♪ ♪ ♪ anchor: this is "dw news" life from berlin. tonight, one of germany's worst train accidents. human error is to blame. 10.com scores injured, some seriously, when two commuter trains collided. also on the show, a massive new wave of refugees, warnings that fierce fighting in the syrian city of aleppo could see 600,000 people flee their homes, and voters in the united states

state of new hampshire go to vote in the new hampshire primary. the race for the white house. ♪ brent: i am brent goff. it is good to have you with you. germany's accident. sources close to the investigation say they are blaming human error. at least 10 people were killed when it two passenger trains speeding towards each other on the same track the lighted earlier today. about 80 people were injured, and many of them seriously. reporter: the wreckage at the scene was so mangled that emergency services needed hours to confirm all of the survivors had been rescued from the trains. meanwhile, they continue to search for people. they collided head-on with to raster us -- with disastrous

consequences. in addition to the dead, scores of people were injured, many of them seriously. they describe the scene of panic and fear. "suddenly, you could feel the train brake," and "my head was forward. it was dark. all you could hear was people shouting and screaming." one person up your shake visiting the scene. >> the minister and i have just seen the crash site for ourselves. it is a terrible scene. it is shocking how these two terrains met each other on the tracks.

one of the trains actually bored through the other train's cabin and then rip it to pieces. reporter: yet come the death toll could have been even worse. because of the holidays come to trains were not as full as they normally are in the morning. the trains along to a french company, the largest local transport company in germany. it operates trains between munich and a city nearby. trains in both directions have to share the same line. investigators continue to probe the cause of the crash.

one of the questions to answer will be how to stop a tragedy of this kind from happening again. brent: we have michaela. human error was to blame for this. what more could you tell us? michaela: yes, there is a reputable investigative network in germany, and an investigator says that there could have potentially been a signal failure that was actually down to human error, that the control tower, the signal control tower a sickly overrode -- basically overrode this on the track behind me, and that could have let the drivers into believing that this track was basically free to go, and then that would

potentially mean that they could not have known at all what a were heading for, the disaster they were heading into, and, of course, this is the location in a curve, so they had no chance of establishing visual contact before this collision then took place, so at this point, there is no official confirmation of this, but there are these reports out there, and of course, from the first moments, the big question was this human failure or was it technical failure. brent: michaela, we talked earlier about there being a good early warning in place especially on this track, which could have prevented this. it is very windy there, michaela: yes, this was a system that was installed there years ago when there was a similar incident, and it was supposed to

make this foolproof, that there was no longer any kind of margin for this kind of human error that potentially occurred here, and you can tell now that all of a sudden, the conditions here for what has essentially become a salvage operation, getting that much more difficult, with severe wind picking up. brent: michaela, we are going to let you get to safety because we can tell that wind is picking up. where that train derailed earlier today. michaela, thank you very much. michaela: you are very welcome. brent: to syria, they warned there could be a massive, new wave of refugees, speculating about a worst-case scenario that could see 600,000 people forced from their homes. the turkish foreign minister has announced their country will

take in 10,000 more, but many more are stranded, unable to leave syria after that country restricted access to border crossings. reporter: these humanitarian aid trucks are allowed to cross the border freely, but the tens of thousands of syrians who fled the fighting are now making time in these makeshift caps. they are safe from the battle for now, but aid workers say the camps are already stretching beyond capacity. turkey announced tuesday it will open its border and allow syrian refugees to enter in what it calls a controlled fashion. but the u.n. refugee agency says that is not enough to relieve the pressure on the camp. >> mainly, people are not being allowed to cross the border, and we are asking turkey to open its border to all civilians from syria who are fleeing and seeking international protection, as they have done since the start of this crisis.

reporter: after holding out of nearly five years of civil war, many syrians feel they have nowhere to go. "we have the pkk on one and the islamic state on the other, and they are all against us help us to leave. " the battle for aleppo is an important one for all sides. this video was reportedly shot him eagerly following an airstrike in a suburb of syria's largest city. the turkish prime minister said russian airstrikes backing the syrian army advanced quds force tens of thousands to flee. some 70,000 syrian refugees could reach the turkish border if the military campaign continues at that intensity. this is a village just north of a aleppo, which was under the control of opposition groups just days ago. now, syria soldiers over tories

leafed through the streets. supported by russian airstrikes, president bashar al-assad's military has made significant advances on aleppo. they have now isolated parts of the city, territory that was claimed by rebel groups in 2012. if aleppo falls, more could and appear on the turkish border. depending on the decisions of the turkish government and aid organizations. brent: in the united states, it is round two in the race for the white house, and the race is now in new hampshire for their primary elections. despite winter conditions in the area, voting has been steady. democratic candidate hillary clinton and public and marco rubio were there. bernie sanders is leading the poll, while donald trump is favored to win the republican vote.

