>> hello, and welcome to the "journal" on dw-tv. i am melendez in berlin. >> i am steve chaid. i am at the business desk. >> the u.s. says it has received billions of euros in pledges to improve the health of women and children. >> european parliament approved sweeping regulation of the eu's financial services industry. >> and a scramble for resources in remote regions of the arctic. ♪ >> the un says it has raised more than 30 billion euros to

fund health care for needy mothers and children. on the closing day at a summit dedicated to strategies for fighting poverty, secretary- general ban ki-moon said the government's, foundation of businesses have committed funds to that purpose. leaders from 140 countries have been attending the summit. u.s. president barack obama is due to address. >> the main goal is simple. there has been progress towards achieving it, but it has been far too slow. almost 1 billion people suffer from militant -- malnutrition today. the world's poorest countries still have a long way to go to me the other goals which include reversing the spread of aids and ensuring access to primary school education. despite new financial pledges and that's at the summit, there's no certainty is that there'll be enough money and political will to fulfill the planet. >> the reason global economic and financial crisis it is for

developing countries. in such circumstances, it should be a genuine commitment. >> countries in sub-saharan africa, in particular, have made little progress in eradicating poverty. they urged stronger leadership among developing nations to tackle hunger and disease and attract investment. >> on the sidelines of the un general assembly, six major world powers including germany and the united states have announced a fresh initiative to negotiation with iran over its nuclear ambitions. iran has signaled a willingness to restart talks with the international community but little has happened. now russia, china, britain, france, germany, and the u.s. say they're ready to engage with iran and will take practical steps to achieve a solution as soon as possible.

countries fear that iran may be enriching uranium for nuclear weapons. although it has consistently denied this. a bomb attack and western iran has killed at least 10 people and left dozens injured. the blast occurred on the northwestern city during a military parade marking the 30th anniversary of the start of the iran/iraq war. the victims were reportedly mostly women and children who had been spectators. iranian media officials blaming kurdish separatists for the blast. the german military says one of its special forces units as captured a taliban commander in northern afghanistan. malawi is suspected of being a regional taliban military leader and a leading member of the taliban's shadow administration. the says no one was injured during the capture. just above a year under germany's last parliamentary election, voters said they do things pretty differently than had a chance to vote again. chancellor merkel's

conservatives have taken a sharp fall in the latest poll shows the green party, in particular, riding high. that is due in part to the government's relatively unpopular policy on nuclear energy. green party leaders say there is also more to this story. >> for weeks, the popularity of the smallest party in opposition has been rising in opinion polls, not only because the risks in the governing coalition, according to one of the party leaders. >> the leaders do not squabble. they're all on the same page. the issues that the greens stand for have become mainstream. >> for example, extending the life span of nuclear power stations. the greens opposed to this along with the majority of the german public. the conservatives were in a 29% of the vote, the spd, 24.

one. the ftp liddell estrogan to parliament. at the left party, 10. but the greens, for the first time, would be on par with spd with 24%, more than double their votes in the last election. at the social democrats' headquarters, this poll was being taken seriously. it suggests the spd and greens can form a coalition with a healthy majority. the way things are now, the greens could have equal say. >> the anniversary of german unification approaches, the government has been the valley leading the country's successes and challenges 20 years on. on wednesday, the interior minister khaybar-1's the annual assessment of unified germany. his cousin, former east germany's last prime minister, presented his. >> for angela merkel, a launching this book was like a trip down memory lane. in 1990, she was spokeswoman for

east germany's first freely elected government under his leadership the two accompanied east germany to the brief spell as an independent democracy to becoming part of a reunified germany. >> those events were like a miracle, and we should keep a bit of that miracle in our hearts and minds. >> not far away, there were dealing with german reunification also, but from today's point of view. the interior minister presented the government's annual report on german unity. unemployment in eastern germany has dropped to 11%, though it is double the rate in western states. child care is much more easily available in the east, although the population is shrinking. overall, they said the past year s have left a positive image. >> 20 years later, without ignoring the problems, we can be proud of what the people in the

