>> hi, everyone. welcome to the "journal" here in berlin. a look at our headlines this hour -- the fighting in syria continues, but moscow looks set to block a world appeal for united nations action. russian police detained dozens of protesters opposing vladimir putin's returned as president. >> and the ads loses for india's biggest ever arms deal.

>> the united nations security council is to meet this hour to discuss a draft resolution on syria. it demands that the syrian president step aside, but already, russian delegates have dismissed the proposal, calling it a path to a civil war. while security council members debate solutions in syria itself, the violence seems to be getting worse day by day. and activists say recent days have been some of the bloodiest in syria since the uprising started in march. videos posted online claimed showed tanks firing on the streets, and explosions. government forces have retaken control of the damascus suburbs, pushing the rebels back from the edge of the capital. despite high hopes, the mission of the arab league observers failed to slow the killing.

their work has been suspended, and they are holed up in a damascus hotel. the opposition is now pinning its hopes on the security council during the u.s., britain, and france favor a draft resolution demanding assad hand over power to his deputy, but russia says it will use its veto. >> if he steps down -- if they demand he steps down and he does not, what then? an air force? a bomb? the security of proposal will never approve that. >> diplomats are trying to change russia's mind. germany says there are no plans to use force. >> there is no discussion of violence in the security council about any kind of military intervention in syria. >> russia insists it will not back any resolution that demands assad steps down.

>> we are joined now in the studio by a journalist who lived for many years and worked as a correspondent in syria. why is russia such a strong supporter of the regime? >> the friendship between russia and syria dates back to the times of the cold war because socialist syria always used to be a strong ally of the soviet union, so they have strong economic links from that time. russia has its own military base in the syrian port, which has been extended over the last few years, and it is the last political ally in the region while almost all of the other countries in the region have fallen under american influence. >> speaking of the deterioration in syria, we have seen the error of observer mission suspended. violence seems to be escalating on a daily basis. is it fair to say that a civil war is happening?

>> the term -- the name of the civil war is difficult. at the moment, what we see in the suburbs of damascus our soldiers fighting soldiers. deserting soldiers who fight the regular forces. this is not a civil war. the army is usually there to protect the people, said the deserters are really taking this course and taking this opportunity, but what we see in other cities like homs, there might be the possibility that activists joined these deserted forces, and there might be acts of revenge. this is getting very dangerous. but this intense fighting is between soldiers. they used to be all part of the same army. >> as always, we thank you very much for your insights. thank you very much. sixth aid workers have been kidnapped in yemen, connected with the humanitarian affairs office. authorities say tribal gunmen

seized vehicles on the outskirts of the capital, the kidnappers demanding the release of the prisoner being held in the capital. over a dozen protesters were arrested in russia on tuesday after staging an unauthorized rally. the number of protesters on tuesday was small, but demonstrators are keeping up the pressure on moscow as vladimir putin prepares to make a comeback in presidential elections in march. >> radical opposition leader was one of a dozen people arrested at the demonstration mid to high led russia's constitutional right to free assembly. riot police were out in force, although only around 100 demonstrators have turned up. >> we can see here what things are like in russia. from a european point of view, it is completely crazy.

>> the government gives way in the face of mass demonstrations, and then they break up a little protests like this? it is unacceptable. >> wherever protests are held, authorities show again and again that they are not prepared to people.nto dialogue with the- >> this was just one in a series of protests. tens of thousands demonstrated in december in the biggest opposition rallies since putin came to power. another mass rally is planned for this weekend. >> we will have more on russia's elections coming up later on in the show. to the united states now and florida's republicans have begun casting their ballots to select a candidate to run in november's presidential race. latest opinion polls show former massachusetts governor mitt romney with a huge lead over his closest rival newt gingrich. that he is a progressive. >> i agree with mitt romney.

>> a chance to associate mitt romney with obama and remind voters of new gingrich was a political scandals, florida tv stations are full of attack ads. this house in boca raton is home to a man with millions of dollars at his disposal to spend on expenses smear campaigns. is the director of americans for prosperity, a super political action committee founded by wealthy donors to promote their political aims, often by using tv commercials. >> again, we have sort of a narrow focus, that being limited government. that is what we want to focus on. if we could get candidates to adopt those positions, we will be successful in moving things ahead. >> others are dedicated to a specific candidate. mitt romney profits the most. in the last week alone, $6 million worth of tv commercials ran in his support. it seems to be paying off. he now has a wide margin in the

opinion polls. >> i support romney. i believe in a lot of things he represents. i like the way he presents himself. >> i think this country need someone that is going to know his business, and i think he is a very educated man. i hope he is going to do the best for us. i certainly do not want obama. >> analysts say whoever can convince florida's diverse group of voters has what it takes to take on obama. >> let's hand it over to steve. it goes for france in an election year. >> and for sarkozy. he has enthusiastically greeted this news because it is good for france and his election chances. new delhi has entered into exclusive negotiations with france dessault aviation to build fighter jets. it faces fierce competition from the year a fighter consortium, but now it is set to land a deal valued at over 7.5 billion

