tv DW News PBS January 7, 2016 6:00pm-6:31pm PST
6:00 pm
>> you are watching "dw news" in berlin. warnings of starvation in syria in towns under siege by government forces. shocking amateur video is set to show children suffering from malnutrition. amid protest, the government has allowed humanitarian access to three towns under siege. also on the program, paris on high alert. police kill a man wearing a fake explosive vest as he tried to enter a police station. this comes as france remembers the victims of the "charlie
6:01 pm
hebdo" attacks one year -- i am sarah kelly. welcome to the program. shocking images in syria where people in a rebel held village are reported to be starving. this comes after the united nations welcomed an agreement by the syrian regime allowing eight into three villages cut off since october. one of them, hundreds of children are believed to be suffering from severe malnutrition. we begin with this report, and a warning that some of our viewers may find these images disturbing. >> the people are starving, says
6:02 pm
the voice in the background of this video. it was uploaded to a social media website and is said to have been shot in the besieged town of my diet. --in the besieged town. it is a convex and ever-changing situation. some towns are held by rebels and are under attack by pro-government forces. other towns are held by government forces and are under constant siege by rebel fighters. these demonstrators took to the streets to protest against the siege. they accuse the assad regime of violating truce agreements and deliberately starving the population. "this is a reaction to the stopping of our people and all the towns that have been part of the regime. the team is reached the deal's
6:03 pm
the presence of organizations like the u.n. others have a warning of tit-for-tat reprisals. "we demand that this fraudulent truce ends. either they burn or the siege is lifted from our brothers." as the political and military situation remains as intractable as ever, more evidence of people suffering emerges. this video purports to show avoid who hasn't eaten for a week. -- a boy who hasn't eaten for a week. what he would like best, he says "something sweet." >> let's bring in the spokesperson for the near and middle east at the international committee of the red cross in geneva. what is your latest read on the situation there in madaya? >> the international committee does not have a presence in mad
6:04 pm
aya but we received an agreement from the government to be able to bring assistance to madaya and other besieged areas. we are extremely worried. however, we're not in a position to confirm the people are dying because of starvation. the concern from october is that we saw the hunger, we saw that they had lacked basic things like water, food, electricity. they had nothing. women unable to feed newborn babies because they are not well enough to breast-feed. the situation was already very dire in october. with no assistance in the area, we can only mention it got much worse. sarah: when we talk about the logistics of getting aid, we
6:05 pm
have to write viewers that the government has agreed to do that, although the town is under siege. do you think othe aid will be able to get there under current conditions? dibeh: it would not be the first time the aid is delivered to besieged areas. the united nations and others managed to do this before. we welcome this development and we hope it will translate very soon on the ground. from experience we know that sometimes it can get complicated. our call would be to provide this access as soon as possible because the needs for the people are dire in an area like madaya. and let's not forget that these are only examples of some of the areas in syria. we shouldn't forget that there are around half a million people that still live in besieged areas or areas that are hard to reach. not to mention the 12 million people all over the country lacking food, water, and medical
6:06 pm
care. sarah: the very latest on this humanitarian situation in three syrian towns, including the town of madaya. thank you. we turn to some other news now. prosecutors in paris have opened an investigation after police shot dead a man wearing an explosive vest which later turned out to be fake. officials say the man was carrying a knife and a picture of an islamic state flag. the instant columns on the one-year anniversary of the islamic attacks on "charlie hebdo" magazine and just weeks after an assault on the french capital claimed by the so-called islamic state. reporter: parisians gathered as night fell to pay their respects to the victims could i year after the "charlie hebdo those quote killings, memorie -- a year after the "charlie hebdo" telling summoned memories are still fresh. one banner read "not even scared."
