>> you are watching the "journal " live on dw in berlin. >> thanks for joining us. our headlines at this hour -- kickoff is just an hour away. germany takes on brazil in the first semifinal of the world cup. we will get an update from our correspondent in brazil. >> 12 palestinians are reportedly killed in israeli air strikes in response to rocket fire from gaza, fueling fears the region is on the brink of war. >> and the japanese island of okinawa has been battled by a typhoon.

>> of course, we begin with that big match that is just minutes away, pitting soccer powerhouse germany against soccer giant and host of the world cup, brazil. >> fans are getting pumped up for the game, confident their team will win. both sides have been discussed as favorites to win it all, but tonight, only one side will advance to sunday's final. >> would brazil's top scorer out, neymar's absence may be a big game changer. >> the anticipation is huge in brazil. these fans are cheering on germany. perhaps they want to show their appreciation for great players no matter where they come from. only brazil stand between the

german team in the final. the germans are looking fit. only the defender is out with an injury. he's expected to use the same lineup that beat france. they are looking forward to the challenge ahead. >> we are going into this game with a lot of confidence. we know what we are capable of, so if we use our full potential, we have a pretty good shot at winning. we are not going to wait and see what our opponent does. we are not going to change formation, reshuffle, or do things we do not normally do. >> it might come down to this. the brazilians practice the penalty shootout. without their top scorer, who is sidelined with a fractured vertebrae.

the coach is playing a cat and mouse game with the press, constantly changing players and positions to keep everyone guessing. his not daunted by the germans' success. >> we respect the german team for everything they have achieved during this tournament. but we will make sure they respect us as well. >> it's the fourth straight time germany has reached the world cup semifinal, but that's not enough for the coach and his players. this time, they are determined to take the title. >> this country is effectively shut down, so many are glued to their tvs tonight to watch the home team face-off against result in the world cup. we go to the heart of berlin where fans are packed for a watch party. the weather is not cooperating, but how confident are the german fans that their team are going to win?

>> they are extremely confident, especially now, as we heard, two of brazil's dust players are not on the pitch. the fans think germany has the better team. they played better soccer, so they think they are going to walk off the pitch as winners tonight. you can tell they are confident by the fact that they aren't even here despite the weather. you said it -- it's raining on and off, a little bit chilly. organizers shut down this whole area behind me. there was no one because there was a storm front moving through with thunder and lightning, and it was too dangerous. now the fans had turned up having a party because they think they are going to walk away celebrating tonight. >> there are many brazilian fans out there who are also confident their team is going to win. >> brazilian fans, i have to say, are few and far between,

but there are a few. i made my way through the crowd, and i met 4 brazilian girls on vacation touring europe. tonight, they are here somewhere out there, and they are cheering or brazil. they think brazil will win 3-1. then we will see who -- about an hour until kickoff, and then we will see who is right. >> we will see tonight. happy viewing. >> earlier, we spoke to our sports correspondent where the match is to be played, and we asked how confident brazilians are that their side can pull it off without two of their key players, especially neymar. >> i think confidence would be a bit of an overstatement. the mood is a strange mixture of hope, expectation, and all tinged with a slight undercurrent of resignation. there is, of course, the raw

hope of football fans everywhere, unit resilience have not really warmed to this team, particularly without poster boy neymar. yet, there is this hint of resignation, this feeling that perhaps without neymar, a few people will be able to get their excuses in early. they're certainly an older generation of fans who know the brazilian heroes of football pack, and although they are -- they want to win the world cup, they are not really happy with the style in which they are doing it. we are going to see really quite rudimentary if fully committed percentage football. there's no sense of magic upfront. brazil will be trying to score goals as they have done throughout the knockout rounds, and they will also be limited in what they can do from there. he's not just a great defender, but he keeps things organized.

