>> york flight has been canceled. that is what many live tans the passengers have been hearing this friday. -- lufthansa passengers heard. >> the strike threat was lifted after the german based carrier finally agreed to a key union demand. the logistical backlog means some flights will be expected to be canceled on friday -- saturday as well. >> live tons ufthansa has been g emails and text messages. others had to wait. >> we had a flight today to venezuela. thank god this is solved. today's flight was still canceled.

>> i have to wait. it may be a good option to go in the center of the city and pay a visit. >> 80,000 cabin crews wanted to end the outsourcing of cabin crews on lufthansa flights. >> of course we want go back to work but we have demands. i think they are clear enough. >> they are ready to let least meet one of the demands, stop using cheaper contract workers on their flights. >> we are at frankfurt airport following the story. >> we got this updated while ago. >> the chaos that many in frankfurt feared it did not happen. they have been formed thousands of their passengers by text message or email about a canceled flight sang the situation was not as bad as it had been during other airline

strikes. both sides had agreed to a mediation process and lufthansa agreed to refrain from using contract workers. it was one of the big demands by the union. the mediation process is good news for passengers. burduring that time, there wille no strikes. >> it is the least of worries plaguing the new airport in berlin. it has suffered a series of embarrassing setbacks and now the opening has been delayed again until october 27, 2013. >> the technical director made the announcement after meeting with the airport board of directors. in total, the delays have doubled the airports price tag now sitting at $4.30 billion -- 4.3 billion euro.

banking shares are enjoying the biggest boost. >> thursday, the ecb announced the unlimited bond buying plan and it sent the bond yields for spain and italy lower. >> madam "fine by me." chancellor angela merkel is backing the plan to buy bonds from troubled eurozone countries. >> the european central bank is an independent and reliable institution. it is responsible for the european monetary stability. the central bank made it clear that they will stay true to their mandate. >> despite heavy criticism grown coalition, she was defending the decision to buy bonds under strict conditions. >> it is a borderline decision.

i can only emphasize that we have to fix the underlying structural issues causing the crisis pushing billions of dollars back and forth will not solve the problems. >> many of the parliamentary members feel the ecb decision goes too far. they say parliamentary approval is required. >> the central bank has declared they can unilaterally decide when they will buy bonds, for how long, and under what conditions. currently, no limits are in place. that's not acceptable in the long run. >> angela merkel's support has gained her a newfound popularity abroad. now she only has to convince from parliament back in germany. >> joining us now for more on this is terry martin. it looks like the chancellor did not get her way, but the rest of the world seems pretty happy.

has the ecb's decision hurt her? >> it looks like a defeat for the chancellor. in her approach to the crisis, she had emphasized fiscal discipline, austerity, and the ecb decision sends a very sick -- different signal to the ecb saying they will buy up on lamented short-term bonds sending a very different signal from one the chancellor is saying. the chancellor have little choice but to accept the ecb decision, so she's tried to put a good face on it saying the ecb decision will be attached to very specific terms for the rescue packages for any countries that are selling the bonds to the ecb. she seems to be happy about that. >> the opposition to the eurozone bailout seems to be growing. could germany still and up

locking the bailout process? >> everyone is awaiting a constitutional court decision next week concerning the european stability mechanism in this bailout fund. if the constitutional court puts strains on the german ratification of that, it could slow the bailout efforts within europe. germany definitely wants the efforts to go through in some form because germany depends on a robust european economy for exports. germany could, indeed, change it up. >> terry martin, thanks. >> on now to some sobering news in the united states and a convention of party hang over in the form of disappointing jobs numbers. president barack obama promised to lead the nation "to a better place" and warned the road ahead

would be difficult. it was revealed the u.s. economy added only 96,000 jobs, well below the 125,000 economists had been expecting. the unemployment rate dropped but the weak data played in to the hands of the opposition. >> republican presidential hopeful met romney said the jobs report proves obama's policies have not worked and no president since the great depression has been reelected with unemployment over 7.2%. >> more on the u.s. presidential election in a moment, but first on to the markets and weaker than expected unemployment data which was in focus. many are betting it will prompt further stimulus by the u.s. federal reserve. as a result, european stocks climbing higher ending their biggest weekly rally in three months. conrad sent us this summary from the frankfurt stock exchange.

