united nations publishes a report. the south sudanese government are responsible for a campaign of killing, pillage and rape. the pain remains. people in japan remember the earthquake, soon army and nuclear disaster that called devastation. thousands lost their lives.

here in germany, angela merkel faces a key test of her refugee policy. thank you for joining us a report detailing horrific crimes against humanity. children and the disabled burned alive. parents forced to watch their children being raped. south sudan claimed its independence five years ago. united nations says it has one of the worst human rights records in the world and its government bears the blame. >> the united nations is calling it one of the most her renders human rights situations in the world accusing the government of

grotesque rights violations and the rape of women and girls. civilians including children have been murdered. the government allowed soldiers to rape and pillage in lieu of wages. >> there has been profound suffering of the civilian population. the conflict has intensified in 2015. there has been a push by the government through the military leadership and political leadership to displace, kill, rape, of duct and pillage large portions of the civilian population. there has been much terror. >> official says the suffering risks being forgotten. >> tens of thousands are at risk . there is a need for a level of

government in a place that we see as an emergency. quick south sudan one independence in 2011. since fighting erupted, thousands have been killed and millions more displaced. >> our correspondence in the region has been chatting about this story. we asked about more who is accused of what in this report. >> it's interesting. there have been several human rights reports published but this accuses mostly the government and militia of human rights violations. it focuses on the most recent face of the conflict.

what happened here was that the government launched a major military offensive to regain this area from the rebel movement. the main objective of removing any possible support. >> it has been a somber day in japan. memorial services have been held to mark the anniversary of an earthquake and soon army that cause devastation. also it triggered a major nuclear meltdown. it left 18,000 dead. >> silence at the exact time the earthquake struck five years

ago. dignitaries in remembrance. the scars left by the tragedy may never fully heal. >> every person who has suffered hardship needs to be remembered. not one must be left out. i hope they can return to a numeral -- number -- a normal life. hundreds of thousands still suffering in the aftermath of the disaster. these images haunt the country. the quake leveled entire

buildings. 18,000 people were killed. then water surged into the nuclear plant setting off a meltdown. the release of radiation terrified residents, the biggest disaster since chernobyl. today reconstruction is ongoing. construction workers paused to remember victims of the contest three -- catastrophe. >> angela merkel faces her biggest test of her migrant policy so far. she has defended her stance

telling the german people we will manage. regional elections will give voters their chance to reply. reporter: she has been on a campaign to her. she came to support the incumbent state premier that many people are angry at the government chanting she must go social media is ablaze with hostile posts by populists critical of her position on the migrant crisis. many see this as a referendum on her open door policy toward refugees. it could be a nailbiter. if she is nervous, it's not showing. she made 20 campaign appearances in three states. she is convinced her stance is the right one and most germans

are backing her. >> 90% of the people still agree anyone fling war, terrorism and other forms of violence should be granted protection. i think that is a good thing. >> if she isn't nervous her party is. the candidate for state premier is clark and her, afraid of losing votes in the election if people use it to register their displeasure. even more ill let ease, the candidate in germany's wealthiest state. polls suggest the christian democrats could get as little as 28% of the vote. if the people could elect their state premier with a vote they have 60% for the green party. he happens to be one of her

strongest supporters. he enjoys support among conservatives. >> merkel remains popular in germany. her ratings aren't quite as high as they were. the decisive question is when people are asked who they would support, 60% said merkel before. now it is more like 50%. she is not want to throw in the towel or call early elections but if they do badly pressure will man on the party leadership. when were her approach take affect? or will a strong showing for searches shipped policy to the right? as long as the outcome is unclear the sister party is likely to continue attacking her.

>> thousands of migrants are stuck at the refugee transit cap on the macedonian border. heavier rainfall makes conditions worse by the day. 800 migrants have left. they have been taken to government shelters further away from the border. those of those that are still there are afraid of chaotic scenes when a truck arrived to deliver aid. 12 and a half thousand people are still holding out hoping to continue their journey north to other european countries. since balkan countries have closed their borders, in the u.s., the presidential race donald trump has picked up an important endorsement from a former rival, ben carson, who suspended his campaign. he says donald trump is the best

man to lead america in the years ahead. it comes after the latest republican tv debate during which the businessman came under fire for his comment islam hates the west. >> marco rubio packed the hardest punch when asked about donald trump. >> presidents just can't say anything they want. it has consequences. we are going to have to work with muslims who are not radicals. >> donald trump wasn't backing down. he stood by his remarks saying he would not dampen his views to be politically correct. >> we have a serious problem. there is tremendous hates. we are a large portion of a group of people, islam who want to use very harsh names.

>> republican candidate ted cruz said he was fired up -- fed up with lobbying in washington. donald trump waste his plans for the military. >> we take care of the entire world. our military is depleted. we take care of germany and saudi arabia, and japan, south korea. >> the debate was the final time all four candidates would meet on stage ahead of crucial contests. marco rubio and john kasich are both facing do or die battles in florida and ohio. >> some sports news for you? a former berlin player takes center stage saturday.

he is making his debut as the new coach at frankfurt as they travel. he succeeds after a win list streak. >> a man with a mission to save frankfurt. he has a massive task ahead of him. he is optimistic his long experience can get back on track. >> i'm here to stay. i am convinced we can do it. we will use the time we have and work as much as we have -- we can. >> he had four days to prepare for his first game in the hot seat. it gave him and his co-trainer the opportunity to formulate a game plan.

