>> welcome to the "journal" coming to you live from dw in berlin. good to have you with us. >> here are some of the top stories he been covering -- the united nations calls for an investigation into the downing of a passenger plane in eastern ukraine, but washington is already indicated it thinks russia is involved. >> israel steps up its ground offensive in gaza in an attempt to stop hamas rocket fire. we'll get analysis from jerusalem. rex and the german captain quits the international game, shocking

soccer fans -- >> the german captain quits the international game, shocking soccer fans. >> the american ambassador to the united nations has told an emergency meeting of the security council that the united they cannot rule out that russia helped in the launch of the surface to air missile that shot down a malaysian airlines jet over eastern ukraine. >> the assertion comes just after a team of international monitors from the organization for security and cooperation in europe reached the site, but the osce monitors said they were not able to secure an access core door and did not have the freedom of movement that they need to do their job. the security council has given its support to an independent investigation. >> world leaders have called for a rapid investigation into this incident, which could mark a

pivotal moment in the deteriorating relations between russia and the west. >> amid the rubble of the fight -- flight from amsterdam, this souvenir t-shirt was found, along with countless other passenger belongings. emergency workers, police, and even off-duty coal miners had been combing fields near the crash site for clues about how the airliner was downed. so far, they have recovered more than 180 bodies. rescue workers also discovered a second black rocks recorder on friday after pro-russian separatists said they had found the first -- rescue workers also discovered a second black box recorder. >> we ask all respective governments to do your duty in this investigation and to support the ukrainian government to bring to justice all these

who committed this international crime. >> russia's president said ukraine bore the responsibility since the crash happened on its territory. >> this tragedy would not have happened if there were peace in that region and certainly not if military activities had not resumed. >> u.s. president barack obama has called for an immediate international investigation into the cause of the crash. at least one american citizen was on board the flight. >> this was a global tragedy. an asian airliner was destroyed in european skies filled with citizens from many countries, so there has to be a credible international investigation into what happened. the united nations security council has endorsed his investigation, and we will hold all its members, including russia, to their word. >> in new york, the united

nations security council stood for a moment of silence to honor those who have died. russia and other world powers are backing calls for an independent probe into what happened. monitors from europe's security body, osce, visited the crash site, but the team said pro-russian separatists refused to grant them full access to the site. >> let's go straight to washington where leaders have been indicating russia's possible role needs to be under greater scrutiny right now. our correspondent richard walker joins us from the u.s. capitol. obama stopped short of directly blaming russia, but what else did he have to say? >> that's right, and i think it is important to stress that in his comments, obama was quite cautious. he said it was important not to get ahead of the facts and warned that there would be some scope for misinformation in the days and weeks ahead.

we have one clip from his comments that indicates the way white house thinking is at least going at this point. >> evidence indicates that the plane was shot down by a surface-to-air missile that was launched from the area controlled by russian-backed separatists inside of ukraine. we also know that this is not the first time a plane has been shot down in eastern ukraine. over the last several weeks, russian-backed separatists have shot down a ukrainian transport plane and a ukrainian helicopter and claimed responsibility for shooting down a ukrainian fighter jet. >> beyond that also as we saw in the report just earlier, obama effectively said that the ukraine crisis has now gone global with this incident, and he stressed the importance of getting a cease-fire so that investigation can now proceed without hindrance, which, of course, in what effectively is a war zone will not be easy at

all. >> the united nations security council along with the president along with vladimir putin want an independent investigation, but russia has already expressed concern that that could be prejudiced. >> absolutely. half that security council meeting earlier, we saw the tensions between the united states and russia rising to the surface quite quickly. samantha power, the u.s. ambassador to the united nations, was much more detailed in her comments than obama was. she named the surface-to-air missile launcher, an sa-11, that she believed shot the plane down, and she also said that that is a difficult piece of equip it to use, saying that she believed the pro-russian separatists in the region quite possibly would not be able to operate it, and pointing to the possibility she said she could not rule out that russian personnel may have been involved. that was fairly clearly pointing the finger in the russian direction.