>> bad news from the american labor market's leading to buying stocks on the market. the situation in the labor market is very much linked to the speculation. the news in august, much fewer new jobs were created than economists had anticipated. soon, ben bernanke and the federal reserve might do more quantitative easing in order to give the u.s. economy a boost. investors bought stocks the day after the investments of the ecb president on monetary policy for the eurozone. >> conrad for us in frankfurt. let's take a close look at friday's numbers. dax finishing at 7214.

across the atlantic, the dow jones is flat at this hour. the euro looking stronger against the dollar trading at $1.2792. >> the faltering world economy is not enough to slow down german export growth. the federal statistics office reported a 9% year-over-year increase for july. >> exports to countries outside of europe for particularly strong. they had anticipated lower growth in july but the value of german goods and services exceeded the value of imports by nearly 17 billion euro. canada has severed diplomatic ties with iran. the former -- the foreign minister said iranian diplomats have of five days to leave canada and he slammed their stance on israel and syria. the foreign affairs chief also

expressed concerns about iran. those comments coming during an informal eu meeting in cyprus. the german foreign minister saying that they're wanting to sanctions in response to the sanctions program. there is growing impatience among eu members over the lack of process after months of negotiations. how to get supplies of medicine and food to the people of syria, that was at the top of the agenda when the new head of the red cross met with the syrian president. >> they describe the talks as positive, but he says he was shocked by what he saw on the ground. >> these images are it should -- are showing fighting in aleppo. they have ousted people from

different regions of the city. many are trapped. the world food program says the humanitarian situation is serious. the new president of the red cross met with bashar al-assaad. many people have died because they could not get help. >> now we will have to see if come together, we can come up with concrete steps. >> there are hundreds of thousands of wounded people in desperate need of help, many of them children. aid organizations say providing them with much-needed medicine and food is their top priority. >> as we reported earlier, u.s.s accepted his party's nomination and promises to win the white

house again in november. >> they closed the democratic convention with promises tied to a good dose of reality sang the coming years, be easy. >> barack obama said the american people are facing the biggest chores in a generion. the path ahead, heaid,ill be challenginghe rint for tor your next four f biggestea ao rs foro

bioula dlawatoet t d n.

heusgo i ro ne r's t m

fe costs for meat producers. >> visited one born in the state of maryland to gauge just how bad theitti i he is harvestin h farm in the eastern u.s. state of maryland. little rain. rain yesterday, but it w t

la. we needed this rain back in jwee time. >> he says he wil hve aut the lack of rain andveotun >> this is aypalarf corn. this did pliteig. it should be 115ncs long. it is the length of the palm of my hand. d n k mark this. if >> his father is 73 years old ands cemr radar -- a drought like this. crop yields were alreaow buhi yr it's worse than ever. >> this is the third year for me. my cropnsanpprove the yield has slowly been declining. even though i have an assurance, i' nxpecting to get as much of a payment as i was normall

>>e likely have to cover most of the losses on its own. >> the impact of this is even more dramatic in theevopg world where many countries rely heavily onmpts >>the world bank says the government's need to beef up ogms tprec tir most vulnerable communities from the incrsen e stf od >> here's a more comprehensive look at how hard theyanit a ram glow. -- aronhe globe. >> rising food prices are putting pressure on delin cotrs ere many spend a higher proportion of their income on food. t u.s., food represents 7% ofvellxpse compared to 49% in as a rajan. -- azerbaijan. it affects the poo countries

both in africa and asia. what's their countries that are dependent ofood imports and they are unable to store food thsees meeting they have to exportndherepo. >> and helped to fuel the political upheaval iunia and egypt. egypt relies on imports to meet 50% of its food demand. ea is its moore's important symbol. the price obrd i a sensitive political issue. >> deloping countries are becoming increasingly urbanized. >> people's dietary options are