6:07 pm
outside a police station a few kilometers to the north, remote-controlled robot checked the body of an assailant for explosives. officials said it looks like he was wearing an explosive belt. police brought it up on this also grew and a sniffer dog. they said the man approached the police station vanishing a large knife--brandishing a large knife. officers shot him dead. "i didn't realize it was gunshots. i thought was firecrackers. i came out and was told it was gunshots. the guy was unwell. they knew him down at the police station. they have taken him in several times in the past. he didn't say anything. he didn't say 'allahu akbar.' that isn't true. they made that up. i didn't see a knife. if there was a knife later, i don't know." officials have opened an anti-terrorism investigation into the incident but they said
6:08 pm
the assailant had no known links to islamic radicalism at a ceremony, president francois hollande paid tribute to the victims of the "charlie hebdo" killings and the security forces. but paris remains on edge. a state of emergency will remain in place until the end of february at least. the incident and a police station here in the north of paris reveals two things. it shows that police forces are on high alert. they are quick to react. it didn't take them a long time to put this part of town under lockdown. secondly, it shows that paris is still very much a city on edge. a lot of parisians do believe that the first anniversary of the attacks on "charlie hebdo" marked the beginning of a new era, dominated by security can turns, and era where france will have to deal with of the threat of homegrown terrorism. sarah: that was our
6:09 pm
correspondent reporting in paris there. in the libya, at least 50 people have been killed in a massive truck bombing. some reports for the death toll significantly higher than even that. the attack targeted a police training center and all of the dead are said to be police officers. it is libya's worst bomb attack since the fall of moammar gadhafi in 2011. no group has so far admitted carrying out the attack, which comes amid years that the islamic state is using chaos in the libya to expand its power in the country. reporter: the injured were rushed to a hospital. dozens of others did not survive when the suicide bomber blew up a truck at a police training center in the coastal town. the base was used to train libya's border police and coast guard. some 400 recruits had just gathered when the truck bomber struck. "you came driving really fast,
6:10 pm
then he drove through the gate as if it was a large vehicle. next to him was a man with a kalashnikov. once he was inside, the car exploded." this latest bloodshed follows attacks on 2 of libya's biggest oil terminals. fires are still raging at one of the two that was set ablaze on monday. that followed clashes between islam and state militants and forces allied with the countries internationally recognized government, and the fire is still spreading. "i appeal to the national oil company and to the united nations. if there is any kind of response come even a little help and support for us, because we are dealing with a very big problem. we are facing a disaster -- an environmental disaster and an economic disaster." for weeks, islamic state militants have been trying to gain control over the area where much of olivia's oil -- much of
6:11 pm
libya's oil resources are located could the group has taken control over the town not far from the burning oil terminals. another advance for the group as libya descends further into chaos. sarah: an increasing number of women are coming forward to say that they were attacked in the german city of cologne on new year's eve. police are dealing with 120 cases of alleged robbery or sexual assault. most of the perpetrators have been described as having arab or north african appearance, leading german nude criticism of angela -- renewed criticism of angela merkel's refugee policy. >reporter: what exactly happened at cologne central station on new year's eve is getting to emerge. an internal police report fox's women having to run the gauntlet as they passed arch group of men. the police on duty were overstretched and barely able to help.
6:12 pm
chancellor angela demanding an investigation and says lessons need to be learned. chancellor merkel: it is unbearable to think that women felt so defenseless. that is why it is important because get to the bottom of everything that happened. >> police reports describe the suspects as young men of apparently foreign origins. now questions are being asked about whether the group acted in an organized way. >> it can't be a coincidence. 1000 young men of north african or arab origin seem to have arranged to meet and commit crimes. patently these people knew each other. reporter: the social democrats are now arguing for more police to help improve security picture the perpetrators -- should the perpetrators turn out not to be german citizens, they are pushing for deportations. >> we will need to make use of
6:13 pm
the immigration and deportation rules. we need to protect victims, but above all, to protect refugees, who are suffering the most as a result of the actions who committed -- of people who committed these assaults. reporter: but for now, as police continue its hunt for the suspects, it is not known who these people were returned a night of solution into an ordeal for many women. sarah: let's bring in our political correspondent, standing by in our parliamentary studio. hi, thomas. there are reports coming in that said police actually knew from the get-go that these attack ers were newly arrived asylum seekers. thomas: indeed, sarah, unconfirmed reports, and this is important, they are unconfirmed -- that please check around 100 people on new year's eve, many of those syrians, and some of those had documents provided by the german federal office for migration on refugees.
