>> hello and welcome to the "journal" here on dw. >> our top stories -- syrian assurances. the russian foreign minister receives a rousing welcome in damascus. >> protests in athens as politicians there. on the line, another $130 billion -- another 130 billion

in loans. >> europe's record deepfreeze. >> the syrian president is willing to cooperate with all efforts toward stability in his country. >> that is according to the state news agency in syria. bashar al assad has met with the russian foreign minister, who says the talks were very useful in promoting peace. >> meantime, europe is stepping up pressure with six nations withdrawing their ambassadors for consultations. among them, france and britain. >> the eu also considering new sanctions to cut the regime's access to cash as crowds lined the streets of damascus today to get a rapturous welcome to their russian visitor. >> a hero's welcome for the

russian foreign minister. pro-assad supporters lined the route as the russian foreign minister made his way through. >> we thank russia and china for their veto against international intervention. for god, syria, and bashar. >> he headed straight to the presidential palace. he said the syrian leader was preparing a referendum on constitutional reform, and that both countries were committed to the first arab league peace plan agreed back in november. >> the president of syria assured us he was completely committed to the task of stopping violence regardless where it may come from. according to what was mentioned in the initiative. >> but the killing goes on. government forces have again shelled the opposition stronghold of homs. this internet footage is said to show the aftermath of the attacks. more than 100 people have been killed here since monday. syria pose a powerful neighbor

turkey is intensifying support of syria opposition activists. the prime minister wants assad's opponents to work together. >> we are going to start a new initiative with those countries that stand by the people, not the syrian government. this is what we are preparing. >> the u.s. has closed its embassy in damascus. britain and several other eu countries ever called ambassadors as have the gulf states. international pressure on syria is mounting. >> let's bring in our correspondent. markets, the russian foreign minister received an enthusiastic welcome in damascus. what does he want to achieve? >> we do not have any details, so it is hard to say. what we heard, what you talked about already is assad agreed to take up talks with opposition leaders, and he will allow air bleed observers to get back to

the process, and he is already ready to allow even more observers, to increase the number of observers. russian media speculated today that there might have been roa maps that would allow parties and a process to save face, and very important, to keep the russians in the process. it is clear after the veto, which russia has done in the united states -- the united security council, for them not only to block the process, but that they really can contribute to stop the violence. >> a lot that they want to show the international community, but there is also a lot of economic and military interest that russia has in syria. can you fill us in about that? >> yes, sure. if the assad regime does fall, russia will lose its last ally in the region. that would mean they would lose the naval base in the

mediterranean and a lot of arms deals with hundreds of millions of dollars, just the week before a russian leader reported that russia will deliver, for example, what is to be used against the protesters. >> markets, thank you so very much. meanwhile in berlin, police have arrested two men suspected of spying for the syrian intelligence agency. one is a syrian nationa the other holds dual german lebanese citizenship. >> prosecutors say syrian opposition activists living in germany had been kept under close surveillance by syrian agents. they, in turn, have been watched by germany's domestic intelligence service.

last weekend, opposition protesters stormed the syrian embassy in berlin. for years, diplomats have been suspected of maintaining a network of agents. their job -- to identify regime opponents in germany. if those people return to syria, the risk detention, interrogation, and beatings. >> we will once again make it perfectly clear to syrian representatives that we will in no way tolerate any crackdown on syrian opposition activists in germany. it is against the law here. it was just weeks ago that this regime critic was a salted in his berlin apartment by two unknown attackers. a member of the opposition syrian national transitional council, he believes syrian agents were behind the attack. prosecutors say so far, there is no connection between that incident and tuesday's arrests. >> now, to athens where government and international creditors are working this hour

on a last-minute deal on the cuts needed to free up the desperately needed package. >> the pressure is immense on politicians to get their hands on another international lifeline in exchange for more tough cuts to pensions and pay. >> an increasingly angry republic is saying enough. tens of thousands have taken to the streets. unions are calling for a complete debt write-down. >> this is just one thing t government is up against. mass demonstrations, a 24-hour strike, and crunch talks between investors and officials. >> by early morning, the strike had brought public transport to a standstill in athens. ships stayed tied up at the docks. schools were closed and state- run hospitals operated at minimal staff levels. many greeks are angry at the prospect of even more austerity measures from the government. >> they are making the sport,

