>> live from the dw studios in berlin, this is the "journal." good to have you with us. >> coming up in this half hour -- >> the russian president announced that political prisoners will soon be released. >> on their last summit this year, eu heads of state and government discuss a common defense policy. >> and mapping the way to the stars.

russian president vladimir putin has made what is arguably his biggest political decision of the year, saying he will free from prison his most powerful rival, the jailed oil tycoon. >> he will be amnestied along with the two jailed members of pussy riot and the 30 greenpeace activists as well as thousands of other political prisoners. >> we'll talk to our correspondent in just a bit. first, this report. >> in front of hundreds of reporters, vladimir putin held force for hours on current affairs, including moscow's controversial financial aid to ukraine and the amnesty measure passed on wednesday, but the bombshell did not come until the news conference had officially ended. putin told a russian tv network that he also planned to pardon a

jailed oil tycoon. >> he has already spent more than 10 years in jail. that is serious punishment. his mother is ill, and i think that given those circumstances, the decision to release him is possible. >> the billionaire was arrested in 2003 after openly opposing putin. his imprisonment for money- laundering and tax evasion has long been a source of international criticism of the kremlin. his sentence ends next year. at the news conference, putin also confirmed the amnesty would extend to the two jailed members of protest band pussy riot. >> i feel sorry for them. not because they were sent to jail, although there was nothing good about that, either. i feel sorry for them because they engaged in such disgraceful behavior, which in my view was degrading to the dignity of women.

>> the two are serving two-year sentences for their anti-kremlin protest last year at moscow's main cathedral. family members have already traveled to siberia for the expected release. that could come within hours. though authorities have up to six months to implement the amnesty. >> let's get some perspective on that. for this, we go to our correspondent live in moscow right now. marcus, fill us in on this -- is this a signal russia is taking western concerns seriously about reforming its judiciary, making it more independent? >> let's take the former oil tycoon for example. the amnesty comes a little bit late for him as he has served most of his sentence already. he has been -- we have heard it before in your story -- behind bars for more than 10 years now,

and this news in moscow that investigators are working on a new case against him again trying to accuse him of embezzlement and money laundering. critics say that this amnesty does not as well prove whether or not he is guilty of what he is accused. they say the case against him was a political show trial to silence one of vladimir putin's worst critics and worst political opponents. >> but about russia's other political convenience -- opponents that are not subject to this amnesty? could they one day see one? >> well, russia's judiciary system is in quite that condition. there are a lot of so-called political prisoners. critics say the judicial system is very old news to side -- very often used to silence political opponents, political prisoners. take, for example, the anti- corruption blogger or popular

opposition leader who was sentenced to five years in jail for embezzlement and money laundering last summer and then only afterwards, his sentence was suspended. he can work as a free man now, but he is presented from -- prevented from running for elected office, for example. take those people who have been arrested in protests against vladimir putin last spring. many can walk freed by the amnesty bill now, but a lot of them will have to stay in jail. they are accused of having arranged unrest with riot police , although this evidence that riot police themselves provoked these scuffles. after all this amnesty we see now is no substitute to an effective or independent justice system. >> thanks for that. >> in europe, eu leaders say they have a plan to rescue failed banks without forcing taxpayers to foot the bill. the problem is it looks like it

will tap into the accounts of depositors with more than 100,000 euros in a single bank. >> a preliminary deal has been okayed at a summit in brussels. the pact includes a fund the banks themselves will finance worth 55 billion euros. we will go live to our brussels correspondent. first, we have this background. >> eu leaders launched the summit, saying important progress had already been made. a head of the meeting, european finance ministers announced they had agreed on the third and final pillar of a european banking union. >> the details still need to be hashed out by the heads of state and government, but once we have reached an agreement, it's going to be a big step forward. >> in the summit, leaders will also return to another old thorny issue -- defense. several states, including germany, want to expand

