anchor: this is "dw news" from berlin. serial custom deadly civil war -- talks in syria's deadly civil war are often way rocky start. peace negotiations in geneva, but with doubts over the opposition's attendance, can they make progress? also coming up, new low -- german chancellor angela merkel

cross -- angela merkel's approval ratings are shrinking. support for her refugee policy has fallen sharply since the new year's eve sexual assaults in cologne. and growing urgency over the mosquito-born zika virus blamed for causing birth defects in babies. i'm sarah kelly. welcome to the program. there's been five years of bombs, bloodshed, and killing with a by count the stopped counting at 250,000. rebel groups were initially united to depose assad, but now they are splintered as western

powers try to win influence with a combination of diplomacy and military might. now the world is hoping for a real attempt at finding peace. indirect talks began on friday in geneva in what will certainly be a drawnout effort to seek an end to the conflict. another group that will not be taking part is the fearsome and bloodthirsty islamic state. >> the so-called islamic state seemed unstoppable f a while, but the radical militia is coming under increasing pressure. increased in syria, the anti-i.s. coalition has retaken many positions and destroyed the travel route. in syria, harder to get a good number. all in all, they've lost 30% of the territory.

>> most of the so-called islamic state's losses have come in syria and the turkish border. with support from the anti-i.s. alliance, kurdish forces have recaptured much of the region, including the long embattled syrian city of combining, but in the center of syria, i.s. fighters have been able to consolidate their gains. fighters occupy the city of palmeiro -- of palmyra where they have access to ancient archaeological sites. coalition airstrikes have significantly hampered oil smuggling operations, but the group still nets about $80 million a month from the sale of lack market oil. carlos of the setbacks a military expert warns against underrating -- underestimating its strategic gains. >> the islamic state over the past year and have to cheat of

years has strengthened. it has been able to acquire more territory in syria. it has acquired a significant revenue stream. it has been able to take territory in iraq as well, and it is just far from over. >> it's hard to -- it's hard to gauge the strength of the terror group. >> you cannot really measure it. in this part of the world, you have empty space and the big city. >> when russia entered the fray, complicated the issue a lot more. russia is fighting alongside the syrian army, making the situation harder to diffuse. when defense ministers from the anti-iis coalition met in paris last week, they seemed no closer to a military solution. a peace plan appears to be an

even taller order. sarah: let's bring our correspondent who joins us from geneva. peace talks over syria do not have a good track record, though the last time they made an effort, it collapsed after two frowns. what is the move this time around? andreas: the mood is very pessimistic. one, not all the players are here, and two, nobody is fighting right now -- nobody who is fighting right now in syria seems to be willing to stop this bloody war and come to some kind of political solution. sarah: there's a lot of confusion about if the main opposition group is going to attend. first, they said they will not. now it seems they might attend on sunday. what has been the hold up on that front? andreas: you have to read very carefully their announcement. it would appear there's a small delegation tomorrow night,

saturday night, to test the waters, to test the willingness, the seriousness of the other players and of the united nations. they explicitly state that as long as there are preconditions, they will not actually into negotiations. these preconditions are an end to the aial bombdment, t liftinof the seizures of all the syrian cities, and three, humanitarian convoys into these places. the fourth condition is they want to be the only opposition group at the table in geneva. sarah: break this down for us -- what should we be expecting over the coming days tackle what's on the official plan, at least? andreas: on the official agenda, keep the process on regardless

of who is in geneva physically or in the room. there will not be any direct talks for the next six or eight weeks, anyhow, but only proximity talks, by which he is walking between the different rooms. at best, we might see members of the riyadh opposition group into negotiations, maybe by the beginning of the week after next. after some of the conditions, at least, seem to be prepared. sarah: thank you. in other news, the italian prime minister is in berlin, meeting with the german chancellor. the countries have not always seen eye to eye, but today, the leaders said that relations between them were strong. note said that they believed in a united europe and would fight against the rise of political populism. keeping britain in the eu was also a priority, they agreed, but the biggest topic at the talks is, of course, the

migration crisis. italy has been blocking a plan to give turkey 3 billion euros in exchange for a commitment to stem the flow of migrants. today, matteo lindsay -- matteo renzi said he agreed to the plan but there was still much to be dealt with. >> for these migrants, the new asylum package agreed on thursday i the german coalition comes as a shock. those who receive subsidiary or limited protection are not allowed to have their families with them for two years. "i have a wife and two children, two girls. they are one and six years old. it's impossible for me to wait two years." "my family is still in iraq and they are in danger there. if they can join me here all depends on this law." at a meeting friday of the

federal council, there was cross party satisfaction with the compromise. "people can live with this compromise. as a social democrat, when it comes to the post families joining them here, i would have been happy with more leniency. for future refugee groups, priority will be given to reunification. for syrian families, the social democrat party is trying to come up with a quota solution. still, there is no concrete decision. "it's a huge problem because once again, more women and children are being put into these incredibly unsafe boats in order to somehow get to europe." >> this should not excuse the fact that our goal is still a long way off. especially when it comes to limiting immigration.

