captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org-- >> this is the eternal ben -- the "journal" on the de tv. say that the rescue of the trapped killian miners will start within hours. >> french trade unions began a fresh wave of strikes over government pension reform. >> july and officials are just hours away from starting a --

chilean officials are just hours away from starting a rescue operation for the miners. it could take up to 48 hours before all of the miners are hauled up to the surface. >> wives, mothers, and other loved ones can hardly wait to be reunited with the trapped minters. -- miners. >> the whole family is here. it is the same for everyone. we are all waiting for the final moment. >> the miners have been receiving food and other essentials through a supply tube. the evacuation will begin

shortly. >> i will like to welcome to what is probably the last press conference for this matter. i want to inform you that we will begin the evacuation of the trapped miners in the coming hous. >> nervous anticipation is growing among the iners' -- miners' families. >> i want to see him and hugged him. that will be weird. maybe he has changed. >> there could be lasting effects after living in darkness for more than two months. >> it is only a couple of hours until the evacuation begins. what is the latest? >> we do not have an exact time when the rescue is going to start.

we will have one miner on the surface. the rescue was scheduled to start after midnight. that will start in a couple of hours. there will be five rescue workers. when the first one goes down, and another comes back up through the tunnel. it takes about 25 minutes to 30 minutes to get all of the blade to the bottom. -- of the way to the bottom. it takes about 15 minutes to go about up. if the miner is feeling stressed, that can hurry it up.

they are eagerly awaiting this moment. >> how are they holding up under this pressure? >> it is amazing. they seem to be holding up very well. there are some signs of p roblems. the families are becoming more irritable. generally speaking, they are so relieved that the end is within sight. that has been well organized and they have taken precautions. >> thank you so much for that. we will have more on the story later on in the half hour. germany has won its bid for a

seat on the u.n. security council. it is a key step towards a permanent seat on the 15-member council. they said it was a sign of confidence in germany. >> germany got 128 votes in the first round of balloting, ahead of canada and portugal. >> of 128. >> the german foreign minister said that the results reflected germany's growing responsibilities in the world. >> we see this membership as a great responsibility. also as a chance to do more for peace, security, and development in the world. >> the german chancellor, instead -- commented on this.

>> during its time on the security council, germany will work towards reform of the security council. that is an expectation that many in the world share. >> germany will have a seat on the most important body for two years. they will not have the power of the permanent seats. russia, the united states, france, britain. >> we asked him why germany pull that off ed what is going to be on the agenda? >> the german politicians have done everything conceivable to work the diplomatic crowd. the chancellor was here a few weeks ago. every trip that the chancellor or the foreign minister went on,

they tried to get votes. it is about securing world peace. those are the big topics. world peace and nuclear disarmament will be an important topic. the conflict with iran will be an important topic. they will press harder for a reform of the u.n. security council. we will have to see what comes out of that. it is always hard to reform the u.n. security council, which reflects the way the world was after the second world war and not the world powers today. >> their husband and a crash in kabul./ all 8 people aboard were killed. it came down 30 miles east of kabul.

it was carrying supplies for nato forces. >> nicolas sarkozy could be in for a bigger battle then he bargained for. students turned out in force in protest against reforms intensified across the country. as many as 3.5 million people to do the streaks across france. police estimate just 1.2 million. either figure would make the biggest march since the start of protests in september. the airports, seaports, all operating below capacity as unio on workers walked off of jobs. hundreds of flights were cancelled. travelers and commuters will be facing more severe disruption in days to come.

they were protesting against plans by sarkozy to raise the retirement age from 60 to 62. >> they may be 4.5 decades away from retirement, but they are mad at pension reforms. they are fighting for what many see as their right, a full pension. >> it is not worth it. >> our future is on the line. if this is about working until we are 62 or 67, it will be a lot worse later. >> this seemed more evident this time around, compared to previous strikes. it appears that sarkozy will win. french workers will have to be 67 instead of 65 to qualify for a full pension. even the police have joined the

protest. so have dock workers. they are hoping that the government will water down the legislation. >> it is part -- what's the other people across paris pope that it is the first step toward ousting the sarkozy government of the ballot box. the elections are over a year away, long after this has become law. >> that is unlikely he will step down on this pension reform. their position can hold on this reform package. it became much more realistic today than it was before. >> consumer prices rose sharply in germany. the government reported a 1.3% rise in the cost of living in

september. it is the sharpest rise in nearly two years and driven by energy prices. the cost of petroleum prices rose by 11% last month. rising prices were on investor'' minds. the summary of the day's action at the frankfurt stock exchange. >> prices are on the rise in germany. reserve bankers in europe will start to talk more loudly about rising interest rates. investors on the stock markets are expecting mixed feelings. some of these investors might feel like, drug rehab. there was some demand for government bonds. the yield greece has to pay on

these bonds is much lower than they had to pay on comparable bonds in september. >> after falling early on and then rebound in, the dax index finished slightly lower. in the united states, the dow rebounded from earlier losses after the release of minutes from the last federal reserve meeting said that policymakers continue to lead the economic recovery. action will be taken soon to spur stronger economic growth. the euro is trading of the value of one u.s. dollar. the german constitution officially mandates in quality. will it is remain up -- underrepresented in the german border miss.

