clean. germany come out with guns blazing against northern ireland and go through to that knockout round of euro 2016. ♪ >> it is good to have you with those. there is over one day to go before british voters decide whether to stay in the european union or to get out. leading members of the two sides have face-off in a television debate tonight. three members from each camp argue their cases in front of 6000 strong audience in wembley arena. the topics the economy, immigration, and britain's place in the world. former london mayor and leave campaigner course johnson had this warning. -- boris johnson had this warring. ning. >> you can see it across europe and in this country as well. >> the london mayor campaigning for britain to stay in the eu said a brexit would bring a recession and asked what leave camp strategy would be after pulling out of the eu. >> how would you make sure that the terms of trade with the eu are better than they are now? how would you make sure small business jobs are not lost? the most important, what is your plan? >> what is your plan? all right, let's go to our correspondent in london and ask her what her plan is. she was watching that debate tonight. we want to be objective here. was there a winning side? >> well, the debate is still in full swing, but on the economy, traditionally the remain side has a bit of an because they -- a bit of an edge because they can ask they brexit side what is your plan. there is no plan if britain would leave the eu. nobody knows what kind of deal britain would get with the eu and also with the rest of the world, and many experts who have been quoted extensively by the remain side have agreed that there would be a recession and the economy would be hard hit, so this is really the strongest argument that the remain site has had and lots of applause when the london mayor said, what is your plan, boris. immigration is the big topic, and this is where a lot of this definition voters and members of the audience are with the brexit side, the so-called uncontrolled immigration that has been mentioned again that is coming from the eu. this is something that makes people applaud when they listen to this. >> we can see right there of the debate going on, lots of applause tonight for both sides. let me ask you about the british prime minister. he made a passionate plea today because we got new numbers out showing that the leave camp has a narrow lead and it's getting more narrow by the hour. what is behind that? >> it is really very difficult to say. for a long time, the remain side was leading, and then the leave had a slight at -- slight edge. that turned after the killing of jo cox last week. the british public is so polarized. there are so many emotions on both sides. in the end, the undecided people will make a big difference, because more than 10% of brits really don't know what to vote for. i think many of them will only decide on the day, so we cannot predict just yet. >> the undecided vote is incredibly important in this. i have heard so many people say that if i hear the word brags again, i will scream. -- the word brexit again, i will scream. what about the apathy there? >> i'm sure some people have had enough, and there were also people who were not interested in the first place, but are a lot of debate is going on in the streets. when i am here in the cafe, i can hear people debating. on social media, everybody is talking about brexit and the referendum. people are listening to what these leaders have to say and making up their minds, so i don't think there is too much apathy just yet. there is only a few days ago and it is a historic vote. >> it is deathly an important day, and you and i will be there. we will have special coverage on thursday going into friday as those results come in. thank you very much. >> international sports officials have backed a ban on russian track and field athletes for doping. they have also opened the door for some of those at these two represent the country at the upcoming rio olympics if they can prove that they did not dope . with just 45 days to go to rio, there is to confusion over how many russian athletes will infect -- will in fact be able to compete. >> strong words for countries whose test were declared noncompliant. >> these noncompliance declarations and the substantial allegations related to it that they put very serious doubts on the presumption of innocence for athletes coming from these countries. >> russian and kenyan athletes have six weeks to prove they are clean before the olympics. they may have to be tested by their sports international federation. the president of the russian committee called for athletes to challenge the ban legally. he remains optimistic. >> the questio of russian athletes participating in the olympics is still open. i think that most of them will be turning to the court of arbitration for sport and they have good chances of winning their bids. >> time is running out, but russian athletes who train outside the country still have hope. they will have to prove they are not doping before the game start in august. if they are successful, they could be able to compete under the russian flag. >> oliver moody from our sports desk is here at the table. help us understand this. the band for the russian team stands, right? but there is an exception. >> there is an exception. the news that came from the ioc today just seems to have confused matters. we have this announcement from the iaaf saying that russian track and field athletes were banned. now despite coming out in support of that band, he seems to have fudged the issue and created confusion over whether actually some russian track and field athletes could get into that door. >> does he have the authority? can he overruled the decision made by the international governing body for track and field? is there a hierarchy at play? >> because the way the announcement was worded, he can actually allow russian athletes who have been training outside the russian system in different countries or what have you, there was a kind of loophole left in this ruling by the iaff. , especially with this announcement by the ioc today that russian and kenyan athletes need to be tested by their international federations. now all kinds of other aspects are getting involved, arbitration for sport. it is getting very confusing. >> at the same time, the head of the ioc is saying that the world body for detecting and stopping doping in sports, that that organization needs to be looked at an overhauled. if i were a russian