>> this is the "journana" on dw- tv. i am heather delisle. >> and i am peter dolle. >> the leader of germany's coalition party tries to restore its fortunes. hunter says it will change its new controversial media law but only if it breaks the rules. rain falls on frozen ground, making getting around and in germany treacherous. >> observers are calling it the most important speech of his career. mr. rill has been speaking to

party members in the wake of plummeting support of the junior party in germany's governing coalition. he has had to take the blame for the decline in numbers. in his speech, he tried to put a positive spin on the last 15 months in government, emphasizing the economic successes. >> after weeks under fire, westerwelle came out fighting. many attacks have been aimed at his spiky personality, but he was more than happy to play it up when he saw protesters in the audience. >> you are wearing ties for the first time in your lives, welcome. [laughter] [applause] >> jokes aside, heattling to survive. he saw to fend off the blame for the disastrous ratings, the party would fight to put priority in government and take some of the credit for germany's current success. >> we have the lowest

unemployment rate since reunification. and we can rise again. young people have opportunities again. are those supposed to be the difficult circumstances before this party meeting? what are we actually in politics for? we are in politics for the people. i would much rather have a difficult party meeting with germany's doing well than an easy one in germany is doing badly. >> he got a rousing round of applause. but the real test will come at the ballot box in a string of regional elections being held this year. many observers say the ftp faces heavy losses, especially to the greens, who are currently riding high in opinion polls. >> we spoke to our political correspondent earlier, who was at the fdp conference. i asked if westerwelle was it -- was able to dispel the mounting criticism from the party and the

public? >> well, westerwelle is a very gifted oratory. political opponents admit that. interestingly enough, a double young protesters were just teenagers. there were sitting up here. and i caught one of them at the end of the speech actually applauding. that shows how accomplished an oratory he is. but his speech was, i think he tried to strike a statesmanlike turn. it was not as aggressive, in my view, as i have often heard him be. he was presenting a history of liberalism in the contribution of liberal politics to germany and to europe since the second world war. it was a very broad historic view,ç trying to give the party members more courage. he did not really answer the specific criticisms that have been made against him. >> in other news, a major

security operation under way in egypt, as coptic christians prepare to celebrate christmas eve. some 70,000 police and soldiers are setting up around churches after radical islamic websites called for attacks on coptic christia. sectarian tensions in egypt have deepened as a result of the suicide bombing at a train alexandria over the new year. >> this family does not feel like celebrating. they are mourning the loss of a father and has been. he was killed in last week's attack. it died because of his christian faith. >> i will not go to church tonight. it is not allowed. people are coming to offer their condolences. it does not mean i will stop going to church, but it will make me pray more and stay closer to my church with my children. >> their place of worship looks more like a fortress, heavily protected by police.

the coptic archbishop in the middle east as a security detail. he is taking part in the service of the church of the nativity in bethlehem. and in a sign of solidarity, some muslims say they will be attending a christmas services. meanwhile at the vatican, the head of the roman catholic church parade for peaceful orthodox coptic christmas. >> the goodness of god that appeared in jesus christ will strengthen the faith, the hope, and charity every ever won, and will give comfort to communities that are suffering. >> comfort is something this family needs, as the coptic celebrations are overshadowed by their loss. >> the president of egypt has been holding talks with israeli prime minister on reviving mideast peace negotiations. the two leaders met. the peace process has been

stalled since october after israel resumed building jewish settlements in the occupied west bank. also on the agenda, that it of the israeli soldier who has been held by the palestinian group hamas since 2006. hungary says it is ready to change its controversial new media law if brussels finds that it breaks the eu rules. speaking and the test -- speaking in budapest, the hungarian prime minister said that other member states with similar laws would also have to change the bitter criticism of the gehring legislation has centered on the sweeping powers given to a new media authority, set up in may. both france and germany have criticized the law. i spoke earlier with our brussels correspondent and asked them what was behind the dispute and where it is headed.

