>> welcome to the journal. our headlines for you at this hour. the syrian president bashar al- assad says that there are peace talks. in the women's cup finals -- and the favorite wins the european emmelie de forest of denmark. in a rare interview with foreign media, syrian president bashar

al-assad denies that his government has used chemical weapons. he told the argentinian newspaper and the argentinian state news agency that the u.s. had no right to interfere -- interfere in his affairs, he also reiterated that he has no plans to resign. >> the syrian government's military offensive targets the western town of qusayr where government troops attempt to recapture the city. supportedes have been from hezbollah soldiers from neighboring lebanon. he has not shown that he is backing down. he described level forces has been throwing back terrorists, and rejected the calls for negotiations. >> you can hold a dialogue with political forces but not with terrorists who cutthroats and

assassinate and use chemical weapons. hise rejected reports that government has deployed chemical weapons. he said that these claims were used for a possible military intervention. he also downplayed the u.s. join russian initiative for negotiations between himself and rebel forces. >> any decisions or political decisions are local syrian decisions, and no other country has the right to intervene in our affairs. >> as the civil war rages on the international community is holding a conference on syria in june, but a concrete date has not been set. regime, rebelssad groups agreed to meet with international leaders. >> international efforts have so far stalled.

a foreign minister also stresses that diplomacy is the only way to stop the fighting. discussing the war in syria through the middle east and north africa. on sunday, the foreign minister was in algeria, eight -- an important partner in the fight against international terrorism. >> algeria shared a building with libya, but there was no arab spring here. the algerian prime minister has said talks with the visiting german minister. is of vital algeria interest to germany and europe. >> 1 security concern is that we need to fight against international terrorism, and it is not in our interest is whererism forms in mali

they could threaten europe. >> of the algerian economy depends on gas exports but they also want to branch out into renewable energies, where they see opportunities. the talks also touched on the situation in syria, and the comments from president assad on a possible peace conference. >> we will analyze this which is, contradictory. we believe that this will be attended by the united states and russia. only a political solution may stop the crisis in syria. >> in tunisia, one man was killed after demonstrators clashed with police -- salafist

protesters clashed with police. the were from the imran kha--- salafist ansar-al-sharia movement. members of the group are suspected of involvement in several attacks. in pakistan, the funeral of zahra shahid hussain has come amid the accusations that political rivals were involved in her death. the leader of the movement for justice party, imran khan, blames this on the opposing party. this was one day after she was gunned down in front of her home in karachi. a possible rerun continues because of allegations of voter rigging. the u.s. embassy employee has flown out of russia u.s. embassy is refusing

all comment on this case. the state department confirms he worked at the embassy but has given no details about his job. russia has accused him of working for the cia and he was caught trying to recruit a counter-terrorism officer. moving onto the sports news. we start with women's football. defeateda champions -- pottsdman and take on -- but now, walsberg celebrates their victory. >> the bundesliga won the cup after a strong performance in the first hour. there was fancy footwork from poehler, setting up meuller. after the break, potsdam failed to clear a corner, and it was

mueller who put it up in the second minute. three minutes later, polo put another past the potsdam goalie .nd it seemed sown up lisa evans picked up a goal at the one hour mark. when henning's foul gave a penalty, they converted to bring the score to 3-2. potsdam had a second wind but the woodwork got in the way of the equalizer. walsberg moves on to the champion's league final to take the trebble. >> in other bundesliga news, we had some surprising results as algsberg finishes the season

15th after a 3-1 win on the final day of play. quite an achievement for a club on the bottom 3 most of the season. >> it didn't starg out well for alsberg. they scored a penalty that had to be retaken. the keeper made the save the second time. at the other end, tobias' free kick put them on the board. and the goals kept coming. he stretched his lead to three and they were playing catch-up. he got past florian but they couldn't turn the tide. don sealed the win with a left- foot strike, the game finishing 3-1 and they celebrated their

salvation. >> hoffenheim and fortuna battled to avoid going down. hoffenheim was just above the regulation zone. dusseldorf hoped to stay -- >> their victories are few and far between, and there was no reason to think this would be any different. he scored his 24th goal with six minutes gone. matomas fouled and teletovic evened things up. earnedinutes later, they the red card. and again, teletovic was up to the task. tottenheim almost gave away the extra 3 on the net, but the referee said levendoski was

offsides. regulation.hem from they made it 1-0 and after the break, they made it 2-0 to have fortuna's descent. hanover dashed all hopes of a miracle. >> a look at the other results. hanover smashed dusseldorf, hamberg was one down against frankfort -- with 2-0 and nuremberg ended with a 3-2 over bremen. so, let's look at the final bundesliga standings. mamoth season, and -- on to the champion's league. friedberg and frankfurt hold on

but most of the drama was at the bottom of the table. in 15th place, hoffenheim has one more chance at bundesliga don.ival against lou they will start next season in division two. as promised by munich, they dominated and are aiming for a triple crown. they face dortman in an all- german final and have their eyes on the german cup. here is a look at the ups and downs. >> munich was almost in the league of their own, breaking one record after another. qusay-- last year's

bundesliga coun't catch them. >> they have the best season worldwide. it is impressive. it is rare you get everything in life. >> they still have to -- teach them a lesson in the final. frankfurt was the other big surprise, qualifying for the europa league. mediocre season but did well in europa and will be there. and they face byron in the german cup finals. downrg's season was up ant d down. they were slaughtered 9-2, no europe league for them next

year. season toor bremen, a forget. normally sure of a place, this year they barely relegated and their coach lost his job after 14 years. cuthe annual carnival of ltures. this street festival livens up the streets with concerts' and performances and many of parties. let's look at the colorful arts and traditions of 17 different countries. >> scantily clad dancers combine with a sunny weather, you could almost think that this was rio. this is about promoting tolerance while having a good time. >> we have done everything right.

