>> these are our headlines. >> the nobel peace prize goes to a group trying to rid the world of chemical weapons. >> g-20 finance ministers meeting in washington call on the u.s. to resolve its budget and debt crises. >> german chancellor angela merkel continues to weigh her options for a coalition partner. ♪ >> its task is to erase chemical arms and the face of the globe.

today the organization for the prohibition of chemical weapons got the highest honor there is for its work, he nobel peace prize. >> it was a surprise pick. the opcw was largely unknown until a few months ago when it was asked to secure and eliminate syria's stockpiles. the organization's work dates back more than a decade. >> they praised the long- standing contribution to maintaining peace. >> the netherlands-based chemical weapons watchdog opcw usually works behind the scenes. receiving the nobel peace prize group a huge boost. opcw experts have been in serious since october 1 to oversee the destruction of syria's chemical weapons. their goal, to rid the country of all chemical weapons by 2014. >> this award and the opcw's ongoing mission together with the united nations in syria will have brought effects to achieve

peace in that country. >> images of a syrian -- sarin gas attack in damascus shocked people around the globe. under pressure, they bowed to demands to allow inspectors to assure its stockpiles. the nobel committee applauded work but emphasized there is more to be done. >> the work of opcw defines the use of chemical weapons as a taboo under international law. recent events in syria, chemical weapons have again been put to use, have underlined the need to enhance the efforts to do away with such weapons. >> the opcw was formed in 1997 to enforce a world treaty banning the use of chemical weapons. since then, 80% of known stockpiles around the world have been dstroyed.

today the work focuses on syria, but the group hopes the usa and russia will follow suit and destroy their stockpiles. >> the message is linked to what unfortunately happened in syria. the goal of this organization is now to destroy the chemical weapons stockpiles. it is also a message about everything that concerns proliferation. not just of chemical weapons, but of nuclear weapons as well. >> alfred nobel hired -- highlighted disarmament in his will. in this awarding of the peace prize to the opcw, it is in keeping with that mission. >> we talked to our brussels correspondent and asked him what kind of message this sends internationally. >> uri. -- you are right. there is pressure on israel, egypt, north korea, burma. serious should be signing and ratifying soon.

189 countries signed. it is not -- remember, a lot of the countries with chemical weapons are signatures and still have not gotten rid of weapons. it is not that you become a member and your chemical weapons disappear. but it is moral pressure, particularly when it is a popular worldwide choice. if nobody took any notice it would not matter, but they are uploading -- applauding. i think there is growing moral pressure, particularly on countries that is israel and egypt, to get on board and sign the declaration. >> sorry about that. >> no problem. >> funny of surprise picks from the noble committee in the past, like the european union last year. >> some are puzzled about the latest choice, although the committee does not need to justify its choice. what exactly is behind the decision? we take a closer look. >> the organization was awarded for 16 years of hard work. the opcw was not seen as a front

runner for the award, but activists say it is not a surprising choice. >> it is a conservative decision if we go back to the core of peace politics. other factors played a role for many previous figure -- winners. >> like in 2009 when barack obama received the award just one year after being elected president because he appeared to be a force for change. >> still the world's -- we wanted the country that is still the worlds greatest power to return to its founding values of peace, human rights, and democracy. >> critics say that has not happened. many even called for obama to return the tries after he -- prize after he threatened military action against syria. less well-known activist have also been honored. in 1992, she was given the award for her campaign of peaceful

resistance to the guatemalan army. >> i would say that prize was intended to set an agenda. they wanted to highlight the issue of indigenous populations and human rights violations they suffer on a daily basis in many countries, including parts of central america, where she was from. >> the prize means the opcw's work will be recognized even as it performs its task in syria. >> there are reports that another boat has gone down off the italian island of lampedusa. >> the coast guard says dozens of passengers, believes to be migrants, have died. rescue efforts are underway 70 kilometers from the island in the mediterranean. the vessel was carrying about 200 people. last week more than 300 migrants died when a boat sank off lampedusa. >> in washington, senate republicans have met with president barack obama as efforts to end the budget standoff appeared to be gaining