all right, it is definitely winter there. let's go to our correspondent richard walker who is there for us on this primary day. good afternoon to you, richard. so we know that donald trump, bernie sanders, both are predicted to win today in new hampshire, so who do we think is going to come in second place? richard: yes, an interesting question, brent. it is pretty certain there are only two candidates in the race on the democratic side, hillary clinton expected to come in second, and on the republican side, second place is every bit as important as the battle for the top, and as you said, the polls two-point towards a victory for donald trump. he does have a wide margin, but if he does lose some support, which is entirely plausible, given that he does not have such controlled ground operation inh new hampshire as many of the other and it its due, not such a big operation to get people to

come to polling stations like this to cast their ballots, it is possible that donald trump underperforms, but many expect him to at least win, but that battle is key. it is a very crowded battle, especially with the sort of establishment lane, as they are calling it, of this race of four candidates, marco rubio, senator from florida, jeb bush, the brother and son of former presidents, john kasich, the governor of ohio, all in the running for that position of second place, as well as chris christie, governor of new jersey. now, whoever manages to come in second with a stronger number than any of those others will gain momentum, and many are expecting marco rubio do that after the iowa caucus when he did well, but a poor debate performance over the weekend has put a big question mark over

that be at brent -- over that. brent: a lot of us saw that, but, richard, overall, the polls suggest there are a high number of undecided voters. why are voters being so hesitant? richard: well, brent, if you actually talk to voters here, and also last week, when we were in iowa, it is not all that surprising. if you take the democratic side to start with, there is a bit of tug-of-war between the head and the heart in democratic voters, the heart your need for bernie sanders and his very bold proposals and to make state university education also free, but also the head saying maybe hillary clinton is a more realistic candidate when it

comes to the general election this november. after all, she does not like bernie sanders call herself a democratic socialist. many people worry that that cap bernie sanders uses about himself, that might just be a little bit much for the voters in the middle, but on the republican field, it is just downright confusing for a lot of people, just so many candidates jostling, and this sort of joke or of donald trump who has shaken everything up this year, so i do not think we should be so surprised if people are going into the polling station behind me make up their minds at the very last moment when they are confronted with that ballot. brent: richard, before we that you go, a lot of these voters are making up their minds in the last minute. walk us through. when the polls close, when do we expect the first prediction of who won new hampshire?

richard: well, polls are closing at 1900 local time, and that is about four hours from now, and it should be very clear sin and who has come out on the republican side. the question is with all of that jostling for position for second place, because all of those candidates are so close, it could be a while before it is clear who has really taken second place. rent: all right, richard walker, our man on the campaign trail in the u.s., from new hampshire, richard, thank you very much. you are watching "dw news" live from berlin. still to come, accusing the south african president, mr. zuma, of corruption after he used public money on his estate, and they are looking to see if he violated the constitution. we will have that and more later on the show. plus, helena would be here with ethnicities, and were member, you can always go to "dw news"

on the go, and you can download the app from the app store and get push notifications for any breaking news. you can also use the dw app to send us photographs and videos. we will be back on the other side of a 60-second break. ♪

announcer: you would like to study in germany, in you still have lots of questions? you will find all you need to know about studying in germany here. information on courses, admission requirements, modifications, cost, and much more. dw.com/studyingermany, the first port of call for anyone wanting to study in germany. brent: welcome back to "dw news" live from berlin. sources are plenty human error for the cause of a crash with scores injured in what they're calling the worst train accident in years. and they expect more than 600,000 syrian refugees to head to the border in the coming days, fleeing intense fighting in the city of aleppo as the syrian army backed by russian airstrikes steps up its offenses

against russian forces -- against forces. south african president jacob zuma is facing charges he violated the constitution. he used funds for a swimming pool, an amphitheater, and tattle fences for his estate. these were all necessary security measures, he says, but opposition party supporters are accusing him of corruption, saying he must repay the money in full. reporter: this protest may be vibrant, but the demands being made are serious. the organization opposition party is calling for an and to cronyism and moreover that president jacob zuma step down. >> the south africans, making sure that a president that is undermining the rule of law, he has undermined the office of the

public protector. reporter: they want zuma to be held accountable for the use of public funds for upgrades to his estate of 14 million euros. he says the changes were for security reasons. there was the anticorruption watchdog known as the public protector, and they said that the public changes, including a swimming pool and chicken run were for reasons of luxury and that he should pay back the money. at the time, zuma saw things differently. >> firstly, there is no money that i am going to be paying back without a determination by those who are authorized to do so. reporter: after months of denying any wrongdoing, he said he would reimburse some of the money, what that is not good enough for the opposition, and a court in johannesburg is

deciding whether or not the report was legally binding. brent: all right, time for some business news with helena, and ouch. some losses. helena: yes, and i wish i could tell you something different, that there were fears of a worldwide economic slowdown. and european markets took their cue from asia, where the tokay -- tokyo nikkei fell preach shares in new york also lower as losses extending into the league, and the atmosphere at the freeport stock exchange was particularly morbid. >> it is giving people the creeps. traders in the frankfurt stock exchange additionally where this at the time of year, but the recent stock decline is getting more and more gruesome. financial services stocks in particular are getting hammered.