germany does not have a quota system for -- like norway, where women make up 40% of all corporate boards. >> women have a remarkably hard time getting to the top of german companies. four of them sit on the top of germany's top 200 firms. a green party member wants that to change. >> we know that teams made up of women and men are more efficient. with businesses with mixed teams, it is not only possible to produce something more quickly, it is possible to see things from different perspectives. >> top female managers 130 purse -- 30%-40% of the top jobs to go to women. >> only with a quota system will

they be headhunter, recognized, and called to top-flight jobs. a quota may not be that elegant, but it is the only option. >> many women are now looking for a e.u. wide mandate. >> the german president kickoff his tour to russia with talks with dmitry medvedev. the call for closer cooperation on issues of anti-terrorism measures and climate protection. >> it is the first visit by a german head of state to russia in eight years. the president laid a wreath at the tomb of the unknown soldier and said that the two country's

ties are astonishing given their past. >> there is one heartbeat that this extremely important for our relations. that is our partnerships in modernization. >> the kremlin was keen to modernize russia's economy. they want to see russia further develop the rule of law. >> economic to develop only takes place with developments in civil society. pairing ideas with legal protection to investors and their reliability. >> on wednesday, the german president is scheduled to meet a russian civil rights activist.

>> the bodies that won representation in parliament have started coalition talks. they expect that a party which, wo nthe -- won the most seats would form a coalition. on tuesday, hundreds of support -- supporters of the nationalist party protested the outcome of the election. several smaller parties have claimed that there were irregularities during the voting. on to soccer news. germany is firmly on course to qualify for the euro 2012. they scored three second-half goals to be cassocks done. they suffered a defeat. four ouf of four.

>> great for the germans come bad for the turks.

>> 33 miners trapped underground for 66 days. little fresh air, sunlight, and little contact with the outside world. chile's president is on site to make sure that everything goes according to plan. for the miners, it is the end of an ordeal the and none of them thought they would survive. >> they were given up for dead, but they survived. they made it through by keeping

their spirits up day-by-day. the survivors have been trapped 700 meters underground for more than two months. when the san jose golden copper mine collapsed in august, nobody expected a miracle. seven rescue drones failed to locate the miners. after seven days -- 17 days, they discovered a hand written note attached to one of them. >> this message came from the depths of the mountain today. >> a small video camera was lowered. it was certain that the men were still alive.

>> greetings to all of you. and we will get through this together. >> 700 meters below the surface, the exit was locked. the miners or holding out in their shelter. a dark and damp space of about 50 square meters. the men were in during their confinement as best they could. they knew it would take weeks to rescue them. the foreman took charge of food rationing and divided the men into three groups with different tasks. mario is the eldest. deeply religious, he became the group's's counselor. he had once done a first aid course. he took on the role of a

paramedic. he knew about technology, he took charge of the camera. as the most articulate, he became the group's spokesman. he was the most frequently seen figure in the videos that the miners sent to the surface. >> this is our libraries. we exchanged folks with each other. these are our supplies. this gives us strength and hope that helps us to look ahead. we call it the pipe of life. >> the pipe was as wide as a fest. for weeks, it was the only thing that was connected them with the surface. water and food were sent down and they sent letters up. >> he said that he has tried but

never before. he is thinking of fairchild and all of us -- our child and all of us. >> they were able to communicate by telephone. >> daddy, we are waiting for you. lots of kisses. >> the wait was wearing the miners down. psychologists were on hand. they were afraid that fights might break out. the miners were given tasks. >> we want to show that we are working hard and contributing to our rescue operation. we are grateful for all this dirt. a lot of debris means that the

drill is moving fast. >> after two months of confinement, the escape route openned up. these men under extreme conditions. their story has been headline news four weeks. this is a story that will be called for quite some time to come. >> here in germany, the rescue operation was very closely followed. six german miners suffer through a similar ordeal. 22 years ago, they were left trapped underground. the emotional, that this effort took a long time to get through. -- trauma that they suffered

took a long time to get through. >> six miners believed to be dead were rescued. a routine blasting operation triggered a heavy underground explosion. it took the lives of 51 miners. the six survivors spent the next 61 hours hoping to be served by -- and hoping to be rescued. when the rescue brady finally found them, the miners could hardly believe their luck. the youngest of the survivors describe the feeling of the rescued men. >> the jolie came first, followed by an understanding of what happened.

>> he said that the days that this contract underground. >> staring death in the face has a real effect. it changes people. >> the sam can be said o being trapped ndf meters underground. ionyrs.le thand >> i longer eorsen y not beivorl

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