athlete and clean, that would be my opening right there to contest any ban. >> i'm sure a lot of the russian athletes who are expected to be banned from the olympics will be appointments have been made by russians ports officials in recent days. you have athletes who in the past have been proven to have doped who will be going to the games, but then you have these russian athletes who have never been proved to have doped are being tarred by the same brush as athletes who have been doping in the russian system, and they are saying the system failed. >> it's a double standard. >> exactly. how can you allow some of these athletes are doped in the past ago and not allow these other athletes to go? i'm sure we will be hearing more about that in the coming weeks from the court of arbitration. >> it will be interesting to see who was walking behind that russian flag when the games begin. >> if any of the track and field athletes are walking behind the fly, it could cause some controversy. >> oliver moody from our sports desk, thank you very much. russia is also facing pressure on another front. the european union has voted to extend sanctions against the country because of its continued support for separatist rebels in eastern ukraine. the announcement came as the ukrainian president met his french counterpart in paris today. the two leaders discussed the ongoing ukraine conflict. the eu imposed sanctions against russia two years ago over its annexation of crimea and its role in the conflict in ukraine. moscow responded with counter sanctions against some european products. earlier we asked our correspondent in brussels whether there was full agreement among the eu members about extending the sanctions. >> the front against russia is still standing, all 20 member states of the european union agreed to prolong the sanctions against russia for at least six months, but there are still questions asked behind closed doors. for example, italy, france, and hungrnagry asking if the sanctis are working -- hungary if these sanctions are working. so now some european countries say we have to come up with another solution. there is also a rift in emerging in the coalition government in germany. the conservative chancellor says that we have to maintain a hard stand against russia, but the foreign minister says we have to ease sanctions step-by-step, and we have to come up with another solution and to have a softer approach towards russia. i think the european union is still in the making. >> reporting from brussels. the international criminal court has jailed the former president -- for war crimes. he had been convicted by acts can be committed by his troops 0 years ago. >> it is the first time that the international criminal court has held a military commander for his subordinates crimes. the presiding judge said he was aware of what his soldiers were doing and did nothing to stop it. >> his failure to take action was aimed at encouraging the attack directed against the civilian population. >> the soldiers were congolese rebels under his command. in two thousand two, he sent them to the central african republic after the president asked for a help suppressing an uprising. it was here that the troops went on a bloody rampage, victims described cruelty, including young girls raped in front of their families. he went on to be a prominent politician in the democratic republic of congo, first in opposition, then in government. he was arrested in 2008, the most senior political leader ever to be detained by the icc. he is expected to appeal the sentence, but his conviction marks a historic moment for the icc. it sends a strong signal against the use of rape as a weapon of war. >> the south african government has appealed for calm after violence erupted in pretoria. protesters torched buses and barricaded roads with burning tires and one of the capitals townships. they are angry at the ruling party, which they say has imposed an unpopular mayoral candidate on them. this violence comes two days after a leading figure was shot dead over the same issue. in a sign of increased party infighting. we will take a short break. more news, coming up. dan will be here with the business headlines as well. stick around. ♪ ♪ >> welcome back with "dw news" live from berlin. with just over one day to go before british voters decide whether to stay in the eu or leave, leaders of the two sides have faced off in a television debate. the topics included economy, immigration, and britain's place in the world. of course as we have heard, a new poll shows that the vote in britain is still on a knife edge . in berlin among young people, that is not the case, with most people keen on the u.k. staying in the eu. we have been talking to students to hear what they have to say about brexit. >> jane barker's 11th graders have clear opinions about the brexit. >> those in favor of the u.k. leaving the union, please put your hand up. >> two are for it. >> and those against. >> and all the rest are against. at the berlin brandenburg international school, the fees are high, but so are the standards. the student body is multicultural with pupils from 65 different countries. lessons are mostly taught in english. >> with somebody like to come up with a starting question and open the debate? >> jane barker has put the brexit debate in today's lesson plan. the teenager's arguments are engaging. >> the purpose is to unify the european nations and build a strong system and a strong bond, and breaks it would be a fundamentally good idea if england could negotiate very good trade terms with european countries because then they could do that as well as perhaps join nafta as, and then we could align ourselves with more countries and be more diversified in terms of trade. >> currently it is more dangerous for countries to begin leaving the eu. what we have then? nothing. we need some sort of unity, and we can achieve this through the eu, which has stayed strong for several decades. it is important that the eu remain a unified europe, and the only way this can happen is if britain stays. >> in jane barker's class, the students are from six different countries. next year, they will graduate, so of course they are already thinking about what might happen if britain leads the eu. >> i also have personal reasons for my decision that i would like the u.k. to remain a part of the eu, because i would like to study in scotland next year. >> as usual, jane barker lets the debate run its course. all the students know that she is a britain and want to know what she