the army held in belgium.was blunted the spear head stopped the nazi columns contained and thrown back by men who had flung themselves into the breach. in the wild gamble of war, a momentary equilibrium had been gained. the cost had been great. and there were no guarantees being issued on engraved paper on the western front that the time of counterattacks was over. despite the great victories in the pacific where guarantees being issued there would be counterattacks against the islands we had won back from the japs. in the general uncertainty of war, one fact remains certain. the enemy is always dangerous. the enemy always wants to kill americans. the enemy does not slack off. is the news good from russia? remember the lesson of december. another japanese admiral died, remember the ardent forest, as it looks as though we can finally take it easy. remember those 78,000 americans lost in the christmas holidays. the men on the line pay for counterattacks in dead, wounded and missing. how do you intend to pay? wha

belgium went for a year without a government. we need to give them a chance, time to see what their programme might yield. >> that seems to be a minority view. the general strike respected. the question is where next unions will take protest action. >> good to hear from you, jowelled live in brussels. >> from belgium to hungary. thousands on the streets protesting about spending cuts and corruption. these were demonstrations against the prime minister. pretty common on the streets of budda pest. many people saying they distrusted close economic ties with russia and against fraud by top hungarian officials. hundreds have been protesting planned cuts to education and health care. 28 hospitals will close leaving 10,000 staff out of work. >> in mexico dozens have been hurt. there has been violent confrontations in guerrero, where 43 students were missing in september. the two were taken by local police. there are reports that the federal police played a part in their disappearance. hong kong police arrested a dozen people as they cle

nowadays, it's one of the poorest parts of belgium with high unemployment. this instruction company, on the outskirts of the up to , is an example of how the region is trying to diversify economically. it makes blast purpose ass and employs 60 people. the factory is not working during the general trike. the managers expect traffic chaos. they prefer to remain closed for the day. the technical director can see both points of view, the governments and the trade unions. >> i am between the two. like everywhere, i would like to work less. but i would still like to have a pension. the truth lies between the two. >> belgium's new confident which took office is trying to tackle the debt. plans to rage. pension age from 65 to 67 and scrap a pay rise. the government says it's facing economic realities, the spending cuts are necessary and unavoidable. those who oppose the austerity programme say it risks tearing apart the fabric of belgium society. >> there has been a strong labour movements going back 150 years. the trade unions of today have been the driving force b

coming up on "morning joe," much more on the breaking news out of australia and belgium, but back toreaking news in sydney where we have seen the release of certain hostages. we'll get more information on what is taking place there and update you on the latest on that situation right after this break. ring ring! progresso! i can't believe i'm eating bacon and rich creamy cheese before my sister's wedding well it's only 100 calories, so you'll be ready for that dress uh-huh... you don't love the dress? i love my sister... 40 flavors. 100 calories or less. >> our only goal tonight and for as long as this takes is to get those people that are currently caught in that building out of their safely. that remains our number one priority and nothing will change. >> there's breaking news this morning out of australia. much of sidney at a standstill right now. nearly 13 hours after a gunman entered a chocolate store in the city's central business district where dozens of people were inside. australia prime minister tony abbott says the gunman is claiming political motivation. the prime ministe

belgium. also, we have a couple of nice images. so for example, this image from reality, in which the germans from the zeppelin are bombing two belgian children on a n and country road and calling it mi military necessity. and then this pamphlet that was given out in new york, thousandy of little children of france arg crying to you to save them from german frightfulness. here the idea is, again, that germany is committing crimes crs against civilians, that they'rer not conducting an honorable war. and in conjunction with that, there are lots of books that art put out against germany that gm claim to eitheran tell the truta about what germany's doing in belgium, tell the truth about h the german war aims, or just to highlight the different o atrocities that germany is committing against civilian populations throughout the fronts. so there's germany versus civilization. here the idea being that germany is not fit to stand among the u members of western europe. and then this book i really like is that there's something flawed in germ