cooperation beyond the building and buying of military hardware. they want cooperation to include military operations themselves. >> europe can cooperate a lot more on this front. i believe this will certainly come up when we start discussing the situation in african countries such as mali or central african republic. >> but others do not want to hand over too much power to brussels. >> it makes sense for nation states to cooperate over matters of defense to keep us all safer. it's in all our interests, but it is not right for the european union to have capabilities, armies, air forces, and the rest of it. >> with many countries reducing their budgets, the french president has raised the idea of a common emergency fund for operations. >> let's go straight to that summit now and our correspondent. first off, tell us about this banking union. what about critics who say it

means to much centralization? >> in the sense that the structure has been set up by finance ministers is way too complicated, critics are saying that what is needed is a tour that enables the european union or the eurozone to close down banks overnight, if you will, if that bank has problems, but the finance ministers have come up with a very complicated mix of competencies, and ultimately, the last stable say with a group of finance ministers, and that is something that the european commission here has already said it cannot accept. having said that, while everybody agrees that it is important for europe to have a single resolution mechanism, as they call it, negotiations will have to go on with the european parliament that also has to give its consent, and the european parliament has so far said it is only happy about the deal in as much as it guarantees more deposits, so those negotiations

are going to be really tough. >> something else being discussed is eu defense policy. will we see an eu army? what can we expect here? >> no, we will not see an eu army as long as britain is still in the european union, and that is going to be quite a while. what you do have to say is that defense matters are being discussed for the first time in five years on this level, on the highest level of the european union today. that is already a very big sign that in this current atmosphere, where all the countries have to reduce their budgets, there is an eight olla to mend that european countries will have to pool and share, as they call it, and they have to collaborate more closely, but the positions of major players are really far apart. france does want more european money for its missions, and

germany is against deploying soldiers abroad anyway. , those positions are not going to change overnight. >> thank you so very much. >> one place where at least french soldiers are already in action is the central african republic. >> paris has sent about 1600 troops to help stop the violence that erupted there after the president was overthrown by rebels in march. >> despite the presence of french and african forces, there is no end in sight to the bloodshed. >> at least 1000 people have been killed in the last few weeks as rival groups take revenge on each other. >> the airport is one of only a few secure locations in the capital. the tens of thousands of central africans who have fled here are under the protection of french troops. >> we cannot go home because the militias are fighting each other. we will wait here and then go home. >> in march of this year, the

leader of the rebels deposed the government and named himself president. the mainly muslim movement disbanded in september, but former rebels continue to kill and rape people. many of the victims were christian. those killings prompted the automation of a majority christian formation who said they would surrender if the country's former colonial master asked. >> of course, we will lay down our arms if france amended. >> but the french troops can only patrol a sliver of this vast country. 1600 are here to eight african troops. reprisal attacks have become commonplace. in this recent footage, a mod -- mob had accused a muslim of belonging to the rebels. troops tried to calm tempers. >> a short time later, the soldiers found an unconscious man covered in cuts from machete blows. muslims said he belonged to a

christian militia. >> he could not tell us where he was from, and he planned to detonate grenades. >> french forces have the mandate to disarm all armed groups in the central african republic and use "any means necessary" to stop the violence, but muslim groups accuse them of siding with christians. >> they disarm people and leave them at the mercy of the population, and then they get killed or stoned to death. it's not normal. >> the french president has promised a quick military intervention, but a few thousand soldiers are unlikely to bring long-term peace to the central african republic. >> another african country experiencing upheaval is south sudan. government forces are backing rebels for control of a key town in an oil-producing state. the united nations received reports that people were killed

in an attack on a united nations peacekeeping base. on sunday, government opponents allegedly staged a coup. at least 500 people have been killed so far. the fear now is that the fighting will spread and destabilize the entire region. >> government troops and rebels in south sudan have been accused of killing people because of their ethnicity. the president on state tv to deny the charge. >> it is not a tribal country. >> the president, who belongs to the majority people, says his former vice president, who belongs to the minority group, tried to overthrow him in a coup , but he says it was for political, not tribal reasons. the united nations is alarmed. >> this is a political crisis. there is a risk of this violence spreading to other states.

