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Cyprus 29, Chavez 6, Hugo Chavez 5, Italy 4, Us 4, Hong Kong 4, U.s. 3, John Kerry 2, Tim Wilcox 2, New York 2, Judith 2, Hamid Karzai 2, Syria 2, Pompey 2, Europe 2, Afghanistan 2, America 2, Spain 2, Taliban 2, Mr. Karzai 1,
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    March 25, 2013
    2:30 - 3:00pm PDT  

>> welcome to our viewers on public television in america and also around the globe. tomorrow for the first time in over a week, most banks in cyprus will open for business. it comes after the country avoided bankruptcy by striking a bailout deal with its euro zone partners. the nation's reputation is a haven for foreign money may be damaged beyond repair. >> the cypriots today were celebrating their friendship with greiss but the people were in shock -- greec but the people were in shock over the terms of the deal with brussels. there would be job losses in the banking sector and large deposits in two banks would take heavy losses. >> the feeling here is we have been betrayed. betrayed by our allies and friends and our family, by the european family. >> what i think, it's a disaster. but we're going to be good. we're going to be ok.
>> under the bailout, cyprus gets a loan of $10 billion euros, one of the conditions was that the country raise 5.8 billion itself. so bank deposits over 100,000 euros in two banks will face steep losses and the banking sector will be radically reduced. mike is an architect with large deposits in the bank of cyprus. >> for half an hour i was in a state of shock. this is just downright stealing. it's legalized stealing. and i think it's atrocious. >> you have funds in the bank of cyprus. >> i have funds over 1 hub,000 which is the -- 100,000 which is the limit in the bank of cyprus. . >> and would that be quite a considerable sum of money? >> that would be a considerable sum of money and it would be devastating. >> michael doesn't yet know the scale of his losses and on the streets there is still much uncertainty over when the banks will reopen and what the restrictions will be on moving funds.
this man runs a carpentry bills. he employs 27 people. he owned funds in the bank of cyprus and now fears big losses. >> i hold bonds in the bank. how am i going to pay them back? without cash, how is my business going to work? i fear our company would close. >> the euro zone says cyprus will be the model for future bailouts. but making large depositors pay will hurt the wider economy, too. and that's the big question. yes, cyprus has been saved from bankruptcy and will remain in the euro zone, but at what price? some are estimating that with the reduction in the banking sector and with higher taxes, the cypriot economy could shrink by 10%. with years of hardship. and that is the big unknown. will the rescue end uncertainty or will cyprus end up like some of the other bailed out
countries, with a lost generation, facing recession and job losses? >> pretty grim prospects in cyprus. and in a speech to the cypriot people tonight, the president called the deal painful but he said it was the best he could get. for more on the reaction there, i spoke to the bb's tim wilcox. we have now some clarity on the deal that cyprus has struck with europe. does it look like the island's actually going to be worse off because of this? >> it's instinct because i've just been talking to one of the m.p.'s who voted against the proposals last week, which was going to have a 10% levy or hair cut on deposits over 100,000 euros and 6.7% for those under, and she admitted today for the first time, because she hasn't on previous occasions, that probably people would be worse off and that is because of the fundamental damage that this -- the bailout deal is going to do
to the cypriot economy. leading economists here, nobel prize winning economists here are talking about this economy being in recession. perhaps really quite deep recession for as long as five years. and that is because a small or medium sized business will see their credit lines dry up, they will lose a significant amount of money as well and that will mean that there will be more bankruptcies and more unemployment at the moment. unemployment on this small island is about 13% or 14%. that is expected to rise significantly. >> and obviously you covered the rest of the euro zone as well. what are the ramifications of what's happened in cyprus over the last week? >> i think there will be a fear that when other euro zone countries who have much bigger economies than cyprus, for example, italy's economy has 60 times the size of cyprus, spain, 90 times the size as well. but when you think that a rube
con has been crossed, if you like here, that shareholders and people who have deposits in these banks are now being forced to take a hair cut, to have their money confiscated, i think that will send potential justicers around the zsh shutters around the euro zone and if cyprus and the president here say they want to rebuild the financial industry and bring investors back, people are going to think twice before coming back to this island. having seen what can happen in times of crisis. the russians in particular, they have, what, 31 billion euros of the 75 bll, 80 billion euros held here in deposits in this island. 40% of that is now wiped out for a lot of these russians. they're going to think very carefully about where they put their money in the future. >> ok. tim wilcox for us. thank you. so what are the wider implications of this deal? steve forbes is the chairman and editor of chief of forbes media, he joined me from new york. i understand that if you're an
investor in spain or italy, you're watching nervously what's happening in cyprus. but if you're a businessman in america or asia, do you really need to care? >> i think so. because we are in a global economy. and what was done to cyprus has been an absolute disaster because any time a country now fears that they might have a financial crisis, first thing people are going to do is start a run on the bank. they're not going to take any chances. and so the germans and the e.u. boesched this thing. the i.m.f., it was done i think for political reasons, the germans did not want to see bailing out russian olegarks in election year but the way they did it was horrible. what they should have done is guarantee at the beginning those 100,000 euro deforests, anything above that they'd get shares in the new bank. you might take a hair cut but normally when a bank goes under, the creditors get shares in a new bank. these guys are just wiped out with no hope of recovery. >> so, the concern here is not so much cyprus itself which after all is the third smallest economy in europe, it's a tiny little island of less than a million people, is it to you
