>> this is the journal" -- "journal" from dw. syrian president bashar al-assad comes up with a peace plan that his opponents say is nothing. in sports news, we will have more of that coming up. the conflict in syria has been going on for close to two years.

experts say the end is still a very long way away. refugees continue to flow over to the borders into neighboring nations. jordan says it has 9000 in just the past week, mostly women and children. syria's leader has made it no place for joy. it was his first public speech in more than a year. president assad refuses to talk to the opposition, whom he calls puppets created by the west. opponents say the speech was designed to avoid a diplomatic solution to the civil war. >> bashar al-assad took center stage at the damascus opera house. fighting rages on the outskirts of the capital, but his forces still hold the city center. in his address, the syrian president maintain the defiant rhetoric he has since the start of the conflict. he accused foreign powers and terrorists of meddling in the syrian affairs.

>> revolutionaries act for the good of the people and not against their interests. they are not revolutionary. they are just common criminals. >> assad said he wants a peaceful solution in syria and called for a national dialogue, but he said he had not found a partner that does not take orders from abroad. >> we will negotiate with those who criticize our arguments. we will negotiate with those whose arguments are based on national principles. we will negotiate with parties and individuals who have not sold their nation to strangers. >> european leaders reacted to the speech with disappointment. london and brussels renewed calls for him to step down. >> my message to assad is go. he has the most phenomenal amount of blood on his hands. we now see 60,000 people have been killed in syria. i met some of the victims when i went to the refugee camp on the jordanian border. the stories they told me were completely shocking about how they had been bombed and shot

and, in some cases, even stabbed. speech was greeted with wild applause from his supporters. his opponents have dismissed it as another ploy to cling to power. >> a middle east expert joins us now. assad may not have given a speech in half a year, but there was not really much new to it anyway, was there? >> not really. the speech was interesting not because he tried to reach out to the opposition. rather, he tried to reassure his followers he will continue to fight. that is the key message here there is no room for negotiation. he is really playing the hardliner. >> very early on, you said this conflict was going to be a very long one. how much longer can it be, economically? >> it's a very good question. nobody can tell exactly when it is going to end. it could go on for years to come. economically speaking, the

country is on the verge of bankruptcy. we have a rebel economy on the one hand. on the other hand, we have a gangster economy. weapons and drugs being smuggled. many goods pouring in from neighboring lebanon -- neighboring lebanon and iraq. the syrians are the people they do pay the price. >> what options does assad have right now? >> he can leave the country. he has made it clear he will not do that. he can continue to fight to the bitter end, as did more market off the in libya gosh -- will market off he -- muammar gaddafi in libaya. >> a contingent of german soldiers will accompany the missiles. and kara wants greater protection from possible syrian missiles -- ankara wants

greater protection from possible syrian missiles. philipp rosler has called on party members to go all out in the campaign. the coalition is suffering from poor rates in the polls. the pressure is going with important regional elections in two weeks. , support for ftp leader philipp rosler appears to be fading fast. before the party faithful in guard, he emphasized the f dp -- in stuttgart, he emphasized the fdp principles. >> having credibility means being able to take a stand.

being able to stick to your position. but credibility is also a matter of style, of fairness, and solidarity. >> the fdp's solidarity might be put to test. some see rainer bruderle h has a better alternative. >> into the fray, you freedom fighters. fight for germany with freedom, the free democrats of germany. we are not just called the free democrats, we are the free democrats. free and independent and holding our heads up high. >> despite their rhetoric, the free democrats know their position is vulnerable today are fighting to stay in state parliament -- is vulnerable. they are fighting to stay in state parliament. >> fears are growing for around

100 missing people after fires in tasmania. firefighters have been battling blazes since friday. dozens of houses have been lost in dunalley, the town hit hardest. extreme heat triggered the fires. while temperatures have cooled off, fire chiefs are warning of more extreme hot weather this week. there have been more riots in the northern irish capital of belfast. police arrested one man on suspicion of attempted murder after shots were fired at officers. last week, a peaceful rally came -- became violent when please came under attack -- when police came under attack. there was a decision by the belfast council to end the century-old tradition of flying the british flag from city hall every day. to the czech republic where a prisoner amnesty announced by the president has caused

widespread anger. tens of thousands of people have signed an online petition against the measure, which affects almost 7000 people -- 7500 people, either in jail or on trial. critics say they are alleged business criminals with close ties to the government. >> at prague's biggest risen, the year got off to an unexpectedly good start for thousands ash biggest risen, the year got off to an unexpectedly good start for thousands. one prisoner after another has been released back into society. >> this is great. thank you for giving me another chance. >> it went right down to the wire. the austrian claimed victory on the last jump of the day. >> austria can celebrate yet another crown. this year, they won back-to-back titles.

it was a thrilling finale. norway's skier shot to the front with the second jump of 139 meters. that put pressure on the austrian, but he held his nerve. he took superior style points. germany ran into trouble after the start. the 17-year-old had the longest first jump, but he later took a fall and fell far behind. germany started off in fourth place, but missed the gate in the first stage, forcing him to withdraw. for austria, it was a day of triumph, confirming its status as world leader in ski jumping. >> the ski tournament include seven races over nine days. the final took place in italy. it is the most challenging of the races. the cross-country course runs nine kilometers, mostly uphill.

