>> hello, and a very warm welcome to the "journal" on dw. the top story -- more dramatic elements in the ukraine, where parliament has footed to remove andident viktor yanukovych a release from jail. >> we begin in the ukraine, where president viktor yanukovych has said he is still

not willing to step down, but there is an overwhelming feeling he has lost his grip on power. parliament has voted to remove him and stage new elections in may. protesters have taken of control over the capital kiev. and the opposition leader has been released from jail. yanukovych has lost his grip on power, at least in kiev, where a crowd gathered at his furious residents. security forces were nowhere to be seen. the building has become a symbol of corruption under his government and many ukrainians who come here are fed up. man whowas built by a had no right to be called a human being. or a citizen of the ukraine. viktor yanukovych is reportedly in the eastern city. in a televised statement, he

rejected speculation he was planning to resign. instead, he called his opponent criminal, accusing them of and claimed a coup, that his car been shot at. he compared the situation with the not see seizure of germany in 1933. he did not say why he was in the city. there were reports he wants to leave the country. the opposition has artie taken control of parliament. lawmakers elected a new speaker. and they said that opposition leader yulia tymoshenko would become president if ninkovich -- a victory in a covert resigned. we demand that parliament dismiss viktor yanukovych immediately. that would be the basis for new elections which constitutionally would have to be held by may 25 at the latest.

>> that is exactly what parliament did. including somes of his own party voted to remove yanukovych. following the vote, the parliamentarians sang the national anthem, an historic moment for the country. demonstratorsd gathered outside of parliament. they believe the president's removal is the logical consequence of the events that have transpired in recent days. at least 77 people have been said to be killed in the violence. is nohink that yanukovych longer a representative of our country, which all of the things that he mentioned already, the lack of response, the real situation, and we still don't know where he is. so i believe that the person and should represent the country

should not behave like that. >> protesters at independence square are mourning their dead and they hope that there will be change for the better. >> dramatic elements of the ukraine. for the latest, i am joined from the capital kiev by our reporter. work is, what is the latest you can tell us about president yanukovych? he still believes he is the president, but his days appeared to be numbered. the situation is quite volatile at the moment. we have inflicting information coming in minute by minute. the latest we hear about is that heanukovych is supposed to have moved to his homeland where he has supporters. been spotted in the eastern ukraine, saying on television he is not ready to step down and he does not see this parliamentarian decision as

legitimate. so we don't know where he is at the moment and what he is doing to stay in power. >> marcus, any more on the rumors that president yanukovych may have been attempting to flee the country, possibly to russia? >> yes, there was a parliamentarian speaker who said earlier this day that he tried to escape to russia but was stopped by border guards. later, we had news that a plane left for moscow, but these are not confirmed information and is parliamentarian figure from the opposition. we don't know anything about the whereabouts of president viktor yanukovych at the moment. >> president yanukovych going in one direction, yulia tymoshenko is heading where you are. what can you tell us? >> the news in the ukraine has

it that her convoy arrived already, that she is on her way to the street where many people died in january already. she wanted to go there to mourn the victims of this confrontation, of this crisis in the ukraine. she is supposed to be at that place now. and she wants to come to the idan square to rate the protesters. >> what should we now expect from the opposition? what is their next move likely to be? toi suppose they will try build structures. they have named in interior minister already. they have gained power over the ministry of defense, over the army. we heard reports that some special forces officers have

been in parliament saying they they will nor -- longer shoot at the people, they are with the people now. basically, it is very obvious the politics of viktor yanukovych is getting smaller and smaller and the opposition is getting the upper hand. >> those are the latest political developments. on a geopolitical level, people are talking about the possibility of the breakup of the ukraine. is that more are less likely, given the recent developments? on, again,epends what yanukovych is doing to get back grip on power, but it looks unlikely they are getting back into power again. people,, among the nobody is really interested in a division of the ukraine. even people in the eastern part, even if they support viktor

yanukovych, they want one ukraine that deals with the world because they are pretty much -- those are fireworks going off behind me. people here in the ukraine are understanding pretty well their only chance for the future is a bridge between european union and russia. >> when you mention russia, you are a bit of an expert on russia, marcus. give us an idea how moscow will look at the developments today? , the only russia chance russia had today was to look on today. the reaction from the kremlin or any one of the officials so far. heard the prime minister take a very tough stance just the other day. he mentioned that president viktor yanukovych should try to gain control over the situation