more the indication that european leaders still haven't worked out how to deal with their financial problems? >> that is a good summation. they haven't. cyprus, we've known for nine months, was in trouble. they had plenty of time to cobble something together that wouldn't precipitate a panic or set the conditions for panic in the future. one of the things that the germans have not recognized yet is that piling on taxes on the private sector just deepens these recessions and makes them more severe than necessary. we haven't seen such foolry in my mind since the early 1930's when countries piled on taxes, when economies were contracting. so they're crushing their private sector, it just makes their financial fiscal problems even worse. >> yeah, i suspect tonight they'll be using the word foolry as well. but you suggest there that the problem has been that they have piled on more taxes. but didn't the problem in cyprus start in part because it was a tax haven? >> well, cyprus depended upon
the financial industry, you might say, that's a plight way -- polite way to put it for that small island. others have done it. kaman has done it very successfully. >> maybe cypriots should have raised taxes on all of those bank deposits coming from abroad? >> there are plenty of ways they could have stopped those deposits coming in. by not paying any interest on them. the banks there paid very generous interest rates. so they had monetary tools if they wanted to stop that influx but they didn't. one of the problems with cyprus, you see it in other countries, is in the last 12 or 13 years they're spending -- their spending by the government's gone berserk. it's almost tripled since the year 2000. while government revenues went up nicely in cyprus, the government spended and spent some more and we've seen that in southern europe and elsewhere and now the piper has to be paid . >> mr. forbes, given the differences you've pointed out between the economies and the attitudes of germans and german favors and those of southern
europeans, do you think it would be bet father cyprus had just left the -- would be better if cyprus had just left the euro one right now? >> there's no reason why it couldn't fit together if these things were treated as a credit die sis from the very beginning -- crisis from the very beginning. in my country, for example, it won't happen, but let's say the state of illinois, which is an economic disaster disically, defaulted on its bonds, it wouldn't leave the dollar zone, it's a credit problem. that's what this should have been treated as in the beginning. figure out how you deal with the banks that are in trouble, stop piling on new taxes which just crushes the private sector, and unfortunately the public sectors in these countries have made minimal reforms, minimal institutional reforms in terms of italy, still rigged labor laws, very hard to start a legitimate business, same thing in spain. so they've done very little of the reforms to revive these economies. instead they just borrow more and more and more. and pile on more taxes. it's a recipe for kwlure seeing
unfold in sigh pulse are -- for what you're seeing unfold in sigh pulse are. >> politicians have struggled to -- sigh pulse are. >> poll -- cyprus. >> politicians have struggled with that. the united stateses is to move about half of its 100 international staff out of syria because of concerns for their safety. the decision comes after mortar shells fell near their hotel. the most -- most of the distribution work is now carried out by syrian staff themselves. u.s. secretary of state john kerry made an unannounced visit to afghanistan and vowed to stick by president hamid karzai despite mr. karzai's hostility toward the u.s.-led military efforts in the country. earlier this month the afghan president accused the u.s. of can lewding with the taliban -- colluding with the taliban. italy's highest court has put off until tomorrow a verlander on whether or not amanda knox and her former boyfriend should face a fresh trial for the murder of an english student. having been convicted, ms. fox
and the other were later acquitted in 2007. the girl was found dead in her apartment in italy. rebel forces have seized control of the capital of the central african republic and forced the president to take temporary refuge in neighboring cameroon. 13 south african soldiers were killed in a battle to defend the capital. now rebel leaders are debating who's in charge and the situation is unstable with widespread a lotting right across the city. driving is -- driving rebels out of the city of northern mali only took the military several weeks. holding this vast desert region is proving harder. militants who disappeared into the ins who pitble terrain haven't given up their fight. this weekend seven people were killed in attacks in the strategically important town. our west africa correspondent has spent the past few weeks imbedded with french troops in some of mali's most difficult terrain. >> they call it, the french have
been marching this unfor giving landscape for weeks -- unforgiving landscape for weeks. each soldier carries more than 50 kilos and under their boots the rocks are as jagged and as sharp as glass. it's relentless, it is unremitting. there is no respite here. and by 60 degrees celsius, the dark stones become as hot as burning coals. nearly 2,000 french soldiers are deployed all over this rocky desert with as many troops from chad in support. all engaged in the fiercest fighting last month, inflicting heavy casualties on the insurgents, including one of the most violent al qaeda field commanders. >> we tried to spot him and fire at a quite reasonable distance. and then we came to phase two
which was clearing of all the caves around the valley which was now down to man-to-man fighting and clearing grenades. >> catches are being found -- caveps are being found every day and -- caches are full of weapon and they're full of ammunition, weapons and food supplies. here the unit we're following found explosive belts ready for use. mortars and 100 kilos of night rate for the manufacturing of improvised explosive devices. the soldiers immediately estroyed it all. how do you secure such a desert where al qaeda and their allies have been operating for years? building hideouts and imposing their control? the french are on the hunt, on the ground, valley after valley, hill after hill, with constant support coming from the air. this is as fast as it gets.