in response, the united nations-russian ambassador commented that nobody should prejudge the investigation with what he called unjustified insinuations. >> all this indeed signs that this crisis is going global. thanks so very much. let's get the latest now from kiev. our reporter standing by for us there. kiev has released footage that it says shows a missile launcher , the one used to fire on the plane. how can it be so very sure about that? >> the ukrainian secret service points to two sources. this footage showing about 30 seconds of a missile launcher moving somewhere in the east of ukraine, and we see that at least one of the rockets was missing. the second is about a five-minute piece of telephone conversations -- tapped

telephone conversations, presumably by the pro-russian separatists, where they say they have such systems able to shoot down planes flying very high and discussing where they have to move it. what a strange to me -- we have only these two sources, so we have no evidence from people living in those areas, which is a bit unusual. what also strikes me is that the separatists moved the weapon after the plane crash on hidden, so it was not covered by anything. so they were probably not afraid to be seen, which seems strange to me. >> this all shows how important independent investigators are right now. some have already been at the scene and say they were denied the access that they needed. when will independent investigators be able to get the access that is so very important right now? >> it's hard to say at the moment because independent

investigators are only on their way to ukraine. we know for sure that the osce representatives were able to visit the site as well as the members of the ukrainian investigative commission, but the ukrainians complain that they were not able to take important pieces with them, that they were working under the eyes of the separatists. we know that osce observers were able to return safely to do next -- to donetsk, but what they say, we do not know yet. >> what level is the fighting at right now? >> well, we have contradictory reports coming. this morning, we heard that there were some people shot dead in the city of luhansk, civilians, more than 20. it was reported by the ukrainian government. during the day, we heard from different sources that the fighting subsided today. it was much less than in the

previous days. some sources believe that this could be a turning point with russia slowly pulling its forces out of ukraine. though sources who say so believe that russia has a major role to play in this conflict, and russia is now thinking about pulling out. this is what they say. >> all eyes on russia right now. thanks so very much. so what happened to flight mh 17? kiev says it has proof that the pro-russian rebels hit a russian soviet europe missile system, but moscow claims that in the region, only the ukrainian military has that system, and it only has the forces as well to have the training to use it. >> flight mh 17 took off from amsterdam airport as scheduled and did not reach its investigation -- its destination

. ukraine says it has proved that russia is behind the incident. it has released what it says are intercepted phone calls between a separatist commander and a russian intelligence officer. in the calls, one man is heard boasting about downing a plane, believing it is a ukrainian military plane. kiev says rebels shot down two planes earlier this week. rebels say their fighters do not have the surface-to-air missile system needed to hit the flight, which flew at a much higher altitude. they accuse ukrainian government forces of firing the missile which blew up the plane. in 2001, the ukrainian military did accidentally shoot down a russian airliner. killing a total of 78 people aboard.

so far, nobody can prove who actually fired the deadly missile. >> that is what the entire world so very much wants to find out right now. let's bring in our aviation expert to put some of the pieces together for us. what are the consequences of the osce investigators being unable to get to the site he way they say they need to get to it yet though it is, after all, a crime scene. >> it is a crime scene, and i think it should be treated like the crime scenes after 9/11, new york, which means that this is not a place for civilian aviation authorities and accident aviation investigators. this is a place for forensic experts, and this place should have been shut off completely shortly after the crash. a lot of evidence has been

tampered with, but again, this is now a crime scene and should be treated like it. >> let's get back to those city a -- civil aviation authorities. why did it take a tragedy like this for them to advise planes not to fly over the area? >> some people in the industry call these agencies to stone agencies because they only react after fatalities have to be mourned. i do not know why they are coming up with that now, 24 hours after the world knows that the airplane was shot down, that they are issuing a warning to fly over the zone. maybe an alibi? i don't know. >> what motivates airlines to take his kind of risks with their passengers? >> first of all, they probably considered the zone to be safe, but if you look carefully at the news for the last weeks, you have a different -- maybe you get to a different opinion.

