>> welcome to the "journal here. at top stories this hour, in an effort to fight against -- fight , a peace conference has been announced. german social democrats agreed to talk. a state of emergency in australia as scores of bushfires rage out of control. we begin in syria, were at least

31 people have been killed in a suicide bombing in the central city of hama. the observatory for human rights says the al qaeda linked al- nusra front carried out the attack. lakdhar brahimi said no firm date has been set for peace talks set to be held next month in geneva. rifts in the opposition have cast doubt on the talks. syrian state television showed the aftermath of the blast. -- newse new jason c agency said rebels drove a truck with explosives into a government check point. they added the explosion set fire to a nearby fuel truck, increasing the number of casualties. >> i was heading to a school. the blast started. the first blast injured one person.

international efforts to find a political solution continue, with a new conference announced on sunday. the arab league u.n. envoy to must attendll sides the november conference if it is to achieve its aim of agreeing on a transitional government in syria. >> the conference cannot take place without the presence of the opposition, which represents the majority of the syrian people who oppose the regime. >> by the syrian opposition is so fractured and divisions are deep. there are doubts if a delegation can be formed that is both representative and prepared to negotiate. ofthere is another day violence in iraq, with a spate of suicide bombings around the country that killed at least 45 people. the deadliest incident took place in baghdad, where a suicide bomber drove a vehicle packed with explosives into a shiitefé in a mainly

neighborhood. at least 30 people died in that attack. more than 40 were wounded. the café was popular with young people. in egypt there have been clashes in cairo between police and islamist's edens during an anti- army protest at one of the city 's universities. toy blocked the main road the university, sunni islam's most prominent institution. the students hurled rocks. the second day of clashes at the university. supporters ofare ousted president mohamed morsi and the muslim brotherhood. germany's social democrats have coalition skeptics had voted for negotiations. after weeks of hesitation, the landslide vote should allow party leaders to move forward with confidence. among the parties grass-roots members there were plenty of critics. at side headquarters, some of them vented their frustration. >> the spd has no governing

mandate. we do not want to break campaign promises. if we enter a grand coalition, we will have to do that. >> spd leaders have tended man's as they enter the negotiation -- have 10 demands as they enter the negotiation, including a national minimum wage. once bargaining is over it will be put to a vote by party leadership. >> we are joined by our political correspondent, who just returned from the party conference. there is more support to go ahead with the talks than many anticipated. have critics in the party been silenced? >> the result of the vote suggests that. there certainly still is a lot of grumbling behind the scenes. the social democrats are very weary of entering into another grand coalition. last time, they did not really get the credit for it. a downrightno at this stage

would have been something of a vote for no-confidence for the party leader and the top team. a party that, after all, would want to be in power. that is the one thing he wants to secure. forget, he already was a minister in angela merkel's last grand coalition cap. as adamant as he is now that the social democrats will not back down on key demands, he knows that in the end something has got to give. >> tough negotiating ahead. what sort of horsetrading can we expect between these rivals? >> there is a lot to talk about. the last grand coalition saw both sides one percent apart. this time the social democrats are 15% behind. the voter has spoken and they will be in a much tougher negotiating position. democrats keep repeating that they will not sign off on any document that does not include an 8.50 euro minimum wage.

notably absent from the demand list is the issue of taxes. we might see some movement on the social democrat side. that is all speculation for now. >> what is the timetable? began this coming wednesday. both sides expect them to last a couple weeks. spdbenchmark date is the convention in the middle of november. all estimates suggest may be just before christmas. >> thank you very much. >> you're welcome. >> preliminary results for today's snap elementary election show premier jean-claude juncker's party losing ground. but it is holding onto its lead with 33% of votes counted so far. the former junior coalition partner, the centerleft lsap, has 20%, followed by thej that will democratic party. acker -- juncker could form

coalition with smaller parties, or smaller parties could join for a unprecedented three-party alliance. the elections were called after his coalition with the lsap collapsed over a spying counsel -- scandal. a state of emergency in southeastern australia as firefighters continued to battle dozens of massive wildfires. there are fears the situation will only get worse with warm dry temperatures and strong winds likely to fan the flames burning across the strait of new -- state of new south wales. the fires are threatening a number of townships west of sydney. it is feared they could reach the outskirts of the city itself. >> the fires have already destroyed 200 homes and left one person dead. it seems the worst is yet to come. the state ofarned new south wales is facing the most dangerous combination of warm, dry weather and strong winds in more than 40 years. >> the weather on any day is

