>> you are watching the "journal" coming to you live from dw in berlin. >> coming up in the show -- fighting in syria claims up to 19 lives on friday, and the assad regime says washington's claims about chemical weapons in the country are lies. >> the greens, germany's third biggest political force are holding conference to set up their platform for the fall. >> preparations are under way for germany's top film awards.

syria on friday denied that it has used chemical weapons and said it does not possess any and it accused the u.s. and britain of lying. >> on thursday, the white house said it had concluded with some confidence that the syrian government had used chemical weapons. the british government is backing that as well. obama added on friday again that chemical weapons use is a game changer. >> the claims have not changed anything on the ground in syria. government troops pushed into two northern damascus neighborhoods on friday, triggering heavy fighting with rebels. >> syrian government forces are concentrating their firepower on damascus. troops loyal to the regime have been pounding rebel positions. as the fighting escalates, so does evidence that the regime has used a deadly chemical

agents against rebel forces. has the syrian president crossed the red line? that would be a game changer for western nations. the u.s. president, barack obama, said investigations were still ongoing, but -- >> the use of potential weapons of mass destruction on civilian populations crosses another line with respect to international norms and international law. that is going to be a game changer. >> british prime minister david cameron emphasized the seriousness of the allegations. >> it is very disturbing what we are seeing. it is limited evidence that there is growing evidence that we have seen, too, of the use of chemical weapons, probably by the regime. it is extremely serious. >> the european union took a similar line. >> any use of chemical weapons

in any circumstances is, of course, completely unacceptable. what i can say is at the moment, we are still monitoring this to see what is really happening. >> the united nations secretary general made an urgent call for syria to allow weapons inspectors into the country. damascus has rejected that appeal and is pressing its offensive against the rebels. >> where to go with syria now? let's talk about that. we want to pull in a familiar face. good to see you again. the white house and being very careful with its language here concerning chemical weapons in syria. what does that tell us about the reliability of the intelligence behind this report? >> i think there are some doubts in the u.s. administration about the reliability of this information, and as it seems,

there are some differences within the security services on the reliability of the information, and of possible conclusions that should be drawn. >> let's assume that chemical weapons have been used. what does president obama have to do next? >> i think he is caught in a dilemma. it has been obvious in recent months that the obama administration does not want to intervene militarily in syria. it does not want to send weapons to the insurgents, but if this is really a red line for the obama administration, as the president has said, he would have to. either he loses credibility or he does something that he does not want to do. >> all the while, you get the feeling that president obama -- he is struggling not to look like george w. bush. if intervention has to happen, he wants it to be done with

facts that we can believe in. >> yes, and i think that is a good idea because you never know where this information comes from. i think the u.s. administration should take its time just to find out if this really is reliable, and i think it should think twice about intervening militarily, even if it comes out that chemical weapons have been used on a limited scale. >> as always, thanks for coming in and giving us your insight. the surviving boston marathon bombing suspect, dzhokhar tsarnaev, has been transferred to prison. police say the suspect has been moved to a facility for inmates requiring long-term treatment. he's accused of planting the bombs along with his older brother. he told officials earlier this week that the pair had planned on setting off more explosives in new york city.

for two days after the collapse of a garment factory in bangladesh, angry demonstrators have protested unsafe working conditions in factories across the country. >> the death toll in wednesday's disaster has now risen to over 300. police say the building's owners ignored warnings to evacuate only the day before when cracks were identified. >> it is the worst ever disaster in bangladesh posey garment industry, an industry which supplies global retailers despite its notoriously poor safety record. >> the factory collapse has unleashed a wave of protest against lax safety standards in what is bangladesh's main industry. thousands have joined demonstrations on the streets. many hold the pictures of missing relatives or colleagues. increasingly, and which is turning into a fury.

some are demanding the death penalty for the owners of the collapsed building. at the scene of the disaster, police tried to keep back crowds seeking to join the desperate search for survivors. rescuers have been working tirelessly to save lives. >> we are working day and night. last night, we found 35 people. 25 were still alive. we will stay here until we have got everyone out. >> on friday, rescue teams freed more than 70 people on one story of the collapsed building. it is unclear how many people remain trapped. without water, chances of survival diminish after three days. officials say mr. efforts will continue until saturday, shifting to a salvage operation to remove the rubble and retrieve bodies. ammon any huge global clothing brands benefit from low-cost labor in bangladesh. another question is -- are they

doing enough to protect the people who make those clothes? >> here is war on an industry that has brought work to people of bangladesh but is raising more and more questions over safety. >> another branch of this clothing retailer opens in germany. the irish cut price retailer is expanding rapidly all over europe with shirts and pullovers going for as little as six euros and t-shirts for 2.5 euros. it has proven a big hit with cash-strapped shoppers, but this kind of price cutting comes at a cost. the clothing often comes from countries that have the poorest labor conditions, such as bangladesh, which is now second only to china in textile exports. the country has some 4500 textile factories, accounting for some 80% of bangladeshis exports. the average worker in such a factory takes home between 30 euros and 50 euros a month. often, the subsistence wages