a combat tactic unique to the french army. they fly extremely low to surprise the gunmen they have spotted and avoid ground-to-aramisles. the risk is huge. at 10 meters above the ground, these hements are vulnerable to light -- these helicopters are vulnerable to lighter firearms. now the french are convinced they've broken the neck of al qaeda in the region. cutting off the militant roots of supply and trafficking. france also worries about the plight of seven of its nationals who are believed to be held hostage somewhere here, to search for them. >> low-flying helicopters look absolutely terrifying. you are watching "bbc world news america." still to come on tonight's program, who will succeed hugo chavez? in venezuela the race is on to ake the country's top job.
lawyers representing domestic workers in hong kong have accused the authorities of creating second-class citizens. it follows a landmark ruling by hong kong's top court. we report and there is some flash photography here. >> the case has divided hong kong. foreigners such as bankers and professionals who live in the territory for more than seven years can apply for permanent residentsy. the five -- residencey. the five judges argued that domestic helpers signed a contract stating they must return to their home country at the end of their work term. the news is upsetting for domestic helpers, only a few of them could take time off work to pro test. -- protest. >> why are our contracts different from other foreigners? we are unhappy because the hong kong government treats us unfairly. this is discrimination. >> this is the end of a five-year legal battle for two
filipino workers who were not present at the court but their lawyers tried to offer hope. >> when he continue to struggle both inside and outside the court with our colleagues so that we no longer teach our children that there's such a thing as a second-class citizen and that we demean people based on their job, their gender or their race. >> at the heart of this case is a question about resources. hong kong is such a tiny territory. residents here feel they're already fighting for resources with their mainland cousins. they're fighting for spaces for hospital beds, as well as school spaces and living quarters. they say there's no room left for foreign domestic workers to jump into the competition. hong kong prides self in being one of the most efficient places in the world. it cannot happen without this army of foreign helpers. the chinese territory has better laws to protect domestic workers compared to other asian nations. but today's court decision shows that judges are not willing to extend those rights.
>> the people of venezuela go to the polls next month, it won't just be the presidency that's at stake, but a struggle between good and evil. that's how the venezuelan opposition leader at least has characterized the choice. just weeks after the death of hugo chavez, the race is on to elect his successor and as will grant reports, this is a bitterly fought contest. >> hugo chavez's devoted followers almost never criticized him. they rejected the opposition's arguments about his control of the judiciary or the media and had no trouble with the idea that venezuela--- venezuelans live under a dictatorship. but most people might complain about quality of life issues. such as infrequent rubbish collections or a lack of sporting facilities --
facilities for the young. but in a staunchly pro-chavez neighborhood, judith has a direct line to the government. they responded with oil money, paying for more rubbish chucks and new baseball ground and installing lifts in the 1950's tower block. jude i get is still grieving for huge o'chavez -- jude i get is still -- judith is still grieving for hugo chavez. and voting for his successor would be fating tribute. it's an opinion shared by most chavez supporters. he only came here to register as a presidential candidate. but clearly the campaign is well under way. he's telling them that a vote for him is a vote for chavez.