momentum. after the session leading republicans said they would start working on a bipartisan solution but warned that progress would be difficult. >> finance ministers of the g-20 called for the u.s. to take urgent action to resolve uncertainty over the budget and debt issues. ministers are in washington for the annual imf world bank meetings. the u.s. government has been shut down for a week and a half because congress has not passed a budget for the new fiscal year that began on october 1. >> for more on the debt ceiling conflicts, we are joined by our washington correspondent, max hoffman. time is running out. any signs of a decision emerging? >> what we have at the moment is a little momentum, that by step going forward. we are not close, probably, to a breakthrough. as you mentioned, the senate republicans have met with barack obama and basically said the same thing, basically constructive, the way ahead will be difficult. having the senate involved now

could be a solution because the last three budget or physical compromises emerged because the senate minority mitch mcconnell, who is a republican because the democrats have the majority in the senate, and vice president joe biden, hammered out a compromise. both of them are involved now. after the house has so far failed at finding some kind of compromise. it sort of seems like the heavy hitters have come to the table now. >> the prospect of a debt default is a scary one. how are americans taking it? >> they are scared as well. a majority thinks it is a really bad idea and approval ratings of congress are quite frankly abysmal at the moment. especially the republicans are taking the brunt of the whole thing. the latest polls i saw, approval ratings of about 24% for republicans. that is really bad. they are feeling the pressure of the moment. we talked to a couple republicans that the values voters summit taking place here in washington dc and -- d.c..

at the moment it is a republican summit. they said they were all for, or mice. -- compromise. they wanted not only the republicans to move, but also democrats to move, especially on obamacare. >> max hoffman, thanks for joining us from washington. >> what is transpiring in washington was on the minds of investors on the size of -- this side of the atlantic. our frankfurt correspondent has more. >> investors here in frankfurt think a temporary fix will not solve the problem in general, but they are quite optimistic that there will be a solution. the dax continued its recovery, already beginning on thursday. some investors say new records for the dax may be possible next week. on the other hand, the problems are remaining and not few

companies in the u.s. say the government shutdown already led to very high losses. >> let's have a look at the markets here in europe. the dax was up again, up by quite a bit, 8724 point area the -- points. the stoxx 50 was close to the 3000 mark. the dow jones up 0.5%. the euro also in positive territory against the u.s. dollar. >> the united states has confirmed it has captured a senior member of the pakistani taliban in a military operation. >> seen here second from the left, he is a senior commander close to the taliban's leader. the pakistani taliban has led a 10-year insurgency against the government and also claims responsibility for an attempted bombing in new york in 2010.

a human rights group says it has evidence of crimes against humanity committed by the syrian opposition. human rights watch says fighters killed 190 civilians in august. >> according to the group, the jihadist rebels took hundreds of civilians hostage, including women and children. the rebel offensive charge -- targeted alawite villages, the shia majority -- minority. >> erich priebke took part in one of the worst atrocities by german occupiers in italy during the second world war. >> he was finally tracked down and brought to justice. campaigners say priebeke was a classic example of a totally unrepentant not see -- nazi war criminal. >> the former ss captain always said he had no choice.

in march 1940 four, german occupation troops in italy executed 335 civilians on the outskirts of rome. the youngest was 15. the massacre came in reprisal after italian partisans killed 33 german soldiers. priebke helped draw up a list of the victims. later on he admitted killing two of them himself. after the war, priebke fled to argentina where he lived undisturbed over 50 years. it was after giving an interview to a u.s. journalist that he was extradited to italy. but he was acquitted in the first italian court ruling in 1996 because the statute of limitations had expired. to whit -- two years later a military tribunal finally convicted him for his role in the massacre. his original life sentence was commuted to house arrest on account of his advanced age. >> ukraine has indicated there

may be a way out of the impasse over the fate of the country's former premier yulia commissioning cap -- timoshenko. >> the ukrainian president said he hopes to settle the issue with the european union. he did not give further details. timoshenko is currently seeing -- serving a sentence in a case the west sees as politically motivated. it was threatening to -- dash hopes of further integration with the eu. struggling airline alitalia will be able to stay in the skies a little longer thanks to an emergency bailout. >> some wonder if it will be enough to turn the carrier around. it has been more than a decade since a last posted a profit. >> alitalia needs money now. otherwise they could soon be grounded. the italian government stepped in via the state postal service,