. >> there has been austerity protests in belgium. the country is expected to come to a standstill on monday as thousands of trade unionists go on strike. we have more from belgium. >> reporter: this used to be an industrial heartland with coal mines and steelworks. most of the factories closed half a century ago, and the economy went into decline. nowadays, it is one of the poorest parts of belgium with high unemployment. this construction company on the outskirts of the town is one example of how the region is trying to diversify economically. it makes blast furnace, and employs 60 people. the factory is not working during the germ strike -- the general strike. managers expect traffic chaos, they prefer to remain closed. the technical director can see both points of view - the government and trade unions. >> i am between the two. like everywhere, i would like to work less. i would still like to have a pension. the truth lies between the two. >> belgium's government which took office is trying to tackle the huge national debt. it pla

at about 9:00, general bowling went to belgium where headquarters was. only thing they could tell him was that it was fluid. he asked for the position of the division. he was told the division should go into an assembly area. >> the visible road centers fell to the germans. the capitulation seems certain. unless the town of marsh remained in allied hands, it seems probable the germans could take the river and sweep on to paris. 84th division was ordered to withdraw and take up an offensive line -- a defensive line. >> we had set in orders to move -- set in orders to move. we loaded into army trucks and started moving fast. we heard all kinds of rumors. we heard the germans had broken through. everything was confused. we were on the road and moving again. a month before, we moved up, so we were used to it. this was a night move, in the dark. orders were changed constantly. we never knew from one minute to the next what was going on. we ran into trailers to cross rivers with. apparently, they were for us, but we would not be there to be with them. at the e

the army held in belgium. the attack was blunt of the spearhead stopped. themselves into the breach. in the wild gamble of war, a momentary equilibrium had been gained. the cost had been great. and there were no guarantees being issued on engraved paper on the western front that the time of counterattacks was over. nor, despite the great victories in the pacific were there guarantees being issued that there would be no counterattacks against the many islands we'd won back from the japs. in the general uncertainty of war, one fact remains certain. the enemy is always dangerous. the enemy always wants to kill americans. the enemy does not slack off. is the news good from russia? remember the lesson of december. as another japanese admiral died, remember the ardennes forest. does it look as though finally we can take it easy? remember those 78,000 americans lost in the christmas holidays. the men on the line pay for counterattacks in dead wounded and missing. how do you intend to pay? what were you doing the week the german army came back to belgium? what are

also much of belgium has been on strike this monday.n update on market action, and the trough for the champions league is made. we will be back in just over a minute. stick around. , the smalley a military cyst hen soldiers, including a senior commander, have died in an early-morning assault. fighters armed with rocket propelled renate's, machine guns, and tanks attacked their army base in the south. >> the islamists who had only been driven out of their last major strongholds are now turning to guerrilla style. >> two of our journalists will be filing a series of reports on the rise of terrorist organizations in parts of africa. we challenges faced in somalia. the smalley a government controls the capital and the islamist group has been pushed back. they are still operating and still launching rains. he hasn't always been a hairdresser. just months ago he was an influential member of the terrorist group, trying to start a new life. >> it is worth it. >> he is happier to talk in a quiet neighborhood outside the city center. near the hea

a lot of territory on germany's role as well as what was happening in belgium and france.o we wanted to bring these sources to the floor and really sort of focus on just the western combat experience. >> these first cases here in the collection focus on the outbreak of the war in different country. here is what we're calling germany mobilizes for war. within the case you can see different images. crowds of assembled in berlin to receive news that germ any was declaring war of-ú russia and right here the kaiser is creating a crowd from the royal palace and the kaiser is sitting on his horse. some of the more interesting aspects of what we have here for material culture objects that andy had donated. have two different pins that we're -- that were passed around in germany during the war. these include a pin calling on germans not to forget the kol anies. it was a reminder they were fighting for holdings in africa. and then there's a pin here to show solidarity with the combatants. a little pin of a german helmet which a person could wear to signify their loyalty to the war e