again. otherwise, russia was not ready to give further credit, billions of dollars to avoid the ukraine from bankruptcy. >> ok, marcus, thank you very much for keeping us up-to-date on the developments in kiev. still very tense, despite fireworks. the former ukrainian prime minister yulia tymoshenko has been released from prison. she has been in confinement since 2011, when she was sentenced to seven years in jail for corruption and abuse of office, charges many viewed as politically motivated. just what impact she will have on developments in the ukraine is completely unclear. she is a highly controversial figure, doored by supporters but viewed with great mistrust by others -- a doored by supporters but viewed with great mistrust by others. >> she is one of the key faces of the protest movement, even though she has been in-person whole time. elements decision to release yulia tymoshenko is welcome

here. >> she was imprisoned three years, so it is a great political event and we are very excited. >> she is considered one of president viktor yanukovych's greatest rivals. as a leader of the revolution, he -- he helped force him from office in 2004. later as prime minister, she championed the same calls that professors have been fighting for now, a move away from moscow and towards europe. she also promised huge improvements for ordinary ukrainians. the people are expecting their goals for me and living standards in the fight against corruption in the areas of justice. and i want to say we will achieve these miracles. but the miracles did not materialize. ukraine's iron lady lost much of her popular support. for critics, she was in

unscrupulous political opportunist who got rich. in 2010 she was forced to step aside. elections will return viktor yanukovych to office. within a year tymoshenko was in court, sentenced to seven years in prison for abuse of office, a conviction that the european slammed as political. her suffering noblesse supporters. the decision to order her release is another chapter in the ongoing power struggle with her archrival viktor yanukovych. >> i am joined now on the line by my colleague charles mcferrin , who has been traveling through the western ukraine. charles, you have been to the lavive. the tell us how it is. >> it is about an hour from

poland. in, there is a memorial for the people killed , which is beend one of the strong opponents of viktor yanukovych when he took office four years ago. today, as we have gone through town, six bodies came back through the town in recent days. we witnessed a funeral. people were crying. mood were eulogies and a of the morning -- of mourning. people were not celebrating today. there was grief. >> charles, you are yourself

traveling by road towards tf. how are you experience in the security situation going towards kiev? >> it is far from chaos. basically what you see are people from various towns lining the freeway who have basically form together into basically malicious. set upave been militias, to try to prevent security forces from moving towards the capital. hours, they are also now searching for some of the people who perpetrated the killings in the past few days in kiev. >> charles, i think we have to leave you there.

it is been very interesting getting your insight, but the quality of the line is poor, so we will leave it there for now. thank you very much for that report, charles. italy, where the centerleft leader has been sworn in as the new prime minister at the age of just 39. he is the youngest man ever to lead the country. most of the ministers in his new cabinet are also relatively new to politics, and half of them are women. they are tasked with overhauling italy's sluggish jobs market and broken tax system. renzi confirmed a finance officer and chief economist will be italy's new finance minister. the world's most wanted drug kingpin has been captured. execute and marines are rested in a resort city early saturday. he was the leader of the senate

lower drug cartel, one of the largest in the world. offered officials had $5 million for information leading to his arrest. that is all we have time for. we will be back with more on the ukraine, bundesliga soccer, don't go away. a very warm welcome back to the "journal." an unprecedented scene at vatican city. retired pope edited 16 -- francis xvi joined pope at a ceremony, the first time they have appeared at a public liturgical ceremony since benedict became the first pope to step down in more than six centuries. benedict xvi pope sat in the front row as his successor pope francis celebrated 19 archbishops to the rank of cardinal. it was the first time that an

addict attended a papal ceremony since he stepped down last year. benedict, the of german archbishop, was one of those who received pope franci'' blessing to become cardinal. five of the new cardinals are from south america. two asia.frica and the vatican says the inclusion reflects the pope's commitment to the poor. pope francis thanked the new cardinals for their services and reminded them that the church needs them. thank you, dear brothers, thank you. behind the lord and let him lead us through the beloved will of god, the holy mother, the church. thank you. isthe position of cardinal

the second-highest in the roman catholic church. with the new appointees, the vatican now has 218 cardinals in all. latestts, all of the from the penultimate day's action at the winter olympics in sochi. the netherlands has confirmed their dominance in the speedskating, and norway entered the record books. here is the round up of today's action. norway's nordic skiing champ made history by taking gold in the 30 kilometer start. it was her sixth gold in total and she is now the most successful winter olympian ever. her teammates took silver and bronze. snowboarder from germany grabbed silver in the women's parallel slalom.