there have been other planes shot down in this region, and there are numerous airlines which have circumnavigated this airspace system first round was fired in march. among them are known airlines like qantas, singapore airlines, adriana -- asiana. korean air lines, which of course had been victim already. it does not make sense that everybody is now pointing the finger to malaysian airways. other air planes have been there as well. lufthansa was close by, so everybody to his risk, and of course, it is cheaper to fly the shortest connection, but sometimes it is not safer. >> so many playing a role in this? >> well, money always lays a role in aviation. >> thanks so very much for joining us. >> you are welcome. >> and thank you for being with us as well. we'll be right back after a short break.

>> we will find out about a big surprise from one of germany's world cup winning stars. he's not going to be around for the next one. do stay tuned. >> don't go away. >> welcome back. israel has upped its ground offensive in gaza with artillery, tanks, and gunboats now being used, and it has warned that the operation could significantly widen further. >> the move followed 10 days of rocket fire between gaza and israel and various failed attempts by egypt to broker a cease-fire. >> one israeli soldier is confirmed dead in this latest operation that began late on thursday. palestinian health officials say 27 palestinians have been killed. >> this is israeli military footage showing tanks as they enter gaza. the commander encourages the soldiers over the radio.

israel says its forces are targeting the militants' infrastructure, including rocket launchers and weapons caches in one of the most densely populated places on earth. the army says it is also hunting for tunnels like this, supposedly built for fighters to enter israel and kidnap people. >> it's not possible to deal with the tunnels by air, so we need soldiers on the ground. there is no guarantee of success, but we are trying to achieve the maximum. >> netanyahu said that if necessary, the operation would be extended. israel has 70,000 soldiers at the ready. the past 10 days have brought suffering, terror, and grief to the people of gaza. more than 260 have been killed so far. they cannot flee because the borders are closed. many seek shelter in schools run

by the united nations. >> we were in our home when the jews struck nearby. the children were frightened. we had to leave to find somewhere safe. what did our children do to deserve this? >> the onslaught has not stop hamas from firing rockets at israel. today, they were heading for an israeli city and were shot down by the air defense system. the israelis describe this offense as an active defense. >> this should have happened much earlier, and i hope they do not stop halfway through. >> where the end might be is impossible to say. the last such israeli invasion killed more than 1500 palestinians, but hamas has since rebuilt its firepower. >> for the very latest, we are joined now from jerusalem by our correspondent. first off, what is the israeli government saying right now? does it think this ground offensive can indeed stop hamas

from firing its rockets? >> it is the declared goal of the israeli government to go in and destroy the infrastructure that hamas is using to attack israel. we heard about the tunnels. from what we hear, the israeli army now is controlling the border, and that they are finding these tunnels, and they started destroying these tunnels. obviously, no one knows how many there are, or we don't know, at least, and how long it will take to destroy them. when it comes to the rockets,, system shooting rockets, and it does not seem like that has become any less. air raid pirates have been heard in southern cities throughout the evening in israel and also in tel aviv. so far, it does not seem like this ground offensive has actually had a major effect on hamas' capabilities to fire a

rocket. >> scores of palestinian civilians, many of them women and children, have been killed in less than two weeks now. what is the level of public backing for the government, and have there been any protests at all? >> i would say the majority of the people here expect the israeli armed forces to guarantee the security in israel . people want this rocket fire to stop. they do not want to be scared and afraid anymore. they do not want to have to keep running for cover, and many of the people here say if this requires military force or more military force, then so be it, but there are other voices as well. for example, yesterday, i was in tel aviv last night at an event of former israeli soldiers, soldiers who were on the ground in the last ground offensive,

and they were reading excerpts of their diaries from that time, trying to make people understand what it means for people on the ground, for the soldiers, as well as for people in gaza to conduct such an operation, and they want to take part in the discussion. so they are being attacked verbally by people who oppose this every once and again, and they are saying that they are a minority, but they are our voices to speak out against the killing, and they say it might not be the rate forward and might not be the way to solve this conflict, and they want to break this vicious circle of violence and revenge. >> let's talk about the people in gaza right now. as we heard in our report, during the last israeli offensive, 1500 people died. how are they coping? >> for the people in gaza, this must be their worst nightmare. since this bombardment started,