in the german city of heidelberg, the first refugees have received their new refugee id papers, which include the persons name, country of origin, and age as well as his or her fingerprint. it's hoped it will help prevent multiple registrations and the data will be shared with germany's federal criminal police office. sarah: police in southwest germany are searching for after a hand grenade containing live explosives was thrown at a home for refugees. the grenade not explode and no one was hurt. investigators said that it is still not clear if the device was even fitted with a detonator, which could have caused it to explode. the german justice minister has condemned the incident. here's what he had to say. >> when we've come to the point that hand grenades are being thrown at tilting's right here in germany, then these crimes need to be solved and the perpetrators must be punished. we cannot wait until people end up dead in refugee homes.

sarah: also in germany, authorities are preparing for carnival celebrations amid heightened concerns following the mass of salt in nearby cologne on christmas eve. carnivals produce some 70,000 flyers to inform locals and residents about the festival every year. this year, the same advice will also be translated into arabic. organizers say they hope the move will help many migrants in the region overcome the language barrier and better understand the festival. the world health organization says that the zika virus will affect up to 4 million people in the coming years. monday, the who will decide if it qualifies as a global health emergency. it's harmless for most people, but researchers relieved it can cause rare birth defects if pregnant women are bitten by virus-carrying the skeeters. in brazil, more than 4000 babies have an born with animality's --

abnormalities thought to because by zika. gregory, why has zika not been declared a global health emergency already? it is clearly spreading. thousands of children are being born with birth defects which are blamed on the virus. why the hold up? gregory: the thing is, there's actually not enough evidence. there is very little evidence to connect the two with cause and effect. zika, in itself, is a very mild virus, and it would definitely not warrant a public health emergency designation. what is worrying, however, is this perhaps link to some neurological disorders, which

happened at birth or after birth, but this has not been proven yet. there is certainly circumstantial linkages in terms of time and place, but there's no cause and effect yet. that is why we have not rushed into a global emergency. sarah: there was a lot of criticism in the wake of the ebola epidemic, that the global community simply waited too long , that the response was not quick enough. is the world health organization doing anything differently to prevent that from happening in this case? gregory: certainly what we have done is quite fast and thorough in this case, and, yes, i think everyone has learned from the ebola lessons. certainly, since may 2015, when the first cases in the americas were notified to the world

health organization, we have sent various teams to the countries affected to help them improve vector control, to do case detection studies, to look at other means of controlling, detecting the virus and that he and or trying to determine if a radius -- >> thank you. >> amnesty international says it has collected evidence of possible mass grades in burundi. the group has released satellite pictures, video footage, and witness reports that it sows -- that it says shows atrocities. tensions have been rising in the country since the president

announced plans to run for a third term. you are watching gw news. when we come back, the case the cause an uproar in russia and a strained relations between moscow and berlin. now, prosecutors are causing a teenagers action visions -- accusations that she was raped i migrants a hoax. we are back in a minute. stay with us.

>> welcome back. a reminder of the top stories. the syrian regimes delegation arrives for peace talks in geneva. there are indications that the syrian envoy will hold talks on sunday with the main opposition group, although the opposition insists it will not take part in official negotiations.

prosecutors in germany say a hurting year old russian-german citizen who are accused migrants of raping her fabricated her story after spending her night at her boyfriends place. the girl disappeared from her home in mid-january. afterwards, she claimed arab migrants of duct and her and raped her accusations and ignited an international dispute between russia and germany. russia's foreign minister accused germany of a cover-up. or the german foreign minister said moscow was using the case as political propaganda. change of pace, the latest business news. you have a check on the u.s. economy today. >> the u.s. economy was hit by a sharp slowdown in the fourth quarter tween october and december. gdp rose 0.7%, a touch below the 0.8% expected. a strong dollar and lackluster global demand are hurting

experts. also, consumers cap dollars in their pockets. there are hopes activity could rebound, though economists warned that china's troubles, sinking oil, and stock prices could dampen recovery. the bank of japan surprised markets by adopting a negative interest rate. the central bank is imposing a 0.1% fee on the sum deposited. it hopes to encourage commercial banks to lend more and stimulate japan's sluggish economy. the move had an immediate impact on financial markets. the index soared almost 3% as investors welcomed the move. more on that in our report. the v o.j. says it is imposing a 0.1% fee on some new commercial bank deposits, effectively penalizing lenders who parked too much cash at the bank. the b o.j. hopes it will in