austrian was faster in the final. germany grabbed a surprise bronze, two, ice to a snowboarder who carried an injury into the final. in the men's parallel slalom adding to the winner's medal from the giant slalom. austria skier took bronze. in theherlands took gold men's team pursuit speedskating final. the team beat south korea and poland, who finished second and third respectively. proved just as good as the men. they also grabbed gold in the team pursuit things to their team. -- thanks to their team. poland grabbed silver, russia took bronze. >> as the winter olympics come to an end, more scandal with a

ukrainian cross-country skier failing the doping test. or had alsobsled tested positive for a banned substance and a german athlete as well, a double olympic cross country champion. the german olympic area feels a little gray today. the games are coming to an end and the magic moments are coming to a close. the mood is subdued. >> we had a wonderful first week and a half when we led the medals table, but a at her winning streak ended. there was more bad news to come. german triathlete evi s achenbacher-stehle tested positive for a doping test.

she was excluded from the german team yesterday. >> i don't understand how an experienced athlete like her could mishandle a miss -- a nutritional supplement issue. she is 33, not a spring chicken. >> eight years ago she was also under suspicion of doping. in germany, the police this week searched her private residence and training center. i think the state prosecutor's office will be investigating her. that is appropriate. they need to clarify how the banned substance got into her hands. >> the last word on the doping case is clearly not yet spoken. the bundesliga soccer, where hamburg's new coach produced a minor miracle in his first game in charge. 3-0 to boosttmund their survival hopes.

they opened the scoring in the 42nd minute. they had goals in the second half. hamburg had lost their last seven games in a row. the other results from around the league look like this. enter -- nuremberg beat their rivals. house berg won 4-2. won 4-2.rrg and sundaywon, match.rt has a the game friday saw a fourth-place shocker extending their fine run of results. a fifth victory was too much, here is why. things offn started

with a flash corner kick that bounced off the bar. the defense came under pressure early, but held the baseline. thehe half-hour mark, visitors had their third real scoring opportunity, courtesy of their striker. the royal blue order squander chances just before halftime. after the break, they were looking for a goal and almost got it. line keeper was caught napping, but recovered nicely to stop the score. four winseir run of since the early break. >> the upshot of all of the weekend action so far, the bundesliga looks like this, no change at the top where the big four to have the championship league so end up -- look to have the championship league sewn up.

in the bottom half of the table, stuttgart are in serious trouble after seven defeats in a row. hamburg called there are way out of the bottom after an incredible win. and freiburg lost. sighta one, the unusual of trailing the competition. the second testing session before the new season, the red bull driver has been several seconds off the pace. what nobody knows is whether the team has a genuine technical problem or are trying to dupe their rivals. the four-time formula one world champion is at a loss for words. it was their worst preseason start in five years. changes,ll the rule winning the title will not be the primary goal. we will wait and see how competitive we are and how we adapt.

we had a competitive car at the end of last season. the big changes, that is history. the 1.6 liter turbo engines are being used for the first time. a redesigned the racecar virtually from scratch. the biggest challenges the power unit. that is where we rely heavily on our engine partner, renault. >> renault provides the engine, red bull has designed the new chassis. build theirmercedes entire car themselves, including the engine. her cds has the resources of the daimler group -- mercedes has the resources of the daimler group to make sure there cars are to to perfection. >> they have the opportunity to really dominate. >> mercedes is also providing the engines for three other teams.

during testing, the data is shared to ensure the motor is further optimized for maximum efficiency. so far it appears to be paying off. mercedes is dominating the preseason campaign. >> that is sports. before we go, we have to go back to the top story, the ukraine, parliament has voted to remove president viktor yanukovych from office, and opposition leader yulia tymoshenko has been released from jail. i am joined on the line by our correspondent. everybody is presumably awaiting the arrival of yulia tymoshenko after her release from prison? >> that's right, we are all waiting for yulia. nows just a matter of time until she appears on the square. while there is a mood of expectation, there also may be a

earnest because of the bloodshed. how are people digesting those terrible events? >> yesterday was a day of rage at the finance over the violence. mixedis a day of mourning with celebration. it is a confirmation of feelings at the place where snipers shot down demonstrators. candles are burning, they are putting flowers down. at the same time -- >> very sorry. nike for those initial impressions. i'm sure we will be coming back later. -- thank you for those initial impressions. i'm sure we will be coming back later. that is it for the "journal." we will be back very shortly.

ñ