completely pour -- they are making us poor. we are a steaming kettle ready to explode. >> they have turned the country upside down over the last two years. they are driving us mad. eventually, we will not even be able to drink coffee. these are not people. they are barbarians. >> by midday, thousands had converged outside parliament. over loudspeakers, unions called on workers to stand up to what they describe as medieval conditions. inside parliament, the greek government moved ahead with its plans for spending cuts. >> we go to our athens correspondent. public-sector jobs are now on the chopping block. has that brought this all to a new level? >> well, the greeks are definitely feeling all the measures being down on them constantly. they feared that this new fresh

loan, which they say is only being signed on to save the banks and financial institutions and will only allow grece to serve banks, instead of any money to the greek people -- they say the cuts they are being asked to get this money will just be too much. now 900,000 people in greece are unemployed, and the new cuts and measures willnly ask for more layoffs in the public sector as well as cuts. all this an effort to make greece more competitive. however, many experts warn that this is not a way to make the country competitive but only cheaper. >> we know this has been going on forever. the german chancellor has said time is of essence. is that the view in athens? >> things here have been different. yes, there is a sense of

urgency, but no deadlines as far as they are concerned. the officials here were supposed to be meeting yesterday. that is the party leaders and prime minister. that got postponed until today, and again, we are hearing it will be pushed back to tomorrow morning. meanwhile, the prime minister has been holding meetings with investors. the big question is not when they will clinch the deal -- they need to have it ready by the summit on thursday. will the greek politicians finally deliver is the big question. >> thank you for the update. the euro has risen to a two- month high ainst the u.s. dollar appeared speculation is rife that athens is going to finally agreed to those austerity measures. >> that is right, but it remains

a waiting game. the outcome still uncertain. here is our market report with more from the frankfurt stock exchange. >> somehow, it sounds familiar, so familiar -- waiting for greece. that was the word on the floor this day as well. people were waiting for some sort of progress in the various talks on various levels going on in and around greece. nothing came of it until the end of trading, but still, the dax managed to catch up on all the losses throughout the day, and at just a slight loss at the end of the day's trading. people are still hopeful that the will not be a disorderly the fall, a default that would cause surely a lot of chaotic turbulence, at least in the first little while, after such a situation might arrive. car shares certainly the big losers these days, not least because there were worries that china might be affected by a slowdown in the world economy, and luxury car makers might sell

less there, but there was also profit-taking involved. car shares so far big favorites in this market. >> here now is a look at market numbers and how the markets are reacting. the dax composite a top german companies closing today 6754. euro stocks 50 -- that is up a bit. to thousand 514 there. on wall street, the dow at this hour trading at 12,883, also up a tick. the you're getting a real tail wind from those great debt talks. protect your private information while getting the access to the internet you want. that is the message for today's safer internet day, but there is a note of caution as well. >> germany's consumer protection minister has used but is your

data safe when you use a smartphones? germany's consumer protection minister says no. >> the background is that you do not even have to enter any data. simply visiting a web site is enough to identify your device and for the corresponding phone bill to be charged. >> the minister is urging smartphone makers to tighten security standards, and she wants to see action on the issue at a european level.

burying parts of the country under a thick blanket of snow. the city on the danube is one of the worst hit. authorities are urging people not to venture outdoors into the bitter cold. transport networks have ground to a halt, and many schools remained shut. despite the hardship caused, the extreme conditions could allow a rare sporting event to take place in the netherlands. the 11 cities toward across the

frozen water waste. >> i think it will happen. i have a good feeling about it. we only need another week of this weather. >> volunteers have already begun clearing the 200-kilometer course, the world's lgest speedskating competition. it can only be held when ice is at least 15 centimeters thick. the last race was in 1997. the freezing temperatures have created a bizarre landscape around the geneva in switzerland. if a layer of ice has created a unique winter wonderland. >> that is beautiful. we will be back in one hour with more here on dw. >> thanks for watching. captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org--