never good at times like this. it is also clear the weather forecast, the weather modeling suggests the weather is not going to be as good as previously anticipated. >> around 60 fires are burning out of control across the state. firefighters fear several of these blazes could join together to form a massive iron storm and threatened the outskirts of sydney, australia's largest city. residents are hoping for the best. >> i will start to feel daunted when he gets to the road here. then we will do what we have to and keep our fingers crossed. >> many people are not taking any chances. choosing to leave the area with whatever they can rather than risk everything. with a state of emergency now in place, the fire service can force people to evacuate a safety. in the meantime, the battle to

contain fires and stop them from spreading continues. >> sports news now. bundesliga action. their firstnaged away win of the season against augsburg. the goals were enough for them to secure the three points. 2-1 was the final score. early in the day, hamburg came from behind to draw 3-3 with stewed car. -- stuttgart. in the leveled the match 67th minute. munich facedbyron munichbayern munixch -- faced off against mainz. was played when sean parker skipped past the keeper to make it 1-0.

he held his head in shame. it was his mistake that gave the guests the lead after a spirited first-half showing. his introduction at the break changed the game. on the 50th minute, he got bayern up and running. millerutes later, thomas -- mueller's goal swung it bayern's way. sink aas still time to penalty and wrap up the 4-1 rout. munich, laying well half of the match is more than enough for a win. >> hamburg drew. dortmund over hanover. bremen and freiburg played out the first goal-less draw.

from the bundesliga to the english premier league. arsenal are top of the table, but they have been inspired by their new signing of mesut ozil. he scored twice in the win against norwich and is set to start against dortmund on tuesday. >> his shirt is selling like hot cakes. .esut ozil is proving a hit >> mesut ozil, top man. he has been fantastic for the club. brilliant. >> a breath of fresh air. >> what we always wanted. >> the best player in the world. >> the english press is full of

praise. some have liked him to leno messi -- lionel messi. >> i got to the city i'm in love with. i feel very comfortable here, and at the club. the coach trusts me and the team is behind me. the fans have taken to him. he is their kind of player. his style is suited, and he is the player they need. >> at real madrid, he had to share the limelight. here, he is the undisputed number one. already he has three goals and five assists, and has become the spotlight of the scene. >> he has all the attributes to be one of the leaders of our team. has gone eight years

without a trophy. but this could be about to change all that. haas has one tommy in the final of the open in vienna. his second title of the season. took him two hours and three sets to win. put him in with a chance for qualifying for the finals for the first time. thousands have been taking part in a reenactment of the battle of the nations in light sake -- leipzig to mark the anniversary of the bloodiest encounter of the napoleonic wars. they were a fraction of the nearly 600,000 soldiers in the original battle. european monarchies defeated the napoleonic army in fighting the claimed as many as 100,000 lives in just three days.

you are watching the "journal." do stay with us. >> the controversy-plagued bishop was waiting for talks with the vatican. he was under fire for spending tens of millions of euros on a new residence. the costs spiral to at least 30 million euros. it earned him the nickname "bishop the locks -- bishop de luzxe." a bishop said an audit commission would look at the case. >> what i have learned here is everyone is interested in working in a respective -- constructive manner in regard to limburg. elst is accused

of hiding the true cost by dividing the work into 10 individual projects. the case has dealt another serious blow to the image of the catholic church. >> in russia, police rounded up over 1000 migrant workers at a vegetable warehouse in moscow on monday. authorities said the raid, carried out in full view of tv cameras, was meant to calm tensions between local russians and migrants. it came after an ethnic russian man was stabbed to death last week. police say his alleged killer is a migrant from the caucasus. in reaction, a mob of hundreds of russians flipped over cars and smashed windows as they hunted for migrants. police special forces eventually managed to restore order. the security forces later arrested a suspect in the killing. they identified him and said he

admitted to the stabbings. >> on monday, italian coast guards rescued more than 200 migrants from boats on the mediterranean after they ran into trouble making the crossing from north africa. they is still shocked i deaths of hundreds of migrants the previous week. the government is planning a state burial for the dead. people are still attempting the hazardous crossing. a u.s. warship rescued 128 somali migrants later in the week. on tuesday, iran started talks on its nuclear program with the five permanent members of the un security council and germany. tehran has put forward proposals sanctions- wants

lifted, but western nations outlined a clear set of demands. >> we have to reach a situation ande they have proven verifiably proven that there is no nuclear military program. that is what is being sought. >> it was a positive response to they would allow spot checks to their nuclear facilities at sometime in the future. talks are set to continue early november. >> on tuesday, a powerful earthquake hit the center philippine provinces, killing more than 170 people and injuring hundreds more. after the quake hit at 8:00 a.m. local time. as the tremor struck, people rushed out of buildings, fearing collapse. authorities say the bank holiday probably prevented more