euros. >> the fighter jet came out on top and landed the deal. the media is speculating that they won the contract because they offer the lowest price. the news was warmly received in french capital paris. president sarkozy hailed the first international deal. >> we have been waiting for this for 30 years. 126 in the last days in india. it goes well beyond the company that produces them at well beyond aeronautical industry. it is a sign of confidence for the whole french economy. >> in december, france said it would start producing -- stop producing it in a decade if it did not win any export orders,

but the deal means the company is stepping up the competition with theeads -- with rival eads. it lost out on the multibillion- dollar deal, just as the outgoing ceo was looking to strengthen the company's's defense arm. compared to orders for passenger planes, those contracts are less susceptible to economic fluctuations. >> speaking of fierce competition, apple has won another battle in its long- running legal war against samsung. the companies are suing each other over patents for must have technologies in their flagship tablet computers, the ipad and the galaxy. this time, an appeals court in germany has ruled in favor of apple. >> the minimalist design with a rounded edges, details shared by samsung's tablet computers and apple's ipad.

a duesseldorf court says samsung copied apple. >> the court is of the opinion this imitation took advantage of the play to's reputation. the procedure of the ipad has been used improperly for samsung's own purposes. the court holds that is illegal. >> but the battle is not over yet. the two companies are still locked in legal disputes around the globe. the stakes are just too high to simply give in. following the launch of apple's ipad in 2010, annual sales of tablet computers almost tripled within a year. in 2011, global sales hit 64 million. the figures forecast to rise to 104 million in 2012 and well over 300 million in 2015. the tablets at apple are way ahead of the competition, but samsung has already launched a

restyled models of its tablet on the german market. >> it has been confirmed a german steel giant is selling the majority of its stainless steel unit to a finnish competitor. staff a protest against the billion-year deal, which they feel will bring significant job cuts. the sales contract rule out layoffs for the next four years, but it will not stop the closure of a major plant next year. action, german blue chips finished the final trading day of the month with gains but retreated from session highs in late trading -- onto tuesday's market action. in frankfurt, germany's blue- chip dax closed higher. your stocks 50 index of leading eurozone blue chips up 5.5%. across the atlantic in new york, the dow jones currently trading slightly lower, down by 0.2%. the euro lower against the dollar trading at a value of $

1.3887. a plan to create millions of new jobs in a further planned to boost the eurozone economy, which involves tapping 82 billion euros of unspent funds from the eu budget. unemployment across the eurozone as a whole now stands at more than 10%, the highest level since the euro debuted a decade ago. not even europe's leading economy, germany, has been able to escape the slowdown. >> unemployment has topped 3 million again, but germany's labor office says that is not as bad as it sounds. many of the additional 300,000 people on the books are out of work due to seasonal factors. a number of building sites take a break during the cold winter months, for example. business is picking up for many german firms, but a lot of them say they are having a hard time recruiting suitable staff, despite the unemployment figures. >> in other words, on the one

hand, the strong upswing is still having an effect. on the other hand, we are seeing the companies are having difficulties finding the right staff to fill vacancies, regardless of the sector or region. >> currently, mechanical engineers, health care professionals, and energy sector specialists are in particular demand. the labor office expects the number of unemployed to decline slightly due to the ongoing cold weather. experts say it is not likely to fall below the 3 million mark again until later in the year. >> workers in nokia networks are bracing for job cuts. but 1/3 of the work force in germany will be cut, about 2900 positions. there are also plans to close 30 german locations. the network equipment company is looking to cut costs by 1 billion euros over the next year as part of a restructuring effort. they have posted billions in losses since being founded in 2007. finally, deutsche welle is

ushering in some changes. >> we're expanding our english, spanish, an arabic services. here is a preview of what is to come. >> the spanish department has a special challenge. as of next monday, deutsche welle will have a 24-hour a day spanish telecast in latin america. there's a lot of new talent in the spanish program, a new foreign bureau in buenos aires will provide on-site reporting. spanish channel will offer news on the hour. also, a new magazine show that will be produced both in berlin and latin america. more spanish content is just one feature of the new program. the goal -- customized content for all of you is wherever they may be watching deutsche welle. >> this is a rejuvenation of

our presence. it makes our programming more regionally specific. i sincerely hope we succeed than the deutsche welle will be aired worldwide via six satellites, meaning viewers can choose their language. in latin america, there will be spanish and german language channels. in asia, the german language channel will be accompanied by continued this -- continuous english language programming. >> it all boils down to providing viewers with the best possible access to deutsche welle and its programming. >> the web site will offer more multimedia content. from next monday on, the address is dw.de. dw is also our new logo. for television, radio, and

internets. we will be back with an in-depth look about how vladimir putin's attend to become president of russia again is dividing the country. do not go away. >> when i organize a party, it is a real party. everyone writes their name on the cup and a party, and the great thing is you already know their name.

