hello, and a warm welcome to the "jonal" on dw-tv. >> thank you for joining us. >> germany votes to allow the controversy of practice of embryo screening in limited circumstances. the british tabloid "news of the world" shutdown over telephone hacking scandal. and that the final film in the harry potter series. the german parliament has

voted to allow a process known as pre-implantation diagnosis under certain circumstances. it gives doctors the right to discard embryos if they show signs of genetic it affects. -- genetic defects. lawmakers agreed to allow limited use of the procedure. >> this person listened keenly to t debe. a gynecologist in berlin, he turned himself in in 2005 after he carried out the procedure which was then banned. a court found in his favor, spurring a big public debate. >> it may prevent suffering in individual cases, but in every single case, it denies a conceived human life the right to live. we should not do that. >> no one takes the decision to

have the in vitro fertilizaon lightly. it is anxtrely stressful procedure. both physically and psychologically, and it carries a social stigma. >> couples to go this route already have a long history of suffering behind them. ultimately, arguments like that won, but the use of the procedure will be strongly restrict it. the only parents with hereditary illnesses will qualify. a few hundred couples are likely to benefit each year. >> i am relieved that a sensibl world will affect the majority and couples are not prevented from seeking treatment in germany. >> this person finally knows where he stands after campaigning for the procedure the last six years. >> later, the discussion over embryo screening. britain's biggest selling sunday paper has been shut down

at amidst the phone hacking scandal. "news of the world" journalists have been accused of talking into the voice mails of victs of child -- of murder and terrorist attacks. the owner, news international, announced it is closing down the newspaper. >> "the news of the world" thrived on scandals. now it is the victim of a scandal of its own. this sunday edition will be the last of terror -- last after of over 150 years. a james murdock said on doors turned to good news gone bad and it was not fullynderstood or adequately pursued. the crisis at the paper was spiraling out of control as ever more allegations of phone hacking emerged. and it was not just celebrities who were targeted but also victims of crimes, the parents of these murdered girls for

example. and the families of people killed and the 2005 london bombings. asked by journalists about the case in the u.s. thursday, rupert murdoch refused to answer any questions. a public inquiry in britain will examine the allegations. prominent targets expect there to be more revelations. that what we will find out in the next weeks and months it was not just "the news of the world." i almost feel sorry for them because they're taking the rap for the malpractices of the entire industry. >> "the news of the world close " whatever they uncover will not be reporting on it. >> i spoke with our rrespondent and aed what prompted news international to take this step of shutting down the paper. >> it seems the chairman of news international is planned a long

game. he has thrown up his hands in the middle of the storm admitted to wrongdoing. he said he had directed the past practices of "news of the world" and did not live up to the high standards of his journalism. those who are more cynical may say this is a smart commercial decision, because the decision about b sky b is coming up. also, murdoch has other interests at news outlets in the u.k. major advertisers had pulled out of "news of the world" because of the media storm in the u.k., with everyone from politicians to a journalist's to members of the public being highly critical of the newspaper. >> how much anger as this scandal caused in britain? >> there has been anger amongst

the families of the victims, there has been revulsion amongst the public and also intense political pressure. also, there is a criminal investigation ongoing, that these new revelations about other potential phone hacking allegations have come to light. this is certainly not the end of the scandal. there is still pressure on senior figures atne international" including a former editor, or backup brooks. even though there is not this commercial closure, there is also a smart business decision by murdoch because the newspaper wasn't losing money. although he seems to be bowling to political pressure -- the newspaper was losing money, and although he seems to be bound to the political pressure, it makes financial sense. parliamentary elections for

next mon in syria acrdgo a newspaper which has close ties to the government. it said reforms on the media and political parties must be passed first. meanwhile, one of the centers of the uprising and the president, groups say that the police fired at the crowds demanding reforms wednesday. activists say at least 20 people died since forces moved in earlier this week. the president of yemen has madeis first tevision appearance sie sufferi severe burns and an attack at the beginning of last month. he repeated his call for dialogue among yemen's rival political groups and gave no sign that he wasx prepared to step down, but he also did not say when or if he plans to return home. >> the burns are visible on the president's face and his arms

are covered in bandages. it was his first appearance on television since he was wounded in iraq attacked a month ago. -- wn itnd a rocket attack a month ago. the criticized the movement that has demanded that he step down, but he also called on the opposition to join the dialogue. he remains in the saudi capital, where he has had at least eight operations. the protests have continued in his absence. demonstrators were in the streets again thursday demanding that he step down for good. >> we will stay here even through the month of ramadan, until we win the revolution. until god makes it happen, we will be steadfast. god is great. >> for now, it appears the president wants to hang on, despite his injuries. one person has been killed after part of a soccer stadium

