>> you're watching the journal live from dw in berlin. >> ask for joining us. >> game changer. the first high-profile german soccer star to come out as gay. >> michael schumacher's skiing accident, his helmet camera has provided vital evidence about questions, but some still remain. >> greece takes the helm of the european union for the next six months.

we start off with a high-profile soccer player coming out as gay today. the former international midfielder revealed to a german newspaper that he time was right to start a debate. >> he has already achieved that. social networks have been abuzz with the news and not just here in germany. he played in england and italy during his long career. >> now that he is retired, he hopes that by opening up, he can make a difference to others still in the game. >> he was the team captain and won a league championship with them. thomas also played for germany's national team 52 times. he had thunderous shots on goal. he waited until hanging up his boots before coming out. in an interview with a german newspaper, he said, "it has only

been the last few years that i would rather live with a man. he had said coming out was not a good idea for players earlier since it would spell the end of their careers. but now he says he wants to a dance the discussion of homosexuality in football. his announcement earned praise from sporting and political circles. >> it is good he is talking about something important to him that might be liberating. we live in a country where no one should be afraid to acknowledge their sexuality because of fear of intolerance. >> he has shown courage and for that, he deserves recognition. >> the german team manager also says that he deserved respect. and on twitter, a national

player congratulated him for his courage. >> in the studio to discuss this in further detail is our sports correspondent. great to have you in the studio. how big a deal is this? >> it is a huge deal as we saw in the report. a household name, one of the biggest football nations outside of germany. this is someone who has only just hung up his boots at the end of last season. it might not seem like much but this is a sport that is really difficult for active players to come out. this is rolling back barriers until hopefully we get a top five player coming out and not affecting their career. >> why do you think it is such a big issue still? >> as he said, there is still

very narrow view of what constitutes masculinity in football. you're supposed to be a hard his nails fighter and nothing else. take a look at the only other top-flight player at the peak of his career to come out in the late 90s. he ended up being called a poof by his own manager and committed suicide in 1998. there is a huge amount to be done for tolerance. some sports in other parts of the world remain very bigoted. >> this is unequivocally a very brave decision. will it make any difference to the soccer players still act oh >>l? >> they will be reluctant to come out because they will be

told it is not good for their careers but it will help, anyone who has played against him will know what a player he was and respect him as a player. they might revise their opinion on how compatible homosexuality and football are. secondly, it's huge news for any young footballers out there struggling with their identity. hopefully it will encourage them and reassure them and make the next generation of footballers far more relaxed about it they are. >> he could become a role model. thank you for being with us in the studio. >> to a city in the iraqi province of an bar that is once again being torn apart by fighting. >> al qaeda linked rebels battling the prime minister maliki for control of the city.

>> a deal has been reached that allows police to return to some parts of that embattled region. >> thousands of civilians have fled the fighting and the u.n. warns of the humanitarian crisis . >> any displaced families from falluja have sought shelter in neighboring kabbalah. red crescent workers are providing aid to these refugees that have moved into antigovernment buildings and schools. >> are 167 families that have arrived here as of today. we have given them 91 baskets of food and relief aid. including like it's an dry food. cracks between -- >> residents of both falluja say they have limited access to food and fuel. iraq's prime minister has called

on tribal leaders to drive the militants out. >> we do not want the city to suffer at all. we will not use force as long as the tribes are ready to fight al qaeda and expel them. >> maliki said he would hold off an offensive to give time to push the militants out. but many in the muslim minority share the militant's hostility towards the prime minister and the shiite ed government. >> the world's chemical weapons watchdog has told syria to speed up the handover of its chemical arsenal. lacks the most dangerous chemicals were supposed to have left the country by december 31 but only the first cargo has been loaded onto the daily freighter. fighting continues in the region and the syrian army is reportedly attacking rebel positions from the air. in aleppo, some rebels are at

one or two fronts fighting islamist forces as well as government troops. >> still ahead, angela merkel after her skiing accident. >> but let's take a look at other news. a train shortly after it left mumbai, the court -- it comes to weeks after 26 people were killed in a train fire in southern indiana. >> all four crew members of the u.s. military helicopter have been killed in a crash in eastern britain. they were on a low-level training mission when it crashed on marshland in norfolk. u.s. air force investigators are working with british police to establish the cause. >> and an 88-year-old man was

