressions, the west is giving in. reporter: for many israelis,

this is a day to remember the past, not one to use for politics. anchor: to cambodia now. they called it a revolution, but for most cambodia, -- most cambodians, it was a nightmare. pol pot's revolution killed millions in the war. anchor: today marks and 40 years since they took the capital to create an agrarian utopia. they forced millions into the countryside worm millions were executed, starved to death or worked to death. -- where millions were executed. reporter: prisoners were once tortured and killed here. more than 15,000 people were killed by the khmer rouge in this notorious prison in phnom penh. most of the victims themselves were members of the khmer rouge. this is a historian of the pol

pot regime. he says the system was riddled with fears of traders from within its own ranks. >> we had to know that during the khmer rouge there was a lot of suspicion around them. not only the normal people they arrest and tortured, but also within the system. reporter: many of the perpetrators see themselves as victims. he regularly visits and interviews members of the khmer rouge for his research. this man is one of them. he says he was 16 years old and the khmer rouge recruited him to work as a guard in an internment camp. he has asked to remain anonymous. >> people were interrogated, tortured and killed in the camp. their individual fate depended on the gravity of their perceived offenses. reporter: his job was to

administer a list of suspects names. he says he never committed any act of violence himself. >> under pol pot there was no choice. you had to obey all orders. otherwise you were severely punished. reporter: he says he feared for his life. cambodia still struggles with how to deal today with the crimes of the khmer rouge era. many who were involved still refuse to acknowledge their own responsibility. this man manages the largest archive on the khmer rouge. he says the crimes of the past must not be covered up. >> there are already stories of the holocaust -- i was told what to do or i would have been killed. we spoke to 10,000 that -- 10,000 of them and not even one

of them say they killed a person. and you have to imagine who killed these 10 million people? reporter: the government would prefer a clean break with the past. he says the genocide tribunal should not continue its work even though many deaths remain unresolved. >> i already described us as a glass on the floor broken. a shattered society. you pick up all these little pieces and try to glue it back together. not just physical, but emotionally broken. it is a broken society. reporter: it remains hard to tell the difference between victim and perpetrator. the historian says cambodians need to admit this before they can leave their darkest days behind. anchor: when the khmer rouge marched into phnom penh in 1975, a german reporter was the only westen tv journalist to stay

behind. i asked him what he saw and how he reported on it. guest: it was awful. we knew in advanced -- in advance that the khmer rouge would be awful and it was worse than i expected. i was there due to the journalistic rules that you report on the war and don't show the audience what happens afterwards. when i left the aircraft, there were about 20 people. there was a kalashnikov pointed at me. they did not answer in english or french. i just took a postcard out from a person i knew. they remarked i'm not an american, a german. this gave me a chance to get into the city and inside, i had a camera crew.

the first two days were not that difficult. there was a lot of shooting around, but we could work. the day when the khmer rouge came in on the 17th, it was at the beginning a ridiculous situation. the population welcomed the khmer rouge. we did not understand why. i tried to ask them in my feeling was they just wanted to show the khmer rouge that they accept them and try to avoid more cruelty which they had heard from the outskirts of phnom penh. after two and a half hours the khmer rouge told everyone to leave the city and in the afternoon, when i left from my hotel and put my baggage the whole city was empty. there were just troops at watch points from the khmer rouge.

no civil population at all. anchor: we're going to take a break. >> germany is in mourning for the victims of the airplane disaster in the french alps. dw live from cologne cathedral the ecumenical memorial service with chancellor angela merkel and german president joachim gauck.

memorial service for german wings crash victims starting april 17 at 9:30, live on dw. anchor: welcome back. medical experts and politicians in germany have heaped criticism on a german mother of 13 after she sought help from abroad to become pregnant again at the age of 65. anchor: they are calling her decision irresponsible and inadvisable. she is in her fifth month and expecting quadruplets. reporter: an expectant mother looks at ultrasound images of her quadruplets. for strong heartbeats, everything seems fine. multiple pregnancies always present risks, even for young mothers, but annegret raunigk is 65. >> has become an overnight sensation and they topic of impassioned argument. many say she has crossed medical

and ethical boundaries, but she dismisses the fuss. >> what are you supposed to be like at 50? life with children is great. you are always having to rise to a challenge. it probably keeps you young. reporter: the single mother already has 13 children and seven grandchildren. her youngest daughter is nine years old and is the reason she decided to keep having children. >> i wanted my daughter to feel comfortable. i can understand when she says she wants a little brother or sister. reporter: she went to a clinic in ukraine to have several embryos implanted. the procedure is not permitted in germany because of the high risk to mother and baby. >> when the cardiovascular system is not so young anymore it really depends on how well it can perform. reporter: annegret raunigk is still working as a teacher but will retire at the end of

summer. that is when the four babies are due. the children were certainly -- will certainly keep her busy. anchor: we want to talk about this with an ethicist of religion and medicine. looking at the grandmother who is expecting, she is losing -- see is -- she is youthful looking. what is the problem? people have this feeling something is wrong here. is it the medical risk? guest: there are a set of risks. no doubt about it. one of the questions being asked and rightfully so is who is being put in danger? it doesn't seem there is any risk directly for the mother. there are certain increased risks, but these can be kept under control by sufficient oversight. the bigger question is about the babies or the fetuses.