>> this shows all signs of trouble brewing, fnkly. nobody in brussels understands why the hungarian government has chosen to introduce this law. they passed it on december 21. the commission has been working behind the scenes to get it changed since then. it is not exactly brand new, but we do not know the timing is coincidental or if they wanted to do it or whether it is geared to force an issue. nobody can understand why hungary would want to do that another had the eu presisincy. where is it going? it is going badly wrong at the moment. the president has said that he will defend it to the hilt. this is not going to go away easily, particularly now that the hungarians had said it would like to see pressed regions changes in other countries such as france before they do anything themselves. a tiny issue is about to become a big headache for the incoming

and gary in prison into the eu. >> new elections in belgium are looking increasingly likely after a gornment mediator charged with reconciling the country's different linguistic groups step down. the mediator was appointed to all seven parties, from dutch speaking to the french-speaking parties, to form a coalition. the country has been run by a caretaker government since the general election last june. morgan is for the german economy. >> phenomenally surprising, indeed. more positive data on german economy. the economics ministry has released figures showing a six- fold increase in factory orders. this data is much higher than expected and flies in the face of economists forecasting slower export growth this year. the ministry said that november orders were up 5.2% on the previous month. analysts had been predicting an increase of less than 1%.

manufacturers of engineering products like machinery are profiting the most. the ministry says that most foreign orders came from outside the eurozone. stock prices closed higher on european exchanges today in response to strong economic growth prospects in germany and in the u.s. and a bunch of new deals expected during a visit to germany by the chinese vice premier also boosted some automobile stocks. r dw-tv correspondent has more from the frankfurt exchange. >> traders here in frankfurt know how important china is to the german automobile industry. the chinese pilot a premium cars, and that is the one in which german carmakers make a lot of money. the news was positive that volkswagen and nine are for signing lucrative contracts with the chinese were the billions. durindimer chrysler's share gai,

and volkswagen losing. they gain spectacularly in 2010. so there's still a lot of profit-taking going on. german industry garnered a tremendous number of contracts during november, and that was one of the issues that held the dax gained in the end. the orders of today are the profits of tomorrow. that is the saying at the frankfurt stock market. >> we're looking at several market indices in frankfurt. the blue-chip dax index closed about 0.6% higher at 6981. the euro stoxx 50 was up small. in new york, equity prices are drifting lower on disappointing christmas retail sales data. the dow industrials are currently down about 0.3%. on to the currency markets, the hero is ready for $1.3023. the greek prime minister, george papandreou, is backing the idea of a joint eurobond. at aeeting in paris today, he said that only the issuance of a

joint bond could help europe out of its debt crisis. the same time, he said the government would still need to cut their budgets. eurobonds are controversial. opponents like germany and france are worried that common interest paymentwould take away the incentive for indebted countries to trim their budgets. the world's largest consumer electronics fair has just opened its doors in las vegas. the latest trends on display include internet-connected 3d televisions, tablet pc's, and a new home entertainment platform. and the microsoft ceo has surprised visitors by saying that his company is taking up an alliance with a second chipmaker. >> the entire sector was listening attentively as the microsoft ceo gave the keynote speech. in the future, the software giant will no longer rely on chips from intel the team up

with a british company called arm instead to take on a rival apple. microsoft still dominates the market with its windows operating system, but it lags far behind apple in tablet computer sales. he said the next version of windows eight will be compatible with chips designed by arm. it will be able to run on all platforms. >> thank you. the dioxin scare in germany is spreading with paltry in pig farms. bigger culture ministry says there's no danger to the public, but it has banned the sale of eggs and meat from animals that were given feed contaminated with the carcinogenic of dioxin. >> work continues on farms like this one, even though an embargo has been imposed on it. he cannot sell his pigs until the meat is checked for the dioxin. >> there are too many. you cannot simply stack piglets. and the hogs keep getting