they will be quite limited, but they will be very physical, very committed, and very hyped up -- i think galvanized -- and be a very tricky opponent for germany to take on. >> wearing a suspiciously yellow shirt there in france. we know who he is supporting. >> our sports correspondent joins us. art, welcome. breakdown this game for us. what is the big, grand plan for these teams? >> bookings are going to try to score goals in the first 15 minutes. germans are famous for that, try to wrap up the game of the first 15 minutes. if they do not score in the first 15 minutes, you see them get a little bit unsettled. you have seen that over decades. the brazilians are also very good at trying to score early on, and if you saw the game against columbia, they came out like investors, flying at them -- if you saw the game against

colombia. they also try to get that first goal against the germans. there is that possibility as well, and also, humans are very good at set pieces. they have been practicing that a lot, so if there is a corner kick or a free kick, watch out for brazil because germany might just gore. >> you mentioned the colombia match. it was riddled with fouls. the referees came under intense criticism for letting it get to that point. >> i think it might be a very well refereed and very tightly refereed game because he made his concerns about brazil be known at a press conference where he said that he is very concerned about how rough a are playing, how physical they are and about the number of fouls they have committed. who is the referee for this match? none other than marco rodriguez from mexico tom and he was the one who was the referee 40 italy-uruguay match -- or the italy-uruguay match. we know what happens -- we had

suarez biting another player, and it was not called. i think he will be on his toes literally for this one. >> thank you so much. we will be talking to you a little bit later on. >> now we want to shift our focus to the middle east, a region that has become a major flashpoint of violence between israel and hamas. >> when the past few minutes, explosions have been heard in jerusalem, an air raid sirens have been sounded. >> is comes hours after israel intensified its aerial campaign in gaza, which reportedly killed at least 12 palestinians. israel has warned it may send ground troops into gaza to stop further rocket attacks by hamas. >> panic on the streets in southern gaza. the devastation is widespread and several people have been killed and wounded, including civilians.

two children are among the dead. israel is determined to end rocket attacks from gaza. >> over the last few weeks, hundreds of such rockets have been fired. we have repeatedly warned hamas that this must stop, in the israel defense forces -- and the israel defense forces are acting to put an end to this once and for all. >> israel has carried out airstrikes on around 100 targets since monday night. hamas is now threatening what it calls an earthquake and says israel crossed a red line by destroying homes. >> we will defend our people against these crimes. we warn occupiers not to continue. we are ready to resist their aggression. >> the spiral of violence continues. tension has been mounting since the murder of three seminary

students in june. hamas has rockets which can reach further. air raid sirens sounded in tel aviv on tuesday. jerusalem is also in range. nothing is being ruled out. israel has gathered, -- armor at the border to gaza, ready to push it and if the order is given. >> for the latest development on the ground, let's cross over to our correspondent. you are on the border with gaza, a very tense situation where you are. >> yes, it is definitely. we have seen some incoming rockets in the past hour or so, and in the evening, there were a lot of bombardments. you can see the lights of the gaza strip just behind me. we have seen a lot of rockets coming in.

also, they are flying over our head because they seem to have now a much wider range than what we have seen during the day. we hear the sirens went off in jerusalem and also in tel aviv and even further up north and that. >> with the ramping up of these tensions and hamas continuing its rocket fires into israel, are we seeing a tipping point now at this stage? >> well, it's hard to say. this is some kind of redline for the israeli government, if rockets are flying towards tel aviv and jerusalem. we heard mr. netanyahu saying that this could be a boarding of the operation. we do not know yet what he means by that. we know several more thousand troops can be called in. this was authorized. we do not know what that means in terms of ground operation. i think at the moment, they are still staying with airstrikes. of course, it is a very tense situation here, and it is also

for the civilian population very difficult in the gaza strip. around me, there are a lot of people watching what is happening in gaza from the hilltop here, and in gaza, i talked to some people on the phone who are very worried how the next hours will unfold because we do not know how much further this will escalate. >> is breaking developments for us on the border with gaza. thank you so much for that update. >> to asia now where japan is being battered by one of the biggest storms in the region in decades. >> local officials say at least one person was killed and over two dozen injured when he typhoons struck. it has brought torrential rain and strong winds. authorities have issued emergency warnings and calls on the island's residence to get into shelter. >> people still outside were risking their lives as the powerful storm for down on the southern japanese island's dashboard down -- bore down on

