>> hello, and welcome to the journal here on dw-tv. coming up on our program, a bid for statehood. palestinian president mahmoud abbas applies for full membership to the united nations. continuing his visit to germany, pope benedict reaches out to palestinians with an ecumenical prayer service. >> recession fears have not gone away. captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org--

>> a moment of truth that the united nations. palestinian president bachmann abbas has submitted an application for full u.n. membership in the first bid toward statehood. abbas received applause both at the un and at home, but the united states says it will veto the measure. shortly after the submission, is really prime minister benjamin netanyahu spoke to the assembly saying peace with the palestinians could not be achieved through un resolutions, but through direct negotiations. >> this was the moment many palestinians had been waiting for. their president, mahmoud abbas, met the u.n. secretary-general, ban ki-moon, and handed over the formal application for membership to the un. people in the west bank

celebrated as they watched the events in new york. there was little sign of the violence that many had predicted. after delivering the application, a boss spoke to the un general assembly. -- abbas spoke to the un general assembly. he received a standing ovation. he said that israel has to implement u.n. resolutions for there to be peace in the region. >> settlement activities embody the core of colonial military occupation of the land of the palestinian people. all of the brutality, aggression, and racial discrimination against our people that did this policy entails. >> shortly after, benjamin netanyahu addressed the assembly. he said that peace has to precede a palestinian state. >> i did not come here to win applause. i came here to speak the truth.

the truth is that israel wants peace. the truth is that i want peace. the truth is that we cannot achieve peace through a un resolution, but only through in thdirect negotiations. >> americans agree. washington says it will block the negotiations -- the application until peace has been achieved. >> we ask what the reaction was in new york to the palestinian move. >> he was greeted with a lot of sympathy here, mahmoud abbas, during the general assembly. he got a standing ovation even before he delivered the speech, and then after the speech, of course, not by all countries, but by some countries. this would have much more chance in the general assembly than in the security council. there was a sense of urgency and

trauma to the speech because minutes before going -- the trauma -- drama to the speech because minutes before going in he had handed in the formal application. >> has the palestinian bid for state had changed the israeli stance at all? >> at least the sense of urgency we were talking about. we felt that during president obama us -- president abbas' speech and netanyahu's speech. the problem is, no one said anything about the substance of a peace deal. this bid may have added a sense of urgency, which is important to get both parties back to the negotiating table. >> the application goes to the security council. what happens next? >> the security council, if they

have a majority of nine votes and there is no veto, it would go to the general assembly where it would need two-thirds of the vote to pass. the americans have said they will not let that happen. they will use their veto. what has happened behind closed doors in the past couple of days it is a compromise that the decision in the security council will be delayed to give all parties more time to negotiate something in the background and to save face. >> thank you for that update. we will have more on the palestinian initiative for full u.n. membership coming on a later -- coming up later on in this program. and now for the pope's visit to germany. he met with victims' of sexual abuse by priests, expressing regret for their suffering. the abuse scandal shook the catholic church in germany and has been largely responsible for dwindling membership.

but in third-base relations was the focus of day two of the pope's visit. he held talks with lutheran leaders earlier in the day, walked in martin luther's footsteps, and then conducted mass for tens of thousands of faithful. >> the turnout was much bigger than expected, and 90,000 people. that was a far greater number than went to see pope benedict celebrate mass at the olympic stadium in berlin on thursday. they came to attend a vespers service, benedict's last act in public for friday. hours earlier, benedick visited the augustinian priory where martin luther lived 500 years ago. in germany, where the reformation started, there is widespread support for more ecumenicism. benedict was here to support a

joyous service with representatives from the lutheran church. >> faith is not something we think of ourselves and then negotiate on. it is the foundation of our lives. unity does not come from waiting pros and cons. it comes from immersion in and living out our faith. >> lutheran leaders were hoping for more specific signs of reconciliation. >> i trust that it will be possible in the near future for us to share a more open kind of fellowship, a more open kind of shared life, alive shared in the eucharist. >> rum remains adamant that only roman catholic priests may give

communion to the faithful. this region is a symbol of catholic faith in eastern germany. members have remained faithful to run despite pressure from all around. benedictus now moves on to his next destination in germany, in the southwest of the country. the president of yemen has made a surprise return after spending three months in saudi arabia. state tv made the announcement that he is back for good. thousands of supporters celebrated in the capital, but the opposition held huge rallies in other parts of the city. they are calling for him to be put on trial. he recently spent time recovering from injuries sustained during an assassination attempt. >> we have all of the business news for you now. greece kept markets wondering