bigger, meeting slaughter is more difficult. every single day costs us money. >> farmers are some consumers affairs advocates say the damage could have been limited at the information about compared -- contaminated feed has spread more quickly. only now are officials discovered that this unmonitored plant in lower saxony should not have been producing. farmers are taking legal action. >> we are already angry about how things are developing. i have serious accusations to make against the man authorities responsible for monitoring this. what has happened there is completely inexplicable. >> officials in lower saxony, where poultry farming is a major industry, said they addressed the problem quickly. >> on december 23, we gegea tip from a compound feed plant it on the same day, we visited the plant in lower saxony, sealed at the tanks, and embargoed 20 to

farms. >> farmers keep tending their livestock as the investigation continues. >> staying in germany, black ice and freezing rain have caused accidents across the country. in berlin, emerges the services of other work t out on them. under the morning, nearly 200 people were taken to hospitals after slipping on the ice. >> the only vehicles in action here on thursday morning were clearing the runway. flights were as husband and ed the airport for two hours. leaving stranded passengers frustrated. >> it was half an hour of frozen rain, an hour of light snow, and now everything has come to a halt. >> the extremely treacherous conditions came after rain fell on frozen services, creating black eyes. hundreds of accidents were reported up and down the country. in an eastern city, services were suspended. in lower saxony, many schools remain closed as a precaution.

even snow chains proved to be little help on the big layers of ice. it was a laborious start for many early-morning motorists. and although fashion triumphed over function for some pedestrians, many people were left tackling sidewalks like ice rinks. the freezing rain also posed a threat to areas already under rain of large amounts of snow. >> it makes the snow heavier, so it is crucial in gives clear now. >> this situation is set to use the temperatures above zero in the coming days. forecasters are urging caution if more rain falls. >> austria has claimed a ski jump internment for the third year. there was an overall victory after the first three stages. the jump of 136 meters in the final event. he had an unreachable lead over his nearest rivals. it was his first title when and

his first time that the same country has won the tournament two times in a row in more than 40 years. witchcraft is now officially recognized profession in romania. the country has changed its labor laws as part of a crackdown on widespread tax evasion in the eu member state, which is still in recession. the move, which also applies to astrologist and tax advisers, will see which is pay 60% income tax and the contributions to health and pension programs. the new measure has sparked the fury of some in the sorcery community. the queen which said she plans to cast a spell on the romanian president because of the tax move. >> you have got to be kidding me. >> it is true. >> that is a bizarre story. >> do not mess with the witches. >> she is going to hex the

government. >> peter is back in a minute with more. ♪

in gbal 3000 on it dw-tv. >> welcome back to business. as we heard earlier, las vegas is pushing aside its gaming tables to make room for the consumer electronics show. the world's technology companies are on hand to bombard the 150,000 expected visitors with everything from 3d cinema and tv to tablets in theaters, which are rapidly upstaging the standard pc. apple is not at the ces. the sheer number of mobile gadgets powered by google's android sure that the iphone is no longer the only name in town. for more, let's go to our dw-tv correspondent on wall street. the investors expect anything big to come out of las vegas? >> well, it would be needed.

the market is a little lame here on thursday, and consumer electronic part of the u.s. economy is still one of the most innovative in the world. so far if we look at the electronics show that started with the keynote speech from the microsoft ceo, it was a little lame, at least that is what i am hearing. technology shares are having trouble gaining traction here on thursday. the show just started, so there's still time left to get investors excited. >> there were some retail figures that came out over this past christmas. how do they look? >> we talked so much over the past couple of weeks about how great the holiday season wind, but obviously, especially the business after christmas when the snow storm, for december, hit the northeast of the united states, it was pretty weak. bottom line is a lot of the big

retailer is disappointed with their sales figures, and we see shares from the gap, macys, target losing up to 7%. overall, rather disappointing sales for the month of december. it also shows the blue chips traded lower here on thursday. >> of fresh news on facebook, of them seeking some type of new capitalization or investment. what is that about? >> waccamaw obviously, everybody wants into facebook, even if the company is far away from being listed on the new york stock exchange. more and more investors and tried to jump on facebook. now we have a word that goldman sacks, there's still speculation that they might not accept new investors for facebook. demand seems to be too high. >> thank you very much for that update from new york. south korea's airlines is

