>> this is the journal coming to you from berlin. >> our headlines for you at this hour. syria warns the west of regional war if it is attacked. france says it will not go it alone. >> did it make a difference? german chancellor angela merkel goes head to head in a team debate. >> and mega money for gareth bale. it will cost the club a cool 100 million euros.

>> french lawmakers kicked out there debate on what to do in syria on monday with a damning report. that confirm the syrian report was behind last month chemical attacks. >> the french president said the assad government needs to be punished, but the french will not go it alone. >> from washington, we will have to wait until next week when congress will vote on that matter. >> while the world debates what to do next, syrian president bashar assad is once again warning if there is any military action against his government, he will retaliate. >> defiant, these demonstrators have turned out to show their support for president assad and the syrian regime. they say they will turn themselves into human shields if and when the americans launch their strikes. the international community is

still divided over whether to attack syria. russia says it has not yet seen conclusive evidence linking the assad regime to the chemical weapons attack. >> yes, we were shown some findings which contained no specifics, neither geographical coordinates nor names nor proof that test had been carried out by professionals. >> the head of nato says there is no doubt in his mind who carried out the attack. >> i have been presented with concrete information, and without going into details, i can tell you that her slowly, i am convinced. that only that a chemical attack has taken place, but everybody has seen the durant this images from syria. i am also convinced that the syrian regime is responsible. >> arab league foreign ministers have also been discussing the crisis.

they called on the united nations and international community to take the current action against the syrian regime, saying he carried out the gas attack. they said those responsible for the attack should stand trial for war crimes. but the secretary-general ruled out military intervention, saying there has to be a political solution. >> here in berlin, the german parliament has unanimously voted to accept the findings of a special committee that investigated a decade-long right-wing crime spree that shock the nation. >> the committee found that german security forces shamefully neglected the threat of the far right and bungled investigations into a series of murders committed by the right wing gang that called itself the nsu. >> the only suspected member of the nsu that is still alive is currently on trial. >> among those attending the special session, the president.

german politicians are keen to show they have learned lessons from the bungled investigation of the -- you crimes. >> during the investigation, victims and relatives were exposed to knowingly false accusations. >> that stuns and embarrasses us to this day. and for that, i would like to sincerely apologize in the name of the german parliament. >> the special committee was charged with determining my german officials failed to link the murders and us earrings of bombings and robberies to the neo-nazi gang. their conclusions are clear. >> nine of the 10 murder victims and everyone hit by the bomb attacks belong to ethnic minorities, which meant police and investigators suspected the victims themselves were criminals. that really disturbed us, and we heard that everywhere.

asked the committee said investigators committed scores of errors but were also hampered by institutional bias against minorities. the report includes 47 recommendations aimed at reforming law-enforcement agencies and procedures. >> john joins me now in the studio. there has been complete cross party agreement on this. that is unusual, isn't it? >> that is extremely unusual. one has to bear in mind that the investigative committee itself was a cross party committee, and the chairman was a social democrat and member of the opposition. the left party was represented, which has a communist platform. the business friendly liberal party was also represented. they all agreed. today at the parliamentary discussion, i hate he -- i hesitate to use the word debate.

the german state president was present, which was very unusual. this has more the character of a ritual, the handing over of this report, a ritual in which the german public represented by its parliament acknowledges what happened and commits itself to writing these wrongs. >> what can we expect in terms of crime -- in terms of concrete action coming out of this report? >> it is quite wide reaching. the most important one is that in future, any crime committed against a member of and at the minority has to be investigated under the aspect that it might have been racially motivated. >> thanks for that update. meanwhile a former nike has gone on trial in germany on monday for the murder of a dutch resistance fighter -- a former nazi has gone on trial. >> he was a member of the ss.

he has already served a prison sentence for his role in the killing of to judgdutch jews. >> he remained largely silent throughout, declining to respond to the charges against him. doctors say the 92-year-old is fit to stand trial for up to three hours a day. proceedings are set to run until september 26. but his lawyer says he feels the case should not have come to court. >> in general, i think it is quite late for these things, i have to say. i think it is debatable whether we should drag and 92-year-old in front of a court again. >> the reason why he is facing trial now is because his case has been reassessed. >> it was assumed that those who were killed, especially resistance fighters, knew what would happen to them.

