>> hello and a very warm welcome to the journal here on dw. our headlines this hour. a blizzard shuts down the east coast of the united states. eu leaders agree to cut the european budget for the first time. and at the berlin film festival, a screening for promised land starring matt damon. emergency services are on alert along the east coast of the united states. a massive blissrd has knocked

out power to more than half a million households and led to the shutdown of at least one nuclear plant. massachusetts officials have urged people to avoid unnecessary travel. the governor has issued a driving ban to keep roads free for rescue and clearing vehicles. meteorologists gave plenty of warning but the storm has dumped so much snow people are still struggling to cope. >> new york's la guarda was only one of many airports that were badly hit with thousands of flights canceled. day-to-day life has all but ground to a halt on the east coast. >> i'm going to declare a state of emergency east coastive this afternoon. which gives the state more flexibility and local governments more flexibility in dealing with this situation. >> in some places, snow has been falling at a rate of 10 centimeters an hour. millions of residents have been told to stay home. hundreds of thousands of people don't have any power.

super storm sandy destroyed frank acosta's home in october. she's warely keeping an eye on the ocean. >> just got back in my house in january, now a couple of weeks later we're being hit by a blizzard, nor'easter. a blizzard wouldn't be so bad that's just snow. but the nor'easter is worrying about the water coming over the wall again. >> the state of massachusetts took the rare step of ordering all but emergency vehicles off the roads and the snow shows no sign of stopping. >> the syrian government says it's ready to hold unconditional talks with the opposition. the country's nrgs minister says all groups are welcome. after an operation umbrella group laid down its conditions for talk including release of all detainees. meanwhile heavy fighting continues. government forces trying to recover damascus ring road from

rebels. at least 44 people were killed in clashes on friday. supporters of tunisia's governing party are staging a rally later today after mass protest over the assassination of an opposition politician. tens of thousands of people attend it had funeral on friday. and there were more clashes between protesters and police. the opposition blames the moderate islamist party for his assassination on wednesday. the slain politician was a strong critic of the islamists. as tunisia deals from the fallout, tensions are on the rise in egypt. protests took place across the country after hard line muslim clerics issued fat with as calling for secular and opposition leaders to be killed. protesters clashed outside the presidential pal as in cairo.

dem stracors accused them of betraying and of favors islamists over secular combrists. french troops have been securing the town a day after they chased islamist fighters from one of their last remaining strongholds. the soldiers have been combing the town for militants and weaponry but malli is still far from secure. the president apologized on tv for an attack by disgruntled soldiers on paratroopers in which two lost their lives. a cashmiri man has been hanged. he was executed in an indian prison after his wife petitioned for mercy was rejected earlier this week. several rights groups say the former fruit march nt did not get a fair trial. he confessed in tv interviews

to helping plan the attack that killed 14 people. he later denied any involvement and said he was tortured into confessing. for the first time in history, the long-term budget of the european union will be cut. the ceiling of the drastically reduced 7-budget was set at 960 billion euros. the parliament still has to approve the deal and lawmakers suggest the budget reductions are not acceptable. >> he appear relieved after a marathon negotiation. he helped orchestrate a tough compromise, the first budget cuts in history. foreign minister was one of the first to congratulate her. >> without budgetary discipline there won't be any growth. this is a welcomed outcome. the heads of state have done a fine job on this. >> the eu's member countries approved a new 7-year budget

set to go into effect next year. they planned up to 960 billion euros in spending, 3% less than the current budget. that places an absolute ceiling on eu spending on everything from aid to infrastructure. member countries have committed significant less arks total of 906 billion you're ost. that gap between planned spending and funding commitment has alarmed many. after the 27 eu member states approved the budget some parliamentarians are now threatening a veto. >> if you don't engage, which are enormously higher than the payments, you increase the deficit. and therefore i think this is unacceptable. >> fresh disputes are already on the hordsen. one thing is for sure. subsidies to farmers will be significantly reduced although they remain the biggest item on

the budget. the planned budget would also put aside 6 billion euros to fight youth unemployment, an ongoing problem in europe's troubled economies. >> the chancellor has only returned but she is already facing her next big challenge. the future of her education minister. she was stripped of her docket rat last week after the university of deucele doverdor of ruled she had deliberately plagiarized her dissertation. she said she'll challenge that decision in court. opposition parties are demanding her resignation saying she is no longer credible as the minister. >> a food scandal in europe involving horse meat in processed food has spread with the recall of products from french and swedish stores. swedish food minister acted the day after it recalled its beef la sag in a. the product contained as much

as 100% horse meat. the food safety authority has ordered tests all all ready to eat meals made with beef. officials emphasize it doesn't pose a health risk. let's shift gears now and take a look at what is happening in sports. in soccer the pick of this weekend's matches see munich hoves host shacka. two of the biggest names. riding high with a 12-point lead at the top of the table while shacka struggling after losing at home. >> he has brought a bit of light to the darkness. the brazilian scored in his first match last week. although he they went on to lose 2-1. >> it's going to take hard work for us before we get lucky again.

