and -- hello and welcome to "the journal." our headlines. the former prime minister is to banned from public office for two year. replay.r, they demand a a court in italy has ruled that

silvio berlusconi should be barred from holding political office for two years. the sentences link to his conviction for tax fraud. he's also facing the loss of his seat in the senate. the ban still has to be approved by full parliamentary vote. more, we are joined on the line by our correspondent in rom. e. how bad is this ruling for berlusconi? in thes the latest series of blows for berlusconi, another nail in the coffin of his political career. as you explained, the senate has on whether to ban him from politics thanks to a law passed last year banning people with convictions from politics. this is a court ban. it is also coming down the line. they will have to vote on that in the senate.

he can duck one, but not both of them. >> how is berlusconi regarded? would most glad to see him go? >> i think now berlusconi has him.hiff of a loser about very recently, he tried and failed to overturn the coalition government with a vote of no- confidence. hand, he always has a trump card when it comes to promising low taxes. that always goes down well. let's not count him out until the next election. >> thank you very much for that. australia, hundreds of homes have been destroyed by wildfires in the new south wales area. firefighters are battling blazes across the state and sydney has been particularly hard hit. higher temperatures and winds are expecting to intensify the problem in the coming days there. fires ferocity of the

has shocked residents and firefighters in the nation used to dealing with brushfires. some 80 blazes are burning across new south wales. 1/4 of the uncontained. the situation is bad in the blue mountains, a top tourist destination. 200 houses have been destroyed in this area. all that hard work. it's gone. to think, well, i've got start again. >> the fire season has gone off to an early start following a dry winter and hot spring. temperatures of over 30 degrees celsius and winds up to 100 kilometers per hour have whipped up the flames. the fire chief says it will take weeks to put the fires out.

many more homes are under threat. >> it is scary to know that there are so many people that have lost their houses and we could be one of them. it's so close that at any moment it could get to the house. >> conditions cool friday and saturday, raising hopes that firefighters would be able to get the upper hand. but with temperatures forecast to heat up on sunday, the fire chief says conditions can get dire. >> police have blocked an election in the maldives. last month presidential elections were annulled by the supreme court. the vote has been postponed. is in tiny island nation crisis. at the last minute, police force to stop elections planned for saturday saying the vote was illegal. work. police blocked our

ofy -- there are a lot officers, and they do not allow any of our staff taking ballot boxes. >> an election would be in violation of a court order that requires all candidates -- one canaday has done some. >> we are obliged to rely on the supreme court ruling. the supreme court annulled the first round of voting that happened in september. the winner of that vote was the former president. his party has condemned the court's intervention and is calling for international protests. the current president is only -- has only three weeks before the end of his term. if a replacement is not found, a constitutional crisis looms. >> germany's greens are still

licking around after the defeat -- their wounds after the defeat in the last month selection. after failing to inspire voters with their planned for tax ris es. berlines are meeting in to do a postmortem on what went wrong and look at the future direction of the party. for more, we are joined from the green party's congress by simon young. what is the mood like there the congress, considering their loss and the fact they are going to be in opposition next term? ♪ >> well, the atmosphere right now is festive. bruce printing playing in the background. -- bruce sprinsteen playing in the background. the mood is somewhat dejected after that poor election results

that has reduced the green to the core vote, and elected as the smallest party in the bundestag. what was perceived by voters as a move to the left in the campag ign. the greens are wondering what is the right way forward. probably they will end up in opposition. >> do they need to reinvent themselves? >> that's right. that should be about renewal, this conference. they will elect new bishop later. there has been a lot of debate on whether they can form a coalition with conservatives or party, the the left communists, or whether they remained wedded to the social democrats. at root, the debate is about social and ecological change.

at the moment, they are still licking their wounds. >> thank you. here in germany, a group of refugees has been staging a hunger strike in protest of their treatment by the authorities. they are calling on the government to grant them asylum and permission to work. so far, politicians have been slow to respond. more hunger strikers have been hospitalized. out, but the last few nights have been bitterly cold. among those camped out, are refugees from ethiopia, iran and congo. they have not eaten for 10 days, but they are determined not to give up their fight. >> we are asking the government to give us refugee status. >> we are being refused work permits. some of us have been here for years and are waiting clarity.

