>> dw-tv -- at the heart of europe. captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org-- >> welcome to "journal." i am brian thomas in berlin. >> and i'm peter dolle with the business news. >> the french senate votes to raise the retirement age despite mass protests. >> german business confidence climbed to its highest level in three years. >> britain's newest, most expensive nuclear submarine had to be towed free after running aground in scotland. >> friend senators have defied mass strikes, riots, and fuel bloade and pas president

nicolas sarkozy's bill to raise the retirement age from 16 to 62. that vote took p pce just a short time -- from 60 to 62. that vote took place just a short time ago. the tax will have a final vote on wednesday. unions say the reforms penalize working people for the failures of been executives have called for new taxes on banks and the very wealthy. >> mounting process voiced are causing a stench. the rubbish collectors have been on strikes or days -- mounting waste is causing a stance. the rubbish collectors have been on strike for days. >> a protesting everything, especially retirement reform. >> president sarkozy's plan to increase the retirement age to

62 also caused riots here. the government ended the 10-day blockade on friday by force. transport in france has been severely disrupted by petrol shortages. despite the widespread chaos, many ordinary citizens sympathize with the protesters. >> i can put up with another week of this if it causes the government to think. >> in respective of friday's vote, the unions promised further strikes and protests. >> the senate may have a prose president sarkozy's reform, but the unions have vowed t-- may have approved president sarkozy is reform -- president sarkozy's reform, but the unions have vowed to continue protests. >> we have to see what happens this week. the holiday season -- autumn holidays. there are many signs that this

probably will not happen. students called for another strike next tuesday, two days before the unions want to go out on the streets. many young people, as i can say, now said that president nicolas sarkozy is polarizing the society. they do not have a good chance in their future. it is not so well-seen by them. they say it is part of the problem, nicolas sarkozy, coming away from the students. one has to confess that according to opinion polls, 69% of the french people, 2/3 of the society are for the process. not all of them -- for the protests not allf them are for blocking the petrol transport. it is a huge sign that the protests are far more -- going far more now than on the pension

reform, they go far more, it is about nicolas sarkozy. >> that was frank kaufman speaking to us from paris earlier. german chancellor merkel says that there will be joining a summit in lisbon, but have dismissed rumors that ato wold seek -- next month's summit will map out a future strategy for nato. >> little members probably agree the new strategic direction should seek -- nato members agree that the strategic direction should seek cooperation with russia. the german chancellor does not envision a formal role for russia within nato itself. rick that it is a partnership. when we reach concrete agreements -- >> it is a partnership. when we reach concrete agreements, we should use common -- concrete projects to show we're working together. russia should take place -- take

part in the muscle it -- russia should take part in the missile defense program for europe. regret we're faced with the real threat. we -- >> we are faced with a real threat. we need real defense to protect our pocket -- populations effectively. >> he attended a security conference with germany's opposition green party. in contrt to e chancellor, they're in favor of russia joining the alliance. >> i nato should offer russia talks on whether it wants to become an nadal member. -- i think nato should offer russia talks on whether it wants to become a nato member. >> they will discuss this in lisbon next month. >> of british nuclear-powered submarine that ran aground off the coast of scotland has been towed free. hms astute was undgoing sea

trials. is the first of a new class of nuclear-powered sub is going into service. does not carry nuclear weapons. officials say there was no risk of environmental damage from the incident. >> it is spending the night in deeper waters after being freed by two tugboats and the rising tide. the embarrassment to the british navy remains. the nuclear-powered sub was stock for several hours after running aground. the military did dageontr, calling it a minor incident with no injuries and posing no environmental impact. the investigation is underway. military experts say the incident is anything but minor. >> it is quite an astonishing error to put the 7,000 ton submarine on some rocks. very serious. >> britain has ordered seven of the a suit -- astute-class

submarines. >> prime minisr silvio bird was ony has ordered a crisis meeting to end -- silvio or less tony -- silvio berlusconi has ordered a crisis meeting. 20 police were injured and one town has already won dump which local residents -- one dump which local residents has say has poisoned their community. they need to improve the conditions at the dump site. >> an outbak o cholera is moving swiftly across haiti. with hospitals overwhelmed by the latest crisis, at least 140 people have died over the last 48 hours. 1500 more are extremely ill. most of the victims are earthquake survivors living north of the capital port-au- prince. the government is moving to

contain the epidemic, the first outbreak of cholera in almost a century there. >> part brent -- heartbreak. the six have been brought by their relatives to be cured. -- sick have been brought by their relatives to be cured. for many, it is too late. hospitals have not seen this kind of crowd since the earthquake in january. cholera is a virtually unknown here.. >> there has not been an outbreak of cholera in about 100 years in haiti. people will probably not be very familiar with what to do in terms of both recognizing the symptoms and where to go for treatment, and also how to prevent its spread. there are big challenges. regret the outbreak is centered in our world part of haiti -- >> the outbreak is centered in our rural part -- a rural part of