casualties. >> we were all caught by surprise. that building over there collapsed. it just collapsed as people were trying to get out of it. >> the worst damage and most casualties were on one island that is a possible -- popular tourist destination. it triggered landslides and destroyed bridges, leaving outlying regions cut off for days. >> the funeral of a not see warm criminal-- nazi were was cut off after it was interrupted by protesters. priebke was convicted of one of the worst wartime massacres in italy. argentina, where he lived for decades, was unwilling to provide burial. >> it took 15 people to drag this lifeless carcass of anoarfish out of -- of an oarfis

h out of the pacific ocean. it was found by a scientist off the coast of california. it measured at 5.5 meters. oarfish are thought to have inspired legends about sea serpents. sightings are rare, so experts are talking about a once in a lifetime discovery. on wednesday, the u.s. congress struck a deal to raise limits on government are awaiting, end -- borrowing, and the threat of default, and get employees back to work. it is a victory for president barack obama, who faced altra conservative attempts to -- altra conservative attempts to delay his health care law. >> there are no winners. nothing has done more damage to america's credibility in the world, are standing with other countries, then the spectacle we have seen these past several weeks. >> wednesday' is built only --

wednesday's bill only fund the government through january. a bipartisan commission will be a long-term with budget. this will avoid seeing washington to send into political gridlock every year. >> we have not had a budget since 2009. it is high time we start to reconcile our differences. >> with the shutdown over, tourist attractions such as monuments and museums around washington and the united ace are also again -- united states are also again open for business. a typhoon hity, japan. more than 20 people died on the island of izu oshima after a landslide destroyed dozens of homes. the search for victims continued throughout the week. authorities apologize for failing to issue evacuation orders. the typhoon also made its presence known at during the

rush hour in tokyo. powerful winds forced the cancellation of public transport and flights, leaving many stranded. >> i have never experienced it so bad. i was in a store, and when i came out i was really surprised. precaution, the fukushima nuclear power plant release times of low radioactive water into the sea. in earlier typhoon, rain water spilled out before it could be tested. chiefent vladimir putin's political opponent avoided prison on wednesday after a russian court suspended his five-year sentence for theft. is evident all decisions about my prison sentence and now about changing that to a suspended sentence are not made here but personally by vladimir putin. >> observers say the verdict was

politically motivated. the conviction will prevent the prominent kremlin critic from seeking elected office for several years. he is to appeal. on wednesday, russian divers recovered what is thought to be meteor that exploded over the city of chelyabinsk last year. it is unclear how much it weighs. the scale broke at 570 kilograms. >> the meteor was the largest to enter the earth atmosphere in 66 years. the shockwave injured more than 1600 people. >> on thursday, germany's conservatives and social democrats decided to open negotiations on forming a coalition government. the move comes for weeks after general elections. after talks failed, agreement with the spd came quicker than

expected. >> i'm very pleased, and i wish you all a wonderful weekend. >> chancellor merkel also appeared satisfied as she left the talks without beating to reporters. the leader of the social democrats was more circumspect. from beingtill far able to say we have achieved concrete results. but we believe we can reach common ground with the conservatives in order to successfully conclude coalition talks. thorny topic is the spd call for a national minimum wage to keep members happy. the conservatives have apparently softened up position. negotiations could still take a wild. >> of course, exploratory talks to not preempt coalition negotiations. they are an opportunity to take -- compare positions.

>> germany has been governed by a grand coalition twice before. the last was led by chancellor merkel between 2005 and 2009. ukraine's jailed opposition leader and former opposition leader could soon be free again. said she president would be sent to germany as soon as parliament passes a bill allowing her release. she is the president's archrival. she was jailed in 2011 for abuse of office, a ruling that has been condemned by the eu as politically motivated. she needs medical treatment, which she is to receive in berlin. >> on friday, bushfires raged across southeastern us rally up. the blazes -- southeastern australia. whole towns and villages were

evacuated. >> you do your best. it gets to a stage where you realize you cannot do anymore. you take what you can and go. >> about 100 fires were burning in the state of new south wales. 20 of them out of control. a thick blanket of smoke hung over the city of sydney, and residents with respiratory problems were advised to remain indoors. germany's soccer coach signed a contract extension. the new deal takes him through to after the 2016 european championships areas but first he faces the challenge of next year's world cup in brazil. >> we have a good team. we will go in well-prepared. of theas been part german set up for 11 years now. he is yet to win a title, but under his leadership the german

national team developed a modern attacking