6:14 pm
this report mentally hundred previous reports by authorities, but obviously increases questions that refugees could have been involved in the events. it also increases pressure on local and regional authorities. they are already talking of the chaos of facts. very little confirmed is actually known. sarah: this is coming at a delicate moment with reports of over one million migrants arriving in germany over the past year. if this does turn out to be true, what sort of impact could we see it have on public opinion in germany toward the newcomers? thomas: i think it will have a considerable impact if it is confirmed. people are already worried in germany about the arrival of hundreds of thousands of refugees. they are concerned about how the refugees will be integrated into german society, if it is confirmed that refugees were actually involved, and that could increase those fears in
6:15 pm
6:16 pm
sarah: welcome back. you are watching "dw news." a reminder of our top story this hour. disturbing images of starvation have emerged from syria were people in a rebel-health village have been cut off for months. amid protests, the government has agreed to a u.n. a deal to allow aid in. police in paris have shot dead a man wearing a fake explosives vest as he tried to enter a police station. the incident has overshadowed ceremonies to mark the one-year anniversary of the "charlie hebdo" attacks.
6:17 pm
police have been gathering to remember the 12 victims of the attacks last year. german chancellor angela merkel promises decisive action after mass sexual assaults in the city of cologne. but reports that the attacks were carried out by asylum-seekers are triggering renewed debate over her open-door policy on refugees. for more on all this, i'm joined by a migration analyst at the heinrich boll foundation, a think tank with links to the german green party. we discussed this earlier without parliamentary correspondent, but if it turns out to be true that the individuals who committed these alleged sexual attacks and robberies were indeed asylum-seekers here in germany, what does that mean for the country? >> well, first of all, it remains true that germany has been extremely welcoming and
6:18 pm
offering protection for a number of refugees, receiving the biggest number of refugees last year. so that is a fact, and most of the refugees came to this country because they appreciate the security and the respect of human rights. so we don't know exactly who was participating in this criminal acts in the sexual assault. so far it is very hard to say how many of them are citizens, german citizens within the immigrant background, and how many of them may be refugees. so whatever happened, it seems that it triggered a debate which was in the air last year, because people were not always enthusiastic about angela merkel's policy receiving such a great number of immigrants and refugees. sarah: and part of that debate
6:19 pm
has come down to respect also. on the one hand, germany's demanding that its own citizens respect the way of life of people who are coming here, their need for asylum especially. on the other hand, germany demanding that its own traditions and norms and basic rights also be respected. how do you think germany has been navigating that? >> well, i think the best thing to integrate people into society is by giving them opportunities, by allowing social mobility and being part of the society. germany has been lacking on those issues during the last years. but however, there were a lot of change during the last few years -- sarah: how do you think they were lacking? >> well, lacking in offering the same opportunities as citizens. immigrants have been lacking in the issue of attending better job opportunities because the gap between immigrants, people of immigrant backgrounds, and
6:20 pm
ethnic germans, for example, in the labor market, is a huge gap, and the unemployment rate is very high. people with educational backgrounds and even those who have the higher education have a very hard time in getting jobs, which relate to their own qualifications and so on. but nonetheless, germany has been working also on those fields. but now it is a challenge receiving one -- about one million, and integrating them into the educational system, into the labor market, and so on. there is no doubt that germany has been fighting and doing a lot and integrating them, but still, there is nothing such as german culture, because even migrants in this country, which are about 20% of the population, part of the receiving society.