a quadruple pregnancy is a fairly high risk pregnancy, so there is an issue here. anchor: it would be a high risk regnant see at any age. guest: exactly. but this is something that was sought after. anchor: let's talk about the ethics and the rules. this in vitro process was not possible in germany. tell us about that. why did she have to go abroad? guest: she could not procure the procedure in germany. she tro -- she chose the ukraine and in ukraine, the regulations are much laxer. if this would have been done in germany, the legal framework it fits existed in germany we would have seen a pregnancy, but not a quadruple pregnancy. this gives us pause as to how we go about regulating. a blanket provision only exacerbates the problem because it sends people into other

markets where they can get what they want. anchor: so if there were better regulation here, she would not have left the country and probably not have ended up being pregnant with four children. guest: exactly. anchor: there is the argument that people would say why should her ability to conceive children be limited? guest: there is a legal question of course as far as harm that can come to the mother and to the babies. on the other hand, there is an ethical question which is what kind of responsibility does she bear on possible sufferers she might be producing question mark she might not just be producing babies she could be producing babies that suffer through early infancy. so this is an ethical question. anchor: older man who conceive children are actually more dangerous for future offspring than older women are, but no one talks about that as much as they are talking about this case. guest: it is a very clear

episode of double standards. a man who conceives late in life is much more liable to produce and offspring with genetical -- with genetic mel form of these and a woman. anchor: a double standard there. thank you for coming in and helping us think through this. greece has to pay its debt on time. that is the word from one of its major creditors, the international monetary fund. anchor: christine lagarde says delays would only make greece's situations worse. athens has to replay -- has to repay one billion euros next month. anchor: the lines being drawn now are without a doubt pushing greece closer to default and an exit from the eurozone. reporter: christine lagarde said there could be no grace. for greece. she said allowing delayed payments would be no different

from issuing new credit. christine: late payments have not been granted by the board of the imf and the last 30 years. it was eventually granted to a couple of developing countries and that delay was actually not followed by very productive results. reporter: over the next two months greece must make payments of around 2 billion euros just to meet its obligations to the imf. greece's creditors in the eu are saying there will be new money only when reforms are implemented. >> you have good reason to provide -- we do not provide help if the country does not use it to help itself. reporter: time is running out for the greeks who plan to ask the united states for assistance . but the country's coffers are quickly running dry. anchor: on to the market action -- european markets fell

thursday amid renewed worries about grace. the selloff in frank for it was particularly sharp. our correspondent sent us this summary of the days trading action. reporter: today could have been a good day at the frankfurt stock exchange. the oil prices are low and the european central bank keeps pumping money into the economy however greece is a cause for concern. greece must pay back one billion euros to the international monetary fund. according to u.s. newspapers the greek government is trying to postpone that payment. however, the international monetary fund had a clear no for an answer. the question on everyone's mind is whether greece has the money to pay it back or if there are financial problems we don't know about. that is making investors nervous. anchor: we can stay in frankfurt for a closer look at thursday's numbers. thedax -- the dax below the

12,000 level. on wall street, the dow jones up just straight -- up just slightly. the euro up against the dollar. the leadership of german auto giant books wagon is meeting to decide the future of the ceo. anchor: the vw patriarch made a powerful argument for struggle in an interview saying he's distancing himself from the ceo but did not say why. to have been seen as close orders. he has until now been seen as a possible successor. the split could divide the company's management. the south african president jacob zuma, has spoken out against a wave of attacks against foreigners that has swept the country. anchor: he said the violence

against immigrants from africa and south asia was shocking and unacceptable. police fired rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse anti-immigrant protesters in johannesburg. this came after they pelted passing vehicles and police with rocks. in durban, people took to the streets to do bounce the violence that has killed at least six people since it began in the city two weeks ago. anchor: almost half a million people in the mexican state of tabasco are without running water. anchor: local rivers are contaminated after oil thieves punctured an oil pipeline a week ago. anchor: authorities are scrabbling to distribute donald water and reopened water vocation plants, but it has proven to be no easy task. -- distribute bottled water. reporter: the tap is on, but nothing comes out. this town is totally dry as are dozens around it.

people needing water here can only get the bottle sort. that means waiting in line in the same way you would for petrol. >> they told us to be prepared for water shortages but we did not think it would turn into chaos. reporter: state officials say huge efforts are going into supplying bottled water to hospitals and public markets. most schools are closed. brown sludge still fills nearby rivers after an oil pipeline was slashed open. authorities close down water treatment plants, fearing water supplies would be contaminated. that is not their only concern now. >> the damage is terrible. of course, we want to avoid the contamination of drinking water processing plants, but the environmental damage is going to be very bad regardless. reporter: workers for the

company that owns the pipeline are trying to clean up the rivers. it is a difficult task and it could take up to 15 days. anchor: an item from sports -- roger federer has been knocked out of the monte carlo tournament in the second round. anchor: it was clear that the world number two in the foreground here was not entirely at home on the clay courts although he played some good shots. he also made plenty of mistakes and as a result a victory for the frenchman. thank you for watching.

this week on "wealthtrack," globetrotting economist and great investor paul mcculley, and what it means to your portfolio. next on "consuelo mack wealthtrack." new york life along with mainstay's family of mutual

funds offers investment and retirement solutions so you can help your clients keep good going. additional funding provided by -- luma sales. investors seeking exceptional opportunities globally.