>> welcome to the "journal" coming to you from dw in berlin. >> lawmakers in cyprus decide between bankruptcy and bailout. can the government come up with a bankruptcy plan for the banks? we will go live to nicosia. >> u.s. president barack obama wraps up his three-day tour of the middle east with a final stop in jordan and a bit of telephone peace brokering. and "cloud atlas" is the front runner in this year's nominations for the german film

prize, the lolas. for cyprus, the coming weekend is make or break time. lawmakers have two more days to come up with a bailout plan for the banks or risk sending the whole country into economic collapse. >> the european central bank has said cyprus must come up with 5.8 billion euros by monday in order to qualify for a 10 billion euro bailout. if nicosia fails, the ecb will cut off funding to the ivan. russia further increase pressure on friday, saying it will not offer financial aid until a final plan that the eu is sealed. >> that has the government in nicosia backed or it was a few days ago. that includes a controversial tax on bank accounts to fund the bailout. >> people in cyprus brave the storm to protest outside parliament ahead of a crucial few hours for the country. inside, lawmakers are voting on

a series of measures designed to help the financially stricken nation meet the terms of an international bailout package. few of the plan's details are known, even to eurozone officials in brussels, but an unpopular one of tax on savings could be back on the table, particularly on bank accounts with deposits of at least 100,000 euros. the plan needs to be in place by monday when the european central bank says it will withdraw financial aid for separate -- separate -- cypriot banks. >> a lot of people will definitely lose their jobs and benefits. >> cyprus needs to raise 5.8 billion in order to qualify for the bailout. its eurozone partners in the imf would then provide 10 billion euros in rescue loans. the fund raising measures under discussion include plans to restructure the country's second

biggest lender and tapping state pension assets. >> all right, our correspondent is keeping a close watch on developments. he joins us live from nicosia. do we know how far are the efforts by the government right now to come up with an acceptable bailout plan. >> no, we do not. there is not very much information at all. what i can tell you is how we stand right now in. i just got a tweaet, as many people did -- the new president is on twitter. he said cyprus must be saved. the house of representatives, the problem here, will be called upon to make difficult decisions. there will be painful aspects, but the country must be safe -- that has just come in. we know the plan must make it pass the scrutiny of the troika, or cyprus will not qualify for this 10 billion euros bailout agreed in brussels last week. it has been a busy afternoon. the cypriot finance minister has confirmed what we were talking about hours and hours ago.

he has just said that a levy of some sort remains on the table. this comes after the bank of cyprus urged the government to impose a levy on deposits. they also said, "we are going to go bust." the new proposal will be to tax deposits over 100,000 euros at 9.9%, leaving smaller depositors untouched. i am not sure if the figures will add up, but now that seems like a certainty. if we do not get a deal -- remember, this is very important -- if we do not get a deal, the ecb will pull emergency funding. the banks will collapse, and it with them. >> thank you very much. all right, let's get the brussels connection to this story. our european affairs correspondent is standing by for us in brussels. where are the betts tonight in

brussels right now? on cyprus coming through with a bailout plan or cyprus having to leave the eurozone? >> nobody in brussels can really imagine that cyprus would want to take the risk of leaving the eurozone, so the message we are getting is people are still convinced that cyprus will come up with a plan. remember, european partners stand ready to help, but cyprus has to contribute its share, and the eu does was up to tackle its core problem so the situation does not get repeated. that means also reducing the very massive banking sector that the country has, but the feeling here in brussels is that so far, cyprus has not really understood that the system that they have been running with so well over the last few years is not working anymore. they hope that it is dawning on them now. >> what if it does not dawn on them? are there contingency plans for