reaction to their protest in central berlin is decided. the authorities say there are better ways of protesting. opinion is next. -- is mixed. >> it is not an easy thing to decide on. i would not want to have to make that decision. resident, i am taken aback that there has been absolutely no reaction on the political level. many passersby are showing sympathy, but german politician so far have not agreed to enter into a dialogue with the refugees. the protesters are risking their health for the police and doctors close to the events on the ground are ringing alarm bells. >> from a medical point of view, people who have been fasting for several days are at risk of a sudden fall in blood pressure. they could lose consciousness.

the protesters had into their 11th day without food, that is a ready happening to some of them. eu have struckhe a free trade deal after four years of negotiations. the canadian prime minister and the european commission president barrooso signed a multibillion euro pact. it would lower tariffs and loosen regulations, something will undermine labor laws. it paves the way for europe to conclude a bigger deal with the u.s. moving on to german soccer. 1abor kusen secured a 2- victory on friday, with one of the goals a fluke. the opponent is hoping for a reply. the referee stood by his call -- they are hoping for a replay. >> it was the goal that was not.

the header sneaked into the goal through a hole in the net. that made it 2-0. earlier, they have put lab orkusen ahead with a shot outside the bix. then came the first controversial call. he was on side before passing the ball back to kevin, but the equalizer was disallowed. also controversial was the penalty awarded after this scene in the 83rd minute. there seem to be no end to the bad luck. marcus, a late goal, but it was too little too late. of theft laborkusen top table. are looking to regain

their place at the top of the table. they are playing at home to hanover. it is not clear whether sch meltzer is fit to play. the last two times they have faced hanover, they have won. haven berlio n jumped to the top of the bunde liga. -- bundesliga. the results could have been quite different. they almost scored a goal with this pass. it hit the goalpost. and moving on to tennis.

tommy haas is continuing his bid to win the austrian open for the first time since 2001. the 35-year-old is just beginning his semi final match against rosol from the czech republic. haas no longer has a realistic chance of reaching the world tour finals in london next month, but tsonga is still hoping to qualify and needs all the points he can get. he will be in action later today after coming through a tough quarterfinal clash. tsonga had an unexpected fight on his hand when he came up against an austrian wild-card. the first set 6-5. then he fought back. ranked 149, he put tsonga under pressure, pulling out some sensational tennis to the delight of the home crowd. he leveled to 1-1.

the third set was evenly matched and finally went to tie-break. tsonga, ranked 9 and hoping to qualify for the world tour finals, took advantage of an error to seize victory. tsonga is through to the semi finals, where he will play a dutchman today. >> moving on to golf. australia's players leading up to the third round of the first international. he's hit 7 birdies for a 5 under par 67. the 26-year-old leads the pack by one shot going into the final round on sunday. his compatriot rumford roared into contention, recording a course record equaling 65. another australian celebrating after round three was david mackenzie. his first hole in one in 14

years. just lieke that. europe today with dw. >> october is a busy time for wine growers in germany. morning, simona makes her way to the grape h arvest. two students are assisting her. it is going to be a tough day, but that is normal during harvest time.

she does everything by hand. the painstaking work, but 33-year-old thinks it is necessary to ensure high-quality wine. that's why the grape harvest plays a decisive role. tells us the harvest season is a time to give thanks, but it is also stressful. to be pickeds carefully because you only get one shot at harvesting them for making wine. one mistake, she says, can impact the whole year, because the wine will be sold all year, maybe longer. so it would set everything off course.

