captioned by the national captioning institute dw television. i am richard walker. merkel may be willing to make compromises on the european bailout fund after all.

>> north korean plans to blast a satellite into space are overshadowing a summit on nuclear security that is under way in seoul. south korea believes that lunch is covered. >> u.s. president barack obama warned against the behavior. he also accused iran of deceit and deception over its nuclear program. >> his comments came ahead of that meeting in the south korean capitol. attending the two-day summit. their goal is to prevent nuclear material from falling -- from falling into the wrong hands, particularly those of terrorists. the conclusions will be presented tuesday by south korean president lee myung-bak. speaking from seoul, u.s.

presidents barack obama unnamed nuclear terrorism as one of the biggest threats to global security, but he also issued stern warnings to north korea and iran. >> it is always my preference to solve these issues diplomatically. but time is short. both leaders must understand they, too, face a choice. iran must act with the seriousness and sense of urgency that this moment demands. >> obama but again of his vision of a world free of nuclear weapons. >> i firmly believe that we can ensure the security of the united states and its allies, maintain a strong deterrent against any threat, and it still pursue further reductions in our nuclear arsenal. >> the west's conflict with

north korea and iran is not on the official agenda of the sold summit, but it is bound to be discussed behind the scenes. >> chancellor on glamour tell -- angela merkel has a big policy shift. >> the government is open to extending it the first bailout fund, allowing it to run in parallel with the new european stability mechanism. that would take the investment to 700 billion euros, up from 500 billion. for more, let's go to melinda crane who is standing by. so, this move is being portrayed as a big wind down. is that true? >> germany has been under a great deal of pressure. is still the eurozone's biggest

economy. it is the eurozone's paymaster. germans are worried about possible -- possibly throwing good money after bad. the fact is, the chancellor was under a great deal of pressure european finance ministers getting ready to meet after the week, and also with an upcoming imf meeting. there is general consensus that the imf needs to contribute more to supporting indebted countries, but g-20 members of the imf have been saying, hey, the imf needs to ante up first. i think a clear recognition that there does need to be more liquidity in the system. >> as you suggested, a lot of the pressure domestically on merkel -- it is not going to go

down at all well with our coalition partners. >> whenever coalition partners, the christian democrats have said they are willing to compromise. the free democrats had been saying -- had been making reluctant noises, but frankly they are in weak shape after an important regional election. i think the bigger question will be what will be parliament it? this will last to be approved by parliament -- this will have to be approved by parliament. the opposition is saying things about possibly needing a two- thirds majority to get this through, and that could pose a problem. >> ok, not a completely done deal yet. thank you for joining us. meanwhile, there has been another sign today the german economy is still holding up pretty well. >> that is according to the closely-watched ifo index.

it has surprised markets by rising for the fifth month in a row. >> the survey measures how optimistic german business leaders are about the future. they seem confident the economy is now recovering. after a dip last year, the index is up for the fifth month in a row. but the head of the organization that carried out the survey said the upswing is losing some of its momentum. the increase is smaller than last month's. >> employment has had a big boost from the development of the low wage sector. because of the crisis, german investors do not dare invest their money abroad. >> that means more german money is being invested at home, and real estate in particular. >> the positive mood was reason

for traders to be cheerful. in frankfurt, we get this wrapped up of the day's trading action. >> the ongoing good mood in german companies boy at the market's. traders celebrated the unexpected rise of the ifo index. the dax had a positive stop for the week. another driver was the chairman of the federal reserve, and suggested the world bank continue with further monetary help. another manufacturer reached an all-time high. >> looking at those figures for you -- the blue-chip dax was at an all-time high. the your stocks 50 had a similar gain -- eurostoxx 50 had a

similar game. the euro gaining as the dollar, trading for $1.2244. >> staying in business news, bmw is recalling about 1.3 million cars around world over problems with battery cables. >> is one of the biggest recalls in the company's -- it is one of the biggest recalls in the company's history. it affects bmw's built between 2003 and 2010. bmw added there have been no accidents or injuries so far in the repairs take about 30 minutes. >> a big boost for angela merkel's party. >> the biggest electoral gains were made by the new power party, and for merkel's national coalition partners, the news was not good.

