>> hello and welcome to "the journal." >> our top stories, ratified, the slovak parliament approves the expansion of the bailout fund. barack obama warns iran over further sanctions over the plot to kill the saudi ambassador in washington. an upset as nadal is beaten.

slovakia ratified at the eurozone bailout. this removed the final hurdle to remove tax revenues to ease -- to use tax revenues to ease the debt crisis. slovakia was the very last country in the eurozone to agree to expand to 440 billion euros. this is the primary weapon against the growing debt load carried by both governments and banks. >> a whole lot of political wrangling and then, 114 votes, 30 no's. the prime minister is relieved. >> i would like to thank all members of the parliament who decided very responsibly but i am sad. >> that is because the vote came with a catch, early

elections to be held next march. >> today is a black day for slovakia and the european taxpayer. i am very sorry about that. our coalition partners are trying to discard any pre- election promises. >> they were always for the rescue fund. >> not approving this in the first round was an international disgrace. if the government cannot deal with decisions like this one, i will not be able to -- they will not be able to deal with these in the future. >> that will be decided in the spring.

>> there has been a sigh of relief. >> there is a belief which is political rather than economic. economically, this is another question. >> is there the need for more cash? >> slovakia has agreed to this bailout. everyone knows now that this is absolutely not enough. the talk will be as it has been for weeks of a bailout of about two trillion euros, in other words four times what slovakia has agreed to.

>> there was an attempt to -- there was a plan to kill the saudi ambassador. barack obama has asked for answers from very top players of the iranian government. iran responded by saying that they are trying to spread phobia against iran. >> this clearly pointed to the involvement of the government. otherwise, the u.s. would not have made the allegations. >> the second thing we will continue to do is to apply the toughest sanctions and continue to mobilize the international community. we want to make sure that iran is further and further isolated

and they paid the price for this behavior. >> iran stands by their claim that they were not involved. >> this indicates the political confusion and helplessness of the united states. this is a sign of the collapse of their empire. they have not revealed how the iranian government is implicated, just that they have the facts to back up their claims. fact that they hope will convince the u.n. security council to condemn iran. >> there has been a lot of tough talk out of washington but will the obama administration shift its policy to pressure iran? >> if you look at it closely, the options are pretty limited. there is increased military presence and even military action.

this might not go down well with russia or china. there is always the option of targeted economic sanctions, the crucial energy sector of iran. this might trigger an increase in oil and gas prices that would hurt the world economy, hurt the american economy. that is the last thing that they need. you will probably see tough action. >> germany has offered medical assistance to the transitional government in libya. 150 forces that were loyal to

muammar gaddafi will be treated been germany. his men are putting up some fierce resistance to the forces of the new governing council. the european union has toughened its sanctions against syria freezing the assets of the commercial bank of syria. they said the decision is in response to the appalling brutal campaign that the regime is waging against its own people. troops moved into the northwest of the country. they clashed with armed men believed to be defectors, killing 14. thursday saw more demonstrations in several cities in defiance of the government's crackdown. we have been talking about eurozone bailout plans and one of the key components is solving the sovereign debt is the german capacity to carry the weight. >> that puts pressure on the country. they could have problems of iran. germany's economy is expected to

slow down. the leading economic institutes slashed their expectations to a level that hovers just above a recession. they say that this is having a big impact. >> the german economy has recovered well from the crisis and is outperforming other european countries but the global slowdown could weigh on growth. leading economists are forecasting 2.9% gdp growth this year. next year, they predict a sharp drop to 0.8%. amid concerns, many consumers are cutting bank. they are urging leaders to agree on a unified procedure for dealing with debt stricken governments and banks. this could increase confidence and bolster consumption. >> the plan had better stick. we cannot allow another

situation to occur where a package is agreed upon or a measure is approved a that is torn to shreds. that creates even more uncertainty and further turbulence. >> despite the slowdown, the research institute predicts that the german unemployment rate will actually fall next year from seven% to 6.7%. >> financial shares were hit, the effectiveness of the plan has been questioned by traders and bankers. we were sent this report from the frankfurt stock exchange. >> the losses were practically across the board. financial shares went up a little bit too fast, over 6000 points. now, time to settle down a bit. also questions on how the euro