the suns and the atmosphere, everything. parade is the highlight of the festival of culture as participants are told not to hold back. this included these dancing chinese dragons, to scare off evil spirits and bring good fortune and prosperity and peace. these people were enjoying the international beats. withgroups participated, 1700 musicians from all over the world. and to make sure that they kept a cool head among the dancers -- they made sure that there was plenty of water on hand. >> the carnival of cultures continues, make sure that you

get down here and did enjoy it. don't go away. ♪ ground control to major tom. latestmission for the crew of the international space station drew to a close. ♪ the crew returned to earth, --

>> bulgaria started the week with more political uncertainty after an inconclusive election. the party of the former prime minister was the winner of the most seats, but the other party is likely to join him in coalition. they will convene parliament this coming tuesday. and he has called for them to put aside political disagreements. the socialist leader could join the french parties, -- fr inge parties, but any coalition may be unstable. >> on monday, a german news company said that pharmaceutical companies tested on 50,000 east their patients without commission -- without their consent. there were paid hard currency, test.

western companies profited. biggest barriers with the unholy alliance without public knowledge, conducting studies. none of them could have been done in west germany. >> major drug companies insist that they stuck to the standards of the times. >> the landmark trial of the racially motivated murders resumed on thursday, entangling with part of a group of neo-nazi killers. they have shot 10 people dead, most of them turkish migrants. providingaccused of logistical support, the continued existence of the group, without this would not have been possible.

the victims' relatives and their lawyers are relieved that the trial is moving forward. it has been delayed by defense motions. >> i think in the past few weeks we have spent enough time with formalities and we should proceed with the real work. foure indictment charges codefendants with assisting the trio. this trial could last two years, one thing that it cleared was the failure of the domestic security agency. later on in the week, a parliamentary committee released the report on the killings, and found that the security forces were too disorganized to link the group to these deaths, despite the tipoff from informers. the police investigated family members of thethconclusion of ta law.

state governed by the rule of >> on tuesday, a new survey of european countries revealed failing support for the european union, against the background of the bureau's own debt crisis, only 45% of those asked had a positive view of the european union. the results from germany were different, in general germans were more upbeat than other europeans, but they agree on one thing, that they are dissatisfied with the job that political leaders are doing. >> also on tuesday, the news jolie hadina undergone a double mastectomy, taking the step after doctors told her she had an 85% chance of developing breast cancer. died of cancer

six years ago, prompting her to undergo genetic testing. a growing number of women are using this scientific breakthrough and taking similar precautions. >> i think within the next few years, we will see a lot more technology coming through so people will be able to assess this even more accurately, maybe through taking drugs to decrease the risk. >> she had doctors reconstruct her breasts with implants. they say that by speaking out, she is raising awareness for women's issues beyond breast cancer. >> on wednesday, international donors in brussels pledged to give mali 3.7 million euros, more than they had been seeking. >> this conference was a complete success that would

beyond anything we could have hoped for. alone european union pledged more than a half billion euros, and germany will contribute 100 million. contingent on the government and their reconstruction. france intervened to overthrow militants in the north, and the west is investing in a better future. film festival began on sunday, showing some of the best art films, first wsa "the great starring lena dicaprio. has director, baz luhrman given the novel his technicolor treatment with wild parties and the extravagance of the roaring '20s, and in the middle is the charming but mysterious gatsby.

headsor steven spielberg the jury, and this will last until the 26th of may. >> on thursday, leaders in the united states and turkey renewed the call to bashar al-assad to step down. turkishe after the prime minister held talks with barack obama at the white house, but there was no agreement at the syrian rebels, and barack obama was cautious on the claims that syria had used chemical weapons. of theave seen evidence use of chemical weapons in syria. it is important for us to make sure that we are able to get more specific information about what exalypeng there. >> obama has said in the past that chemical weapons would be a

game changer, justifying a thoughtful response. turkey remained skeptical that the international conference on syria will lead to meaningful change in damascus. the turkish president criticized the international response to the crisis as talk, and he toward the side of the double car bombing near the syrian border. 51 people died in the attack. damascus denies allegations they were involved. also on thursday, the german parliament reviewed the ongoing reform of the armed forces. radical changes are aimed at a smaller but more vs zero army, says the defense minister tomas. allow restructuring will us to fulfill our international military and security operations.

this is a clear signal to our partners and allies and they appreciate this. >> germany has suspended construction and is closing a number of their military bases. they say that morale is low, and criticize the government for drone -- the eurhohawk drone after half a billion euros on the project. david beckham has announced that he is finished as a professional footballer. >> i want people to see me as a hard-working footballer who is passionate about the game, and every time i was out there i gave everything that i had. decades at the englanding in spain, and the u.s., the captain in england for years. but he is more than a football

player, with his wife, former spice girl victoria beckham. was back on the agenda as the german parliament began debating a proposal for nent dump.perma haveies for the state decided to reopen this across the country as a look for possible sites. for years, a planned permanent dump in northern germany has been the focus of bitter controversy. environmentalists say that the geology is unsuitable, and many in the region and the rest of the country do not want radioactive waste nearby. makeerman parliament will a final decision by 2031.

>> the former dictator of videla, died in he led theer his -- military junta for 5 years. 30,000 people were killed in his "dirty war" against the left. >> the cannes film festival had drama of its own with a robbery and shots with a prop pistol led to plenty of action this side of the silver screen. they took jewelry and watches from a safe, meant to be worn by stars on the red carpet. shots interrupted a live

broadcast. the shooter