haiti. it is spread by consuming contaminated water. it is easily treated with rehydration salts. if not dealt with quickly, it causes severe dehydration. >> a lot of people are feeling very positive about the german economy and its prospects for the future. >> it is a very good picture indeed. the german economy seems to be defying the global economic boom. business confidence climbed in october to its highest level since may, 2007. it surprised many analysts who expected a decline. when institute said that the business index, it rose -- one institute said that the business index rose significantly. the german government raised its forecast for growth to 3.5% for the year. wepokearli with someone from the ifo institute and ask if there is anything looming

that could dampen the good mood. >> the mood is better than analysts thought. i think that is a good signal. for example, exporters expect exports to go up more than in the last month. there was a decline in export expectation last month. now it is going u u again. i think that is a good signal. of course, there are risks ahead. there are espiallrisk tside gmany. if you think of the u.s. economy, it is not clear whether they can get around the second recession. in europe, there are many countries with great start for problems. >> in other news, europe's biggest car maker, volkswagen, tripled operating profit in the first nine months of the year. the global economic recovery power sales of vw's around the world. it posted an operating profit of

$4.80 -- 4. billion euros from january to september, up from -- 4.8 billion euros from january to september, up significantly. the company said that it expected good numbers for the fourth quarter. probably not as strong as in the first nine months of the year. shares were among the most active in frankfurt today, helping boost the entire sector. our dw-tv correspondent has more. >> traders will be happy they did not make it an early weekend. close to the end of trade here in germany, volkswagen came out with that report. the profits were impressive when you listened to traders -- were impressive. when you listened to traders, the nine-month results were stronger than expected. it could not help the dax gain. it lost just lightly.

it is up for the week. near the end of the week, a better business climate in october in germany couldot help theax sustained gains made during the day. people were low nervous because of the ongoing g-20 meetings -- q li55l3 nervous -- people were a little nervous because of the ongoing g-20 meetings in north korea. >> looking at the indices in more detail, staying in frankfurt, the blue-chip dax index is nearly unchanged. . stocks of the index -- the dj euro stoxx. e dow industrials ended nearly unchanged at 11032. the euro is trading at 1.39 u.s. leading economies are holding

talks in south korea. it brought little movement on currency disputes, trade gaps, or imf reform. >> world trade is booming. exports are on the rise. economists are concerned. especially for countries that export more than they import. germany's foreign trade surplus last year reached 120 billion euros, 5% of the country's gdp. u.s. treasury secretary timothy geithner is calling for a ceiling of 4%. demand is targeted at export power presses like germany, china and japan. response was swift and negative. >> we need to talk about it first. numerical targets are not realistic. >> currency values are no other source of tension on the agenda at the summit. china has been criticized -- currency values are another

source of tension on the agenda at the summit. china has been criticized for keeping its currency artificially low. lee myung-bak wants everyone to work together to avoid currency war. >> i would like to say that we must find win-win ways for the implementation of the agreed framework. >> he also said that reforms of the imf should go ahead. last year's g-20 summit decided to give emerging economies more votes to iledge the shift in global economic dynamics -- to acknowledge the shift in global economic dynamics. >> angela merkel has held talks about the recent rescue of 33 chilean miners, calling it a victory for humanity. she told president pinera that they followed the rescue with bated breath. they signed agreements for closer economic and scientific

cooperation. she praised the efforts to fight poverty. she meets with president christian -- pinera meets with president christian wulff before ending his tour. christian wulff has wrapped up his visit to turkey, describing it as "extremely positive." the trip came at a time of heated debate over the integration in germany's -- in germany with the muslim population. >> the byzantine cathedral, the structure later used as a mosque, and now as a museum and unique monument to culture. wulff appealed for cultural and religious tolerance, speaking out on sensitive topics like women's rights. he and his turkish counterpart took part in a groundbreaking ceremony for a german-turkh

university being built in a istanbul. >> this university will be another key element in german- turkish corp.. it will add -- cooperation. it will boost our german-turkish friendship. >> turkey is banking on christian wulff. they hope that they will be supportive of the drive for european union membership. >> wayne rooney has signed a new five-year contract with manchester uned. it is an abrupt u-turn. he just said he wanted to quit. he might have been swayed by a deal that is believed to double his salary to more than 200,000 euros per week. alex ferguson says he is delighted at the change of heart and urged the club to get behind him. more on the g-20 summit and the

currency wars. stay with us

>> welcome back. g-20 finance ministers and central bankers are meeting in south korea. there are increasing concerns that a growing number of government are involved in currency war, by giving their nation's money to make domestically-per most -- domestically-produced goods cheaper q5 hom3. -- at home. the yuan has been accused of being articially lo to promote -- to avoid higher employment among chinese citizens. >> president barack obama is reported to have put pressure on chinese premier wen jiabao over