bailout plan will be. the ceo of deutsche bank lashed out against politicians who want to is necessary recapitalized banks against their will. the problem is not the capital that banks have but rather the sovereign debt has lost their risk free debt. >> let's take a look at some closing market numbers. the eurozone stocks 50 index finished one and 2/3 percent down. the dow jones industrial is down. the euro is trading for $1.37. the u.s. district court has sentenced former billionaire to 11 years in prison for insider trading. the court concluded that the

hedge fund manager made well over $50 million from his illegal trade. he was convicted on 14 counts of conspiracy of securities fraud. this sentence is the longest prison term in u.s. history for insider trading. the court ordered him to forfeit over $53 million and pay a fine of $10 million. the eu is one of the main contributors to greece's bailout package together with the european central bank and the international monetary fund. they called on athens to step up their efforts to implement austerity measures. among the sectors facing cutbacks is the greek health care system. >> doctors, nurses, and other health-care workers took to the streets to protest the government's austerity plans. international creditors have called on greece to reduce spending in the sector. in brussels, the greek prime minister spoke to european

council president about bailout funds on thursday. the eu and imf have urged athens to step up their privatization efforts. the prime minister of greece and urged dramatic reforms to cut spending. >> greece has great potential but this potential has in the past been mismanaged. that is why we are moving ahead with major reforms, radical changes that we are implementing a throughout the greek economy, and in the public administration. >> so far, reforms have only deepened the current recession. transport workers are on a 48 hour strike. public buses and trains are not operating. garbage collectors also joined the stoppage. tourism is an important source of income, but the acropolis has been closed. tourists could only read a notice that told them to come back on saturday.

>> we came with a cruise only for one day and athens. the most important thing i think is the acropolis. >> with no easing of the debt crisis in sight, the confrontation between the prime minister and public-sector workers is likely to continue. >> the protests against austerity measures are taking place in italy as well. >> we can say that. the crisis in italy has silvio berlusconi fighting for his political survival. the italian prime minister appealed for legislators that he is the best man to deal with the economic crisis. his government faces a vote of confidence and silvio berlusconi says he is sure that they will win. >> silvio berlusconi says there is no credible alternative to his government before he addressed parliament. he has survived 50 no-confidence

votes. he regards this as part the problem and not the solution. >> there's no question of our giving up now. not because we are clinging to power, but because new elections are not going to solve any of the problems we're facing. >> some of his own cabinet members seemed to doubt his ability to solve problems. the finance minister was conspicuously absent from tuesday's budget provisions vote. the bank of italy governor has accused berlusconi of dragging his feet on reforms. the opposition politicians stayed away from his speech pointing out that he barely survived the allegations of corruption and the scandals but this was a matter of the country's future. >> the country is on the brink of a revolt.

finally, people are taking to the streets. before things turned violent, berlusconi should own up to his responsibility and step down. >> some of the people taking to the streets are optimistic, others are concerned. they have heard much of the speech before from other confidence votes. to judge by past votes, he might hit it lucky once again. >> prosecutors in paris have dropped an investigation for attempted rape against dominique strauss-kahn. a writer claimed that he tried to rape her during an interview in 2003. the prosecutors say they have evidence of sexual assault for which the statute of limitations is shorter. the case has been dropped. this comes weeks after similar charges against the former head of the imf were also dropped in a separate case in new york city. to sports now and in tennis, the bigger they are, the harder they

fall. that is the case for top seed rafael nadal. he was sent out of the shanghai masters after falling straight sets to germany's florian mayer. this is the biggest win of florian mayer's career. >> he could not believe it himself. the two had never met before and what an introduction. >> this is the biggest win in my career. this is really nice. i cannot believe it right now. >> after winning the first set, he produced some fantastic shot on both sides of the court, refusing this venice powerhouse any chance of a comeback. nadal did not have a single break point throughout the match. the entertainment lasted for only one hour 48 minutes. the final result 7-6, 6-3.

mayer is playing the best he has ever played. let's see if he can keep it up in the quarter finals. >> an epic tale of human resilience coming up.