today whether orderly default is on the way. at the start of the trading day, markets welcomed talk of a hair cut. at the same time, banks holding government bonds would need financial backing to withstand losses, but the greek government has dismissed rumors of default and viable -- as a viable option for solving its crisis. >> greek newspapers have been quoting the finance minister as saying that the hair cut would be a scenario. traders on the stock exchange reckon that investors will have to help -- have to have some losses. >> i think it is a possibility in order to avoid total default. i think in the next few months, a hair cut in greek debt is coming. i think that the fault is

something very possible -- default is something very possible. >> ratings agency moody's has already downgraded eight of the country's banks, citing their exposure to greek government bonds. the eu and the imf are set to decide by next week at the latest whether or not athens should get the money in the form of bailout loans. this week, a greek citizens have kept up their campaign of protest against austerity measures. on friday, public transport was brought to a halt and unions have called for a two-day strike of all transportation workers. >> there was a late rally on friday. we have this summary of the day's trading on the stock exchange. >> the discussion of greek bonds

led to a roller-coaster ride here on the floor. rumors have been denied. recession fears sent the market down. this has been a strong signal for some buyers. a computer program started buying shares again so that the dax could end up, but nevertheless, fears remain that the world economy may cool down. >> a quick look now at how the week has wound up. the eurozone saw the euro shoot up 1.5%. in new york, the dow also closed in positive territory. despite the economic pressures, consumers still seem willing to spend on some of their favorite brands, like nike. first quarter sales at the

world's biggest sports were maker rose to four 0.5 billion heroes. if they fail -- they improved in nearly all markets, including the u.s. into china. the only market that did not see it was -- that did not see a boost was europe. the-20 has pledged to tackle -- g-20 has pledged to tackle eurozone debt. ministers from major economies have taken the opportunity to try to calm the panic that has spread through the market this week as the international monetary fund and world bank hold their annual meetings in washington. wednesday-20 finance ministers and central bankers issued a joint communique which recognized the -- g-20 finance ministers and central bankers

issued a joint communique. >> we did not say we would be able to resolve all issues here in washington, either yesterday or today, especially since a string of unrealistic and uncoordinated statements is promoting just the market nervousness we need to counter. >> but he would not be drawn on ways of saving greece from the vault. the president of another bank was equally lows to speculate. the one person thinks the real economy is in better shape than the financial markets are. >> the global economy did not have much pet at the beginning of the year, but i do not think another recession is likely. >> the g-20 has vowed to take

all necessary actions to ensure liquidity when needed. but many are saying their communique offered nothing new. >> in other news, the second half of the german parliament has blocked a law allowing the underground storage of carbon dioxide. it would have seen pilot projects of carbon capture being rolled out. the process aims to snare's year to as it is pumped out of the power plant and then the jig -- snare co2 as it is pumped out of the power plant and then store it in the underground chambers. >> russian elections are six months away and it is still not clear who will be running for president. at united russia party conference there were no hints whether it would be prime minister vladimir putin or the incumbent, dmitry medvedev. protesters say that the process

is fixed and the outcome already determined. >> protesters presented the governing uniting russia party with a wreath as it opened its session of congress. the opposition says free elections are a thing of the past and russia, having been destroyed by prime minister putin and his party. >> those in power are completely ignoring the constitution. the parliamentary elections in december and the presidential vote in march will be a farce. that is why they're making such a secret of who will be the candidate. >> these demonstrators were detained before they got anywhere near the party congress building. the parliamentarians will decide on saturday whether to do and will top their list of candidates as heat -- putin will top the list of candidates. if that is the case, he assured to win. >> in just a few hours,

decommissioned nasa satellite is threatening to crash into the earth's atmosphere. it is not clear how much of it will hit the ground. it was launched in 1991. for 15 years, it carried out measurements on the ozone layer. most of the nearly 6 ton orbiter is expected to burn up in the air, but once the spacecraft breaks apart, it is hard to predict if or where the fragments could land. in formula one, sebastian drove the fastest round in practice on sundays singapore grand prix, where he is in reach of securing the drivers' title. he was just too tense of a second faster on the 5 kilometer circuit than the next driver. louis hamilton was the third fastest. stay tuned. i will be back after a short break and i will have more on the palestinian bid for stated. do not go away. -- statehood. do not go away.