east and west have achieved. german unity has matured, and we can deal with it confiden>> sume judges been achieved in the past 20 years at the ongoing financial aid for the eastern states can and in 2019. >> in germany, health insurance costs will likely go up under a controversial plan just approved by the government. if the legislation passes parliament, it will increase workers' health-care payments from next year on. the health minister says the reforms will help cut the big deficit that are facing higher costs of germany's population agents. >> philip roesler's efforts to reform the health-care system are unlikely to win him friends. pharmaceutical companies, doctors, and people who pay health insurance premiums all feel they have good reason to complain. >> there are no sensible alternatives. i have taken on the

responsibility of balancing my ministry's budget, and i am going to have to make unpleasant decisions. >> most of the new revenue used to fill the budget gap will come from an increase in premiums. right now, those contributions amount to 14.9% of the worker's salary. next year, that rise to 15.5%. under the new plan, employers would pay 7.3% of the total and workers 8.2%. plus, more visits to the doctor but opposition politicians that criticized the plan. >> the employers came out of this just fine. the proposal undermines the solidarity of our health-care system. >> the government says the legislation will help the health-care system's long-term financial stability, but this might be the first in a series of reforms as germany's population grows older and becomes an increasing burden on the health care systems. >> over to steve for business

news. starting out with some new regulations coming the way of the financial markets. >> the eu is trying to deliver on some bold promises. two years up to the collapse of lehman brothers in the beginning of the global financial crisis, the european parliament has approved legislation to oversee the 27-nation bloc's sprawling financial services industry. legislation will create three new agencies that will, beginning in january, supervise banks, securities firms, and insurance companies. >> in a rare display of unity, the european parliament approved legislation, creating new body to oversee banks, insurers, and markets. the new agencies will have the power to overrule national agencies and to react quickly to signs of financial trouble. >> we have been successful in passing the financial reforms, guidelines surrounding derivatives would be another important step. >> the commission intends to make short selling and trading

in some derivatives safer and more transparent. these transactions are often not used to secure raw materials at a fixed price but to speculate on them, which the commission wants to prevent. >> we need clear regulations. we need to monitor short- selling. we need to be about to prevent anything on economic markets that spreads unemployment or destroys businesses. >> observers are calling the new legislation across party attempt to deal with turbulence caused by the financial crisis and prevent a reoccurrence. >> on to the markets and european shares fell and the midweek trading session as investors and analysts took a negative outlook on the u.s. recovery following the u.s. federal reserve's policy meeting on tuesday. our correspondent sent us this summer in the wednesday trading session in frankfurt. >> listening to ben bernanke's speech, investors missed the optimism in the words of the

chairman of the federal reserve. and that led shares to start nosediving until the end of this session. there was profit-taking going on, mainly driven by concerns that the u.s. economy might not be able to pick up again pretty soon, and that it may face further crises because the federal reserve said that it would take any measures if something like that would happen. while the dollar has been driven down, the bureau had a nice renaissance and went above $1.36 -- $1.33. >> we will stay in frankfurt for a closer look to the members. the dax index closed more than 1% lower, down at 60 to 08. euro stoxx 50 blue chips sinking by 1.5% to finish at 2752. at this hour, the dow jones closing of the top of the hour, finishing at 10,739, down to slightly. currency markets, the euro

dreading this hour at a value of $1.3392. as we just saw, the hero is continuing to strengthen considerably in rapidly against the dollar as the u.s. recovery remains in question and the economic situation in europe continues to improve. >> the euro is looking like a heavyweight again, not only against the u.s. dollar but also against the british pound and the japanese yen. the year lost ground in the first half of this year as the debt crisis was over greece, spain, and ireland. but since the beginning of july, it has been recovering, reaching $1.34 this wednesday, regaining levels of last fall in april. the main reason, positive economic developments in the eurozone. it seems the big economies, like germany, have recovered from the crisis, and even portugal and ireland successfully issued bonds on international money markets this week.