a cyprus collapse? >> well, of course, they are not communicated publicly if they exist, but what you do get is a feeling that patience is running very thin. we have been hearing from officials in brussels, who are simply astonished, if not to say out rage, about the behavior of cypriot officials who have not been available for important negotiations. one thing is clear -- whatever happens, should cyprus say in the eurozone, then it has to do a lot to regain the trust from its european partners. >> a story that promises to go well through the weekend. nina, thank you very much. >> as the saga has dragged on with no progress throughout the entire week here in germany, chancellor angela merkel has warned cyprus to "not try the patience" of its eurozone partners. >> since the start of the crisis, germany has contributed the largest share to every

bailout fund. >> lawmakers in berlin are spelling out what cyprus will need to do before any more money is released. >> chancellor merkel and her finance minister are concerned that cyprus has not been communicating with the organizations that came up with the bailout plan. the troika of the eu, -- the truck are the eu, the imf, and the european central bank -- the troika are the eu, the imf, and the european central bank. the german government is getting impatient. >> there are two elements, which we consider essential. first, we are certain that debt of around 6 billion euros is sustainable. second, we want the banks to be restructured. >> the third condition laid down by the german chancellor and her coalition is that a rescue fund has to spare the socially week. angela merkel says nationalizing

pension funds in cyprus is not an acceptable way of plugging the holes in the country's finances. >> checking in on the markets, european shares traded flat or slightly to the downside friday as investors waited for clarity on cyprus, and germany's business confidence suffered an unexpected drop. our correspondent sent us this summary from frankfurt. >> still no solution in cyprus. traders had to finish this trading week and this uncertainty leading almost to a standstill at the stock market. traders did not know leader to bet on a happy ending or bankruptcy in cyprus. the german index was slightly down but made huge losses throughout the week. the bureau could recover a little bit, despite economic disappointing data. the german economy seems to lose momentum. the ifo index dropped for the first time in a month.

emma we stay in frankfurt for a closer look at the numbers. the dax fell just slightly, but bigger losses over the course of the week, finishing at 7911. that is how it went in the week in the euro stoxx 50. let's call it finishing flat. across the atlantic on wall street, the dow slightly higher, 14,496. the euro trading higher at a value of $1.2979. u.s. president barack obama has been in jordan this friday on the final leg of his middle east tour. talks with jordan's king focused primarily on the civil war in neighboring syria. >> obama said he was worried syria could become a haven for muslim extremists -- when, not if president assad is ousted. he urged the international community to work together to make sure there is a credible opposition ready to step into

the breach. >> the final leg of barack obama's tour of the middle east will be dominated by one issue. with the conflict in syria on going, jordan is worried violence could spill across the border. >> just a few hours earlier, the u.s. president made his final stop in israel. he visited the holocaust memorial. afterwards, he spoke out about -- against antisemitism. >> for us, in our time, this means confronting bigotry and hatred in all of its forms -- racism, especially anti- semitism. none of that has a place in the civilized world. >> it was a sign from obama that america still stands by israel. he also visited the grave of one

of the founders of the modern zionist political movement, which was key in the creation of the israeli state. but obama also wanted to bring the issue of reconciliation between israel and palestine to the fore. the president visited the grave of the former prime minister, who was assassinated by an israeli nationalists in 1995 after signing the oslo accords. the politics of reconciliation almost seem like reconciliation, but obama is sending his secretary of state back to jerusalem to continue to build momentum for peace negotiations to resume. >> the israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu has apologized to turkey for the deaths of nine turkish human rights campaign members in a raid on the flotilla back in 2010. the activists were killed when israeli commandos stormed the turkish aid ship off the gaza strip.