now i've been all over belgium and done the visit. are there preservation efforts going on within -- particularly france and belgium and those areas, to try to protect these areas because it appears that the relic hunters have really gotten out of control really. i mean there's probably a place for those things but they're apparently not following. >> if you're caught with a metal detector in france there are no penalties than the fact that you lose your equipment, you lose your finds, you lose your car and you go to prison. they're really quite strict. we have to ask permission through frempnch authorities to use any kind of that equipment. they are absolutely rabid about it. we're talking about the extent of the battlefields. massive. if private owners gives permission, prying eyes will never see them. but you've got signs everywhere. i was actually there recently and someone was with me, an american, said, do you have gophers in france. i said no. that's call a metal detectorist. what appears to be holes all over the site was quite

other savings include trying to balance belgium's budget by 2018.mic output. that is one of the highest in the eurozone, as nigel cassidy reports from brussels. >> reporter: desseerted railway lines, now carefully organized picket lines of targeted signaling and crossing points to ensure that when it comes to transport, the capital of europe is cut off for the day. it began as a series of weekly regional scuffles, now it's turned into a full blown strike. it's halted the railways, including the international services to london, the planes, and it's halted the roads, if you count the traffic jams. there's a yawning gulf between a government trying to make the economy more competitive, and unions who say that working people have been singled out and the rich aren't paying anymore. the unions say the strikes will helicopter until belgium's free market liberal coalition has a rethink. this leader says changes to retirement pay and inflation pay rises must be stopped. >> this government says we take away this automatic indexation. we keep you at the purc

suicide. 12 years ago, belgium became one of the first countries in the world to legalize euthanasia. supporters of the law say it allows terminally sick people to die with dignity and without pain, but many are now getting worried about how euthanasia is being broadened out to be used in other areas. earlier this year, a law was passed allowing assisted dying for children, and now, a man convicted of rape and murder has just granted the right to die instead of serving a life printed -- a life sentence in prison. >> for more than 30 years, this sex offender has been held at the psychiatric wing of a belgian prison. he raped several women, killing one. he says he cannot control his sexual urges and is a menace to society. >> this compulsion is simply inside me. when i am stressed out or tens, i no longer know what i'm doing. i simply cannot control myself anymore, so i have to stay here inside. >> a life outside prison is out of the question for him. he is in preventive detention at his own request and will probably spend the rest of his life there, but he says he cannot take it anymo

because of this ice sculpture festival in belgium. it's one of many videos posted of this festival. these people are making disney paris' ice dreams. >> it is seriously cool. >> it is 21 degrees. >> is that a boat? >> they started several months ago working on this thing. it took them a while. not only are they doing a full size boat, you can see sculptures of some of the disney characters. this woman sliding down the slide. >> that would be fantastic because it's ice. it's going to be slippery. >> it's amazing what you can do with ice. it makes it almost real. it's crazy. >> this is beautiful. if you happen to be in belgium, i suggest taking a coat. >> cat slap. >> you are walking through thea kiosks. kitty is helping himself to a seafood buffet. >> i thought it was a wrapped turkey. >> what happened to this cat when i walked in, were there angels singing and sun arcing down on it? the cat did rip open multiple packages going after several different types of squid, cod, flounder. the restaurant had to get rid of a lot of this stuff saying this little incident cost the restaurant ab

imagine this, chief architect in belgium who designed the palace is now designing your house. that gives you a little sense of that. they looked at the pattern books. it was not educated as architect but neither was jefferson. jefferson was very interested in architect as was washington. jefferson and washington would have these conversations about what washington should look like should it be made out of brick? that's jefferson, much more humble republican. should it be marble and granite? that was george washington because it's going to last the ages. washington points out to jefferson, i am president. and therefore we have a city of marble and and granite, et cetera. this house designed thornton. juan little anecdote about thornton. he becomes an american citizen. 1812. citizens are building the public building, not the private building and they're going to burn the patent office. the first director of the patent office is dr. thornton. as british are coming up with their torches and ready to burn this, he had gotten the papers out but couldn't get the models back. thornton