>> we have concentrated on a number of things. naturally you can't focus on everything that we have tried to achieve quickly and explain what we expect. >> what they need our goals such as this one but the go-to guy is injured. he wants the team to be a unit once again. >> i believe the squad is ready for this. they have a tough opponent waiting for them. they will still take the challenge. we want to play well and gain confidence for the remaining games of the season. >> confidence is something they will need. on the other hand, they would welcome another dismal performance.

>> we are going to take a short break. when we come back, daniel winter with the latest business including the impact of the nuclear disaster on german politics. stay tuned for that. back in 60 seconds.

>> welcome back. our top stories, a report hold south sudan's government chiefly responsible for crimes against humanity including gang rape and sex trafficking. amnesty international is accusing them of war crimes. japan has been remembering those who died in a triple disaster five years ago today. an earthquake divided by a --

18,000 people losing their lives in that disaster. we are going to go to some business news. the nuclear meltdown triggering a political shift in germany. daniel winter has all we need to know about that. >> i've got a story for you. nuclear power is seen as a cheap clean and green way to produce energy but the disaster and increasing emergence of renewable energy sources has turned germans off when it comes to atomic energy. in the aftermath the german government decided to pull the plug on all the nuclear power stations. the cost of the cleanup is immense. >> the power plant stopped producing power 27 years ago. decommissioning work has been in progress since 1995. it's clear the 3 billion euros

are not enough to finish the job. the work was supposed to be completed in 2008 but it will probably take another 10 years after that. for years germany's major energy companies make good money with nuclear power but today the same companies are making huge losses. a look at share prices tells the story. stock lost 40% in the past year. rwe was down 50%. the once robust energy giant unable to withstand heavy losses on the german stock exchange. a total of 29 nuclear power plants in germany need to be dismantled in the coming years. companies have set aside 38 billion euros for decommissioning but experts say it will not be enough.

>> the companies are responsible for decommissioning and disposal , it is the polluter who pays. germany failed to establish a nuclear fund. partial financing would have been insured. now these companies are having trouble so taxpayers are on the hook and that is unacceptable. as part of germany's transition to renewable energy, the proportion of electricity generated by nuclear power and fossil fuels has been falling. today renewables provide one third of the energy needs. the long-term goal is 80%. there is still the problem of nuclear waste. a final storage site is not found yet. it could be up and running by 2015 at the earliest. german taxpayers will continue to pay billions for temporary storage.

>> the green energy revolution is dragging in cities into the red. many are shareholders in rwe which we mentioned in the previous report. a $7 billion loss last year. one thing that it isn't generating is a dividend. >> bus drivers are always on the road going from one end of the city to the other. they all work for the transport services company. lately rumors about coyotes have been circulating, a dampener on their mood. >> we always hear about what is planned and then nothing happens. we are waiting for the day things actually change. the local authority has made the public service companies have to suffer the consequences.

all while passengers are on the rise. >> everything that is limiting the budget including the rwe dividend will affect us. whether it will involve concrete meures there's -- measures, we can't say yet. it stacks up to 3 billion euros. rwe has decided against paying a dividend this year. 80 million euros are gone. treasurtreasurers had budgeted half of that. >> usually manage to make up for such deficits as we go along. but this time i have my doubts because funding accommodations has stretched our funds.

he has to take on 8000 refugees this year alone. that is straining the treasury which is already stretched. unemployment rate of 12% means welfare spending is high. rwe expressed its understanding of the city's predicament but the board is firm to not pay a dividend this year. locals agree after all, rwe has slipped into the red. >> it's not that we don't want to. it's not could or can. if you don't make money you can't pay any. when we made a lot of money we paid a lot of money. we need to acknowledge that. shareholders also suffer in hard times. >> employees are hoping they will not have to bear the brunt now that another source of

income for the city has run dry. >> they were up, then down, then up again. european equities. traitors did not know what to make of the free money because the central bank has reached for the big guns to boost the economy. mario draghi unveiled a package of measures bigger than expected. for the first time they shave the borrowing rate to zero. the central bank reduced into negative territory and said it would expand the bond buying program to 80 billion euros a month. investors are questioning the move to push more money through the financial system. not everyone is happening with the stimulus package. joining me now, an economist and finance professor at the university of mannheim. what are your key criticisms of

the policy direction? >> the major criticism is that it is a continuation, and exaggeration of a program that hasn't worked in the past. it has an increased growth or price levels. it has worked in the opposite direction. it has a hurt the small banks which are taking deposits. >> what are the risks going ahead now that that is increased? >> the risks are basically similar to what they have been in the past when they started this program. they are putting more money into the system and giving low interest rate environments. they need to find a higher yield for these investments. they are chasing the area's classes with risk payments going

down which may pose risk to stability in the long run. >> you said in a statement that the banks already have enough cash but not enough assets to prop up finances. if not this then what? >> i'm not sure whether this is something we should be doing. it is not a monetary policy issue. i still think the banks and the eurozone are undercapitalized and they have been for a couple of years. so i think this issue of capitalization has to be addressed. even then it seems to be trying to increase liquidity, to increase demand is not as a cyclical and issue these days. the governments have to realize this is more structural. starting with a structural issue and then others.

this is now basically coming back. >> ok. if he is scraping the bottom of the policy barrel, what should his exit strategy be? >> i think this is at some point they have to increase interest rates. they will have the same problem. they can't do it very quickly because the banks will get the problem that they simply pay too much for the funding which could then hurt and pose a major risk. >> ok. thank you for joining me. >> lets end on a sweet note. time to bring you the story of an unlikely friendship that has blossomed near rio de janeiro between a man and a pink one.

they are absolutely inseparable. the penguin swims from his frosty home to the sunny beaches of brazil to see the man who saved his life. you are watching dw news in berlin. more coming up after the break. do stay with us.

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