>> that were saved the toughest for last. after seven grueling days, the skiers had to contend with inclines of almost 30% in the 9 -- kilometer freestyle -- in the nine-kilometer freestyle. the russian held on until the finish line. second place went to switzerland. the russian was in third. the women's race -- poland proved unstoppable on the steep slopes. she romped home to win her fourth victory in a row. she continued her domination of the sport in recent years. behind her were two norwegians. >> russians are dominating the biathlon event in germany.

there was flawless shooting in the 12.5 meter pursuit. his compatriot won the women's 10 kilometer. there were 10 shooting errors and she made it -- fell to 10th place. most of germany's football camps have headed to football camps in warmer climes. they hope to regain the bundesliga title for the first time since 2010. >> bayern munich are regulars here. it is the third time they have used the world's richest country as their training camp. it is a high-tech soccer oasis in the heart of the burning desert. >> i have been to a lot of training camps. i can honestly say the overall

conditions here make this the best i have ever seen. >> the five star hotel is tucked away the lush training facilities. this is where the coach and the team kick back after a long day of training. even though they are top of the table in the bundesliga, they are not resting on their laurels. >> if you stop moving, you are really taking a step back. once you begin believing that you have reached your zenith, you start making mistakes. >> to prevent that, they have set up some matches in the qatar, like this one. -- in qatar, like this one. they have a bulging budget and an international roster. still, the desert club was no match for the germans. they made the most of their ample arsenal of star players. bayern troost to a 4-0 -- bayern

cruised to a 4-0 victory. >> it came down to real business after the warm-up on saturday, starting off in l, peru -- in lima, peru. he hopes to win his second title, but he will have to beat the competitor from france. the frenchman only managed the sixth spot in the opening stage. pretty tough stuff. this sunday marks the festival of the epiphone, when the three wise men are said to have visited whenjesus -- epiphoany, the three wise men are said to

have visited baby jesus. there is a group from the rhine region that visited the official residence of the german president in berlin. organizers estimate that 500,000 children took part across the country. ♪ french actor gerard a perdue has received his russian passport -- gerard depardieu has received his russian passport. he received a warm reception from vladimir putin in sochi. russia may soon be entertaining more french celebrities. former film star brigitte pardo says she is also thinking of applying for russian citizenship. you are up-to-date on all the sports, business, and news. keep watching dw. for more news, go to www.dw.dw.

eastern. only on link tv. >> as the week began, german chancellor angela merkel delivered her new year's address to the nation. she reminded germans that challenges still lay ahead. merkel said achieving prosperity depended on both hard work and supporting societies weakest members -- supporting society's weakest members. >> we can see from the european sovereign debt crisis how important is balance is. the reforms we have agreed to are beginning to take effect. we still need a lot of patience. the crisis is far from over. >> the chancellor said more needed to be done to monitor international markets.

she said the world had not yet learned enough from the financial crisis. >> ireland held a ceremony at dublin castle to mark the start of its presidency of the european union. the country has taken over the put -- the position from cyprus. ireland received an eu bailout two years ago. since then, it has won praise from brussels for its austerity measures. it is helping keep the cost of presidency down, budgeting for around 60 million euros. that is half of what was spent when the country last held the role in the 2004 -- in 2004. >> also on monday, in germany gave up its seat on the un security council after wrapping up the 2 -- two-year term as a nonmember. allies weremany's disappointed when the country abstained on a vote to authorize a no-fly zone over libya.

among germany's achievements was an initiative which really -- which led to climate change being recognized as a threat to international peace and security. >> as tuesday began, people and many parts of the world celebrated start -- people in many parts of the world celebrated the start of the new year. australia had a fireworks display in sydney's famous harbor. 10 hours later, germany welcomed the new year. the country's biggest street party was held at the brandenburg gate. revelers were treated to a concert featuring big-name bands, including the pet shop boys. and in brazil, more than 2 million people saw in the new year on the famous copacabana beach in rio de janeiro. ♪ one of the last major cities to

welcome in 2013 was new york. hundreds of thousands attended the festivities in times square, with traditional music and plenty of smooching. ♪ >> on new year's day, the us narrowly avoided economic calamity. lawmakers in both houses of congress passed a last-minute deal to prevent huge, automatic tax hikes and spending cuts from taking place. those would have affected all americans. under the deal, income-tax rates will only go up for people earning more than $400,000. , thanks to the votes of democrats and republicans in congress -- >> thanks to the votes of democrats and republicans in congress, i will sign a law that raises taxes on the wealthiest two percent of americans while preventing a middle-class tax hike that could have sent the economy back into a recession and obviously had is of your impact on families all across america. >> -- had a severe impact on