violence erupts inside a maximum security prison in belgium. >> he's a crazy man, a murderer, but i'm not scared, you know? >> but in this prison when tensions rise, inmates can cool off in the sex room. >> two hours for sex. >>> to americans, it's a country best known for chocolate, waffles and beer, belgium. roughly the size of maryland, it's considered to be one of the safest nations in europe. but criminals do exist here. and the most hard core can be found 50 miles east of brussels in the town of hasselt. it houses 470 men and, in a separate unit, 30 women. >> this is unique. the other prisons in this country, they are old prisons. they are more than 100 years, 150 years old and have a culture. bad or good culture but they always have a culture. we started from zero. >> as the nation's newest high security prison, hasselt employs a wide array of technology to manage inmates. but many of the prison policies are nothing at all like we've ever seen in the u.s. from 9:00 at night until 6:30 in the morning, correctional officers are not allowed to go inside cells without special permi

almost 200 years ago, there was a battle in belgium. buried.l officers were the other ranks when into bits. .- into pits that did not change until the 20th century. the monuments of the western front that we are familiar with, later taken over by the employer will -- imperial war graves commission. some of these guys were not so fortunate. we have the missing. partly of what i'm talking about is the missing. they are recorded on a number of memorials. monuments which actually recorded those people who ended up buried in trenches. people buried in shell holes. buried in collapsed dugouts. will of waysne the you might have ended up missing. with 72,000memorial names of missing on it. if you were a british soldier, were required to take out of your pocket a coin to throw it to get has once, throat and get heads twice and then three times . if you did it seven times, that's your chance of being on here. because they are missing, they exercise an immense amount of interest on behalf of the families who have nowhere to grieve. which is why we

four armed men have taken a hostage in belgium.of ghent. still not clear what the armed men's intentions are, but prosecutors say there is no indication that the group is linked to terrorism. our europe correspondent damian g grammaticus is on the line from ghent. people are going to be worried about any link to terrorism given what's going on in sydney at the moment. >> reporter: what i can tell you is this is a working class neighborhood of ghent. police have sealed off this grid of streets. perhaps a couple hundred square meters worth around this apartment. what we know from the police is that this morning we understand they were called by neighbors, we think, who were saying that four men had entered this apartment, possibly armed. i can only say possibly with hostage in there. that's what we know definitely from them. the talk here, completely unconfirmed, is that this may be something related to some local issue. so possibly a local dispute, possibly something to do with an issue like drugs, something like that. nothing more

but rather only belgium. and that forced them into the kind of narrow aperture of liege in belgium which did slow them down. he also famously pulled back two corps from the advancing right wing of the german armies to the eastern front because russia had invaded east prussia. he also peeled off nearly half of the troops on the german left wing who originally designed a kind of tempt the french into al says lorraine in order to make it even easier for the germans to wheel around on the right. apparently he was tempted by some kind of colossal canay, enveloping the french, instead of circling them from behind. the essence of your question is more about the consequences. there i think you're right to pinpoint real serious consequences. i don't know exactly what they would have been. my own view is that had the french armies been developed, defeated, most of the men taken prisoner with the rest left behind, then yes france would have had to sue for peace. i do not think that britain would necessarily have made pe

belgium could be next. if we take a look at the front page of the belgian paper, it focuses on the fact that belgium could very soon recognize the palestinian state. parliament is set to debate the issue next week. in its editorial, it applies the fact that parliament is going to be debating this -- it applies -- it applauds the fact that parliament is going to be debating this. >> papers in britain are focusing on the remains of richard iii. they are 99.99% certain. >> these bones were discovered about tw's ago. there was some doubt as to whether or not they belonged to richard iii -- about two years ago. there was some doubt as to whether or not they belonged to richard iii. they think he had blue eyes and blond hair, which goes against what most portraits of him suggest. this is "the guardian. -- "the guardian." they have reimagined one of his most famous portraits. another juicy detail is that there is evidence of infidelity in his family tree. scientists say there was a false paternity event. this coul

