it is all being watched closely by jonathan charles in frankfurt. >> business is booming.ermany has shaken off the recession. it is a symbol of just how divided the euro zone has become. the airports are increasingly efficient. everything is much more automated. it has cut costs. german workers have had to make sacrifices for today's success though. many have not had a real pay rise for the last decade. a finance director says it is painful, but it is a lesson for the rest of the euro zone. >> we have arranged labor contracts. we have more of the granting activity. by this, we are regaining competitiveness. >> these efforts are replicated all over germany. unemployment is less than it was before the recession now. the economy is expected to grow by 3% this year. what frankfurt airport has done, what germany has done has only made it harder for the other a ling members of the euro. greece, spain, portugal. is a question of how much that they are all carrying. i knew year and a new era for europe. i was in frankfurt reporting for the bbc on the first of january, 1999 when th

. >> this is jonathan charles live in madrid. i'm reporting how the spanish strike is now really starting to bite. >> welcome to gmt. ini am george alagiah. an al-qaeda terror plot uncovered. extremists planned commando style raids. great survivors. politicians come and go. the traditional rulers still have power from the throne. >> in brussels, workers from across europe have gathered for what they say is one of the biggest protests the city has ever seen. spain is in the grip of a strike. this wave of industrial strikes has been prompted by widespread budget cuts. unions say ordinary workers are being forced to pay for mistakes by bankers and traders. first, this report from peter. >> in madrid, soon after daybreak, supporters of the strike organized a protest intent on disrupting traffic and delaying people going to work. it is spain's first general strike since 2002. the government has approved an austerity budget. workers are facing a cut of 5% starting in june. unemployment has doubled in spain in the past three years. labo

jonathan charles is weighing what is at stake. >> george, thank you very much. at the home of the european central bank, that is the organization that runs the single currency and sets the single interest rate for europe. a time when the hero is under great pressure. elsewhere in spain, greece, many of the countries are struggling. i have been down to a frankfurt music shop where the people do follow what is happening, to find out what the people there really think about what is going on with the hero. -- euro. ♪ >> i think that the road is a stable currency right now. despite the crisis, it is a stable currency. i was a big fan of the deutsche mark. after the euro, it was brought on the continent, but the problem is that these prices have just, well, increased. >> germany has the biggest single economy, what happened here is for the rest of the continent's. >> working at this time of year, the german government stepped in to announce money for buying new cars, so there was not so much a decrease in the economy. >> the last couple of years we were quite careful

i am jonathan charles. why is a larry summers stepping down? president obama's most senior economic adviser will go weeks until the election. another blow for the american president. the ban on openly gay men and women in the u.s. military stays in place. it is midday in london, 7:00 a.m. in washington, and night will soon be falling in parts of the arctic. the latest battleground in the fight to exploit the world resources. politicians are meeting in moscow to discuss this. canada, the united states, russia, and some scandinavian countries are trying to assert their rights. in a moment, we'll hear the view from canada and norway. >> a record-breaking voyage by russian ships this summer through the shrinking size of the arctic sea. shrinking -- ice of the arctic sea. a new, fast route for russian energy exports to asia. we were taken on board the nuclear-powered ice breaker, which led the way just before the final leg of the journey. the russians keen to publicize how quickly they're exploiting the effects of climate change in the arctic. >> at

jonathan, charles kraut is saying they -- >> i think a lot of these people are disallusioned from thethemselves as conservative first. if you're a political strategist in the midterm election when most people don't vote, you take the energy of the tea party and hope for the best. at happens when political parts lose, that in the following ele, basically, the base is what energizes it. we saw it -- we've seen it happen inside of the democratic party before. we've seen it insisted republican party frankly multiple times. isn't this in many ways history repeating itself. >> yes, exactly the kind of energy that the democrats had in 2006 and then again in 2008 because they had something -- they had a regime to overthrow in the congress, and then you know in the white house. and so, there is no energy in politics like the throw the bums out energy. and the side that has that especially in midterms is a very difficult side to bet against. >> you know, jonathan, on the -- on what's going on inside of the tea party movement, and planted their flag and i think that what we saw with the roll out

pat, jonathan and charles we appreciate it so much. >> thank you for having me.ewhat related note the battle overextending the bush tax cuts, why the white house thinks it has voters on its side when it comes to taxing the rich. this, even as more and more congressional democrats are bailing on the president's plan. [ male announcer ] let's throw down some style. style that lasts a lifetime. what do you say we get the look we want, the softness we need, and an unbeatable lifetime stain warranty for whatever life throws at it. then let's save big on the installation. ♪ we're lowering the cost of going barefoot. more saving. more dog. that's the power of the home depot. get exclusive martha stewart living and platinum plus installed in your whole house for only 37 bucks. when i got my medicare card, i realized i needed an aarp... medicare supplement insurance card, too. medicare is one of the great things about turning 65, but it doesn't cover everything. in fact, it only pays up to 80% of your part b expenses. if you're already on or eligible for medicare, call no

so jonathan i guess i would say this that charles kraut is saying this. think that a lot of these people are disillusioned from the past. the kind of people who described themselves as conservative first. and sometimes republicans. but if you're a political strategist in the republican party in a midterm election when most people don't vote, i think i take the energy of the tea party, you take them voting for republican candidates and hope fortunate best. >> hey, lawrence, isn't this what happens when political parents lose? that in the following election, basically, the base is what energizes it? we've seen it happen insisted democratic party before. we've seen it inside of the republican party, frankly, multiple times. isn't this in many ways history repeating itself? >> yes. you mean, this is repeating itself? >> >> yes, this is the kind of energy that the democrats had in 2006 and again in 2008 because they had something -- they had a regime to overthrow in the congress and then, you know, in the white house. and so there is no energy in politics like