i see that every day in traininging. it's not as if anybody is moping about. that's why i remain extremely optimistic. >> the drop in form is puzzling. they won just two of their last ten league matches and have fallen to eight points. that was up to after their best season start in 41 years. >> we have to admit we're in a difficult phase. but believe me, the past has shown us that we can climb back out of it, too. >> otherwise, they could face even more criticism. he took over just before christmas. but there's no sign of improvement yet. six first choice players are injured among them. and now they have to face munich. >> we're not traveling there to simply accept defeat. we're going to munich to survive this test. >> they would be well advised not to count on him alone. shots like this don't go in

every week. >> the top flight of the league took a break on friday after wednesday's international matches but there was plenty of action in the second division where the visitors nearly came away with a shock win. a penalty for alen which enriquea converted to put them up. but they haven't lost at home this season and they hit back hard when substitute found the back of the net with his header. h 1-0 the final score. there were two other matches on friday. spanish tennis ace nadal seems

to have recovered from the injury that kept him off the court for the past seven months. his sore left knee didn't stop him from beating his fellow spaniard to advance to the semi-finals in chile. >> this is a site we haven't seen for a while. nadal is back with a vengeance after missing most of last season and produce add convincing quarter final win in his comeback tournament. the 11-time grand slam winner took the first set 6 games to one. traver put up more resistance in the second set but there was no stopping nadal. after 1-1/2 hours he won the second set 6-4 to advance to the semi. >> i'm happy about winning in two sets. i'm going to continue to play in the same way. and try to improve a little bit every day.

nadal meets third seed from france in the semi-final. >> let's check in with golf now. and german rookie kiefer has also hit a snag after his strong showing at the european tour event. the 22-year-old pro dropped back to 11th after a week second day outing. south africa's richard stern and trevor fisher share the top positions. and start the second half of the open with 128 strokes apiece. george cots earks another south african is currently in second three strokes off the lead. well, berlin is getting a little taste of hollywood glamour as the city hosts its annual film festival. this time it's a politically charged u.s. film about the controversial practice of fracking that's drilling a lot of interest and probably didn't hurt that the film's star matt

damon was on hand to discuss the matter. >> on day two of the berlin film festival hollywood descended on the festival. matt damon was the biggest name. >> if you sign this lease it gives us the right to work on your land. >> in order to get at the natural gas reserves underneath. >> you could be a millionaire. >> grapple with the dilemma whether to take the money or stick with their traditional ways. >> the town is going to put it to a vote in three weeks. >> what we really wanted to do was make a movie about american identity and the actual issue itself was secondary to wanting to explore the kind of where we are right now. >> for damon this is a project close to his heart. he wrote the screen play and wanted to direct the film. but with so many deadlines looming he passed that job on

to van zant. they had already worked together on good will hunting another of damon's scripts. >> i was happy to take over and help him do it. he didn't have time to do it. so bet tore sort of get it done now and instead of wait. >> it develops into a fast-paced develop environmental thriller. >> well, here in germany the carnival season is usually celebrated with lots of beer and silly costumes but in brazil one of the most extravagant parties in the world. in rio, samba queens showed off their costumes as hundreds gathered. each school is given 90 minutes to impress the judges. millions more are expected to participate in the city's

famous street parties. >> egyptians will never give up, she shouts. morsi beware of the egyptians. two years after the fall of mubarak, egypt's women are on the streets once more. demanding their rights with courage and confidence. but where is the freedom many thought the arab spring would bring? she chooses to wear the nick ab as we're surprised by her passion as she calls for political participation by women. >> why are women candidates only on the bottom of the ballot pape center and where were they in the parliament and constituent assembly? we want an article in the constitution that says that women and men are equal. but an article by itself is not

enough she tells us. society has to recognize our equal rights. politicians should talk to leading female activists and to poor women on the street as well. the women who sell tea here. they know best what they need. >> we listen to a heated debate on the constitution pushed through by the president as the discussion rages we sought one of egypt's most prominent feminists. she is 81 years old. she's known as the lion es of the nile. the talk turns to sharia law and the rising influence of the islamic rights. she calls it a catastrophe. she tells us that she is

unpopular with the islamists and that makes her a target which she refuses to be silent. we women demand a new constitution she says. we have to change the constitution. women want a guarantee of equal rights. young and old are united in their call for democracy. why are women attacked and repressed? ask this woman. she answers her own question. because we're the ones who raise the next generation. if they hold us back, then the next generation is never going to be strong and independent. the men here take a back seat while the women talk. but that's an exception. many women on taw rear square find themselves targets of sexual attackses.