collapsed in the netherlands. at least 40 others were injured. the incident happened during building work at the stadium. most of the casualties were among a construction crew working on a roof extension. the cause of the collapse isot known yet. to business news now with steve. >> ireland, portugal, and greece were not thrilled, but investors like the moves, boosting the euro this thursday. the ecb has raised interest rates. they have raised their benchmark level rate by 25 basis points, 1.5%, signaling that battling inflation remains a top priority. the ecb also weighed in on the debate raging over rings agencies, that wl continue to accept portuguese that as collateral despite the decision by moody's earlier this week to lower their debt rating to junk status.

>> praise for portugal from jean-claude trichet. it will privatize more state assets than stipulated by the e.u. and imf and will raise taxes. those are reasons why the european central bank is bending its own rules and will continue to lend to portugal despite its junk debt rating. >> whave decided t spe the minimum collateral requirements for the purpose of assistance and credit operations. in the case of marketable debt instruments by the portuguese government, this extension will be maintained until further notice. >> the eurozone debt crisis cannot stop ecb from raising its key interest rates. benchmark rates go up to 1.5%. but during the financial crisis, the bank rapidly cut interest tes to histic ls to stimulate the economy.

inflation tumbled as european economies contract, but most have recovered and inflation has had it back up and is now running 2.7%. the ecb is using interest rates to slow it, but critics say will only make those harder on eurozone governments that are struggling with massive debt. plans to create a new transatlantic make a stock exchange have taken another step forward thursday. the nyse-younext has support for its merger, but there is a remaining hurdle before the deal can be sealed, up 75% of the shareholders have to approve the merger by the middle of next week. >> executives on both sides of the i think have worked hard for this deal. they say that it will bring in over half a billion euros and cost savings and additional annual revenues if the companies combined. that convinced

the new york stock exchange shareholders. >> the merger is something that would moveó this to another stage, putting us globally even bigger than we are now. the competition will be extremely tough going forward in this space, the exchange up space, and if you are not a leader with a foot. globally, you'll be left behind. >> we only hope from our side of the equation, the german side sees the value of the brand name of the new york stock exchange. >> but the deal is far from sealed. three-quarters of the german stock exchange shareholders have to green light the deal next wednesday. and the merger will face scrutiny from u.s. and european competition authorities. investors were encouraged by the ecb's move on interest rates and progress in the planned merger of the markets. our correspondent sent us this summary of the trading session

in frankfurt. >> ecb ignores the votes of the big ratings agencies and investors appreciate this step because this gives the countries that have a debt problem time to solve their problems, because the ecb will be able to take their bonds as securities. the dax went up sharply after jean-claude trichet announced the steps, but in the end, there was all the room for a half percent and positive territory. one of the leading gainers on the dax has been a share after the new york stock is change accepted the merger bid from the german stock exchange. a closer look at thursday's closing numbers, the dax finished the day more than 0.5%. the euro stoxx 50 index also packing on gains finishing at

2844. the dow jones finished at the top of the hour up 0.75%. ithe euro trading higher against other major currencie1.4352 > german top managers are profiting from the economic upswing according to the latest survey. c.e.o.'s of tax-listed companies. an average of 4.5 million euros in 2010 -- ceos of the bachus listed companies earned an average of 4.5 million euros in 2010. the former number one, the deutsche bank chief. he managed to pull in just 8.9 million euros last year. don't feel too sorry for him.

turning to sports, in cycling is, the writer from norway has one stage six of the toward a france. a critic of the tour de france. this year stage was the longest, 226 kilometers. the bicyclist who came in third has the overall lead and the other > > -- and the yellow jersey. the world premiere of the final. potter film is being held in london tonight. thousands of fans turned out to say farewell to the characters who have grown up over the last 10 years. >> the boy wizard himself.

in front of the fans. like many of them, he has come of age with harry potter movies. before the premiere in london, he had no comment on his alter ego. his co-stars had more to say. >> i will miss my character. >> ron became her love interest. >> it is such a huge part of my life. >> thousands of fans came from far and wide for the premiere of "the deathly hallows part 2." >> we are the three potter generation. we have so much to talk about. >> after half of their lives with harry potter, now for daniel radcliffe and others, it is all over. >> are you into the harry potter world? >> sure, i don't know how it

ends, but i hope that good wins out. them always. stay tuned for "