thinks. >> i think it would be foolish if the u.k. were to leave, and i think definitely for me personally, i think for most people in europe, and i think for most british people that we are better off with europe. >> all right, business news now with daniel. news of an important court decision in germany. >> it is a controversial decision, so is the european central bank illegally feathering their nests at the cost of the taxpayers. the answer is no in this case. even if it were to use its controversial outright monetary transactions program, germany's constitutional court decides d today that omt does not constitute that. >> the court said the ecb would not be exceeding its legal powers by using the omt bond buying program to tackle financial crises. it throughout a challenge by opponents of the scheme. >> the constitutional court has also come to the conclusion as same as the european court of justice that our decisions comply with the ban on illicit funding of state budgets, and also with the duty to always act in accordance with market principles. >> critics failed to convince the constitutional court that the omt policy means baying out irresponsible european governments with taxpayer money. the plaintiffs were bitterly disappointed and accused the judges of kowtowing to the ecb d the european court of justice. mario draghi announced the program four years ago as bond market turmoil threatened the financial stability of several ailing eurozone countries. >> the ecb is ready to do whatever it takes to preserve the yeaeuro, and believe me, it will be enough. >> the statement came as borrowing costs had reached unsustainable levels. a week later, the program was launched, effectively guaranteeing those countries bonds, the result was dramatic. interest rates held sharply, even though the program was never used. in their ruling, the german judges said the program is compatible with german law as long as it adheres to conditions laid down by the european court of justice. that means purchase forms must be restricted and bonds bought under the program should only be held until the issuing country's finances have stabilized. >> the investor who made a fortune on the uk's black wednesday in the 1990's has warned against brexit. george soros is urging brits to remain in the referendum on friday, saying the brexit crash will make all of you poor, be warned. an article with the british newspaper the guardian paints a bleak picture of britain's future if the nation decides to leave. he predicts a black friday for the u.k., saying the british pound would drop i at least 15%. eventually says lower house prices and job losses would plunge the country into a new recession. so hopefully that has grabbed your attention, and the referendum has grabbed the attention of investors worldwide , so let's get the market reaction now. the head of the federal reserve has weighed in on brexit, hasn't she? what has janet yellen had to say? >> in fact, janet yellen pointed out that bxit will be a significant risk for the united kingdom and europe as a whole, but said it is hard to predict any specific outcome. pressure by senators -- pressured by senators, janet yellen predicted it could increase the risk. it will make it more expensive for u.s. manufacturers and exporters to make sales around the world, hurting the u.s. economy. janet yellen said the u.s. recession is not the likely scenario if brexit happens. >> the other big question everyone wants to know from janet yellen is what about the rates rise? are we going to see a rates rise coming up or is that looking extremely unlikely now? >> it seems unlikely, daniel. from what's going to happen to interest rates in the coming months, janet yellen expressed optimism about the economy and downplayed risk of recession. once again, the fed chairwoman said the central bank will be cautious about increases until it is clear that the job market is holding up. as for now, the market is not expecting the fed to increase rates until the end of the year. >> thank you very much for that update. and things are getting even tougher for the vw executives after prosecutors say they were investigating the former ceo on suspicion of market manipulation. volkswagen has said a current brand manager is also being probed for having informed markets too late about the scale of the diesel emission scandal. germany's financial regulator has now made a criminal omplaint against the entire volkswagen portfolio. that's all your business news for now. i had you back over for sports and football. >> that's right. the final group's c matches have been played. poland beat ukraine. in tuesday's other match, germany took on northern ireland. it was important the end of the group stage on a high, but they faced resistance from a northern ireland team playing in their first european championship. >> after facing criticism about their lack of an effective attack ever since their drawer with: last week, germany came out guns blazing in this encounter. -- since their draw with poland last week, germany came out guns blazing and missing counter. the only time he got beat came in the 30th minute when mario gomez slotted in his first competitive international goal since four years ago. this after, muelle1-0 for germa. >> let's have a look at the standings. germany win the group on goal difference is, followed by poland. : faces switzerland on saturday, while germany must wait to find out what team they will play. northern ireland king get one of the -- can be one of the final 14's to get in the final round. with just over a day to go before british voters decide to stay in the eu, leaders of the two sides have faced off in a tv debate. that is our top story this hour. the topics were the economy, immigration, and britain's place in the world. after a short break, i will be back to take you through the day and an exclusive interview with one of pakistan's top generals on terrorism, taliban, and telling the truth. stay tuned for that. ♪ host: hello everyone. welcome to a packed show coming to you from here by the brandenburg gate in berlin. let's take a look at what is on the program today. adventurous accommodation. we visit europe's quirkiest hotels. speedy stroll. our reporter takes a brand new walking bike for a spin. and classics competition. this year's concorso d'eleganza features the cars of the stars. now let me ask you, where do you look to stay when you go away for the night? a hotel with a pool, a campsite, or something a bit out of the ordinary? we set off to find europe's most