this -- but the u.s. economy still remains sluggish. that is why the u.s. that indicated in its meeting that was prepared to inject more money into the economy. with interest rates at near zero, that does not sound very attractive to investors you're starting to buy euros again. >> steelworkers in germany have begun a series of warning strikes to push on demands for higher wages but employees walked off the job wednesday at 3 still works. a union is calling for a 6% wage hike. the 85,000 metal industry workers are represented in germany. employers rejected that demand better so far not made a counteroffer. the second round of wage negotiations last week ended in installments. the union says the warning strikes will continue through friday while extreme measures are being considered. >> the german conglomerate has deals to give employees

unlimited job protection. it will make it practically impossible to fire any of the company's one under 28,000 employees. the grip it and the company's board, works council, and the union will give the works council the right to veto firings. the company's ailing information technology business, however, is exempt from the deal where more than 4000 jobs are set to be cut. >> that is a business update. >> thank you. >> russia has opened a two-day conference in the arctic. it is vital to the interest of moscow, and vladimir putin is expected to attend. as climate change increases the melting of the arctic ice, the region is likely to open up for exploration and exploitation of its natural resources. the merger is that the arctic circle can drop as low as minus 50 degrees celsius, but the debate over sovereignty is heating up to russia, norway, denmark, canada, in the u.s. on

a territorial claims here. but the boundaries are disputed. that dispute is being felt that the international arctic forum in moscow. the conference program is concerned with climate change, but political and economic interests are foremost. >> today more than ever we need an approach to the geography here that concerns national interests. the objectives of the form is included in its name. the arctic territory of dialogue. >> at stake are vast deposits of natural resources that geologists believe may be located here, possibly as much as one-third of the earth's _ oil and gas reserves. russia has long reserved interest in the polar region. in 2007, russian expedition planted russian flags 4,000 meters down at the seat ahead of the north pole. >> we defend our interests in the arctic with all the civilian instruments permitted by international agreements.

and i do not think it would estimate to a confrontation. even though some countries need to be able to inject more power and so on. >> i two dozen one, russia applied unsuccessfully for the winter recognize an extension for the northern limits of the territory. they're expected to resubmit the question in 2014. >> a major exhibition of the works of a french expression as has opened in paris. public interest in the retrospective is huge. more than 80,000 tickets have been sold in advance and the guided tours are already booked up. some 200 works are on display from all times of his career. monet was one of the founders of them freshmen -- impressionism. state sen because we're going to come right back with a look at one of steve's favorite part is possibly? germany's octoberfest. >> ah, and who does not like a

cold beverage on a hot day? stay with us. ♪ >> one of the world's most unconventional or distress -- orchestras. >> and then the next one -- >> its conductor -- ♪ >> and there, and dream. a musical marathon for a very special interpretation. [applause]

♪ >> the beethoven project, starting october 9 online dw-tv. >> welcome back. it is that time led year. the southern german city of munich, octoberfest. what is a start in september? you'll hear that later on. it is the biggest event of its kind in the world, and this is the two hundredth anniversary. organizers are expecting more visitors than ever, as many as 6 million before the last years old on the fourth of october but up that beverages the main star of the festivities. side shows like bolivarian song and dance simply help raise the thirst. we went around some of the 14 beer tents and talked to people to travel the long way to attend this year's oktoberfest. hopefully they will be able to remember it when it is all over.