>> this is the sixth time in 12 months that the free democrats have been voted out of the state parliament. their share fell down to 1.2%. the party leader tried to put a brave face on it. >> at this difficult time, it is important to stay calm, to take our time to deal with the individual issues that matter to us. >> angelo merkel says this will not affect the coalition. the coalition will continue as usual at the national level. >> i believe we will work together in a fair and businesslike way. each party has its own position. in the coalition, we have to reach compromises all parties are happy with. in an election, each party fights its own campaign. >> they want more transparency

in politics and internet freedom. >> we have shown we can be successful outside the big cities. it shows the pirate party is going to do well in the long term. >> the pirates are hoping for more wins in regional elections in may. >> first stop moscow, now to beijing. kofi annan is headed to the chinese capital to win support for his plan to end the violence in syria. >> he is focusing on russia and china, two countries that had shielded the syrian regime. >> russian president dmitry medvedev offered his bull roast pork -- full support, saying kofi annan's plant may be the last chance to avoid a civil war. >> kofi annan's peace plan calls for a ceasefire with the government pulling its troops out of rebel city's. he now has the backing of the

russian president. >> we talked about the urgency of the situation, the need to stop the killing and the violence, and to ensure humanitarian assistance reaches those in need unimpededly. >> he is now headed to beijing. he needs to change minds there, too. china along with russia has blocked u.n. resolutions. but as the talks continue, the attacks continue. government troops are still bombarding homs heavily. unverified videos posted online at appeared to show shelling in two parts of the city. activists say 17 people died across the country, including two government soldiers. >> two people shot dead in

afghanistan. >> it happened in the main town in helmand province. forces opened fire and killed the assailant. is the latest in a series of incidents were afghan security forces have turned their guns on international forces. the bodies have been recovered from the costa concordia. >> search crews located five more bodies. the cost chicken korea was carrying more than 4000 passengers -- the costa concordia was carrying more than 4000 passengers. >> sarkozy said the man accused of last month's killing was not part of a terrorist network. >> he has ordered a thorough evaluation of potential extremist threats. the shooting in and around the

city of toulouse shocked the country. >> it has been called a great victory for democracy in africa. sunday's runoffs of the incumbent lose by a huge margin. >> it was marred by controversy and violence, and there were fears that the incumbent might try to cling to power. >> the party went through the night in the streets. the mood -- joy mixed with relief. joy that the incumbent's 12 years in office are over and relief that he is quick to leave after acknowledging his defeat. his opponents said the result was a mandate for change. >> the size of this victory by

the vote of the people shows the immensity of expectations. i will do everything in my power, starting tonight, to ensure this is the beginning of a new era for sanibel. >> it is a humiliating exit for a man who swept to power on a wave of hope in 2000. that he was increasingly seen as having lost touch, and handing powers to his son and sidestepping the constitution to seek a third term in office. when celebrations are over, sall has to deliver. the average income is just $3 a day. >> we will be back after a short

break when we will take a closer look at the threat posed by nuclear weapons. >> do not going away.

>> welcome back. let's get back to our top stories. leaders from more than 50 countries are in seoul for a summit on nuclear security. this is part of the series begun by barack obama in washington two years ago. >> obama arrived in seoul proposing a new plan to reduce the u.s. and russian stockpiles. >> the two countries of 4000 nuclear warheads, more than they could ever need. but other countries want to add to their arsenals. >> a south korean war ship

blasts shelf after shelf near the disputed border with the north. military maneuvers like these are seen as a dangerous provocation in pyongyang. >> war is becoming in increasingly favorable. unless all koreans disperse the heavy clouds of war, the caribbean nation will suffer a nuclear holocaust. >> north korea's threats may be rhetorical, but the threat of mass destruction is real. united states has about 2200 operational strategic warheads. britain and france have several hundred each. russia leads the pack with 3000 warheads at its disposal while china has about 200. these are the acknowledged nuclear weapon states, balanced by the nuclear non- proliferation treaty to prevent

the transfer of nuclear technology to other states. the tree is threatened by countries that have not signed the -- the treaty is run by countries that not signed the treaty such as pakistan and india. the two countries rank among the world's top arms importers. a third threat in the middle east. israel is believed to have a stockpile of up to 200 nuclear weapons. israel has warned of a pre- emptive strike against iran, a move that could endanger the entire region. north korea's nuclear aspirations are a major concern. pyongyang believe that they have five warheads to 10 warheads. the iranian president, possibly terrorist groups -- the specter of nuclear war remains real.