families all across america. >> after his holiday in hawaii, obama will face another problem. in march, congress must raise the debt limit and agree on spending cuts. >> north korean leader kim jong delivered a surprising message, promising plenty of change for 2013. in the televised speech, he vowed to turn around the country's floundering economy. and he called for an end to the long running feud with south korea. , this year, the entire korean nation should join the nature attic -- this year, the entire korean nation should join the patriotic effort to end the division of the country. it is important to remove confrontation between north and south. , it was the first new year's address by a north korean leader in -- it was the first new year's address by a north korean leader in 19 years.

the international response was skeptical. germany says that north korea needs to match its words with actions. >> in ivory coast, new year's celebrations ended in tragedy. at least 60 people were killed and 200 injured during a stampede as crowds left fireworks display in the country's largest city of abidjan. many of the victims were children. , at least 16 people were crushed to death -- in angola, at least 16 people were crushed to death. >> in syria, at least 30 people were killed. eyewitnesses said petrol had been delivered shortly before the explosion and drivers had lined up to refill their tanks. the assad regime is increasingly relying on its air force. to reduce its effectiveness, opposition forces attacked a military airport.

the un now says over 60,000 people have been killed in the conflict. some 15,000 more than previously estimated. the un has expressed concern at the number of atrocities committed by both the government and rebel forces. >> german police launched an inquiry into whether a hospital in leipzig helped dozens of patients jump the queue for liver transplants. the clinic has a suspended three senior doctors on suspicion of exaggerating patient records to improve their chances of receiving a new organ quickly. >> a german patients rights group says this is undermining public trust in the transplant system. >> people who come in are suspicious. they ask more questions than they used to. organ donations used to be more positive. today, people are more likely to ask whether everything is

being done correctly. >> more than 12,000 people are on germany's transplant waiting list. around three of them die each day. the scandal is not the first of its kind to hit the country. all of germany's 47 transplant centers are currently being examined for irregularities. >> also on wednesday, tens of thousands of people gathered in front of the imperial palace in tokyo to catch a glimpse of the japanese emperor, emperor akihito. the imperial family traditionally appear on the balcony of their palace on new year's day. the 79-year-old emperor again used his new year's address to remember the victims of the 2011 earthquake and tsunami. >> a court in india charged five men with kidnapping, rape, and

murder after a woman who was brutally assaulted on a daily --d delhi bus last month died of her injuries. the men could face the death penalty if found guilty. rossiter said dna tests had -- prosecutors said dna tests had established the men's involvement. police are investigating whether a sixth suspect should be tried by a juvenile court. the case has sparked outrage and led to demands that the government do more to address violence against women. >> also on thursday, pupils of newtown's sandy hook elementary school return to class for the first time since a gun man killed 20 other classmates three weeks ago. lessons are being held in a school building in a neighboring town. security has been tightened. local police say sandy hook is now the safest school in america.

>> we have actually installed numerous different security devices at this school. we will remain present on location until further notice. >> the tragedy sparked a national debate on gun control in the u.s., but gun sales have actually risen since the attack. many gun owners fear tougher legislation banning or limiting the sale of certain weapons is on the way. in december, the fbi performed background checks for nearly 2.8 million customers at gun stores. that is an increase of 39% over november. >> salvage teams flew to an alaskan island to assess damage caused to a shell oil drilling rig that ran aground their days earlier. the rig was being towed into port when strong winds forced it towards a rocky shore. environmentalists have worried the rig could spill some of its 586,000 liters of fuel. officials said the rig had

suffered some damage from waves and flooding, but it's fuel tanks have not been breached. -- it's fuel tanks have not been breached. >> french actor gerard that are due -- gerard depardieu was granted citizenship by russian president vladimir putin. he moved to avoid the 75 % tax in his native -- 75% tax in his native france. >> hundreds of thousands of supporters of the palestinian movement of the top -- palestinians that tom movement -- palestinians fattah movement gathered.

the gathering was seen as a sign of reconciliation between the two palestinian political factions. in a televised address, the palestinian president, mahmoud abbas, said palestinian unification was an important step on the way to ending israeli occupation. >> we should work together in unity. there is no better choice than unity to reach our national goals and achieve victory. >> hamas gave permission for the rally after the deadlock in peace talks between baasbbas' administration and israel narrowed the distance between factions. >> the holiday season may be over for many humans, but for some zoo animals, christmas began on friday. elephants in the berlin's zoo were served as mistry's for lunch -- elephants in berlin's zoo were served christmas trees

for lunch. zookeepers say they relish the treat. that concludes our review of the week'