6:21 pm
we should have a republican idea about what is german and who belongs to germination. -- germination. sarah: casserley, and with the german chancellor calling for more debate any new refugees and migrants, this is a debate that will continue. thank you very much for joining us. we appreciate it. reporter: a big selloff on the markets report on. shanghai stocks fell 7%, sparking off the circuit breaker that put a halt to trading and had a knock on effect in germany, where the dax and it down more than 2%. in new york, the dow jones headed south. later, chinese authorities reported they won't use the circuit breaker mechanism anymore. and let's go over to new york to
6:22 pm
get the reaction from the other side of the atlantic. was there some relief at this announcement of the circuit breaker being broken? >> well, initially, when this decision was announced, meaning index is started recovering losses, but that didn't last much. the dow jones off more than 100 points a couple minutes ago on more speculation that they could the value the yuan even farther. these would take a huge toll on oil prices and push deflationary courses even farther, making it nearly impossible for the fed to justify future interest rate hikes. as for now, over more than 50% of the market doesn't expect the next increase to happen until -- >> there has been a lot of political criticism coming from the u.s. >> yes, especially in the republican party.
6:23 pm
we saw marco rubio, republican senator seeking to win the party nomination for the presidential election, saying that china's shifted to a more consumption-based model is not working at all, and pointing out that the current evaluation is tied to exports, which would spark a currency war. rubio is not the first republican candidate to criticize beijing and trade china as a currency manipulator. >> tell this because there was a lot of panic at the moment. everyone believes the situation is worse than what we thought. is it much worse than what we thought? >> well, it depends on who you listen to. according to investment g urus like george soros, the situation is much worse than previously expected. it echoesrisis in 2008. other investors like marc faber
6:24 pm
say the chinese economies in the midst of a huge credit bubble and about to explode. if we look at the world bank with released yesterday, china is going to grow around 6.7% this year. we are far away from hard monday. >> thank you for joining us from new york. staying in the u.s., the environmental protection agency has a meeting with the boss of volkswagen. the american regular discussed reductio -- said discussions with the german automaker was unproductive. it was this week that the u.s. justice department filed civil suit against vw for damages against the clean air act. the company admitted to installing stealth software to bypass safety commissions tests. reporter: at the consumer electronics show in las vegas, the vw brand ceo said action
6:25 pm
would be taken to appease owners of affected models. >> first and foremost come we have to solve the problems with our customers and fix the cars and then we think about that. reporter: a newspaper says that folks i can would have to buy back 115,000 cars. the owners would receive a refund of the purchase price or a discount on a new vehicle. volkswagen has yet to comment on the report. in europe, the recall of a .5 million -- 8.8 million vw diesels is set to start this month. >> to another german carmaker enjoying a foray of sorts into politics. they had a message for the british prime minister david cameron after touring one of the firm's plants in munich. he is urging britain to stay in the european union.
6:26 pm
bmw has invested over 2 billion euros in the british market over the last decade and a half. cameron is touring europe to come up support for proposals including the crucial referendum at home. the german economy minister wants to build a partnership on an equal footing with cuba. it comes ahead of an official visit to the island nation. should would include the founding of a german business bureau in the capital, havana. trading between them stands at 220 million euros a year. that is it for the business. sarah? sarah: thank you. we had to sports news and the shoplifting he has bid adieu to the fifa presidential race. he has withdrawn his name, adding that his fight against an eight-year ban against all football-related activity
6:27 pm
prevents him from running. he is appealing to the fifa penalty as the findings of an independent ethics committee relating to the 2011 payment of about $2 million for work. he has done a decade earlier. just a reminder of our top story before we go -- disturbing images of starvation have emerged from syria, where people in a rebel-held village have been caught up from a mesh cut off for months. -- cut off for months. the government has agreed to a u.n. deal to allow aid in. i'm sarah kelly. 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]
6:30 pm
this week on "wealthtrack," running with the bulls. for the follow yo manager and top macro strategist rudi bakhtiar bullish case is next on "consuelo mack wealthtrack" with richard bernstein. 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. thornberg investment management,
94 Views
IN COLLECTIONS
KCSM (PBS)Uploaded by TV Archive on
![](http://athena.archive.org/0.gif?kind=track_js&track_js_case=control&cache_bust=2031611647)