charged taking part in the second world war massacre. the knot sees bird down a town in front killing more than 600 people. they are trying to bring war criminals to justice before they die. angela merkel led the first meeting after her skiing accident of the new year. lex there was plenty to talk about. he conservatives and social democrats have been in the coalition government for less than a month and there are differences on policy that have to be resolved. >> cracking down on migrants from bulgaria and romania that no longer need work visas. the problem, they say, is being exaggerated. urkel turned to a coalition -- commission to make recommendations.

>> i think that is the best way to handle this issue. we need to work with hard facts. >> they say those from the balkan states are well qualified and are needed by the german economy. >> as germany's business community, we want to stress the table areas and romanians are among the workers with lowest jobless rate and welfare dependency in the country. we are bad mouthing a part of the population that doesn't deserve it. >> it is likely to be the first of many disagreements. ask michael schumacher was not

skiing at a reckless speed when he crashed 10 days ago. cracks based on video footage of the accident, schumacher remains in a medically induced - coma in a hospital. >> it was a helmet camera like this one i capture the moments before the accident. police had been studying the footage for clues. the formula one legend went headfirst into one of these rocks. but who was to blame? schumacher had left when the crash occurred. >> he was not going at as -- at an excessive speed. it was a normal speed for a skier of that level on that terrain. >> the conditions on the slopes and the skis and the signage

have all been ruled out. >> there were standards in france. our findings were that the standards were respected. >> the police stress that they have not yet concluded their investigation. he remains in an induced coma in hospital despite an appeal by his wife or the family to be left alone, the media remain camped outside in large numbers. >> the 2022 world cup could be a little different than in the past. the tournament might be held in the winter instead of the usual summer months. the plan was revealed by fee for secretary-general speaking on french radio. >> the timing of the tournament

has been a hot topic because of the intense summer heat. >> thief is number two official, the comments appear to have taken the rest of the organizations top brass by surprise. a decision on when the world cup should be held wasn't supposed to be announced before this summer. some temperatures can go as high as 50 degrees celsius. ever since the games were awarded to qatar, critics have piloted -- highlighted the dangers of such extreme heat. they have questions about whether it is enough. if he for has distanced itself saying the decision has still not been made.

>> a controversial basketball star dennis rodman has outdone him with a musical tribute to the even more controversial north korean leader kim john thune. -- kim jong-un. >> it was an anniversary game to mark his birthday. due to the secretive nature of the north korean regime, it is not clear how many candles he has on his cake this year. >> he calls it basketball diplomacy but his latest visit to his "best friend" has met with criticism. john kerry called the former nba player and idiot. harsh words.

>> we will take a short break and when we come back, and greece takes the help of the european union. >> welcome back. greece has formally assumed the you presidency, an influential role that rotates and athens will have a chance to steer the agenda. >> a delegation was on hand. big problems at home are influencing opinion. greece is still struggling with high debt and a weak economy. the only way toward a bright future is harsh austerity measures. >> according to a recent poll, 86% of them feel that their country's voice is not being

heard in the european union. >> living standards for please stand by. legions of young people dependent on handouts. and unemployment has soared. especially among the young. even well-qualified people can't find work. those who can try their luck abroad. since the financial crisis, economic output has fallen by 1/5. the government has planned to dismiss 50,000 public-sector workers in the coming year. austerity has sparked huge protests. there is also encouraging news. tax revenue has been rising and in 2014, the economy is expected to return. greece has also made impressive strides.