turkey expelled israel's ambassador and suspended military cooperation as a result. netanyahu made the apology in a phone call. president obama is reported to have encouraged the move during a visit to the region. >> these divisions are rose -- arose in the eu on friday on weather to on syrian rebels. britain and france remained isolated. germany's foreign minister said prior to the meeting that berlin fears that arms could fall into the wrong hands. most eu members favor tougher sanctions on the regime of president assad. >> on the line from dublin now, we have our correspondent. has there been any progress in the talks between these foreign ministers. >> getting agreement was going

to be a tall order, but anybody looking for some move -- well, i'm afraid they will be disappointed. foreign ministers are going the wrong way, and really, the best they can say is that the talks were useful and that they will continue, but there is no disguising the fact that even after today's talks were very differences -- very serious differences of opinions. simply put, britain and france believe in dispatching arms to the rebels, and the rest of the european union -- the irish and german position position being very similar -- simply put, the position for the rest of the member states is more arms means more casualties, and the simple fact is when you send in those arms, you cannot be too sure where they will end up. we do know that the arms embargo put in place by the eu is set to last may, and there's diplomats

said the talks -- >> thank you very much. >> coming up on the show, we will take a look at international waterway. but first, a look at some other news at this hour. authorities in central burma had declared a state of emergency. over 20 people have been killed in three days of sectarian violence in the township. several mosques were set on fire by angry buddhist protesters, muslims have fled the region. italy's center-left leader says he has accepted a mandate from the president to try to form a government. his democratic party narrowly won control of the lower house of italy's parliament back in february, but it fell short of a majority in the upper house.

stay with us. we are going to take a break. >> we are taking a break. plenty more to come. do stay with us.

>> welcome back, everyone. today is world water day. the united nations uses the day to draw attention to one of the most important natural resources on the planet. >> the data is worrying. one in six people on the planet lack access to enough water per day for drinking, cooking, and cleaning. >> to see how scarce clean water is, we traveled to india. >> getting hold of clean drinking water is a daily struggle in the slums of mum by, india's biggest megacity with almost 20 million at mid inhabitants. water stress is increasing worldwide. that is the term that refers to

the difficulty of obtaining fresh water because of resources. more and more countries are suffering from water stress, especially in north africa, asia, and america. experts predict the crisis will only get worse. united nations projects the world population will cross the 9 billion mark by 2015, intensifying the scramble for resources. water is also needed for agriculture. that is where most of the world's supplies go today. irrigation systems are all too often inefficient. a lot of water can be saved with the technologies, but rapid economic growth in emerging economies is also increasing demand. the use of water resources is projected to rise by 50% in developing countries and by 18% in the industrialized parts of the globe. water pollution is not helping

the situation, either. nor is climate change -- certain regions are literally trying out. many countries are introducing desalination systems and drip irrigation, but these solutions are of little use to the world's poor, for home water scarcity is becoming an increasingly pressing problem. >> the united nations says access to clean drinking water is a human right. but that right is not insured everywhere, especially in countries where water is a scarce resource. >> you would think that countries such as germany with abundant amounts of water would have no problems, but they do when accessibility becomes a business. >> the berlin water table citizens group is rehearsing a song they have adapted to protest against private water companies. they have come up with a reworked version of the popular

1920's tune "veronica spring has come." in a thinly veiled stand at the french water company they want to sound out of berlin. >> there are still private companies involved in our water supply operations here, and we have changed the song "veronica spring has come" to make it clear we do not want them here. >> she and her fellow campaigners say water is a public good and does not belong in the hands of the private sector. under a new eu directive, concession contracts would be awarded across europe in a bid to boost competitiveness. the measure would give private water suppliers a better chance at getting a foot in the market. like in berlin, where water has been partially privatized since 1999.

one of the private shareholders is this world leader. >> we have put into practice models in several german cities, working successfully with the municipalities, and in many cases, we have shown that it leads to lower costs for citizens. quality is of help in every respect, and often, there are innovations that benefit both sides. >> but the berlin water table activists say they have seen nothing of these benefits. since the partial privatization of water in berlin, water costs have gone up by around 18% on average compared to other german cities. they say the private companies are just out to make money. >> we have to buy our water from the berlin water company, and the private company posted profits are guaranteed. the state subsidized them i of berliners use less water.