we have already seen some signs of this. >> fears of an all-out civil war are growing. thousands of people have sought refuge at aces like this one. >> i imagine the numbers go down, and many of them go out to try to get something to eat. we allow them to go in and out, but we try to screen them every time they come back inside, for their own safety and also to make sure that the security is not compromised. >> the u.s., germany, and other western nations have begun evacuating embassy staff and other citizens. >> two men accused of murdering a british soldier on a london street earlier this year have been found guilty. >> the islamist extremists murdered the off-duty servicemen

in london by driving over him with their car and then trying to decapitate him. the two men are due to be sentenced in january. we will be back after a short rake. don't go away. don't go away. >> welcome back. for almost three years now, we've been reporting about the plight of syrians in the country's civil war. >> as winter freezes the higher climes of the middle east, the situation for the conflict's youngest victims is worse than ever before. here's more. >> among the most defenseless victims in any war our children. 5.5 million are now living in terrible conditions in refugee camps in syria and neighboring countries. many have lost their parents to the conflict. maria works for unicef is irina -- in serious -- syria.

she's familiar with the difficulties children face. >> the first is the fact that children have witnessed unspeakable horrors. they have fears. >> that is reflected in children's drawings that she brought back with her from syria . they showed tanks, weapons, corpses, impressions that would be traumatic even for adults. unicef is providing help throughout syria, but many potential donors are afraid their money could fall into the wrong hands, so children are going without. >> they are faced with a situation that they are not in any way responsible for, and they are powerless to help them selves -- themselves. we have to do something about that. >> food, medicine, and tenants are urgently needed, but most of these children are also missing out on education. currently, some 3 million

children in syria are receiving little or no schooling. >> in another development, amnesty international is reporting that militants linked to al qaeda are torturing people in secret reasons in the north of the country. >> they say a jihadist group has committed a catalog of abuses including floggings of people as young as 14 and killings after summary trials for offenses such as theft and sex outside marriage. >> the conflict has driven millions of civilians to seek refuge elsewhere. hundreds of thousands of civilians are sheltering in lebanon and jordan. but very few have made it to europe. for more on the refugees who have ended up here, we spoke to the council of europe commissioner for human rights and asked why so few refugees have come to europe. >> i think it depends on your definition of europe.

there are almost one million in turkey right now, but far fewer elsewhere. part of the reason is they are not very welcome. they are pushed back at the border, sometimes in the sea, on land, and resettlement programs have been small until now, and it's difficult for them to make it. >> can you tell us -- what is their situation right now? >> it depends very much on the country in question. in germany, they are well received. good services to help them adapt . in other countries, dysfunctional asylum systems and degrading conditions. i was just in bulgaria. no asylum seeker should be sent back to bulgaria. they are only now beginning to set up a functioning asylum system and reception center. it really varies. there is huge diversity. >> what is the willingness of europe to take refugees from syria? >> i think most europeans have closed their eyes to the scale of the tragedy in syria, and

they are hoping that the syrians will remain in neighboring countries. i think this is a delusion. many are already moving. the situation is unsustainable and neighboring countries. we need more resettlement, and we need a more generous approach when people make it on their own, to give them protection status. these are people fleeing a brutal conflict. >> thank you so very much. >> change of pace now. time to check in on thursday's market action. stock markets rallied after the u.s. federal reserve has commitment to keep interest rates low offset its decision to scale back its stimulus program. we have this report from the frankfurt stock exchange. >> the federal reserve made stock markets around the world jubilate despite the start of the tapering.