these women are working to stop such attacks. they're handing out fliers of a hot line number. this square has become a dangerous place for women. one activist tells us how groups of men pull off women's clothes and abuse them. she speaks in english so the men won't understand her. >> we have a firm belief that these are organized mob attacks, that these people are being sent to attack the women in the square. and this was a way of intimidation that has been used by the regime. since 2005. >> it is not just in the square that women can become victims of abuse by men and the problem existed long before the revolution. in the subway there have been women only carriageses since the end of the 1980s. in cairos public trains and buses groping is common. we visit the offices of an n

grn o. it was started in 2008 as way of fighting sexual harassment in public. for many women just leaving the house can be risky. from cat calls and unwanted attention to groping and other sexual attacks. harassment documents the cases, runs self-defense courses and provides psychological support to victims. she shows us a map. the red dots are hot spots for assault. women can report cases by text message and the website allows victims to share their experiences anonymously. it's normally a taboo topic. she tells us that many women are ashamed when it happens not least because society often lays the blame at their door. most people say no wonder look at what she is wearing. she probably had tight trousers

on. if it's a woman wearing a nick ab they will say it's the way she was looking or her eye shadow. she was asking for it. nearly every woman in egypt has been harassed. for some it's a daily occurrence. she says the political situation is one of the causes. if someone is oppress bid the state they want to take it out on someone else who is weaker than they are. >> it's a form of bullying. >> hussein coordinates harass maps street teams. we go out on the streets with him. this neighborhood is on an island in the nile. we thought the problem of harassment would be worse in poorer areas. but in this male-dominated society, women aren't safe anywhere. >> i've been following them for a long time. >> there's always some excuse for the way men behave he says. like he's uneducated. that's just rubish.

oh, he can't get married because he's poor. it's nonsense. even children harass women. and there's no way that they are sexually frustrated. >> this street on weekend hoords of young men hang out here and they see women and girls as fair game. women face verbal abuse even in broad daylight. >> one of our volunteers got harassed here and she managed with the help of her brother to get the harasser and take him to the police station where she could file the report and the report succeeded. that's one of the very few success stories that we have here. >> acmed owns this key of course. he is one of the few men that work with harass map. this isn't a new problem. social cohesion fell apart under mubarak's regime. when a woman is assaulted

people look the other way. the harass map street teams want to change that with the cooperation of residents and vendors acacmed. they want to see zero tolerance of actacks against women. ack med's key of course is a safe zone for women. it's marked with a harass map sticker including an emergency hot line number. he says that young women often use the number when ever they're adtacked. the increasing influence of islam in egyptian society is promoting an atmosphere of mizz onlyy. this is the mosque. it is the center of learning for sunni muslims. the sheiks teach here and traditionally minded men make decisions about the future of women. we've come to meet one sheek of the scholars who echamen egypt's laws with compliance with sharia. he is part of a group currently

working on a paper on the role of women in islam. he smiles reassuringly. before god he says, men and women are equal. when a woman is married he says god tells us to treat her well. if her husband hates her god says he should divorce her in a respectful way. our question whether a woman should be able to divorce her husband goes unanswered. it's not a good sign for egypt's women. the more power the religious conservatives gain, the more women lose. as night falls over cairo we return to the square. we stick close to the body guards. they're volunteers who patrol the square ready to help women who are attacked. it sounds like a job for the police. but they never show their faces here.

mark is leading the volunteers tonight. it's a dangerous job and it's not easy on the nerves. >> the women who have been attacked don't trust anyone says mark. they don't want to be touched. we have to tell them who we are again and again. they're so distraught and his tarkele that they don't even know what happened. the yellow helmets of the body guards are easy to spot in the crowd. they're a walking safe haven. there have been cases where they themselves have been set upon. it's not clear who is behind attacks on women here. but they always follow the same patterns. a woman is encircled in the crowd. her clothes are torn off and she's assaulted. activists say the attacks are part of a coordinated attempt to keep women away and to weaken the protest movement.

suddenly the body guards come across a woman being dragged through the crowd by men. in the turmoil it's hard to tell who the perpetrators are and who is trying to help. the woman and her friend are visibly upset. it's no coincidence that most attacks happen in the space of a half an hour. sexual assault and rape have become a part of the political struggle. >> she was thrown down and she is now -- >> is she say now? >> now's she is safe. we can see the guys who did that and trike to track them down. >> we meet up again. his team has received several emergency calls. and there's a response group on the way.

the coordinator tells us that one young woman has been raped with a sharp object. she is critically injured. we've already got two young women out. one was really badly hurt. we got her an ambulance and two of our boys went with her to keep her safe. this is an especially violent night with 25 cailses reported and there could be many more victims suffering in silence. we decided to leave. we don't feel safe here any more. and minutes after we stopped filming, the activists themselves are attacked by a mob. several of them are injured. it's another effort to intimidate them. and it's a further sign that egypt's women face great dangers as they struggle for equal rights.