allowing it to buy in to help the airline. >> we have put a lot of work into this. in the future you will see strong investment from the private sector and also a new important strategic partner, poste italiani. >> the bailout comes with strings attached. the government is demanding that private investors, air france, klm, also chip in more money. but air france has been hesitant about upping its investment. it is worried about making further losses. the italian carrier is already one billion euros in the red. >> a jury in california ruled toyota is not liable for the death of a 90-year-old woman. she died when her camry accelerated out of control, crashing into a tree. >> the first of a string of similar lawsuits against the -- toyota -- toyota, whichecalled

millions of vehicles after drivers reported problems with the gas pedals. >> a closer look at the consequences of the government shutdown. >> stay tuned for that. >> welcome back. the u.s. government shutdown as well into its second week and many americans are feeling the pinch in some way or another. >> congress has passed some quick fix bills that keep the military and vital programs funded, but that is no consolation to those who are struggling to cope. >> learning to read is not easy, but she loves the challenge. it is her favorite activity here at her d.c. after school center. >> read more pages. >> but the seven-year-old may not find out what happens next. the center could shooting -- could soon close.

it has been connected to the shutdown. >> rené wallace runs the center and organizes funding. she had just found out her program has less funding than she expected. >> we shift some of those classes into next year. >> for now there is no solution in sight. wallace is in despair. >> both the kids and the employees. people got bills. the kids, their families count on it. it is a lot of people, impacts a lot of people. and i do not have any control over it. >> many people have been hit by the shutdown. 800,000 civil servants have been forced to stay at home. national parks and some museums are closed. >> you learn to appreciate what is on the at -- outside. but we are sad we cannot get

into the buildings, which is what we came here. >> it is sad because i cannot go to the historical museum, but it is more sad for the people of the united dates. >> rené wallace is visiting the school kids. many come from to manage backgrounds and have learning difficulties. the government pledged to send for funds, but right now it cannot transfer money. >> we are going to do that here. we have already changed our curriculum so it is less costly, the supplies we are buying is less costly, which is bad. >> her mother comes to pick her up. she would be devastated by the center's closure. she has no other option for her daughter. the family is hoping the impasse in congress will be broken soon so she finds out how her fairytale ends. >> here in germany, talks to form a new government are ongoing.

>> it has been weeks since angela merkel's quick -- christian democrats swept the elections, but they still need to find a coalition partner. the main contenders are the greens or social democrats. >> merkel has been calling members of both families but the -- parties but the field range wide open. >> could this man be headed for government? he is leaving talks for the social democrats. he was at angela merkel's office on friday. the meeting was the latest chance for merkel's conservatives and the social democrats to sound each other on a range of policies. >> on industry policy, we have traditionally had a lot in common. due to the prominent role the industrial unions have played in the social democratic party. >> polls show that two thirds of german voters prefer a grand coalition made up of conservatives and social democrats.

as do 57% of spd srters and 60% of conservative supporters. the greens also have fresh talks planned with the conservatives, but even greens who favor a coalition with merkel are pessimistic a deal can be done. >> there is quite a lot of reservations in the party about a greens-conservative government. we are not ready for it. we have come out of this election weekend -- weakened. >> both the conservatives and the spd did not comment on friday's talks. this week's negotiations have now wrapped up. more are planned for next week and many observers predict merkel will decide on a coalition partner than. >> staying in germany, two decades after reunification's tunes and eastern parts -- students in eastern parts still do better in math and science than their western counterparts.

>> according to a study comparing the skills of thousands of teenagers at german schools. students from every key -- state took part in the tests. experts say a reason for the result is math and science were heavily emphasized in communist east germany's education system. >> not that long ago, if you were in his hiring author and -- you needed a pushing house. in this digital age many are sidestepping publishers. >> do-it-yourself sites are a key theme at this year's book fair in frankfurt. >> there are two adventures here. the one in the comic book is about a boy in the middle ages. the other adventure is that the comic book artist is self- publishing for the first time in hopes to make some money. >> of course i want to make money. naturally it has to catch on first.