>> it has been a year now since the dramatic rescue of 33 miners who spent two months trapped underground in a chilean mine. the ordeal was closely and anxiously followed by millions of well-wishers in countries around the world. after the mine where -- after they were returned to the surface, they were praised for their tenacity and courage. today, they are simply struggling to earn a living and raise a family. they are also thankful for what they called god's merkel that saved their lives. here is more on their story. -- they are thankful for what they called god's miracle.

>> these children are dressed as miners in a cramped plastic cage. kevin and his sister are playing a game. this is the mine rescue. they are probably too young to understand what the story means for their family. their father was one of the 33 men trapped in the mine last year. who is this, asked kevin. he was here a year ago, standing in the rest to capsule heading to the surface. 700 meters and 12 minutes later, he was out. his wife was waiting for him. for nearly three weeks after the

mine cave in, she did not know if her husband was alive or dead. for many, the successful rescue of the men was miraculous. >> many people say we are heroes, but i'm no hero. if anyone is, it is god. we can thank him for the miracle that brought us back to life. >> the first rescue teams to enter the mine shot this video. a wall of rock blocks their path. we now know it is 100 meters thick. on the other side, the trapped miners are filmed as well. >> at this moment, we know that we will not get out of here. >> just in case, they scrawled a

message on the wall showing rescuers where to find them. [singing] >> unrest yours drilled boreholes to find the men. -- resrescuers drilled four holes to find them. >> we embrace you in the name of god. today and forever. >> and then, the waiting game began in the mine and outside. family members descended upon the site. they set a pace at the head of the mine, camp hope. -- they set up a base.

at the same time, rescue workers sent supplies to the survivors -- water, food, letters, even bedframes. in the mind, the men kept to themselves active to fight off boredom and despair. the accident happened in early august. the rescue operation dragged on through september. the miners' expected to be trapped for weeks. finally on the night of october, the breakthrough. four days later, the world watched as the miners were pulled to safety. they heard the last rescued minor tell the chilean president to make sure that something came from the accident. the president made a solemn pledge. >> this was a major lesson for

chile and its government so that we improve our attitude toward safety, our systems and procedures, to better protect the lives and dignity of our workers in the future. >> the same place a year on hand. the mine is shutdown. the rescue shaft is sealed with concrete. the main entrance is blocked off, too. san jose was always seen as dangerous, now it is finally closed. the miners earn more money in dangerous minds than in those considered safer. a year after the accident, there are still no new safety rules. the government has promised to enforce existing laws more strictly. a safety engineer from one of the biggest mines says the number of inspectors has more than doubled from 25 to 53.

the region alone has almost 2000 mines. >> the government would like to create a totally new safety culture and is also counting on individual checks. mine operators will give their employees questionnaires to find out if the security procedures are adequate. >> not much has changed since the accident. besides mining, there is little else in the middle of chile's desert. anyone looking for work is most likely to find it in the industry. only one of the rescued miners has found the courage to go back underground. this woman and her children are glad that osman has not done

that. they received money from a millionaire. they invested in a truck that sells vegetables. most of the co-workers are not doing well. >> if someone wants work, you should get a job. you should not complain that you have psychological problems. then, of course, no one will hire you. >> this psychologist helped out during the rescue. he told the minors that the ride out the rescue shaft was only the first that the returning to normality. they need something meaningful. >> they need something to do, whatever comes of it. they have to feel useful so that they're not as part of a famous group but an individual getting back into society. that is the only way to get over the trauma.

>> a productive return to society is still a goal for carlos. he says the nightmares have to stop first. he still hides behind his sunglasses and cannot forget the images of the accident. he would like to work in a mind again but no one wants to hire him. -- he would like to work in a mine again. >> things from the minor meant me of what happens. -- mine reminds me of what happened. >> this is the first anniversary of the rescue. a year on, the euphoria is gone. treasures still lie under the desert and chile's mining industry is still taking risks and to get them. >> that is all four are "in

depth -- for our "in-depth." stay with us if you can.