the southern japanese island. okinawa has become a disaster zone. the storm's powerful winds have left a trail of destruction and disrupted peoples lives. >> i cannot go back because the flights are all canceled. i have extended my stay for two nights to wake up in a typhoon. >> half a million people have been told to evacuate. many are hunkering down in shelters to wait out the storm. >> we were told that the typhoon would be very powerful and that we should evacuate early. i have been here since last night. >> i'm alone and scared. the winds are very strong. >> there's a real possibility of flooding and landslides. waves up to 14 meters high have been reported. with the storm moving north and gradually losing strength, forecasters expect it to reach the capital tokyo on friday.

>> we are going to take a short break. >> stay with us. we're back in just about 60 seconds. >> welcome back. islamist militants have attacked the presidential palace in the somali capital mogadishu. >> fighters from al-shabaab say they have seized control of the compound before security officials managed to repel the assault. at least nine attackers were killed. the president was not reported to be in the building at the time of the attack. >> al-shabaab militants are also reported to be behind a series of attacks in neighboring kenya. >> police say they set fire to a wildlife reserve. other attacks last month and over this past weekend killed nearly 90 people. >> an official in kenya says the government is not doing enough

to prevent such killings. they have staged a rally to protest. >> several thousand people gathered at this park in central nairobi. they accuse the president of not doing enough to ensure security after a spate of attacks by militants. they have failed in protecting the kenyans who were killed like animals, and then they come here where citizens are free and have no insecurity and stay here in the name of protecting us. >> on the coast of the weekend, at least 29 people were killed. the somali militant group says it carried out the attacks as

part of efforts to drive canyon forces out of somalia. the kenyan government says it is a work of local militias fighting over land. yet for the opposition, security is not the only problem. they say the president is mismanaging the country. they want him to convene cross party talks on the cost of living and corruption. so far, he has refused, but despite the party atmosphere, tensions and political divisions in the country remain high. the opposition says it will stage more protests until the government here is its message and takes action on the economy and security. >> the trial of south african former track star oscar pistorius has moved to its final phase. the court has adjourned until august seven when both sides will present their final arguments. >> the defense wrapped up their case today. pistorius is accused of the

premeditated murder of his girlfriend, reeva steenkamp. the athlete says he shot her by accident, thinking she was an intruder in his home. if convicted, he faces at least 25 years in prison. >> back here in europe, italy is dealing with record numbers of breath e.g. arriving on its shores -- record numbers of refugees. thousands are headed to the north african coastline, and from there, they make the perilous crossing to the european union. many lose their lives doing so. >> italy has long complained its european partners have left it alone to shoulder the problem. rome has taken over the eu's rotating presidency. eu ministers have been in the lawn today, and the issue has been topping the agenda -- eu ministers have been in milan today. >> hundreds are plucked from the waters of the mediterranean every week. the operations save lives but cost italy millions every month.

rome wants its european partners to share the cost. many eu states sympathize, but they add that processing the refugees should still be the jobs of the countries they arrive at. they say the rules just need better enforcing. >> they have a common challenge in the european union, but one has to understand that although italy is doing a splendid job in saving lives in the mediterranean, and a lot of people who arrive on the italian shores do end up in countries like sweden and germany. >> like many countries, germany says the problem needs to be tackled earlier. if crisis regions receive more help, fewer people would become refugees in the first place. >> simply deciding who is allowed to come to europe and how we process the refugees once we come here will not save the problem. >> someone to eu member states to take in more refugees