>> welcome back. a dramatic diplomatic showdown at the u.n. today. palestinian president mahmoud abbas submitted a request to the u.n. security council to recognize a free and independent palestine. the united states has vowed to veto the bid, saying the only way for palestinians to create a state of their own is through negotiations with israelis. after years of failed peace talks with israel sponsored by the u.s., the palestinians say they have no choice but to appeal directly to the international community. >> it was dual time at the un general assembly. once again, an arena for the

intricacies of the middle east conflict to be played out. palestinian president mahmoud hamas -- mach mod abbas -- mahmoud abbas and benjamin netanyahu each had roughly an hour to stake out their positions. the u.s. has pledged to use its veto. abbas knows the application is doomed to failure and so he reaffirmed his willingness to negotiate. >> on behalf of the palestinian people and the plo, we extend our hands to the israeli government and the people for peacemaking. the truth is that in the middle east at all times, but especially in these turbulent days, peace must be anchored in

security. the truth is we cannot achieve peace 3 yuen resolution, but only through direct negotiation the jig peace through un resolutions, but only through direct -- peace through un resolutions, but only through direct negotiations between both parties. >> settlement activities embody the core of a colonial, military occupation of the land of the palestinian people. and all of the brutal aggression and racial discrimination against our people that this policy entails. >> the core of the conflict is not the settlements. the settlements are a result of the conflict. [applause] the settlements have to be -- is an issue that has to be addressed and resolved in the course of negotiations, but the core of the conflict has always

been, and unfortunately remains, the refusal of the palestinians to recognize the jewish state in any border. >> neither side offered up anything new in terms of what defines their negotiating position. it appears those positions were as entrenched as ever after the deauel at the general assembly. as we heard there, a lot of back-and-forth. do the people over there believe that the palestinian bid could actually get peace efforts moving, or is this just more of the same for them? >> i could say there is always hope here, but i have to say, people on both sides are rather pragmatic and also very realistic. for palace indians -- for palestinians, it was very important that president obama is put this bid in place. there was -- president come abbas -- president abbas

put this bid in place. there was a lot of international pressure, and they did not back down. >> it will be the vetoed by the u.s. in the security council. >> they see it as a unilateral move by the palestinians to try to isolate israel further in the international community. it is also a move against peace talks. we have to make clear here that there are no peace talks at the moment. i think it really depends on how the international community will now also deal with this, if there will be pressure on both sides, on the israelis and on the palestinians.

if you listened to the speeches, you can see that the two sides are really far apart and we're not sure what will happen next here. >> let's talk about the opinion of ordinary israelis. do they share the uncompromising stance of their prime minister? >> it really depends who you ask. israeli society is very complex. there are many different opinions about that. yesterday, we saw a demonstration by left-wing intellectuals supporting this yuen bid, but -- un bid, but other israelis say it is good to have a palestinian state, but not in this way. they should have negotiations. the main concern for most israelis is that there might be violence. that is the main concern, that security would be a problem here in the coming days. >> we're going to leave it there for now. thank you very much for your

segment. tonya kramer in jerusalem. the palestinian bid for independence and recognition has been a long process. attends a reconciliation with the israelis have failed time and time again. in friday's speech, obama said he is willing to return to the negotiating -- abbas said he is willing to return to the negotiating table. the cycle has been going on for decades, leaving little room for peace talks. >> the founding of the state of israel in may of 1948 marked the beginning of what palestinians referred to as the catastrophe. some 700,000 people were driven from their homes and land in the former mandate of palestine. the fatah movement was established with the aim of liberating palestinian arabs.

led by yasser arafat, it used terrorist attacks in an effort to create a separate palestinian state. 1974 saw a turnaround. addressing the united nations, arafat declared he believed in the possibility of a peaceful coexistence between muslims, christians and jews. in 1988, the palestinian liberation organization unilaterally proclaimed a palestinian state. it was only a symbolic act, but it was the first time there was tacit approval given of recognizing israel alongside a palestinian state. that same year, arafat renounced violence in front of the united nations assembly in geneva. 1993 was an historic handshake between arafat and israeli prime minister. it was the culmination of talks that resulted in the oslo accords, giving the palestinians

the right to self rule. all three were rewarded the nobel peace prize. three years later, a suicide attacks by palestinian extremists ended the brief hope of a lasting peace. israel refused to honor its agreement to dismantle settlements in the west bank and gaza, building new ones instead. in 2003, u.s. president george w. bush presented his road map for peace. the three phase plan envisioned an end to palestinian violence, establishment of an end to -- establishment of an independent palestinian state, and a compromise on a number of issues. >> and that has been our in- depth look at the palestinian bid for full u.n. membership. thank you for joining us. you can always log onto our website for more news and information. the address is www.dw-world.de.

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