kurdish banks to lend more, stimulating investment and growth. speaking at a press conference in tokyo on friday, bank of japan governor announced the new measures. >> we have decided by a majority vote to introduce a negative interest rate in order to achieve the price stability target of 2% at the earliest possible time. >> since the 1990's, widespread falling prices have discouraged a japanese consumers from making large-scale or frequent purchases because prices tend to fall. by adopting negative interest rates, japan is brandishing a new weapon to fight deflation, seen as a key factor behind two decades of economic stagnation. >> the paris shootings last november have taken a toll on france's economy, 1.1% gdp growth below expectations,

showing that the terror attacks have sinister economic side effects. they not only harm tourism, but put a damper on people's mood to spend money. here is more. >> the fear of terror return to paris on thursday. disneyland, one of the cities tourist hotspots, a man arrested after trying to enter the themepark caring two guns. paris tourism has been hit hard by the terror attacks in november of last year. hotels have lost millions in revenue. the number of people visiting the eiffel tower has fallen. it has weakened the country's economic growth. the french economy saw just 0.2% growth in the last quarter of 2015. consumer spending, the traditional pillar of the french economy, dropped 0.4%, weighed down by an in season be warm

winter, but because also many in france cannot afford shopping trips. the unemployment rate reached a record high in december. the government in paris says there were hopes the 2015 could have been a year of recovery for the country's economy. now people in france are only hoping for a colmar year to come with less the right news -- with less frightening news. >> you know who this is, don't you? if not, these plastic things keep your kitchen cupboard attached to the wall. it is used to fix things to walls and keep them there. it is one of those iconic products that, along -- only come along very rarely. it is something in its simplicity and functionality could not be bettered. it was invented in germany by this man, auto fisher, and he did not stop. he was a prolific inventor, holding more than 1000 patents. became successful, but in his

heart auto fisher always remained a technical nerd. he died wednesday, 96. here is a look at his achievements. all his life, he was a problem solver. he was especially interested in finding ways around every day obstacles. among tons of other things, he invented a synchronized flash for cameras. he held over 1100 patents. but his most important invention in 1958, an expansion dollar designed to anchor screws. these days the fisher family produces 14 men and that 14 million a day. >> they ed to bell cylindrical with a smooth external surface but it eds teeth to stain place against soft and hard materials. the company is now run by his son, clouse, he has turned the

business into a multinational corporation. over 4000 employees in 32 countries work for fisher. in 2014, sales reached 661 million yeaeuros. an assembly kit for do-it-yourself enthusiasts, popular in germany. a year and a half before his death, it was honored by a european inventors award, one of his greatest achievements in life. >> amazing man. that is all for me for now. back to sarah. >> thank you. we had to sports now. european handball championship in poland, germany through to the final on sunday. defeated norway and a nailbiter in overtime in its semifinal by one goal, winning the game 34-33.

it now has to wait for the outcome of the other semifinal match, which is started between spain and croatia. saturday features a desperate struggle between stuttgart and hamburg. the two former power houses are now a shadow of themselves, but that can make them doubly dangerous, and now that stuttgart are showing signs of a revival because of their new coach, they are like -- would like nothing more than to get another three important points in front of their home fans. >> in five games, two wins, and just one loss, that is the new coaches record at stuttgart, taking the team to the 15 spot. up next, hamburg. >> they are going in confident, but we have a lot of respect for hamburg. they have a better away than

home records. they have 14 away games. >> he is supposed to bring continuity to stuttgart. he is the seventh coach in the past three years. he won the title with stuttgart as a player. most recently, he closed -- coach the b team. >> he has a lot of freedom. he should take advantage of the opportunity. >>'s first task is to stabilize the defense, with 38 goals-against, stuttgart has conceded the most goals in the league. up front, he gives his team much freedom to operate, allowing for free-flowing and attractive football. >> at the moment, he is a very important person force. he has three goals in the last two games, good numbers.

>> whether it is him or others, netting goals is brought this team lots of joy, but stuttgart knows that a win against hamburg is no child's play. >> world athletics chief, sebastian kehl, has denied a report that he warned the london championships bid that bribery was taking place ahead of the vote to host the event. the head of u.k. athletics has said that a very senior iaf person told him that envelopes of cash were handed out before the vote. britain's daily mail says that person was then the iaaf vice president. antennas, the remaining australian open semifinal, andy

murray finally prevailed over milosz relish and eight energy-set -- energy-sapping setter. he tried to show his quality is to fight back and reaches fifth final. he meets novak djokovic on sunday. i repeat of last year's showcase. that will be a good one. a quick reminder of the top story, the syrian delegation has finally arrived at eight united nations sponsored peace talks in geneva. indications that the syrian -- envoy will hold talks with the main opposition group, although it insists it will not take part in official negotiations. it's always have time now for. thank you for watching. ♪

host: this is life from paris. i'm "france 24." the main syrian opposition group will join the peace talks in geneva. they end their boycott after receiving u.n. and u.s. guarantees. peace talks began earlier in geneva. fresh troops faced allegations of child sex abuse in africa. brazil is losing the battle against the zika virus.