they cannot really leave their houses or they are afraid to leave their homes. many of them even are afraid to go out and buy food or other necessities that they need. many of them have no power, and even when they are told to leave their houses by the israeli military because maybe they are in an area where an attack is imminent, they do not know where to go. the borders for israel are close. the borders to egypt are close, so they feel like they are trapped. especially now that this ground offensive has come through, and as we hear the reports, the shelling in gaza is being intensified, especially in the hours of darkness. especially right now, the people of gaza are in for another sleepless night full of fear and full of horror. >> with this deployment intensifying, as you put it, is there any chance at all of a cease-fire?

>> we can assume that there are still negotiations going on. we do not really know what the progress is there. there is also international pressure. however, president obama today said and president merkel has emphasized that israel has the right to self-defense. even from an international side, the pressure on israel does not seem to be that great, but we can assume that there will be negotiations still going on behind the scenes for a cease-fire, but we do not know what the progress is there. >> a lot to keep our eyes on in the hours ahead. thanks so very much. >> let's turn to business news now and find out how all this geopolitical uncertainty in the middle east and in the ukraine affected the markets. >> the situation in ukraine and the downed airliner continued to

exert pressure here on the frankfurt market. in other stock markets, it was not quite as bad. some even went up into the positive zone, but when you talk to traders here, they are taking a lot of nervousness and uncertainty into the weekend. what will emerge from this crisis? may be new economic sanctions? nobody knows. add to that the situation in the middle east, israel with its ground offensive in gaza. the dax for the week came out with a positive result, but the week saw some positive news as well, for example, growth trends in china, better than expected. >> we will start in frankfurt with the numbers. the dax, which was down by about .3% on the day. euro stoxx 50, however, was up by 1/5. in new york city, where they are still trading, it is going on an

upward trend, up by a bit more than 175%. at the moment, the euro was trading even against the dollar. >> the former italian prime minister -- >> 77-year-old silvio berlusconi had always argued that he did not know the girl was just 17. he was carrying out community service for a separate tax fraud conviction. >> some shocking news for fans of the world cup winning side. just five days after the triumph, the german captain has announced his retirement from international duty. >> he played 113 games for germany in his 10-year career. the 30-year-old says he will continue to play club football for bayern munich.

>> philipp lahm retiring from the german national team at 30. for more on that, let's bring in now our sports expert. why this decision right now? >> a lot of people are saying he wanted to leave while the party was still good. he obviously wants to go out on a high note, and there is no higher note than if you had just won the world cup. definitely part of his consideration has to be that he just does not feel like he wants the pressure of the germany's captain anymore. 30 does not sound like that old to you and me, but as a professional athlete, your body wears down. he is still going to keep playing for bayern munich, and they play a lot of games because, of course, they go very far in the champions league german cup, so i think that's why he decided this now, but i would not be surprised to see him back at some point. maybe the 2016 euro in france.

>> it is a high point, but what are the implications for the german team right now. >> they will have to reorganize their back for -- 4. i would keep an eye on a young fellow who plays for dortmund. there's also the question of who will be the new captain. thomas mueller is sort of the hour for of the german side. it could be nowhere, but of course, a goalkeeper is not really in the thick of things, and i do not think his personality is really up there even though he is a fantastic goalkeeper. it is such a fantastic and still relatively young team. why would you? captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org--

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>> you're watching live from paris here on "france 24." your headlines -- a significant widening, the israel defense forces have been ordered to prepare for a possiblesque lace -- escalation in the grand offensive in gaza as the death toll continues to mount. the u.n. security council convenience in new york. we don't have time for games. the warning from president barack obama as the u.s. ups the diplomatic pressure on moscow over the downing of a malaysian airlines jet. and another great escape. italy's former leader ville silvio berlusconi has won an