earned on 10 or 12-hour shifts in unsafe working conditions. fires and other accidents have claimed the lives of some 700 bangladeshi textile workers since 2005. >> in russia, 38 people are dead after a fire at a psychiatric hospital outside of moscow. officials say all but two of the victims were patience. >> the fire broke out in the early hours of the morning. only three people survived. >> the morning after, and the building is still smoldering. large parts of the hospital were gutted in the blaze. investigators painted a grim picture of the tragedy that unfolded here over night. 36 patients and two nurses lost their lives. most died in their beds. some windows were barred, but officials said most of the patients were heavily sedated

and never woke up. only two patients and one nurse escape. it is unclear what started the fire. investigators are looking into several possible causes including negligence and arson. >> the investigators from law- enforcement agencies as well as from the ministry of emergency situations are at the scene. fire safety standards will be reviewed at all medical buildings run by government ministries. >> the government has pledged compensation for relatives of the victims. moscow will observe a day of mourning on saturday. >> coming up, we will have a look at a new wave of contemporary art to emerge from the arab spring. first, let's look at some of the other stories from around the world. a new wave of violence in iraq continues for a fourth day with some sources but in the death toll but 200.

the attacks started on tuesday. the violence is related to anti- government demonstrations in sunni areas of the predominantly shiite country. >> a court in russia has heard a request for appeal from a jailed member of the russian band pussy riot. she has served half of a two- year sentence in a prison camp in mobile. three members of the van were convicted of hooliganism for their noisy protest against president vladimir putin. >> south korea is withdrawing all remaining workers from the factory complex in north korea after the north rejected an offer for talks on its reopening. operations have been suspended since april 9 when p'yongyang pulled out all 50,000 north koreans who worked for south korean firms.

>> it is more than two years since the era of spring began in tunisia, and the arab world is still going through a process of fundamental change. >> dictators have been toppled as people claimed their freedom, but other threats to freedom and hopes of social change -- well, they remain. >> these are all issues for a group of error of female artists, whose work is being showcased in an exhibition in germany starting today. >> there is more than a touch of fear in the air as these men crawl on all fours through the streets of central cairo. this performance art was stage before the revolution. the message was clear -- the egyptian people are like a herd of animals, driven on by their dictator. some onlookers are angered by the performance.

>> the individual trapped by the confines of dictatorship and tradition. the back of the house balcony has a core expression of individualism. the revolutionary art of the arabs spring says that to change anything, you have to be able to say i, or in arabic, ana. the struggles of the revolution left many wounds, and many have been reflected in art. burned out vehicles litter the streets in tunisia, and artists and local residents have teamed up to pave the wrecks and reclaim their streets. >> before the revolution, public spaces were under the control of the dictator and his policies. people could not just go out. our message is that the land

belongs to us all, and we have to rebuild our country together. i invited the artists to do it with paint. >> the artist's echoed the cry of the people who told their dictators to clear off, but a new threat is stifling their freedom. the artists have received death threats. >> the conservative movement's in power at the moment and the ones that want to take over their power our burgeoning for and egypt and an arab world, in fact, that is much more repressive than it ever was. >> that is just one reason why she gave this piece a giant chastity belt, the title "freedom is coming." >> time for a quick break. when we come back, hollywood comes to berlin tonight.

>> we will have a quick look at the markets as well. do not go away. >> welcome back. this weekend, germany's third biggest party are holding their party conference with just five months ago until the elections. they will have plenty to talk about. and at the moment, they have about 14% in the polls, but head of the conference, there have been signs of division over taxes. and that the greens have long seen tensions between what you might call their idealist and their realist wings, but after this election, they may be confronted with a choice they have never faced before -- weather to go into a coalition with their old enemies. >> we will have more on that in just a moment after this report. >> the greens have a busy congress ahead of them.

delegates have put forward some 2600 amendments to the party oppose the election platform. the focus is on tax policy. they want to raise the top rate of tax but disagree on weather to introduce an additional wealth tax. >> we need to pay down the debt. a wealth tax on personal assets can help, and it affects only 1% of the population. >> ahead of september's federal elections, green leaders are pushing the party's alliance with the main opposition social democrats and rejecting talk of a possible coalition with the conservative cdu. >> only if the greens are strong will be a majority be on the center-right, and only if the greens are strong can there be a coalition government. >> in a move underscoring the party ties, the spd leader is due to be a guest speaker at the

conference. >> let's bring in our political correspondent. the greens are planning to run on a campaign of higher taxes. how in the world is that going to work and help them win in germany? >> maybe this is one of the few countries where you could win an election with a program like that. the fact is that germans are a lot less averse to paying taxes than people in, say, the u.s. there is a very real commitment here to reducing debt not only in southern european countries but here at home as well. in fact, a majority of germans to support these proposals, particularly the proposal for a wealth tax, but the fact is, the taxes we are talking about, they are not punitive taxes like those favored by, say, the french government. and we are talking about a rise