in the economic sector, business is better than ever. bargain prices and political turmoil has made greece a prime destination once again. >> let's bring in our correspondent, let's talk about taking on the eu presidency. it is a chance for greece to guide the agenda. >> greece wants to complete the banking union and deal with migrationlows. the huge issue across europe, it wants to focus on gross policies like maritime energy projects. for greece, what matters is that it glides through these next six months without embarrassing

hitches this is a very important public relations drill. it was to showcase what it is calling its success story. and to show international lenders it is no longer the basketcase of europe. hoping that ultimately europeans and its creditors will help. it will bring down this very high debt that it has. >> they have been painting that teacher of the success story, haven't they act out do ordinary greeks by that? >> this is not the first time they have heard such words of praise only to be clobbered weeks or months later with added

austerity measures. the greeks are very pro-european and they believe their nationstate does belong in europe. they have grown very apprehensive and cynical of such remarks. they have also learned by now to decode a lot of them. deep in these upbeat statements, particularly the european commission president, there were some very worrying lines about how fragile the situation still remains in greece. it has many of them already fearing that this could spell more pain down the road. >> we will have to leave it there. thanks for joining us from athens. in turkey, the government has fired the country's deputy police chief. the highest-ranking figure to be brought down in a purge. >> accused of a bogus corruption

scandal that has hurt the image of the ruling party, they are voicing their concern. >> turkey is a candidate for membership to the eu. hundreds of police have been fired for investigating government corruption. russells says that is not how they do things in europe. >> it could undermine the current investigations and capacity of the judiciary and police to investigate matters in an independent manner. >> turkey says the corruption allegations are nothing more than a plot to destabilize the government. the scandal is now the biggest threat to the prime minister since he took power 11 years ago. the true test of how much it has affected his popularity will come soon. they are holding local elections

in less than three months. >> germany's controversial trade surpluses back in the headlines. >> those numbers came out as u.s. treasury secretary jack lew was in berlin and repeated his call for germany's investment and domestic demands. it increases imports. >> his counterpart defended his policies but the pressure for action is not just coming from washington. late last year, brussels launched an investigation into the eu. >> with their reputation for high engineering and reliability, german automobiles have established themselves as the country's top export. 17% of all exported goods are either cars or car parts. in second place comes german machinery followed by chemical products and electronic goods.

while german products are in high demand, foreign companies are finding it hard to sell their wares in germany. germany's trade surplus was over 18 billion euros in november of 2013. seven percent more than one year earlier. they are growing inpatient from the ballooning trade imbalance. they say they should take measures to boost demand and increase exports from the neighbors. >> also big news on the markets. >> from the company's point of view, export numbers have been going down. it is taken is good news. also the story may be continued. economists think that german exports will grow by four

percent this year. and that this prediction may come true has been shown by new industrial orders. they rose sharply and more than expected before. the german economy stays in very good shape. in the and, there hasn't been a positive reaction to that after investors took some of their profits out of the market. >> let's have a look at the numbers. very slight losses on the day. the dow losing four percent on this hour and trading under $1.46. >> millions of people across north america are coping with dangerous subfreezing temperatures. arctic winds have brought one of the harshest winters in decades. rex they say the worst -- >>

forecasters say the worst may soon be over. but for now, some people are in the throes of that deep freeze. >> how cold is it? hell has frozen over. hell, michigan, that is. residents of the tiny town have not lost their sense of humor. >> it's hell. >> there are side effects. >> neighbors are stuck up there. she called the snow plow and the snowplow got stuck. >> 160 million americans are trapped. these passengers got lucky. a bus got them to chicago.

>> we got news that another was coming to rescue us. but that train got stuck. we knew another would come pull us back. >> i thought we were going to starve. >> with thousands stuck on the roads, more trouble could be approaching. temperatures are expected to sorin the coming days. the big thaw after the big freeze is likely -- >> at lake erie, striving the situation for us there, please. >> is still very cold right behind me. as you can see, the water has been frozen over. a lot of water pipes are frozen. many people have no water

pressure. the city of cleveland encourages everybody to stay indoors as much as possible. schools and recreation centers will be open throughout the night to serve as a shelter. >> thank you for your reporting. that's all for us for now. [laughter] >> it is a balmy 10 degrees in berlin. >> we're happy about that.

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>> a comeback. you're watching live from paris, -- welcome back. you're watching, live from paris, "france 24."\ this is the worst violence to rock syria since the conflict began. thousands of migrants take protest to parliament. they want to be recognized as refugees. mired in debt, social unrest, nad a -- and a rise