>> democracy and free and fair elections. that has been the major demand not only in the arab world but in russia as well. prime minister vladimir putin saw his image tarnished after last year's election was marred by accusations of election rigging. as we see in our first report, putin still enjoys the support in the russian countryside. to gauge the mood there, we visited a town close to a city in siberia. it is 6,000 kilometers and five time zones from the russian

capital, moscow. some 4000 people live in east siberian town. here in the vast plains of russia's far east, none of the houses has running water or modern sewage systems. but the town's school does have 55 new computers. they were a gift from vladimir putin. it is just one reason why parents and teachers here want putin to return to presidential office. >> since he has been in charge in russia, we get paid on time. businesses are full, which you could not count on before. russians do not live any worse than europeans. and we are still developing. >> putin promised this school computers when he visited two years ago. in a local meeting that was broadcast on television, putin unleashed a general modernization of the village.

this retired couple treat the bench where putin sat in their garden like a treasure. they still gush over how modest the most powerful man in russia was and how easy to talk to. >> vladimir putin would be a president for all russians again. two years ago, he major that pensions were substantially raise for pensioners like us, and now, two more increases are coming in february and once more. >> when they see mass protests in moscow against putin, they do not agree. they do not think that recent elections involved fraud, and they do not feel as if they have much in common with demonstrators. >> we are very different from the big city people in moscow. they are jaded. they have everything. but even that is not enough. they always want more.

then in the town is also set to get its own well as bar. the mayor does not know who will cover the operating costs, but she is proud nonetheless. construction work goes on even though it is 45 degrees below zero because that is what putin decreed. the ministry of sports in moscow is in charge of construction. >> vladimir putin was popular from the very beginning when he came to power 12 years ago. the people believe in him and his promises. they think he is changing things for the better. and ever since he visited us, the people here believe even more strongly in him. >> plots for new homes on the outskirts of the village are another of putin's legacies. residents along for the day they all have running water and a few proper roads in the town. maybe these will come sooner if

putin comes back to visit them as president. >> putin is the firm favorite to win march's presidential vote, and that is despite the growing discontent in russian society with his government, so where is the discontent the strongest? it seems that russia's middle- class are feeling particularly dissatisfied with his authority. >> they usually meet after work in secret places. only those who know the password can get in. young and well-educated, they belong to the city's emerging middle class. financial analyst anna and public relations consultant alexander are helping organize the next demonstration. >> we are global citizens now. we read four newspapers, watch international films, and we know what is going on in the world. >> we were not politically

active before, running around like children putting up posters was not our thing. but that is exactly what we're doing now because we cannot go on living like this. >> alexander has a family and a good job, but he believes the development of his country is being hindered by stagnation, corruption, and bureaucracy. alexander and his wife want a better future for their children. >> i wish everyone would play by the same rules and abide by the law, especially those who are in power. they are supposed to set a good example. >> alexander now spends almost every evening on the internet. he was shocked so deeply by evidence of fraud in december's parliamentary elections that he decided to speak out. he uses facebook to communicate with like-minded people.

protest groups meet regularly. here, at a memorial to victims of stalin's's regime, they remember modern-day political prisoners. >> russian civil society is waking up. even if we d not manage to bring about a change of government, the country will still change. ordinary people will pay more attention to what is going on. >> they want real change, democracy, and free and fair elections, and they are no longer afraid. alexander says the worst that could happen is that the country could remain as it is. >> earlier, we spoke with a german politician, who was a coordinator for russian relations in the german government. we began by asking him how strong the opposition to putin really is. >> the opposition is spreading out in the middle class. it is not a few intellectuals.

there is a rising class of people who do no longer accept corruption. who do no longer accept a lack of freedom of media and who want participation. this is why modernization in russia is not only technological innovation. modernization has to be very comprehensive and to change the country, to give the people the possibility to compete about the best ideas about the future of the country. >> what is germany doing to support democratic organizations in russia? >> we have to get in touch not only with the kremlin, with the official russia, but we have to include in our partnership the people -- that means the u.s. exchange -- the use -- the youth exchange, corporation, and we have to bring together the

ngo's to have a broad exchange. modernization is comprehensive and is 8 feet change of the political system in russia. >> is it difficult for germany to support the opposition? after all, berlin works closely with the russian leadership, especially when it comes to economic and business ties. >> especially -- of course, we have official course of conduct an economic corporation, but the european union is a model for enter societal interconnection. we have the opportunity to bring people together, not only be at our official contacts, but to use the wide and open space of european interaction. we have an e-russia civil society forum, which is a grassroots organization. they are doing a very good job, and if we use these contacts, i

think this is a win-win situation for europe, but mainly for russia. >> we thank you very much. so is vladimir putin's plan to come back as russian president dividing the country? that has been our "in depth" look. thanks for joining us. captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org--