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corporations. >> and now "bbc world news." >> at a crucial nato summit in lisbon. the search is on for eight dignified exit from afghanistan. leaders of the western alliance wrestle with the basic question -- what is nato for and our members prepared to keep it credible? >> i am here at the summit where europe-wide missile defense and transition and afghanistan are the top issues. >> welcome to "gmt." also on the program, an explosion in new zealand's

biggest coal mine. 27 miners are missing. ♪ the pope hosts a rare meeting of more than 100 cardinals. will there be a new response to the sex abuse scandal? it is 7:00 a.m. in washington, 6:00 p.m. in delhi and midday in london and lisbon where president obama is with other nato leaders for the start of the summit of the western military alliance. over to you. >> here in lisbon, some pretty fundamental issues. what is nato for and what are the threats to the -- in the 21st century? the 28 members are discussing a strategic concept. there will be lots of

discussions, argument about european-wild -- european-wide missile defense. and you are also talking about afghanistan. for many years it has been tried as a litmus test. they will be looking at what america hopes -- we will be looking at what america hopes to get out of this summit, but first, this report. >> world leaders are gathering for what is being billed as one of the most crucial summit in nato's 61-year history. this cold war alliance wants to reinvigorate itself with a new declaration. how to defend its members against new threats and build a bridge -- bridges with russia. and a graceful and credible exit from afghanistan. >> no question afghanistan has damaged nato. when nato took on afghanistan in 2005, it talked of the importance as a test of the new

nato and by and large it failed the test. >> nato is drawing up plans for step-by-step handover of security controls to afghanistan's own forces. operations to be over by the end of 2014. but even nato officials say the date is not guaranteed. security at the venue is tight with peace protesters do to demonstrate. awaiting them are two days of talks about the future of this alliance, at a time of shrinking defense budgets and growing challenges. key to nato's own credibility, a face saving end to the war in afghanistan. bbc news, lisbon. as always, a lot has been agreed in advance. for years they have been

discussing the new strategic concept. certainly there are going to be some disagreements. what will western leaders hope to get out of this? there is pressure on leaders like barack obama. joining me to the does the summit is the bureau chief in paris for "the new york times." you wrote an interesting article asking that interesting question, what is nato for. >> it has always been nato is the answer, and what is the question. these things tend be pretty well cooked in the event. they will agree on this transition and afghanistan -- in afghanistan, it gives obama a cover to stay longer. they will agree to a missile defense in nato itself. russia is supposed to say, let's interesting, let's talk about it. the reset with russia, the

warmer relationship between nato and russia, following on a warmer relationship between the united states and russia is what obama wants to leave with. >> it is interesting that the russian president is attending. people have not forgotten how lot of putin gate crashed the dinner in 2008 -- vladimir putin. >> and the electorate george bush about the dangers of coming into georgia -- and he lectured george bush. does medvedev carper then the russian position -- does medvedev really represent the russian position? russia decided it needs europe for technology. needs poland, and it needs to nato. >> in order for barack obama to declare this a success, does he need a formal agreement on a missile defense system? >> i think he does, because his

missile defense system is different from the bush one. the russians seem to be willing to talk about it and cooperate. i think he doesn't need at least that. >> thank you very much for joining us just hours before the nato summit. in their opening meeting, the strategic concept will be the main issue. at dinner tonight, discussing who and what is a nato all about. tomorrow, the meetings will be broad, including those in afghanistan. it is an ambitious plan but nato allies and hamid karzai are talking about a plan that would put afghan security forces in control across the provinces. big challenges ahead. we will keep an eye on the summit's all day. back to you for now.