changing with them. in almost every country, this week has to be imported. >> and they're warning of a loomingnd crisis. u.s. wheat prices were previously so low that it was not worth tm owg the crop. now, they're offering subsidies to encourage them to plant wheat again. emerging economies such as bril mexico, and china are taking a hit. spending on food is matched by onlyevopg unie the value of money decreases' which leads to inflation. thisou sntofhe economic growth of emerging nations. >> we know need to do. have to invest in agriculture. but the state involved and invest in an agriculture aimed

at helping the poor. >> what is needed is an end to imports, and irrigation systems, andncas sra capacity. if the political will was there, it will all be possible. experts say there is enough farmla tgo around. no one has to start. >> e rs i suffering can be another's gain. they blame futures trading for fluctuation on markets. th in all spulating on the future process. >> there are two involved, the producers who want to protect themselves from sudden price rises and then there are the speculators. >> it is just a game, as the gamblers say. they hope to make a killing with a few tricks up their sleeve whether it is on a casino or

commodities markets. it is a game, critics say, and the poor are losing. they say commodities traders are driving up the prices of wheat exacerbating food crises around the world. how does this game marked? futures markets determine the price of grain long before it is targeted. it has benefits for farmers >> when european union subsidies are lorca farmers want security. they do not want to get virtually nothing. that is why i see the predetermining of the price. >> contracts cannot always account for natures whims'. this brings us to the second round. will the price of the future contract rise or fall?

some experts fear that once reliable commodities markets are turning into casinos. >> until 10 years ago, things were really well. speculators are coming in and buying and flipping contracts just to make a small profit on each trade. >> the number of players and the number of contracts for both the increasing. >> you have other people who are essentially just making to look a quick -- make a quick profit. >> and then comes the final and most dangerous round. in times of high demand, they seek to drive up prices by claiming that supplies are now ready to be delivered to market. this scare tactic drives up prices and it makes them a quick profit.

the world's poorest are priced out and may face hunger as a result. the moral implications seem to fall to the wayside. >> coming up, more from london. >> a pakistan a christian girl has been freed on bail. the young girl is possibly mentally challenged and her accuser is currently under investigation for making false allegations. >> the mars rover curiosity has set new photographs back to earth and nasa will use them to investigate changes on the martian surface. and then driven more than 100 meters and will begin collecting

drilling samples soon. it has been a great day overall 14 germany at the paralympics, but the standout would have to be andrea. >> they rolled to gold besting her nearest rival by 10 minutes. >> one of the gold wins again on thursday when there were taking the top spot in the shot put after winning the javelin as to if you do is go. >> the evident pleasure in winning her second medal was clear to see. 10 point to 5 meters got her a victory and a new world record to boot. the 19-year-old with the crowd into a frenzy as he won the 100-

meter sprint. he had the best time going into the final. he took the loss only stride with his eye on winning the 400 meter on saturday. she made up for missing on this medal in this tragic event grabbing silver in the individual road race behind china. >> silver? wow. it was a really hard race. i tried to give everything. >> it was a 48 kilometer push for the german athlete who lost part of her legs in a childhood accident. the german fans of marred celebrate. two silver medals in sailing and a bronze in the 200 meter. >> will he stay or will he go? the italian grand prix this weekend is buzzing with speculation that hamilton of

team mclaren has received an offer from mercedes. >> if the rumors were weighing down on him, he did not show. he finished fast in mourning practices. hamilton finished first. he had problems with his foreign and close down third. >> a great f1 season. >> mor news at the top of the hour.

q

cooperative competitors. russia's president meets with his chinese counterpart to talk about how their countries can both benefit from stronger ties. welcome to nhk world "newsline." vladimir putin is welcoming world leaders to russia's far east ahead of this weekend's apec summit. putin gave priority to china's president hu jintao by meeting with him first. the countries share a border