>> these young farmers from france like the large international crowd of our octoberfest. >> i can meet people here from england, china, japan, from all over. >> my friends have come all the way from california. they wanted to visit the legendary 10th. she is there for the first time, but she knows what to expect. >> thousands and thousands of people and thousands and thousands of beers. >> this tends accommodates almost an thousand visitors, but where is the beer? up above, the first mugs of beer are being handed out. and cindy is pleased to be among the lucky few. >> of course, the beer is a very cool here in bavaria.

however, it is the first trip we made throughout germany that has caused us to come back. and we bring other new friends to experience what oktoberfest is all about. >> more than 30,000 liters of beer are poured each day in this tent alone. a staff of 230 waitresses help keep the beer flowing. >> i cannot take it in. it is like beyond me at anything i can never imagines. this is amazing. ♪ [sing a long] [chanting] >> many tourists in the travel long distances to enjoy the festival. among them, new zealand, australians, and italians.

sometimes tradition takes the back seat and anything goes. anyone looking to get away from the randy crowd can be the tent and make their way here to the carrousel were a traditional band has been plain for visitors for the past 80 years. >> every year, it is the same procedure. we go to the tent and then to this area. >> sometimes i do not feel so well, but it is really nice here. >> fashion also plays a major role at octoberfest. many come to see and be seen in their best bavarian clothing. >> there are some really beautiful dresses. they are simply magnificent. >> a barrel makers are addressed to the nines. the men, they prefer leather.

>> it is great. you have the theme park. it is a dangerous combination. but it is great. it's great atmosphere. >> there are some good laughs at the helter-skelter. anyone making it to the top has no trouble returning to the bottom. back on the festival tent, it is time for food. she likes it. and julie -- >> it is great, and it is filling, and it is good. they make you feel happy. and it makes you want to drink some more. >> and there's no doubt, they will. >> oktoberfest actually started as a posh wedding bash in 1810 to celebrate the marriage of prince ludwig. the whole town was invited, and

included a horse race. for the 200 anniversary, those events are being re-enacted. for lookers, it is an important part of bolivarian identity and tradition. >> two hundred years ago, the october fast may have looked like this. bavarians in their traditional garb with the mayor in his fist the road. -- in his festive robe. in october, 1810, the city of munich had something special to celebrate, the marriage of crown prince ludwig of bavaria to princess teresa. bavaria was a young kingdom, just four years old. >> they were looking for a festival to forge an identity for this young kingdom. you have to remember, bavaria had just gained some more territory, like the franconians or still upset about it today. he had to involve these regions.

>> the highlight of the celebrations back then was a horse race in honor of the royal couple. that went down so well that the people of munich wanted the octoberfest every year. the party is still held on the same grounds. the land originally just a field still bears the name prances teresa. in the beginning, this was just a fair with a few beer styles and amusements. but it grew year per year until the decisive element of the end of the 19th century. >> than the large breweries with their financial capital and economic power with these huge beer tents on festival grounds. they have given the octoberfest the beer festival image. the year is still the main

attraction, only six local munich purees -- breweries are allowed to make a special oktoberfest lager, which is all but the leader. the current mayor says his first beer experience came early. >> the first, was only allowed a little said. it was my grandfather's beer, and he was scolded for letting a boy like me have the beer. but i think that is why i can handle beer well today. >> outside, this dance unites bavarians. >> we are the mountain rifles. >> we are the women dancing rifles. >> we're the munich apparel makers, an old herridge group, and i am the clown. you need the clown. >> the traditional fare crown rights are a reminder of the routes of the festival -- of the roots of the festival. in 1872, there oktoberfest was moved to september because the

weather was better. every year, the people of munich in guests gather for the officials start, the tapping of the first keg. this tradition dates back to only 1950 and was started by the then mayor. but it turned out to be a great marketing stunt. >> they can broadcast it around the world because everyone understands what is happening. if he held a speech, it would not interest anybody. but he knocks on the tap with his mallet, and you see the beer straightaway, and that is a very important role. >> and once the keg has been tapped, there's nothing to stop the party getting under way. in the 200 years since it was founded, the oktoberfest is only been canceled a couple dozen times. >> so if you like your beer, you know where to be right now. that has been our "in depth" of record as the octoberfest turns

two hundred. thanks for joining us. captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org-- ♪