>> he did not even look for a conventional publisher. he says that would be too difficult. self-publishing is now the way for budding authors to break into the business. internet platforms make it easy. just upload the manuscript free of charge and you hassle control over everything. -- you have full control over everything. >> they decide how it is to be published, at what price, and you make a lot more money. about 70% of the retail price goes to the author. the rest goes to the publishing platform. authors who sell a lot of books can get rich. another new start up, an online magazine that flat -- finds books, reviews, and reading list from the web to match your personal interest. the founder thinks he has found a market niche. >> books and magazines and blogs, it is a big problem to find what is relevant. our mission is to bring all this

and -- information together on one platform with the right recommendations and find content that amazes you. >> do-it-yourself is also a popular subject matter. quite a few diy books are on display at the fair this year full of creative tips. that appeals especially to younger readers. >> fiesta rally and police have seized methamphetamine with a street value -- australian police seized methamphetamine with a street value of 140 million euros. >> the drugs were concealed in the tires of a truck shipped from china. three men were arrested in the port. a maximum sentence of life imprisonment. some sports. reigning world champion sebastian vettel has driven the fastest lap in practice for the japanese grand prix. >> if he wins, he will be the youngest four-time world champion. his red bull teammate, mark

webber, was second fastest. mercedes took third and fourth. several drivers had trouble with the fast corners, including fernando alonso. >> what makes vettel the world's fastest driver? let's take a look. >> sebastian vettel is a man setting the pace. his rivals were hoping his defense of the world championship title -- up until now he has left them in the dust . >> he was too fast. in a league of his own. >> very hard to win formula one grand prix. they have different needs. >> whether on a high-speed track or a street circuit, sebastian vettel is the driver to beat. is it just his driving skill that keeps them ahead of the pack?

>> all -- they all drive on the same level. they are on in the same league. they have no weak points. what the others do not have is a car that is as fast as rebel that suits -- red bull, that suits their driving style so well. >> this season there are only subtle technical differences between the formula one cars. because there have been no rule changes for two years, the teams have had enough time to learn from each other. for example, mercedes copied red bull's aerodynamic concept. it is what happens off the track that makes the difference. vettel has managed to unite the whole team behind him. >> he has a superb team of technicians who intuitively understand what he needs, and that means everything works perfectly. >> ultimately it is a matter of trust. when you can count on each other

it means that in certain aspects you may be a bit smarter, a bit faster, and tended to make more right decisions than wrong ones. >> the red bull team is in high spirits, but they are not letting the good mood distract them from working hard so that sebastian vettel can continue to race ahead in formula one. >> are you ready for the european winter? >> i'm still in full mode. >> winter is still two months to go, but that is not the case for people in germany's alpine foothills. >> parts of southern germany have been clearing away the first serious nose. -- snows. >> this is not a right weather for a cup of coffee on a sunny terrace. temperatures at the foot of the alps have dipped to near freezing. and up to 35 centimeters of heavy wet snow covered the countryside, making it extremely

attractive. many motorists were completely unprepared for the tricky conditions. the weight of the snow also brought down numerous trees, blocking roads and keeping local fire departments busy for much of the day. >> there is enough work for today. cleanup efforts will take several more hours, then we will have to see how much damage there have been -- has been. we have a lot to do. >> at least they were not any serious crashes on the roads. authorities to close schools in the region, giving children a day off to play in the season's first winter wonderland. >> that is nice. >> thanks for watching. captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org--

>> dozens of people are feared to have died after their boat capsized off the island of lampedusa. a rescue is now underway for more than 220 others who are believed to have survived. the italian coast guard says helicopters are currently taking the injured to a sicilian island . the maltese have been assisting with the refuge -- rescue. someweek, a ship carrying 500 people capsized off lampedusa, killing more than 300. it prompted calls for the european union to increase patrols to the southern mediterranean in order to prevent su