so it wasn't considered a malicious murder as terrible as that sounds. other factors had to be considered instead. >> it was previously treated as a case of manslaughter, which meant it could no longer be prosecuted under the statute of limitations. but now the charge is murder, so the case is going ahead, seven decades after the crime was committed. >> it was the one chance german voters had to see the two main chancellor candidates go head- to-head on the main election issues. sunday night, millions tuned in to a live tv debate. >> both argued why they deserve to lead the country. the polls show no clear winner and there are few signs the debate changed many peoples minds about how they will vote in three weeks. >> the morning after her morning -- after her parties candidate went head-to-head with chancellor angela merkel, she

was pounding the pavement in berlin. >> think it is really motivating our election workers on the ground. it is going to be an exciting election campaign. i think the race is still open. >> what did voters think about how the debate went? >> it was no more or less than i was expecting. platitudes, no clear statements. boring. >> commentators and pollsters agree the evening was a draw. neither of the candidates dominated the debate. but there was a consensus, calling the labor party policies unfair. >> a normal job is permanent and cover social security contributions, so that everyone can grow old in dignity. >> merkel countered that germany was doing well under her watch and promised more of the same. >> we have shown that we can do

it. we have shown that during a tough time coming during a time of the european crisis. germany is still going strong. germany is strong. it is a motor of growth and an anchor of stability, and i want to maintain this course. >> party leaders held the incoming -- the incumbent chancellor in debate. >> you can tell she is the chancellor for all of germany. she is on top of everything and she is confident. she did not talk germany down but hung by the things that make germany stand out in europe. >> the rival social democrats seem to see a very different chancellor. >> angela merkel tried to pull the famous merkel fogged over her arguments when she didn't have any, and got almost touchy at critical questions during the debate. the spd's preferred coalition partner, the green party, seem to have regained hope that they could be part of the next government.

>> yesterday's debate proved that the selection is still open. >> with 20 days ago until the elections, the spd is in a race to get undecided voters on its side. cording to the polls, there is still -- according to the polls, they are still 19% behind. >> we spoke with a professor of political communication. we began by asking whether there was a clear winner of last night's debate. >> i would not say that. i would say it was a tie. an interesting strategy that worked out for him. his strategy was to attack merkel without being aggressive. he did that a couple of times quite well. merkel's strategy also worked. her strategy was to embrace the candidates quite often in terms of showing or linking the debate to policies they did together

during the grand coalition. while doing so, opening up the possibility of another grand coalition. i would say it was a tie. >> what about the format of this debate? there were four moderators asking these candidates question. was that a winner or a loser? >> i think that is a really good question about something that probably needs to be debated in the future more. i think the format did not work. the reason why the debate was not very lively and also not very entertaining was due to the format. we had four good journalists who really prepared well. they had good questions, but it was all about imposing the questions to the candidates him and it was not about the candidates debating with one another. that is why it really came out the way it was, not very entertaining, limited information. >> thank you very much for joining us.

you can find more in-depth information on our website. >> there is the address for you. radiation leaks at the fukushima nuclear plant in japan are spreading, leaving the japanese government scrambling to contain a growing crisis. >> highly contaminated water is leaking and there are storage plants, the second leak at the plant in as many weeks. officials are raising concerns over the safety of the tanks themselves. the government said it would help the plants operator to contain the problem. >> in mexico, demonstrators protesting against the government's reform program have clashed with police. a number of people were injured. >> protesters they're angry over government plans to shake up the education system in the energy -- and the energy sector. the president from -- postponed his state of the union address to avoid more disturbances.

>> tens of thousands of mexicans are out on the streets of the capital. they are furious over the government's reform agenda. the country's teachers have been protesting for two weeks against plans to introduce mandatory performance reviews. any fear the measure could lead to mass layoffs. -- many fear the measure could lead to mass layoffs. they were unable to get to the congress building where congress was debating the package. the lower house has now passed the bill. there were protest against plans to open mess -- mexico's energy sector to foreign investors, which many fear will lead to price hikes. >> we want to show our disapproval to congress over the approval of the energy reform. >> the anger on the street from to the president to postpone his first date of the union address. it was due to be held on sunday but was moved to monday tom a in an apparent attempt to avoid -- moved to monday in an

apparent attempt to avoid more unrest. >> we will talk about vodafone and verizon and what they are up to. >>@hundred million dollar man, is he worth it? after the break.

>> welcome back. one of the business -- biggest business deals of all time, verizon wireless has agreed to buy out vodafone's 45% stake in a $130 billion transaction. >> it would allow verizon to consolidate in the u.s. market and leaves out phone with a massive war chest. -- leaves vodafone with a massive war chest. >> verizon wreless is the country's largest mobile network operator. now it is buying vodafone's 45% stake for $100 billion.

that could give vodafone a much- needed boost, allowing it to pay off debt, making new purchases, and returning money to shareholders. >> i think the shareholders will urge the company did start putting their money to work. that is a lot of money for vodafone. in terms of having it make the money were, it will have to go back into the company. they will have to pay back an enormous amount of debt. >> vodafone could will choose to reinvest some of that capital in europe. back in june it launched a 7.7 billion euro cash officeer. >> news of that vodafone deal and some new data for china put some pep back into the market after last week's big selloff. this summary from frankfurt. >> vodafone shares have been

among the most wanted shares here in frankfurt. if the company really gets 100 billion euros, this means the company itself can start some acquisitions. on the other hand, if there are no acquisitions, vodafone could be a takeover target itself, as analysts were saying. this due to the fact that vodafone shares went up by four percent. the market in general has been very positive, although wall street has been closed because of the holiday. >> in frankfurt for a closer look at monday's numbers. wall street closed for the memorial day holiday. the euro trading at this hour at $1.31 to the u.s. dollar.