that's when we realized there was a good deal of confusion in the again picture in belgium.hat we went by truck to a little town and met a very lovely belgian woman and a french -- in a belgian chateau who had two daughters. she was getting into the car to drive to brussels. they had an appointment. it was later we realized she was fleeing as fast as she could. she knew the situation was very bad. later on that night, we had our first encounter with some german tanks which came along and fired at us. we fired back. they went on back the road that they had come from. we realized we were in what they call a fluid situation with nobody certain where the front lines were. least of all us. >> i was a commander in general bowling's rail splitter division during world war ii. i arrived at the 84th division in holland on the 20th of december 1944. and moved down with the division on the 22nd of december. to say that the situation was fluid is putting it lightly. every other house was occupied by germans. there was firing up and down the streets. the 334th infantry had organized divi

this cartoon is a metaphphor fo the rape of belgium.umors of german atrocities reach europe and america, in fact england ordered the bright commission to investigate these alleged atrocities. this was drawn by a war correspondent known as simm during world war i. he also published albums in 1916 and 1918. here we see two french soldiers awaiting their turn in line to receive stu. rations were a big problem in the trenches and the dugouts, starvation and there were frequently times of food shortages, here we see the -- we see the outlines of many soldiers that could be a metaphor for the numerous mouths that needed to be fed. while many of the images in this exhibition depict hand to hand combat and specific battles, i'm really taken by this drawing who was an austrian artist. i'm amazed at the level of detail he was able to convey in such a small work, this depicts a small soldier who closes his eyes for a few minutes. he's away from the battlefield, he's either found a natural shelter or he's dug his own with his bayonet. staying warm

this cartoon is a metaphor for the rape of belgium.any rumors of german atrocities reached europe and america. in fact, england ordered the bryce commission to investigate these alleged atrocities. this was drawn by a war correspondent during world war 1. he designed war bond posters and published albums in 191619 and 1918. here are two french soldiers waiting in line to receive soup. rations were a big problem in the trenches and the dug outs. many soldiers suffer from starvation and there were frequently times of food shortages. here we see the artist has only colored in two of the soldiers. we see the outlines of many soldiers that could be a metaphor for the numerous mouths that needed to be fed. while many of the imhaages depi hand-to-hand combat and specific battles, i'm taken by this ink drawing by an austrian artist. i am amazed at the level of detail he was able to convey in such ale small work. this depicts a young soldier who closes his eyes for a few minutes. he's away from the battlefield. he's either found a natural shelt

what if german he not violated belgium's neutrality. would britain would have entered the war?t if they had not saw the double envelopment and in northern france. could at least half of the 331,000 soldiers on the left have helped the right wing to victory. what if in panic at the russian advance he had not dispatched third and ninth army core east. they spent the russian campaign in september railroad cars going from one front to the other. above all, what if -- he had not been the french commander and had been badly defeated in the battle of the frontiers in lorraine? inarticulate calm and he is plasit and sophisticated and far sight and determined leadership were among the major reasons why the french did not repeat the collapse of 1871. after the war, he paid tribute. hopefully you have him next. he wrote after the initial defeat, he recognized he had played the game poorly. he had broken off the campaign with every intention of resuming it as soon as he had repaired the eaknesses discovered. only once the enemies's ultimate intentions to march through belgium were detect a

what if germany had not violated belgium's neutrality? would britain in fact still have ensterredtered it the war? what if could half of the 331,000 soldiers on the left wing have held the right wing to victory in france? what if in panic at the russian advance into east prussia malta had not dispatched 3rd and 9th army corps east. they spent the russian campaign in september in railroad cars going from one front to the other. above all, what if papajov had not been the french commander. what if he had been cashiered after he had been badly defeated at the battle of the frontiers in lorraine? joffre's inscrutable aplomb among other major reasons, the french did not win the collapse of 1871. furthermore, "after the initial defeats, joffre recognized he had played the game poorly. he had broken off the campaign with every intention of resuming it as soon as he had repaired the weaknesses discovered. and only once the enemy's ultimate intentions to march through belgium had been detected did he move forces brilliantly from his right wing to