deutsche bank slid 4% along with another back. the banking crisis is back. actually, it never left the banks are continuing to suffer big declines. the low risk business just is not there like it was a number of years ago, and on top of that, they have to set aside large amounts of fort litigation. banks fear they have to raise more capital. in paris, also awash in red ink. banks stocks were not the only decliners. investors are losing confidence, and there is no white night -- knight in sight. >> the only way of being optimistic is because the fed and cb were there to help the market, but we are not so sure that this will be really helpful for the economy. reporter: it is no wonder that stock traders are becoming

traumatized. the zombie apocalypse has little to do with it. helena: now, it was a ruling that caused quite a stir a year ago, ordering russia to pay to compensate for shareholders other oil giant, whose assets were required by a russian state owned agency after they declared bankrupt, and one person was imprisoned. after the ruling, russia announced it would not cost up the money, and today, the hague -based court heard an appeal to that original ruling. >> they were the hugest one before they were forced into bankruptcy. it was ruled that the seizure of their assets was politically motivated. it ordered russia to play $50 billion in damages to the former shareholders of the company, and

the founder had sold his shares and is not entitled to compensation, but a major beneficiary is one of his business associates who fled to israel to avoid prosecution. he owns around 70%. other beneficiaries include a man sentenced to years in prison for what many call trumped up charges. some have contested the ruling, as in this interview last summer. as for the shareholders trying to get additional assets from russia, this is nothing new. we have heard such statements before, both from this company as well as our other partners, including european partners and international companies. we will defend our interests in a civilized legal process. the partners make this claim during a tough time in russia. the drop in oil prices has hammered their revenues, and western sanctions over the role

in ukraine have taken a rights. if russia does have to pony up 50 billion dollars in damages, that would amount to 2% of the russian gdp. helena: global aviation experts have actually proposed emissions standards for aircraft, and if approved, they would become standard around the world. the proposal drew praise from the white house in washington and criticism from environmentalists. they say the proposed standards would not have any impact on the slowing down of global warming. reporter: the standards would be the first ever to proposed binding carbon emissions. it was left out of the landmark agreement signed in december to fight global warming. the international civil aviation organization says the proposed

standards are met to guarantee a reduction in global carbon emissions by the time the next generation of aircraft enter service. under the plan, newly designed aircraft are to meet the new standards starting in 2020. models already in production have until 2023 to comply, and it is a cut off date of 2028 for the manufacture of aircraft that do not comply with the new standards. when fully implemented, the standards are expected to reduce carbon emissions by more than 650 million times. that is the equivalent to removing more than 140 million cars from the road for one year. the agency says it now accounts for less than 2% of global greenhouse gas emissions, but passenger numbers are expected to double in the coming decades. environmentalists warn time is running out. they complained the new standards give aircraft

manufacturer is another dozen years to comply and that manufacturers get to continue selling older, less efficient designs for years to come. helena: well, that is all the business news from me. back over to you. brett: the international tennis federation has been forced to say it and to go to the tennis integrity unit, the umpires are under investigation. one from topix. was banned for life because he attempted to manipulate scoring with another official by facebook, while another was handed a 12-month suspension. one report said 16 top players had been flagged over possible match fixing in the last decade. and some soccer news now, relying there form to come from

behind to defeat buyer. 3-1. the german cup quarterfinals. grabbing the crucial second goal 42 minutes after one had been sent off for a professional foul. all right, here is a reminder of the top story that we are following for you. sources are blaming human error for causing a deadly train crash in southern germany today. 10 people., and dozens more were injured in one of the country's worst rail accidents in years, and turkey expects as many as 600,000 syrian refugees to head for its border in the coming days. they are fleeing intense fighting as the syrian army backed by russian airstrikes steps up its offensive against rebel forces in the city of aleppo. and don't forget, you can always

get "dw news" on the go. just download the app from google play or the apple store, and you can get push notifications for any breaking news. you can also use the dw app to send us photos and videos. you know we like to share. we are not finished. after a short break, i will be back to take you through the day. i hope you join me.

>> euromax highlights. host: hi there and welcome to our highlights edition. two steps forward one step back. in a figurative sense that just about describes our top stories for today. zooming in. the time-lapse videos of geoff tompkinson staying afloat. european architects design living spaces on the water. and waltzing away. ballroom dancing is enjoying a renaissance. for the past 40 years geoff tompkinson has worked as a cameraman and photographer and during that time he's perfected a technique of timelapse photography that he calls hyperzoom. and in fact, it's a trick that's