>> thank you very much. we will certainly keep an eye on the event in at lisbon. let's take a look at some of the other stories. in new zealand, 27 miners are missing after an explosion in a coal mine. emergency services are treating the situation as a major incident. the blast took place at the pike river coal mine, north of greymouth. officials are trying to determine exactly what happened. two men who had been in a separate area for service. joining me now is our science reporter. this doesn't look like a very, very serious in -- this does look like a very, very serious incident. what do we know about this line? >> and larger coal field that produces the kind of cold used in the steel industry. -- coal used in the steel

industry. if confirmed it would be the worst incident in 40 years. you would have to go back to 1967 when the last incident when 19 people died. since then, at new zealand has had an exemplary safety record. because of procedures but because of the adopted open mining technology. >> and this is take killing -- commuters underground. -- kilometer's underground. the big problem is the gas hampering efforts. >> gas is what makes it most dangerous. methane, hydrogen sulphide can cause explosions. also suffocation, carbon monoxide and other gases and lack of oxygen. this is one of the problems we see worldwide if you look more widely around the world. but the figures are much worse

worldwide. china produces half of the world's coal, and they have deaths in the towel -- the thousands. >> we saw an amazing emergency response in chile not long ago. do they have the capability? is it possible for them to undertake a rescue? >> the technologies could be replicated in new zealand. the worry is that if these men are alive, gas is the danger. >> we can only hope for the best. thank you very much. protests sparked by the outbreak of cholera in haiti spread to the capital. police fired tear gas at demonstrators who threw rocks. some haitians blame u.n. peacekeepers from nepal for bringing color into the country. talks are taking place in paris

to set fishing quotas for the endangered atlanta -- atlantic bluefin tuna. but the eu has been forced to retreat from an ambitious plan after strong opposition from mediterranean nations led by france and spain. sri lanka president -- sri lanka's president has been sworn in for a second time 18 months after his government declared victory over the tamil tigers. the opposition boycotted the ceremony saying it was a waste of money. a suspicious suitcase found at an airport in namibia that triggered an international alarm was only a test of local security. it was found in the routine tax -- checks ahead of a flight to munich. it was designed to check security. the pope is hosting a rare meeting of more than 100 cardinals from around the world

for discussions on policy. at the vatican meeting will focus on critical challenges facing the catholic church, including fallout from the sexual abuse of children by priests, and also the persecution of christians of for their faith. joining me from rome is our correspondent duncan kennedy. quite an unusual meeting. it is it clear they are going to be discussing the very sensitive topic of clerical sexual abuse? >> it is rare, and it will be discussing this. it is very much on their agenda. the end of a pretty awful year for the church. started out in terrible fashion with the church being criticized for all sorts of reasons, and eventually over the course of the last few months the pope and his aides are much more conciliatory,

just over $3 but you will not be able to use it around the country because there is not the infrastructure. you cannot fill up at local service stations, for example. but the manufacturer does not see it as a problem. the majority of customers will be using it for commuting, so the majority -- they are within 100 miles. we have hybrid cars that use a combination of electric motors and petrol engines for a few years. now a range of manufacturers are arranging to get their fully electric cars to market. we always said technology is part of the answer but to be truly green we have to every noble power for our electric cars. we always said behavior changes are the solution. we have to change how people travel. we always said the car industry can't just focus on electric cars. this car will obviously sell itself it will give them tips on how to make driving more economical and taken up load the data and compare themselves with other drivers all across the world and get a ranking based on how economic the driving is. how much is it? the best part of $40,000, it is

not cheap. that is after an $8,000 government subsidy. it will eventually be british- made. in 2013 it will emerge from a factory here. >> astronomers claimed to have discovered the first planet ever dominate -- originating from outside our galaxy. it is about the planet, which is similar to jupiter, is part of a solar system that once belonged to a dwarf galaxy. the star is nearing the end of its life and is to thousand light years from earth. plant hunters so far have found nearly 500 exo-planets. this is "gmt" from bbc world news. nato needs to discuss afghanistan. it is billed as one of the most crucial summit in its 61-year history.

27 miners are missing after an explosion in a coal mine in new zealand. and time now for business news. i sent to the beginning of a bit of relieved that the ireland of crisis -- sense the beginning of a bit of relief that the ireland crisis is winding down. >> it is inevitable ireland will accept a bailout. it may not be signed in dublin just yet but ireland that the government is coming under increasing pressure to accept the bailout package after admitting on thursday it does need help. some eurozone members want to see ireland decrease corporation tax in return for help -- increase corporation tax return for help. good to see you.