. >> belgium police are warning people to avoid brussels. unions called for a strike on monday which would ground strikes, stop public transportations and shut schools and public services. it is in retaliation for the austerity policies. >> this used to be an industrial heartland with coal mines and steelworks. most of the factories closed half a century ago. nowadays, it is one of the poorest parts of belgium with high unemployment. >> this construction company on the outskirts of the town, is an example of how the region is trying to diversify economically. it makes blast furnaces and employs 50 people. the factory is not working during the general strike. the managers expect traffic chaos, so they prefer to remain closed for the day. the technical director says he can see both points of view, the governments and the trade unions. >> i am, between the two, like everyone, i would like to work less. i would like to have a pension. the truth lies between the two. >> belgium's government which took office two months ago is trying to tackle the

in a few minutes, we'll go to one of the poorest parts of belgium. but first we have the latest from brussels. >> the objective of the unions was to bring the country to a standstill, and certainly as far as the capitol city is concerned they do seem to have achieved that aim. the railway stations are closed. underground stations are closed. the public sector is ground to a standstill just a few small shops and small cafes are open, but by and large the city has been completely deserted. the unions are protesting against spending cuts, which would see the retirement age rise by two years and would also see the government scrapping a planned inflation link pay rise due to take place next year. they say they want more of the burden of the spending cuts, the budget problems to be born by big business in the financial sector. they say it's not fear for ordinary wor working people, ordinary families to bear most of the load. but the goffed said it needs to make these spending cuts to balance the budget. it will be interesting to see where after the strike

the battle of the bulge began on december 16, 1944 in belgium and france. next a u.s. army the big picture episode from 1965 telling the story of the desperate fight around the small town from the perspective of men from both sides who were there, including lieutenant will rogers junior. this documentary is narrated by actor robert taylor. >> on the 18th of december, 1944, the conflict that would become the battle of the bulge was two days old. it had started with a huge german counter offensive planned with a strict timetable. by the 18th two armies should have reached the river driving toward their objective antwerp. instead, thousands of hitler's finest troops were fighting to take a small town in belgium. a junction of roads and railways, the key to success for the counter offensive was the timetable. a key to the timetable was st. vith. at down on the 16th the german assault had achieved its first object, surprise. it overwhelmed the inexperienced troops in the forest where some, like colonel oliver patent were still trying to fight back to friendly lines on the 1

the sweeping plan. 10 movement to belgium witth german armies going against french the fences. they ultimately strategy in the years after. the french meanwhile, set an elaborate plan of their own. which involved a massive army this slammed ing the gemini -- germany left flank. they were untries so not ready. defenses ran into trouble. offense made it incredible ng an sweep to belgian. leapfrogging moves from the german and the allies, to tell the enemy to the northern flank. run out ctober they had of land. great of a stalemate. for the soldiers the early base the war was open. one german soldier in his the face felt ashamed to of enemy he never returned home. the soldiers were spared the great horror of later years. to a e wall made of it bloody stalemate. the germans played a single army. million person hold the german armyoperated in the notion. the outnumbered germans play tactics with russia. they kept at 19,000 prisoners. the russian army make that progress. arrival of of the reinforcements, the russians were ready. although the eastern front represented hell on earth, t

one of the things i'm aware of is that almost 200 years ago there was a battle in belgium, the battle of waterloo. there were hon ohhered burials, memorials. the other ranks went into pits. that's es what happened. there was no individual markers. that wasn't going to change until the 20th century. when it did the monuments of the western front that we are familiar with, later taken by the imperial, now the commonwealth war graves commission. as we have seen from another another image, some of these guys weren't so fortunate. we have the missing. partly what i'm talking about today is the missing. those missing are recorded on a number of memorials. not the cemeteries we are familiar with, but the monuments which actually record those people who ended up buried in trenches, sometimes but rash rarely blown to pieces. people in shell holes, lost in no man's land, buried in collapsed dug outs. imagine the multitude ways you could end up missing. put it in perspective. this is the monument with 72,000 names of missing on it. if you were a british soldier your chance of being on this monum

