>> this is dw news live from berlin. aleppo on the brink. the ceo -- the government closes in. posted online, claims to show some of those making their way to the turkish syrian border. is this another refugee crisis in the making? julian assange claims victory. british authorities are detaining him arbitrarily. he has been sheltering in london's equatorial embassy.

and a meeting of thousands of years in the making. pope francis meets with his counterpart from his orthodox church. i'm brent goff. it good to have you with us on this friday. fleeing for your lives. tens of thousands are fleeing the city and was left of it from aleppo. this as the syrian army steps up on the turkish border. peace talks in geneva are on board. russia is backing the syrian government.

cities reduced to rubble. >> this video posted online shows the syrian city a few minutes after the airstrike. they have stepped up their campaign against rebel positions . it's creating a mass exodus of syrians fleeing toward neighboring turkey. the country already hosts -- they said tens of thousands more may be on the way. according to the latest news, 15,000 syrians have already arrived at our borders. we have given them supplies for all of our needs. meanwhile, a few kilometers outside of damascus, 80 groups are bringing help to the town.

there hasn't been any firewood here for a long time. we need anything that will help us in the cold. footage shot by a drone shows the extent of the damage to this i've thousand-year-old city. rebuilding could take years. brent: good evening to you, dorian. how are the turkish authorities responding? >> to have a lot of experience dealing with this mass exodus. hosting well over 12 million refugees. the prime minister had one turkish border. that did not allow anybody in

need of medical attention because they are preparing facilities for this mass exodus. turkish ngos are believed to be helping those across the border. as many as 70,000 could be ultimately coming towards turkey's border. brent: what do we know about people that are arriving at the border? >> it is believed that they have taken a very dangerous group around 60 kilometers for a conflicts strewn region. they are attacking syrian rebels. it is believed there is a great deal of concern that there is

particularly many suffering malnutrition. brent: i have to ask you go, we are reporting that the machine is using to its advantage right now and being supported by these airstrikes. considering the not so good relations between turkey and russia. >> the turkish prime minister has condemned these. they are looking towards the european union. they are warned that turkey will not do anything until the europeans put pressure to and these airstrikes.

rather than just a simpson. brent: thousands are stranded, waiting to continue their journey. that number has skyrocketed in the space of just a year. many of those migrants will be hoping to come here. germany.

the office that processes asylum applications has been heavily criticized in recent months. the process is slow and unwieldy. they have announced new steps to improve the system. >> things are simply taking too long. authorities just aren't set up to register and process so many people. right now, 700,000 asylum seekers are waiting for their applications to be processed. even the new head of the department says that is unacceptable. they are confronted with a system. i find this a bit embarrassing. he adds that the number of migrants has exploded beyond imagination. they registered 32,000 new refugees.

to expiate the registration process, the federal agency wants to create 22 new arrival centers and take on 7000 new employees. this will enable all government agencies to access the data. one big worry is whether the process would still function in an orderly manner. if when mistakes are made, they can still be corrected. the asylum application can be denied but without the processing system, german authorities rarely have a chance to come to grips with thousands of refugees they expect to arrive this year.

brent: the founder of wikileaks julian assange has held a new report that he has been arbitrarily detained at the ecuadorian embassy in london. he appeared on the balcony giving an emotional address to supporters. he called the report a sweet victory that could not be enough. the founder has been sheltering at the in the seat. both britain and sweden have dismissed the findings of the u.n. report. we want to pull in teresa larson who's a journalist with the daily newspaper in stockholm. we started this show by saying this u.n. ruling is much ado about nothing for sweden. what has been the official reaction of the swedish

government? >> they said they would not influence the court. it has been going off of five years. why don't they just want to answer the questions of what happened that night? brent: that is a good question, isn't it? julian assange says sweden would automatically extradite him to the u.s. and he would probably face espionage charges. sweden has promised it would not do that. are people talking about that fear he has? >> i don't see that happening at all. there is no other opinion about extraditing him to the u.s.. sweden is a very open society. we have the freedom of information act.

they had no intention whatsoever in extraditing him. and since public opinion is so against it, i don't the that happening. we have a very weak government at the moment. also, one has to remember that julian assange was considered a hero in sweden until 2010. he was greatly celebrated in this country. brent: you can hear the entire interview with her. it is nearly 1000 years in the making. pope francis will meet with his counterpart from the russian orthodox church later this month. the churches split and previous

attempts at reconciliation have not been successful. both leaders say the repression of christian communities in the middle east has convinced them to put aside their differences. >> they lead to of the world's largest christian churches. pope francis and the patriarch of the russian orthodox church. the nearly 1000 years, they were at loggerheads over church doctrine. now the leaders of both churches will meet in cuba to discuss the persecution of christians in the middle east. >> after long preparation. we can speak between the two churches.

hope that it would also be a sign for all people of goodwill. >> previous popes and official churched doctrine got in the way of the vatican all of branches. they reject the assertion and disputes rome's support for the faller -- the smaller soviet union. they put aside some of their differences. brent: here's a look at some of the other stories making headlines around the world. officials have detected traces of the zika virus from infected patients. it's unknown if the virus can be

spread to these fluids but they say it now merits investigation. previously, it was thought the virus was only spread through infected mosquitoes or sexual contact. a massive crane has collapsed killing at least one person and seriously injuring two others. the crane landed across an intersection as it was being lowered because of high wind. now for some spectacular footage from japan. one of the country's most active volcanoes is erecting in truly explosive style. ash clouds rose to kilometers into the atmosphere. the area around the volcano has been sealed off and there have been no reports of injuries. japan lies on the so-called ring of fire, a band of fault lines and volcanoes around the edge of the pacific ocean.