buying six airbus 8380 super jumbo jets. this deal is worth a $1.8 billion. they plan to use the jets on routes to europe and the u.s. the airplanes will be delivered between 2014 and 2017. this is the second big sale of the a380 sense an engine explosion back in november. as reported earlier, china's vice premier is in germany as part of his european tour to drum up business for his country. he is widely tipped to become china's next premier. he arrived and stopped in spain are pledged china's help in overcoming the eurozone debt crisis. beijing wants berlin to make it easier for chinese companies to invest in germany, but i ihas also promised to ensure a level

playing field for foreign investors in china. >> carmakers anticipate orders from china worth four billion euros to 5 billion euros. government officials say the contacts are said to be signed on friday in berlin. companies in the energy, environmental, an agricultural sectors are also hoping for increased business in china. in thezfirst nine months of 2010, germany's exports in china totaled 29 billion euros an increase of almost 50% from the same time last year. during the same time span, china delivered goods worth a total of 55 billion euros to germany. the chinese vice premier is promoting china as a huge future market. many chinese have yet to benefit from the count's economic rise. so in the coming years, beijing wants incomes to rise sharply, which would generate massive consumer demand. >> many of china's 1.3 billion

people have yet to benefit from the country's rise to economic power. our number cruncher reveals more. >> 700 million, that is how many people in china live in rural areas today. that is more than half the total population. farmers have seen little of the benefits of the country's rise as a global economic power. the government hopes to change that in the coming years. beijing wants to help millions move from the countryside to urban areas so they can enjoy more prosperity. >> over the last decade, the economy of turkey has grown faster than any other here in europe. in the second quarter of last year, the country posted growth of 10%, equalling tha of china. we have this report. >> pretzels in the pedestrian zone are a bargain. around 50 euro since. turks are now earning four times

as much as they did eight years ago. as a result, they are spending much more as well. >> that has been good news for the country's retailers. >> the economy continues to improve. business is booming. we hope that customers continue to buy flowers. things are looking good. >> billions are being spent to expand the subway to the west of the city. the upturn is evident everywhere. despite the financial crisis and recession. back in 2001, turkey had to cope with its own banking crisis and responded by reforming the sector. now the country's financial institutions are in good shape. eight years of political stability, along with a stable currency, are attracting an increasing amount of foreign investment. the president of the turkish

chamber of stock exchanges and commerce s ss the e you're meant the country's biggest training partner. but there is growing interest from other regions as well. >> after germany, russia is our second biggest trading partner. we can profit from our geographical location. the latest crisis led us to look towards other regions, including some that did not play a major role before, like the middle east and northern africa. >> german companies like commercial vehicle manufacturer, m.a.n., for also profiting from geographical location. the largest bus factory is in turkey. the 320,000 square meter plant turns up a range of city buses and motor coaches. each day, eight buses roll up

the assembly line here. most are exported to 50 countries, including germany and russia. but one in 10 of the buses remains in turkey. many run on natural gas. a sign that turkey is also looking to the future. >> can the french industry minister -- he says the country faces economic war. that after car maker suspended three executives suspected of leaking information about its electric vehicles program. the french government owns a 15% stake in the company and is subsidizing development of electric cars now. the company, along with a japanese partner, drilling invested some four billion euros in the electric car program. german tourism association says that the number of overnight stays in the country increased 3% to 380 million last year. most visitors headed to cities offering cultural shopping and even opportunities.

the demand for wellness activities was also higher. that is the latest business news. have a pleasant day. goodbye. captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org-- ♪

which foot was it? best make that "best wishes." we don't want them getng their hopes up, do we? no, i suppose not. have always done it. why should she watch the flowers? nobody really remembers,