almost 200 years ago, there was a battle in belgium. buried.l officers were the other ranks when into bits. .- into pits that did not change until the 20th century. the monuments of the western front that we are familiar with, later taken over by the employer will -- imperial war graves commission. some of these guys were not so fortunate. we have the missing. partly of what i'm talking about is the missing. they are recorded on a number of memorials. monuments which actually recorded those people who ended up buried in trenches. people buried in shell holes. buried in collapsed dugouts. will of waysne the you might have ended up missing. with 72,000memorial names of missing on it. if you were a british soldier, were required to take out of your pocket a coin to throw it to get has once, throat and get heads twice and then three times . if you did it seven times, that's your chance of being on here. because they are missing, they exercise an immense amount of interest on behalf of the families who have nowhere to grieve. which is why we

it doesn't matter that we are dealing with french, belgium, german or occasionally british.everything we can to make sure these men get the best treatment possible to ensure that they are buried not as an unknown soldier, but the regimens or if we are lucky by their name. of course as i indicated, the good news is because the australians paid for the use of dna, the rules have changed. they cannot prevent us from taking the dna in the future which means you will build up the database. i am not advocating and prospe t prospecting for the dead, but for britain, there were too many of them. i am telling you now when human remains are found, i will do everything i can with my small team to ensure every means available used to establish who they are. we do not want to see these men killed twice. thank you for listening. >> i would like to take questions and you raise your hands and i will come find you and if you can speak into the mike, that will be great. any questions? >> so given the concerns that you raised about looters getting there before you have a chance to work and the

italy, france, belgium, virtually every nation in western europe saw political and economic rebirth. the european community was founded. in west germany and here in berlin, there took place an economic miracle. ed a now -- adenaue, erhart, other writer sadenaue, erhartr,s understanding the importance of liberty, that truth and freedom can flourish only when the journalism is given the freedom of speech. so can economic power come when the farmer and businessman can enjoy economic freedom. the german leaders reduced tariffs, expanded free trade, lowered taxes. from 1950 to 1960 alone, the standard of living in west germany and berlin doubled. where four decades ago there was rubble, today in west berlin, there is the greatest industrial output of any city in germany. busy office blocks, fine homes and apartments, proud avenues and the spreading lawns of park land. where a city's culture seemed to have been destroyed, today there are two great universities, orchestras and an opera, countless theaters and museums. where there was want, today there's abundance, food, clothing, automobile

belgium is paralyzed by a strike this monday.nions stopped air and train travel over a government move that would extend pension aid. close to half of flights were canceled at brussels airport and train traffic to and from brussels was completely halted, including with the euro star. in los angeles, part of two major freeways have been shut down due to that massive fire you can see there. more than 250 firefighters are battling the blaze at an apartment tower that is under construction. no one was in the building when it caught fire and the cause is still unknown. in mexico, new evidence has confirmed the identity of the first of 43 students missing since september. the 19-year-old's family is calling for justice. catherine clifford explains. >> alexander's father stood by as those arrived to pay respects. >> being a teacher was his dream and there is nothing we can do now. they took away his dream. >> the attorney general said the 19-year-old was identified among the charred remains in a nearby river. the students had been hande

. >> in belgium and the netherlands, the lagos further. doctors can administer a lethal injection if the patient is in unbearable pain, conscious, and able to express a desire to die. in february, belgian extended this right to terminally ill children. switzerland allows assisted suicide as long as the person takes the lethal drug themselves. meeting clinics attracts crinkly ill patients from all over europe. france has one of the continent's strictest anti-euthanasia laws. mps will debate the new proposals in january. >> the funeral of belgiaum's former queen has been held. fabiola was clean from 1960101993. she and her husband oversaw belgium's withdrawal from congo. her death has created a sense of unity in the country that is divided during the flemish speaking north and the french-speaking south. climate talks in peru are entering their final day. countries have been discussing what kind of plans they should present in the run-up to a key summit in paris to be held next year. there has been no major progress in the slow-moving negotia