overall, especially those coming from syria. >> people in indonesia go to the polls on wednesday to choose a new president, and voters in the world's third-largest democracy are divided between two dairy different candidates. >> a political insider and wealthy ex-army general is challenged by a political upstart hailed as an indonesian barack obama. the governor of tunisia's largest city comes from humble beginnings and promises big changes if elected resident. -- if elected president. >> he is often called indonesia's obama, and sometimes the presidential candidate does look like an asian version of the u.s. head of state. crowds love him. he is currently the governor of jakarta and pledges to fight corruption and enact much-needed reforms. he pays attention to the problems that affect people's

lives, such as meeting the police on the street to discuss the city's traffic troubles. >> i decided when i must defend the priority. we defend in the street and the side in the street and then direct action. >> he wants to prove that jakarta's solutions can be applied to the whole country. he is using social media networks to get his message across. volunteer groups from all over indonesia support his campaign. >> people say bad things about him on the internet. his opponents attack him. they accuse him of not being a true muslim or even say he is chinese. we are always online responding to these allegations. we make it clear that he is a humble man who is close to his

people. >> the internet is his weapon in his battle for the presidency. he already uses it for governing jakarta and says the model can be expanded to the whole country. >> i'm sure with the online system, we will increase the ability of our people. >> entered politics because he was fed up with having to constantly pay bribes. >> time now for the business headlines. the eurozone financial crisis has receded, but to prevent another crisis from occurring, europe's banking supervisor is taking steps to make europe's banking sector even more resilient. >> in a meeting of euro zone finance ministers, a european banking union is finally taking shape. the idea, which was riddled just

years ago as being unachievable, has now come so far that only the finer points are under discussion. >> meet the face of the banking union. france's former central banker is the head of what is called the new single supervisory mechanism. today, she gave a progress report to eu finance ministers. >> after intense negotiations yesterday and today, we are all confident and certain the ecb, the supervisors, and everyone else are doing all the right rings. >> the supervisor operates under the auspices of the ecb. it's the first building block of the banking union, a project two years in the making and now finally taking shape. experts say it is groundbreaking. >> the agreement was a breakthrough because it was the first time since the beginning of the crisis the european union was doing something really structural. >> the people behind the supervisory mechanism say it is

already having a positive impact. >> banks have started to take significantly fewer risks with their balances ahead of upcoming stress test. they have borrowed more than 50 billion euros from the market. >> some analysts say mario draghi was only able to calm the markets back in mid-2012 because the banking union was also being set up at the time. experts say together, they prevented the eurozone from collapsing. >> well, let's look at the market action, and european shares suffered a steep selloff on tuesday. our correspondent sent us this summary from the frankfurt stock exchange. >> the increase of the german dax above 10,000 points -- was it exaggerated? questions like this were the talk of the trading floor after the disappointing german economic data have been published. during the next few days and

weeks, one company after the other will come out with second-quarter earnings reports. the news about a weakening german economy made investors extra nervous. shares in commerce bank -- commerzbank lost today due to reports that authorities in the united they have begun settlement talks with the bank over its dealings with countries blacklisted by the united states. >> we stay in frankfurt for a closer look at the tuesday numbers, and the dax was well off by nearly one point 4%, finishing at 97.72 -- 9772. across the atlantic on wall street, the dow at this hour trading down not quite as much. 16,912. the euro pretty much flat against the dollar, trading at a value of $1.3611. >> weekend with some final sports news.

a german sprinter has continued his winning ways in the tour de france. >> he powered of the finish line first after they finally entered french territory. norway's alexander kristoff was in second place. it is already the sprinter's third stage win this tour, but he is not leading the race. last year's winner crashed on tuesday but did manage to finish the stage with injuries to his hip and wrist. only another two and a half weeks to ride. hope he gets some new shorts. showing a little skin there. >> thanks so much for watching. captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org--

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>> it is exactly 9 p.m. here in the french capital. you are watching live. never the headlines -- operation protective a -- israel pulling up thousands of reservists as they launch a deadly assault on gaza. 15 people were reportedly killed today. hundreds other injured. a tsunami lashes the southern archipelago of japan, leading to be all that and forcing a million people to evacuate all stop and the battle of two continents -- the first of two south america versus europe finals kicks off this evening. re f