you're watching dw news live from berlin. super bowl 50 is just two days away and the madness has already begun. america's biggest football game means booming business and big bucks.

brent: welcome back. our top story -- a mass exit is of refugees from the syrian city of aleppo as the syrian army backed by russian airstrikes intensifies its campaign to retake the city from rebel forces. time for some business news now. hobby or is here with the volkswagen saga that has no end. javier: here to stay. the emission's scandal is shaking up the company so much that nothing is running according to plan.

the german carmaker is postponing the annual report and is rescheduling the annual shareholders meeting. volkswagen needs to have a clear balance sheet. it may take years to answer. >> how much will the omissions scandal cost the company? the management has set aside 6.7 billion euros. it could cost as much as 100 billion euros. the recall for cheating systems is already underway in germany. first up, the pickup truck's with two liter diesel engines are being modified. it is far away from approval in the u.s.. the relationship with u.s. regulators is frosty and many legal questions remain unresolved.

not only does it have no idea of the total cost of the scandal, but it has had to delay the annual report. the company would only say it would make an announcement soon. javier: some watch for the sport but some watch for the commercial breaks only. for advertisers, it is a unique opportunity. they want to get most out of their 32nd slot this sunday. american tv station cbs is charging $5 million for the honor. is it worth it? >> so many are producing teasers or rolling out completely before the game. this allows a big rollout.

>> here is a look at a few of those ads already online. >> is that george and wheezy? >> do you know where my baysox are? >> check the walk-in closet. >> if you drive drunk, you, simply put, are a shortsighted, utterly useless, oxygen wasting human form of pollution. >> a majority are the food and beverage sector. the ads could generate as much as $10 million in ad revenue though a return on investment is not always guaanteed. there are hits and misses from the past.

since apple's added, it had grown to the world's richest company until it was surpassed only recently. javier: we heard earlier about the holdups and processing of thousands of refugees arriving to germany every day. what happens when they finally get settled? many say some of the migrants could be a solution to the country's chronic shortage of qualified workers. the reality is that many of those don't possess the skills needed to join the workforce. the german government and the craft sector have started an apprenticeship program specifically for refugees. >> not many people want to take it up. many people are urgently needed in the profession. now some 10,000 young migrants are getting the chance. over two years, they will be able to train in a craft. they are setting aside 20 million euros.

>> i think we can say from experience there is a great deal of readiness to learn and going to vocational training. that said, it does not happen overnight and requires a lot of effort. >> just one third of refugees attended middle school. another third only as primary education. we don't need wheelbarrow pushes, we need skills in germany. we are to turn these people and to professionals. the applicant is between 21 and 25. anyone who is not recognized as a refugee is not eligible to

reply. >> they're familiar with the site of giant container ships cruising on the river but have rarely seen something like this. one of the largest ships in the world is stuck in the river and going nowhere. >> attempts to move it have already failed. even the combined strength of seven tugboats could not manage to bring it back on course. the ship had been en route. the steering problems started near the island. as a result, the ship feared off course. lacking any other options, the

crew eventually let the ship run aground. of course, they did not say let it run aground. it really is a last resort. they said they really did not know if it would go well and that it was necessary to get away from hazardous areas. it did not suffer any damage but it did not solve the problem, either. they decided to lighten the ship slowed. the plan is to rid the vessel at 3000 tons of fuel. now it's up to engineers to decide when to make the next attempted telling the ship. javier: a german teenager has shown that honesty pays off. the 16-year-old handed in a bar of gold that she found in a late. no one claimed it for half a year and now she can keep it. it weighs half a kilo but is only about the size of a smartphone while on holiday in the southeast of germany.

it has been valued at about $20,000. why doesn't that happened to me? brent: because you're working instead of swimming. in sports, it is said to be an action-packed weekend. the league's surprise success story head to berlin and a battle between third and second. >> they are making bittersweet history this season. never before has a team been stuck in second place after picking up 44 points from just 19 matches. such good numbers surely build confidence. >> i expect a really difficult match. it's not normal. >> it is still business as usual. despite all their unexpected success, they were second from

the bottom. the crisis prompted the appointment that saw things a bit differently from the touchline. >> i can no longer go home and eat with my wife. i always have to eat with journalists. was nice is the pitch is still green. in just one year, the relegation zone in third place. they are keeping the players focused as they prepare to face portland. >> we are not a top club yet. we have picked up a lot of points. i don't want to say anymore about it. >> there will be plenty more. the team have gone their last five matches without a defeat. >> the race to succeed sepp

blatter as fee for president is shaping up to be a two horse race. hihe is almost sure of winning. he isn't ready to give up just yet. he's got most of the delegates from north and south america as well. new footage posted online shows a mass exodus of refugees. this as the syrian army backed by russian airstrikes intensifies the campaign to retake the city from rebel forces. julian assange has held a you and ruling that says he is arbitrarily detained in the

ecuadorian embassy in london. he read from the report while addressing supporters from the buildings balcony. he has been sheltering their to avoid extradition over sexual assault claims. i will be back to take you through the day. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org]

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