>> thousands have turned out to protest. >> the small transylvanian community has attracted gold- mining since roman times. resources there are still immense and it could mean the creation of jobs and revenues. opponents say the mine belongs to the town and not any mining company. >> they say will destroy the natural environment because cyanide will be used to extract the minerals. >> protesters like these say the plan by a canadian company for an open cast mine in western remaining outs will leave water and soil contaminated with cyanide. they are appealing to lawmakers to stop it. >> it is important for our kids to grow up with the feeling that there are more important inc. spend money come and we don't have the right to destroy what god has created around us.

>> the project is a crime against all of us and it is very painful when we think about our children and the future. we don't want them to be left with the sinai desert area that would be a dister. -- with a cyanide desert. >> the canadian company a brutal resources wants to reopen the mine and promises to respect all environmental regulations. they hope to extract 11.5 billion euros worth of silver and gold from the site. the remaining government would -- the romanian government would own a 20% stake. >> just one of the factors weighing on investment in turkey. >> four years, the country on the bosporus was seen as a kind of eurasian tiger state, boasting solid annual growth of 4% on average. >> now the turkish economy is cooling. some fear the fat years are over.

>> most people don't have very big savings accounts here. traditionally, people in turkey don't put aside much of their money in banks. that also applies to businesses. it is a huge problem because right now international investors are pulling vast amounts of capital out of emerging markets. they are parking the funds in the u.s., which is considered a safer haven. that means turkish corporations are losing a vital source of funding. the foreign capital sparked a huge boom in recent years. since 2003, turkey's gdp has been buoyant. some years growth came close to 10%. after faltering during the global economic crisis, the turkish economy rebounded, but last year, turkey boasted relatively anemic growth of 2.2%. it is open to question whether turkey will do any better this year. the government has already been forced to revise downward its previous forecast of four percent. along with the flight of

capital, there is a further problem, the civil war in neighboring syria. that is also frightening potential investors. turkey is not neutral in the conflict but openly supports groups opposing syrian dictator bashar al-assad. >> to the business of sports now, and welshman gareth bale has just become the most expensive soccer player ever. >> madrid is taking a big risk here, because he has yet to score a national championship in his relatively short career. >> meet the 100 million euro man, gareth bale, age 24, born in wales. he plays for real madrid, and that is about all his teammates know about gareth bale. >> i am not the right person to say if he deserves that money, whether it is a good deal or not. >> the brazilian playmaker has

already signed with malan, where he replaces kevin who transferred last week. also headed for the door, just before the transfer window closed, bound for england. the tottenham coach put the loss of such a talented star in perspective. >> you can lose five or six players per season and reinvest. gareth bale coming to the team is wonderful. >> they are hoping the reinvestment will finally pay off this year. >> to break down all those transfers, we are joined by our sports expert.

is gareth bale worth it in e >> there are few football players worth that kind of money. i am not convinced he is one of them. renaldo was already -- had already been there and done that with manchester united and obviously had huge brand recognition, if you will. even if he is a great footballer, bale doesn't have that kind of commercialism. he has a lot to prove. he will have to maneuver a prickly dressing room with lots of politics, bruised egos perhaps. it is going to be difficult to live up to that price tag. >> now that madrid has splashed out all this cash for him, they have to make some room for him on the field.

>> the real madrid fans were incensed by the unveiling of gareth bale today. they were actually heckling the president for the move. i think it really sums up the whole approach to this. it is a game for him. he is a sort of megalomaniac who wants to be in charge. >> lots of cash sloshing around. thanks for that update. >> a promised probe into revelations of systematic doping in the former west germany appears to have stopped. with growing uncertainty over whether any of those involved will face consequences, opposition is growing increasingly angry over the apparent foot dragging by the current government. >> it does seem to be some movement toward the creating of a much touted anti-doping law in germany, but the country's

interior minister has said that an expert committee will not meet to discuss the topic until the end of september after germany's general election. >> the german interior minister was among those who crammed into the sports committee meeting. the study says that for decades, the interior ministry supported the systematic doping of german athletes. their rights, amphetamines, testosterone, and blood darkening given to -- blood doping given to the top athletes. >> i have absolutely no reason to hide or cover up anything. we will get to the bottom of this. but we should avoid making unproven claims and allegations against public figures and stakeholders from that era. >> friedrich now wants to consult more experts before deciding what to do. the opposition is disappointed

with the minister's stance. >> i would like to have her clear statements from the interior minister on how his department is going to respond to the findings. >> the chair of the sports committee has long championed the new anti-doping law. in her view, both dopers and the supplier should have to face court. germany's governing parties have not been supporting her plan, but now friedrich has signals that he is willing to his consider the idea. >> that is all from us for now. thanks for watching. >> more news for you at the top of the hour. keep it here. captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org--

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