in the marginal tax rate. the fact is as well, there are important ringleaders who say we have to be careful that we do not penalize small and medium- sized businesses which are very much the backbone of the economy. >> the greens said today that a coalition is a no go. do you believe that? if so, what parties are left to push the government? >> let's take the last question first. the main one would be their partner of choice, social democrats, but they are languishing at the coals. the possibility of a coalition with the conservatives might become very real if the greens emerge from the election as kingmakers. i do not think we will see the party rule out that option at this party conference, but the

fact is there are a lot of people within the green membership who have been with the party from the outset. the conservative cdu was a true enemy for them at the beginning. there are big cultural differences between the parties. i do think the likelihood of such a coalition is very small indeed. >> some interesting insights from our chief political correspondent. as always, thank you very much. in spain, the economy looks set to get worse before it gets better. just yesterday, the government reported unemployment hit a record 27% in the first quarter of this year. now madrid is forecasting a deeper recession. >> it also says it will take two more years to get its deficit down to the eu 3% target despite deep spending cuts that have sent thousands onto the streets in protest. >> the young spaniards attending this march in madrid all have college degrees and speak

several languages. they have yet to learn how to set up a business, but it is a tough climate for entrepreneurs. >> i think the government should create the necessary conditions for growth because the situation we are living in nowadays has a lot to do with the absolute lack of finance. the hastert images are provoking the failure of companies because there is no spending. money is not flowing. the government wants to change all that. said the government had no plans for new cutbacks. she set 2016 as the new target rate to bring the deficit down to 3% of gdp. unemployment in spain has risen to more than 27%, a new high. government debt is 84% of gross domestic product, and growth shrank last year by 1.8%. the recession is set to continue for the rest of this year. madrid is predicting a return to growth in 2014.

>> german chemical greater thanbasf has its sights set on a record year -- german chemical giant basf. >> the company posted net profit of 1.5 billion euros. this year, it plans to expand in emerging markets like china and brazil. >> let's turn now to frankfurt to find out how it played out on the markets. >> basf was the strongest support for the german market. not only the world's largest chemical company, but also a heavyweight at the market. shares have been pushed up. the dax was losing steam at the end of the week, but in general, this week was very successful. it could gain almost 5%, but not every german company had such a good start into the year.

german car makers reported very disappointing numbers. daimler even had to scrap its forecast due to be very bad shape of the eurozone economy. ammonal the details from the market, the numbers. the dax index in frankfurt was down slightly. euro stoxx 50 also down a bit more. over in the u.s., the dow jones is trading at 14,729, slightly up. the euro trading against the dollar at $1.3024. >> in china, the new black market is all white. milk. milk powder, and baby formula have become the commodities of choice among smugglers. in hong kong, arrests for milk smuggling have now surpassed the rest for trafficking heroin. the chinese, especially parents of babies, are terrified of any dairy products produced at home after a series of food safety scare is going back to 2008, and

the huge demand now for foreign mill products is shocking the global market. >> she does not buy milk powder made by chinese producers. she prefers to buy it from europe, specifically germany or switzerland. she says she does not just chinese producers, and she is even skeptical about buying in china. >> when you buy a foreign brand in china, they have chinese characters on them. i do not know why. it is best to buy them abroad. if that is not possible, i'd buy them in the shop, but only brands with good reviews. >> her mistrust of chinese products goes back to 2008 when six babies died from the powder tainted with a chemical. german producers say that with more business is sending their products to china, they are struggling to satisfy demand. >> we get a lot of calls from german mothers asking why they cannot get hold of our products.

that is difficult, of course, but we also understand the concerns of chinese mothers. >> the demand for foreign dairy products in china is rising. those who cannot afford it have to rely on quality controls, which the government says are stricter than before. >> all right, the german film awards are to be announced this evening at a gala ceremony here in berlin. film makers are vying for the coverage of the lolas, germany's equivalent of the oscars. and and they carry a cash prize of 3 million euros, making it one of the best in doubt cultural awards in europe. here is a look at some favorites to win. >> "oh boy" has been nominated

for a list. it follows a protagonist on a voyage of shelf -- self discovery. it was shot on a shoestring budget, but critics say the film encapsulates entire generations outlook on life. >> it tells the story of something small in a city that the world is watching. it shall parts of the city that people may not have seen before, and it shows them very authentic. >> another film that could sweep the board is "cloud atlas." it is the biggest budget german film to date, costing $100 million. it may also be the most ambitious, encompassing multiple story lines spanning 600 years. >> for me, the charm of "cloud atlas" is that it manages to use german and international actors to tell a story that many thought was impossible to tell, and it tells the story brilliantly.

>> one award already has a home. werner herzog will receive a lifetime award from the academy of germany. he is one of the country's most well-known directors. he is also a familiar face in hollywood. awards are being handed out in 16 categories. when this can not only look forward to taking home a coveted lola but also up to 500,000 euros in prize money. >> not a bad price when i if you can get it. we will see you at the top of the next hour, everybody. thanks for watching. >> do stay with us.

>> protests by striking teachers in the mexican state intensifies as president pena nieto's plans to make sweeping changes to the economy wavers. how far should reforms in mexico go? campaigners prepare for a day of action against a proposed ban .n ethnic studies in texas are the states republicans trying to whitewash history? you are watching "inside story americas" from washington. , i'm shihab rattansi