the currency issue. the u.s. treasury secretary is also showing no signs of holding fire. #>> the chinese currency is significantly undervalued. it is also a unambiguously true that china is intervening, has been intervening aggressively t maintain that practice. >> could this be the beginning of a global currency war? the chinese central bank has done a lot over the past years to ensure the yuan remains cheap. it has paid to the currencies of that it cannot appreciate against the dollar -- pegged the currency so that it cannot appreciate against the dollar. that is good for chinese exports. the mood there is more sober in the united states. since the financial crisis hit, americans have been spending less. they realize that high levels of consumption finance high debt,

which previously boosted global economic growth, are no longer sustainable. millions of jobs have disappeared. that continues to climb. -- debt continues to climb. the trade balance illustrates the problem. china traditionally has a large surplus. the u.s. and a large trade deficit last year. in comparison, eu member states stricken almost level balance of trade. the u.s. has begun printing more money. they want a cheaper dollar to improve the country's position as an exporter. that has not made enough of a difference. the house of representatives passed a bill that would expand the commerce department's power to slap tariffs on china for currency manipulation. >> the u.s. wants to export more, but they also want to put export restrictions on other countries like china. what does that have to do with the level balance of trade?

>> the europeans are reluctant to join in the war of words. their only message for wen jiabao, a strong yuan is good for everyone. >> china and the united states are germany's biggest trading partners outside of europe. earlier this year, china overtook germany as the export champion of the world. the united states, despite the current financial crisis, remains the biggest economy in the world. our next report looks at the company near homburg -- hamburg, keeps a very close eye on the exchange rate, because 3/4 of its turnover depend on exports. >> many of his potential clients work in u.s. dollars, putting him at a disadvantage, as the current strength of the euro makes his product more expensive. if the euro appreciates further, the consequences could be significant. >> let's say the euro went to

about you of $1 u.s. -- $1.50 u.s., it would become much more difficult to export to the u.s. and to other regions that use the dollar. >> that could lead to a slowdown in exports to countries outside europe. one company based in northern germany builds farm machinery used for mixing animal feed. the euro exchange rate is a constant source of stress for its c.e.o. his products like this are manufactured in germany. like all exporters, he has to factor the euro exchange rate into his business deals. >> any offers that we make normally have an additional charge, mainly for this reason. we need to have a decent offer to allow for currency fluctuations -- buffer to allow for currency fluctuations, otherwise we would have to

change our press is constantly. ]-- prices constantly. >> the volatility of the exchange rate is a constant headache. the only way to guarantee financial success is by increasing productivity. >> it is a constant process. we try to increase productivity by more automation in manufacturing. that is a really important point. >> how are the order books looking despite the strong euro that makes the products more expensive overseas? >> we are pleased with the number of orders coming in. we have a lot of projects in development, too. >> the exchange rate is bearable for the moment. should the euros value continue to rise, a major drop off in

orders can be expected. >> for some background, i spoke rear with -- earlier with a banker and asked whether we could be facing an all-out currency war or whether it was already taking place? >> i cannot see a currency war. at we'reseeing is a certain degree of aggression in the market. we're sitting interventions by the bank of japan's. we see countries like brazil -- we're seeing intervention like the bank of japan's. we see countries like brazil moving. i would not call this a currency war. >> in your opinion, who was to blame for the current situation? >> in the first place, i want to blame the united states. and they have antitative measures and these quantitative measures increase this --

increase the supply of u.s. dollars, putting currencies like the brazilian reality under pressure -- real under pressure. secondly, i want to point out that china is not the currency manipulator is being called. china is really win the one -- revalue wing the yuan -- has been revaluing thyuan china is doing its work. throughout the crisis, the global financial crisis, they did take over a lot of responsibility to stabilizee the world economy and their own country. they do their job in order to grant a positive global environment. i want to also point out that, recently, we got numbers from the ifo institute, saying china would be the second-biggest export market for germany next year.

that sws tt germany n deal with the yuan rate. the u.s. has structural problems, including too little capital investment, which is why they are facing trade deficits with china. >> what needs to be done to have more realistic exchange rates and more transparent policies? >> with china, they will keep on revaluing with the pace of 4% to 5% per year. that will help. it is not an abrupt revaluation. we have the g-20, g-30 watching the big currency blocs, that there is no systemic risks emanating from any moves. that has not happened over the last three years. >> thank you very much. the international currency dispute is the focus of our "in depth" today as central bankers and financial ministers continue their meeting in south korea.

thank you for joining us. stay with us if you can.

no. well, it's just past there. first house in the right after the cottage on the l don't panic. brazen it out. me? - no. - right. here goes. yippee!