frankford buys germany's largest wine growing region. it was notorious for cheap wines. but that is not changing, thanks in part to a new generation of winegrowers who are focusing on quality. she inherited and nine hector -- hectare vineyard from her father. she grows mainly red and white burgundy grapes. >> you have to cut off any rotten grapes, leaving only those in perfect condition. with these, you have a long mash period. that means the grapes will be left standing longer before they are pressed, so they have to be

perfectly healthy. takes her and her helpers six hours to do one vineyard. not every winegrowers is willing or able to invest that much time, especially when there is another way. a grape picker can harvest an entire vineyard in half an hour. with this method, there is no possibility of removing rotten fruit, but if the overall condition of the grapes is good machine harvesting is quality. driver explains how the process is steered by computer, using a joystick. businesses are constantly

expanding, which means there is more ground to cover. using machines makes it much easier. not all winemakers process their own grapes. way to aare on their winery that buys up fruit from the entire region. every few minutes, a tractor arrives with fresh grapes. this cellar is one of germany's biggest wine producers. tho -- he is the owner. his contract growers deliver around 500,000 kilograms of grapes per day. that can be stressful. he says, these days there is no time to be nostalgic about the old winemaking methods.

he and hi s team work around the clock to process the grapes as quickly as possible. happen only with the help of computers. specialized software determines where the growers should drop of each different variety of grape. computers also control the flow of grapes into the pressing machine, where the air turned into juice before being pumped into large tanks -- the day spends much of going back and forth consulting with engineers. they regulate the temperature, liquid levels, and the fermentation process taking place in the containers. he is one of those responsible

for the tanks. they have to keep track of millions of liters of juice, a task that would be unthinkable without the help of technology. if we did not have this technology, we would not be able to process such a large amount. technology is essential to to do this kind of work at high speed. agronomist,alified monitors the whole process in the old-fashioned way. after spending the entire day harvesting grapes, she spent the evening in the wine cellar. she says, being up close at every step as part of the term,

and that it is better than pushing buttons. the next day, she is on her own again. she's putting labels on bottles that her assistance forgot. -- assistants forgot. proud of the labels that were specially designed. if you are still relatively unknown, she says, it is important that the first encounter with the product, the label, is somehow exciting. that way people will easily recognize the wine in future. >> the personal touch is very important to her. and that's why she sometimes take it upon herself to deliver wine to regular customers who live nearby.

one of those customer operates a high-end restaurant in the area. guests demand quality, which is why she only serves then a select range of wines. she says there is a hint of raspberry on the pallet that is very unusual, and there is an herbaceous note, too.

she explains that her consumers want the total experience of wine. they do not drink it just for the sake of it. they want the whole story that comes with it. othertrast, at the winery, the main source of income is wines produced for the mass market. ready.3 vintages is next week, it will be bottled, and the week after that, it will be on the shelves. he's very satisfied with the taste, which is young and fresh. thanks to technology, he adds, the time it takes to turn grapes into wine has been reduced. supply has to keep up with demand, which is especially high for affordable wines. everydays ,wine is an

item, a part of any good meal and in high demand especially at an affordable price. and so every day, countless trucks carry thousands of liters of wine to be bottled. meanwhile, the growers continue to drop off a steady supply of fresh produce, but not just anyone can deliver their harvest here. the growers have to meet strict standards. had contracts with selected winegrowers for many years. his business model has a range of benefits.

he explains that an individual operator would find it difficult to keep up with market demands. his winery serves as a link between growers and commercial traders. ensuresafety net that the survivals of small vineyards because he provides grapes for the wider industry. she prefers to do things her own way. for her, it is better to take an extra trip to the winery making sure everything is just right. she uses a special device to check that the grapes are at the right maturity. this attention to detail is one of the things she likes about the job. she says, she does not plan to expand her business too much.

she would rather maintain a small but well care for plot of land that bears her signature. whether they choose the high tech path, or the traditional one, german

[soft exotic flute music] ♪ captioning and audio description provided by the u.s. department of education. well, what's happening today is that i've invited ram dass and huston smith for lunch. and ram dass is a really good friend of mine. we got to know each other a few years ago. and huston smith i really don't know at all, so that's extra fun. and these two guys have known each other since the '60s. and i want to ask them about when they met, so i'm not