one of the first to hear that hugo chavez had died was his loyal energy minister, rafael. chavez will be a constant presence in this election campaign, he says. but nicholas will also try to be his own man. >> he's not chavez nor would anyone expect him to be. we're all chavez, as the slogan goes, and that is the concept of the campaign. of course nicholas will be different iraqis not trying to imitate chavez. he can't be imitated. but the essence of his political ideas and his philosophy are perfectly represented by nicholas. >> one of the biggest and most violent chanty towns, many residents live under a self-imposed curfew. the opposition are likely to make the issue of crime a key part of their campaign. but how can their candidate who lost to mr. chavez in october win? given the wave of grief sweeping venezuela. call everyone for
the important struggle. we're facing huge challenges that go beyond our generation. but i think that we have at the same time a wonderful, unique opportunity to have a few transformation. >> the pro-chavez heartlands are still in shock at their leader's death. but their message is clear. to continue his legacy they need to keep the presidential palace in socialist hands. will grant, bbc news. >> when the mount erupted, it killed thousands of people right on the spot. what it didn't do was wipe out the belongings of those residents. in the roman cities of pompey, gold bracelet, clay vase, even political slogans were early preserved in ash. now the british museum has collected these historic objects together and our arts editor has
gone to take a look at them. >> this is an exhibition that tells the tale of two ancient roman cities. pompey and herculenean. it preserves a snapshot of daily life where the wealthy lived in large shouses -- houses and ate in beautiful dining rooms with silver spoons, voubded by splendid ornaments. >> i think one of the striking things is how similar things are to what we use tonight. the table, the cot. they're prototypes what have we still have. and here i'm in front of some election graduate fitty. they have graduate fitty on their -- graffiti on their walls, too. >> these five pieces of jewelry were being worn in the moment when disaster struck. in that one day, the two cities lying on the bay of napeles in southern italy were lost. items such as this bracelet offer us a connection with those who once owned them.
>> they're not artifacts, they're possessions. people commissioned them, people bought them. people admired them, used them, loved them, talked about them. they belonged to people. they are the possessions of people in their homes, just like we haved to. >> pompey was rediscovered in the 18th century, since which time the living has hardly been easy for the shaken city. it's been shaken by an albuquerque and stirred by allied bombing. then of course there's all the problems it's encountered in this century. in 2008 the italian government declared the crumbling city was an a state of emergency. three years later bad drainage and heavy rain led to severe structural damage. and then only last month allegations of corruption emerged in connection with its multimillion-euro restoration.
>> pompey's a terribly expensive site. if you just looked at the weed killer bill for the site of pompey, you would be horrified. and there's quite a lot that money would cure but i think we're trying to do the impossible which is to keep a ruin standing up. when we've treated it pretty rotten. >> this cot was turned to charcoal. in the 400-degree heat that baked the city and its people. a reminder to all those who visit the british museum that the story behind the 400 archeological treasures on show is one of a catastrophic natural disaster. killer billthe weed is horrendous but i have to say it was all that have gold that i thought was stunning and made me feel rather quiztive. very modern. beautiful jewelry there. before we go, a quick update on our main story. all of the banks were going to be or most of them were going to be open in cyprus tomorrow. we're getting reports in from cyprus, the finance ministry, that suggest that all the banks will be closed, at least tomorrow, perhaps on wednesday as well. that brings the show to a close. remember of course that you can carry on watching "bbc world
news" for constant updates from around the world on our 24-hour news network. check your local listings and you'll find our channel number there. from all of us here at world news america, thank you so much for watching and tune in tomorrow. >> funding of this presentation is made possible by the freeman foundation of new york, stowe, vermont, and honolulu, newman's own foundation, fidelity investments, union bank, and united health care. >> music is a universal language but when i was in an accident, i was worried the health care system spoke a health care language all its own. with united health care i got help that fit my life. information on my phone, connection to doctors who get where i'm from and tools to estimate what my care may cost. so i never miss a beat. >> we're more than 78,000 people looking out for more than 70 million americans. that's health in numbers. united health care.
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>> ifill: secretary of state john kerry met with afghan president hamid karzai today, and said the two nations are "on the same page" about making peace with the taliban. good evening. i'm gwen ifill. >> woodruff: and i'm judy woodruff. on the newshour tonight, we assess the challenges ahead for kerry and the u.s., winding down the war in afghanistan and dealing with tensions in iraq, syria, and the middle east. >> ifill: then, we update the movement on immigration reform, as president obama uses a citizenship ceremony to prod congress to send him a bill. >> woodruff: we have two economic stories from abroad. margaret warner examines the last-minute financial rescue for cyprus. >> ifill: and ray suarez reports on ireland's comeback after the global recession. >> suarez: rather than wait around for the return of jobs that may never come back, thousands of irish are starting their own businesses. >> woodruff: plus, jeffrey brown talks to the co-authors of a new book about murder, murderers, and the death penalty at the supreme court.