>> water is a human right, says a europe-wide campaign against privatization. campaigners are urging the you to introduce legislation to ensure all citizens are provided with clean drinking water. over 1 million people have already signed the petition. >> we want to encourage a change in the political mind-set. water should not be considered a commodity on the internal market but a common good that cannot be used for speculation. >> some 2 million people in europe do not have access to proper water and sanitation services today. activists worry this number will rise if there is not an urgent change of direction. >> well, let the berlin wall stand -- that is what many residents of berlin are now demanding. >> a real estate developer wants to tear down part of the largest remaining segment of the berlin wall to make way for luxury apartments. >> it is part of a bitter debate

in this country -- how much of the east german communist past should be preserved and how much should be remembered? on friday, german lawmakers put that topic up to debate. >> the berlin wall fell almost 24 years ago. but he assured in the end of east germany, which was followed by reunification, but the crimes of the communist dictatorship should not be forgotten, german lawmakers say. >> human rights were trod upon. hundreds of thousands of citizens were spied on. dissidents and critics of the regime were arrested and harassed, some just for wanting to leave the country. >> people today are fascinated by stories from the time, by the border controls, the escapes, the failed attempts to escape, and the role of east germany's infamous secret police.

if they want to, former east german citizens can access their stasi files and see if they were filed on -- spied on. >> people will say that germany -- and i've heard this on many trips abroad -- is not only dealing with the impact of one dictatorship in exemplary fashion but with two dictatorships. >> but german politicians are also aware that many young people do not know much about the communist era. that is why museums such as this memorial to the berlin wall, are so important. >> the nominations for this year's german film awards known as the lolas have been announced. prices are handed out each year in a major categories including best actor, best actress, best director, and, of course, best picture. >> we want to take a closer look at two movies in the running for the best picture prize when the gongs are handed out in berlin.

>> nominated for best picture, with a prize of 250,000 euros, is "cloud atlas." >> jon read-breaking "cloud atlas" goes into the race as a favorite with nine nominations. with a budget of around $100 million, and it is the biggest german film so far. in six distinct stories, the film zigzags across centuries and around the world, switching between historical drama, a thriller, comedy, and sci-fi. the other front-runner is "oh boy," with eight nominations. it is an delegates, a shot in black and white -- delegate -- elegaic comedy shot in black- and-white.

>> do you know that feeling that everyone around you is some how weird? >> the movie cinematography makes the capital of magical. the two favorites for the german film prize could not be more different. >> that is what is so fascinating -- that we do not just have blockbusters. we also have many small films made by independent producers. >> it is these independent film makers who have the most to gain if they win. there's almost 3 million euros in prize money to help finance their next project. the winners of the german film award will be announced on april 27 at a gala evening in berlin. >> well, onto some sports news, and organizers for the qatar 2022 world cup said that moving the dates to winter would not affect their planning. >> since the gulf state was named host to w is ago, experts argue that temperatures reaching 50 degrees celsius would put players and supporters at risk. >> that are building new

stadiums with high-tech air conditioning systems to combat the heat. on to motor sports news. the grand prix service is in malaysia for the second round of the formula one world championship this weekend. after having one in australia last weekend, the lotus racecar topped the times at the end of practice on friday. >> the flying finn edged out triple world champ sebastian, who had to settle for second. he had his hands full trying to tame his rebel. brazil rounded up the top three in a ferrari. you would not know it, but spring is supposed to have arrived, but large parts of europe including here in germany, are still in the grips of winter. >> snow again today. however, far away in japan, they

have already received an early dose of mild weather. tokyo's famous cherry trees are in full bloom. the 2nd earliest blossom in on record. the delicate flowers only last a week so people are flocking to the city's parts to enjoy them while they can. and a very popular to have picnics underneath the blossom of a cherry tree. >> i had breakfast watching the snowfall. >> nice way to start spring. colder>> stay with us. that wraps it up for this edition of the "journal." we will be back at the top of the hour with more news. captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org--