and the saber rattling is not just look dangerous. it is. >> for years, the international community has been trying to negotiate with pyongyang over its nuclear program. >> dear ron insists it -- to iran insists the nuclear program is for a non-military purposes. >> iran's nuclear program is a tale of this trust, deception, and the duplicity. it all began in secret decades ago. evidence that iran was trying to build a bomb began to a merger in 2002 piece by piece. the regime has only publicly revealed things that intelligence services have uncovered. they have a fuel -- they have a full chain of production. they have uranium mines. they have a uranium conversion plant. they have enrichment facilities.

the military complex could be used to test the explosive devices used in nuclear weapons and it has nuclear reactors in the two cities. >> there's still no final proof that iran is building a nuclear bomb, but the evidence is pretty conclusive. for instance, the work on different warheads, the construction of a large, heavy water reactor. >> with the complex of tunnels, scientists are using thousands of centrifuges. 80% is the level required for nuclear-weapons. the step up from 20% to 80% is considered simple in technical terms. another cause for concern is the ron's refusal to allow u.n. nuclear inspectors into the military complex, and there is

no sign for the president bowling to international pressure. last month, he watched scientists and show off the first fuel rods produced in iran. u.s. intelligence believes iran is not ready to build a weapon yet. >> we have to assume that iran will only reach that stage when it can produce a large number of warheads, say 15 or 20, in a short space of time, together with the corresponding millis -- missile technology. >> iran believes that would safeguard the country from foreign aggression. for now, the world is left guessing as to what iran's aims are. that, too, only strengthens to run's -- iran's and. >> pope benedict has arrived in

mexico. >> 70 dissidents have been arrested ahead of the visit. that includes 15 members of the ladies in white movement who say the government wants them to not be present for his visit. >> john, what do you make of the pope's decision to visit cuba then. the must be political aspect to it? >> it is described as pastoral. that means in effect that his pastoral -- his primary concern is the life of catholics. the catholic cannot live in isolation from society, and so there's always a social aspect, a political aspect. cuba is a special case. cuba is in transition. president raul castro is a pragmatist, much more than his

older brother of fidel castro. he has already begun a program of reform. and agricultural program has been privatized. cubans can now buy and sell houses and cars. by 2015, much of the cuban population will be employed in the private sector. the pope is not the only one who is worried that if communism breaches of violent end in cuba that the country could degenerate into a situation where there is drug trafficking and organized crime. so he wants to encourage the reform process. >> what does he think specifically of the communist regime under raul castro? >> that is right. this pope in particular and the 1980's, became not very heavily on liberation in the catholic

church, trying to reconcile traditional catholic teaching with marxist doctrine. he is very decisively against marxist political theory. but on the other hand, i think while urging reforms in the country and encouraging greater freedoms and more human rights, i think he will be very careful not to provoke the old guard stalinists, because they could then stifled the reform process that has begun. >> , the influence does he have in cuba -- how much influence does he have in cuba? not much of the population is catholic all. >> that is right, only 10%. cuba was declared in a the state in 1956. there's the strange phenomenon in cuba. some elements of catholicism,

but to show it -- particularly the devotion to mary the mother of jesus, is particularly strong. fidel castro's mother donated a gilt statue to the shrine of our lady of charity at the end of the war as thanks for protecting her son during the atheist revolution. >> thank you very much for joining us. >> alright. he has directed some of the most successful movies of all time, including "titanic" and "avatar." now he is the first person to dive solo to the deepest part of the ocean. >> he spent more than three hours down there. and of course, he caught it all on tape. >> all right, buddy. >> this was the most dangerous

trip james cameron has ever made. he went to the deepest part on earth, the marianna trench in the pacific ocean. he is the first person to go that deep sense 1960 and the first person to make the journey alone. added that the over 10 kilometers, the biggest risk is the pressure of the water. cameron says the pressure caused the submarine to shrink by 3 centimeters. he thumbed his trip on -- he filmed his trip on a small camera. >> you go past bismarck and then you go past and you're still only halfway there, two-thirds of the way they're. crazy. >> he hoped to see a deep space -- the sea monster. but all he saw were tiny animals. >> a tree has been planted in

israel. >> it is a one of several sapling's taken from a chestnut tree that and frank could see from the rooms -- that an franken see from the rooms when she and her family -- anne frank c from the rooms when she and her family were in hiding. the tree collapsed in 2010. that is all we have time for now. but we will have more news for you at the top of the hour right here on dw. >> do not forget to check out our website at www.dw.de. we have more multimedia and more stories. check it out.