the german parliament has passed controversy legislation that allows the genetic screening of embryos under certain conditions. the issue has divided governments around the world, with many people opposing it on religious and ethical grounds. they argue that infertility clinics will miss use the practice and offer so-called designer babies to parents who cannot afford them. supporters say those concerns are outighed by t opportunity offered to potential parents with genetic disorders who want to have children. our correspondent has this report from the only company in germany to have officially undergone embryo screening. i space-bar to the debate --

bait sparked the debate by german parliament to change the law. >> this child is for a half years old. she is a bright little girl with a special history. she is the only child in germany to have officially had a pre- implantation genetic diagnosis, embryo screening, before she was born. the method was banned in germany for a long time. but the mother was not going to be put off by that. she has a rare gene defect which specialists only discovered after she had had three miscarriages. >> the nurses told me with an 80% level of certainty my child would be severely handicapped and not be able to do anything. not speak or hearr see. it would have damage to its organs or something like that and a maximum life expectancy of one or two years.

>> pre-implantation genetic diagnostics allow her to give birth to a healthy child. prior to fertilization, the eight cells were examined for any possible genetic problems. -- that egg cells were examined for any possible genetic problems. >> i don't believe we are apprching god's territory. if i had cancer, i would use chemotherapy or radiation treatment. i am happy about the progress made in the medical world. we should be just as delighted about progress here. i will not accept any criticism about this. >> pre-implantation genetic diagnostics has been available to doctors since the early 1990's. critics claim the method is not acceptable because the defective embryo is the runaway and our human lives.

-- is thrown away and they are human lives. >> i am convinced that a human being is formed when a human egg and sperm come together and we cannot experiment with life. >> but many politicians see things differently. are just a few cells a fully fledged human being? what does eliminating possible birth defects say about how society values disabled people? germany has had special struggles with this issuewith nazis, hundreds of thousands of people were forced to be sterilized. many disabled people were murdered. the nazis called it life on worthy of living. the attitude to the testing varies from country to country. embryo screening is banned in italy, austria, and switzerland. ireland and finland have yet to

legislate. 11 european countries, now cludg germanyplace some restrictions on the testing, while belgium has predictably liberal laws governing the issue. at the center for reproductive genetics in brussels, the professor is one of the leading screening experts. about 100 german couples visit him every year. they'll suffer from a genetic defect and their children might be severely disabled at birth. >> it is most of the time on the genetic diseases one gene. people d't think that you have all these different issues, blue eyes, this is imagination, not reality. we're talking about severely sick children. >> but critics worry about how things may develop in the future. will couples want to select embryos with desirable

characteristics, so-called designer babies? at the moment, european countries agreed that screening should only be used. suffering. medical complications can occur, too. >> most of these patients have a history of the handicapped, a genetically induced children, so they're trying to avoid this. you can do the tests, amniocentesis, to check. >> proponents of screening argued that abortions would not happen if the testing or permit it. embryos, they say, should not have more protection than fetus is that are further developed. severely disabled fetuses are often not aborted in germany, sometimes very late in pregnancy.

-- are often aborted in germany, sometimes very late in pregnancy. on the other hand, opponents of the testing fear the number of surgical interventions will explode and it will be the start of a slippery slope. >> this argumt is repeatedly raised in ethical discussions. we have never experienced any slippery slope as has been prophesied. we have heard it in discussions with stem cells and euthanasia. there have always been these discussions. i believe this approach is not suited to this issue. >> in all the discussions about the testing, the key issues and of determining how much authority an individual can have and how far the state can intervene. that is an issue that has also divided the german ethics council as it tried to advise

parliament. this philosophy professor said the politicians should have more trust in families that are affected. >> i am pretty sure that those who faced the dilemma for the first time and know about genetic diseases and also realize what risks there are for any possible new life in this case, that they will make a very serious decision, not light- hearted. and we should leave them to make up their minds. but the situation in germany is very different. unfortunately, we t tnsfer ethical choice to the state, but i don't believe the state is the right authority to handle these issues. >> sign yet did not want to give birth to a child with a severe disability -- s--onyia did not o give birth to a child with severe disability, but she was

never interested in getting a so-called designer baby. >> it is all about having a child or getting pregnant with a child who was able to live and has normal life expectancies and does not die during childhood. that is the main issue, not the color of the hair. it should not be a cautionary examination like ultrasound. but a way of helping couples who are affected by these problems. >> this child is hoping to have a brother or sister one day, and her parents believe that may happen, but only with embryo screening, they say. that will now be possible for them in germany without fear they are breaking the law. >> that is our in-depth look at embryo screening as the german parliament has passed legislation that allows limited use of this controversy old

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which foot was it? best make that "best wishes." we don't want them getng their hopes up, do we? no, i suppose not. have always done it. why should she watch the flowers? nobody really remembers,