john, yesterday we had a forensic accountant descend on government to look at the books. it is like a pressure cooker for ireland. >> exactly. they are here to put their slide rules over ireland's accounts and we know that because the spokesperson for an imf in washington specifically said the talks would include the budget plans, tax and spending measures. some of the geography going on right now -- over my shoulder, but right to building is the irish finance ministry. interestingly, the gentleman from the imf are staying right across the road, just up there at the end of those houses. at the moment, there are a lot of photographers. in terms of when we might hear anything, it may be in the

territory of days or weeks. ireland has a four-year economic plan that will be announced early next week. it also has a budget coming up early in december. one would imagine the choreography of this announcement is something -- a really big announcements, they got -- a real big announcement, the have to take into account. it appears -- >> it appears ireland's corporate tax is a hot issue as well. >> the big issue, what conditions will be applied. there is talk that ireland might increase vat, there could be more cuts to pay for people in the public sector but the corporate tax, one of the lowest in europe, it has been seen as one of the key things that boosted the economic recovery but over the past years this has turned sour. but they are saying it is not negotiable. >> thank you so much.

we will be talking to you later. of course, for more on that we have a special edition live from dublin at 1530 gmt and you can tell us where you think the eurozone is heading. as you have been hearing, president obama a rise in portugal to meet america's partners in nato -- arrives in board booklet -- portugal. ben bernanke will be addressing your's bankers. -- europe's bankers. relations have soured over differences on how to revive their respective economies. >> over the years, europe has welcomed u.s. presidents with open arms. president reagan and the long

economic boom of the clinton administration were also good for europe. since the recent g-20 summit, trans-atlantic routes are emerging on the economic strategy of president obama and his european counterparts. the german finance minister used the word clueless when recently criticizing the federal reserve policy of quantitative easing, pumping $600 billion into the u.s. economy. the strategy of printing money to keep interest rates low also weakens it they u.s. dollar against the euro, making it harder for exporters in europe to compete. >> people that differ priorities. in the u.s. the priority is still on how to artificially stimulate the economy, whereas in europe, it has shifted back to long-term repair work, including fiscal prudence. >> europeans are basically saying we've got germany, sweden, switzerland, we have some economies that can show proven results and growth.

>> one of america's aims at the recent g-20 meeting was to stop china from the debilitating -- manipulating currency markets. but on washington's perspective, the europeans failed to stand alongside the u.s. >> china is whether real trade problems are and what is most disappointing, china poses real problems for europe but germany hypocritically criticizes the united states as opposed to supporting it because it is so concerned about maintaining what is a very privileged situation within your. >> the growing transatlantic divisions are a worrying trend for those who have the task of fixing a broken economy in europe and america. the staff will have to brief us all -- making sure the spin stays positive and no further cracks open on issues related to

the economy. bbc news, london. >> we will have more later on. the committee which awarded the nobel peace prize as the six countries, including russia, have now declined to the claque -- attend the ceremony. the award is going to a chinese dissident. china has written to embassy in norwegian capital oslo about consequences. russia is one of the countries that want to be attending, -- will not be attending and steve rosenberg is in moscow. this is a delicate diplomatic situation. how blatant is this the russians now the -- russian snub? >> i spoke with a spokesman of the russian embassy in moscow and he said it has nothing to do with politics, and he said the

truth is the russian ambassador will not be in norway on december 10, simply a diary issue. when i asked whether the embassy thought about sending someone else and place of the ambassador, the spokesman said, no, because it was only the ambassador who was invited. not a matter of politics as far as our official russia is concerned, it is -- but human- rights groups are furious. the head of one of the countries leading human rights groups says he was indignant and it demonstrates russia's attitude about human rights in the world, and the suspicion is this has to do with china and russia's relations with china. listening to a commentator on russian radio discussing this, he said that to moscow, good economic relations to china were hundreds of times more important to moscow than good relations with the nobel committee. >> thank you so much for joining us.

here in britain we are expecting the location of the royal wedding to be announced later and speculation is rife that they will tie the knot at westminster abbott -- westminster abbey. middleton was photographed coming out of there yesterday. but it is only one of the options on the table. more on that, i am sure. that is almost it for this edition of "gmt." our top story -- nato is meeting in lisbon to discuss the future of the mission in afghanistan, billed as one of the most crucial summit in its 61-year history. coming up with bbc news america, a mysterious death in a russian jail could cast a shadow over russia's relations with the west. a special report on world news america. that is pretty much it from "gmt." stay with us here on bbc world

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