the u.s. economy is doing very well. the windup may lead to higher interest rates, which makes the dollar more attractive. the euro was cheaper against the dollar, and a strong u.s. dollar is bad for the gold price. gold dropped to the lowest level in three years. >> let's take a quick look at the numbers now. germany dax ended thursday's session up by more than 1.5%. >> please stand by. industrials at the moment flat. the euro trading for $1.3655. >> let's stay with business news. good news out today -- germany cut its total debt to 2000 24 billion euros, the savings largely due to bad banks selling off toxic securities. >> the german government took on the toxic assets of institutions during the financial crisis, but

analysts say despite the reduction, debt is still well over 60% of gdp. well, do you sometimes wonder what signs of life are out there in our galaxy and beyond? >> the european space agency is eager to know. it has blasted off a telescope designed to map the milky way. a rocket carrying the telescope was successfully launched. the device named gaia after the spirit of the planet is designed to detect up to a billion stars and draw a map of the galaxy. >> and a moment, we will hear from the scientists involved in the project, but first, this report. >> the mission is to create the first three-dimensional map of our galaxy, the milky way. the satellite is set to measure one billion stars, determining their distance, positions, movements, even the color and

spectrum of their light. in order to provide astrophysicists with the best possible data, it is equipped with even stronger magnifying technology than the hubble telescope. >> if an astronaut stood on the moon and gave the thumbs-up sign to show that everything is ok, the telescope would really be able to see his thumb. you would really be able to see it is his thumb he is raising. >> the telescope will allow visitors to examine thousands of times more stars than they have ever been able to, which should help them understand how stars form, how they create elements such as oxygen and carbon that make up humans, and how they die, releasing elements such as gold, titanium. the dust and debris left behind are the stuff planets are made of. >> the satellite is going to give so many answers to so many open questions and make it possible for us to start

thinking up important new questions. this is really a milestone. >> that's why scientists are calling the satellite a discovery machine. they believe the data it delivers will change several fields of astronomy forever, and the chart of our galaxy should be finished in about a decade. >> we talked to a scientist too is part of the project. >> and it is in french guiana where the launch took place. i asked what the overall goal is. >> we are studying the milky way, our own galaxy, and it sounds like a lot when it says -- when we say we are observing a billion stars, but in fact, it is still only one percent of the stars in our galaxy. with this one percent, we are able to deduce what the evolution of our home galaxy has

been. >> a lot of data will be collected. will this allow us to discover planets in other solar systems? >> this comes very nicely out that we will be very sensitive to solar systems, which are similar to ours in the sense that you have a massive lannett like jupiter in an orbit which is a distance of juvenile or maybe a little bit closer, so it is a very special configuration, although we cannot really observe earth-like planets. >> what does this mean for us normal citizens here on earth? >> it is really fundamental astronomy. we are making the basis of what will be used by astronomers, so anyone who enjoys astronomy can be assured that at the bottom of this measurement and work lies the foundation done by gaia.

>> thank you so very much. >> before we leave, cuba has released the brakes on the sale of automobiles after half a century of restrictions on car ownership. cubans have the right to buy new and used vehicles from the state without permission from the government. >> important caveat here -- the government still holds a monopoly on the sale of cars, but this new ruling should help modernize the automobile sector as part of a general liberalization that reduces government rituals -- government controls and supports more privatization of small businesses. >> u.s. cars from times past is still a regular site on the cube's and especially in havana. for decades, most cubans could only buy cars reduce before 1959, the year of the revolution. two years ago, citizens could buy new cars, but only with the government's blessing. few people got it. now those days are over.

>> it's great we can buy cars now without needing permission. we need to modernize because these cars are all a part. we are taxi drivers, but the cars are in awful shape. >> not everyone is delighted. >> what am i supposed to buy with it? unfortunately, we do not earn enough money to be able to save. i cannot for 300, 400, or even 500 pesos, but a car cost a lot more. >> new cars will also mean market prices, and only very few people in cuba will be able to afford those. >> that's all the time we have. thanks for joining us. captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org--

>> here are the headlines. numeral's for bank and the eu summit ticks off in brussels. we will have the latest from our correspondent there. overrun in south sudan. officials say they fear a number of casualties. in recent days, hundreds have betweenled in fighting rival factions of the army. and long considered russia's prison,serving clinical