some people say in germany the american president has been here for germany as all. berlin opens his arms to them every day. >> i very much so for to being in berlin. the last time i was there we had a lot of fun. i am sure that i will have a wonderful time the next time i'm there as well. i appreciate you assuming that i will have another term. i'll have plenty of time to pick berlin on my schedule. thank you very much, everybody. >> i can promise the berlin signing will happen for some more time. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2011] somin the nba t >> this marks the fourth of michelle visit during the obama administration. she will be presented with the presidential medal of freedom this evening. our coverage gets under way at 8:00 eastern, 8:00 p.m. it is a fewt -- it o'clock p.m., a minutes away. we would hear from your phone calls. this gets away in a few minutes. a couple of live hearings to teddy of bell. -- to tell you about. we will look into extending the robert mullen term. it is a

barack obama expressed the importance of the relationship with germany. >> in germany, at the heart of europe, is one of our strongest allies. chancellor merkel is one of my closest global partners. [speaking german] >> he praised the german chancellor on a broad range of issues. obama said that germany could play a vital role in rebuilding the country after the gaddafi era ends. at a state dinner on tuesday evening, merkel will receive the presidential medal of freedom. the chancellor, who grew up in east germany, said that without washington's policies during the cold war, she would not have been able to come to the united states capital today. >> when the wall and barbwire divided germany and europe, america stood firmly on the side of freedom and resolutely with us germans as we made our way toward unity and freedom. we will never forget this. >> the two world leaders are making a concerted effort to show that the great trans- atlantic partnership remained strong. >> i will be taking an in-depth look at german and u.s. relations later on in the show. here in germany, authorities ar

germany at all. he was in other areas, for the nato conference. berlin opens its arms to them everyday. but the berlinians can wait and have proved this in history. >> i look very much forward to being in berlin. and the last time i was there, we had a lot of fun. [laughter] and i am sure i will have a wonderful time the next time i am there as well. and i appreciate you assuming that i will have another term. and so i will have plenty of time to be able to put berlin on my schedule. all right, thank you very much, everyone. >> and i can promise that the berlin brigade will be standing for some more time. >> earlier in the day, the white house offered a preview for preparations for tuesday night's state dinner in honor of the chancellor. guests were arriving late in the afternoon, here's a look. >> ladies and gentlemen, the honorable phillip gordon and his wife, mrs. rachel gordon. >> dr. elizabeth sherwood randal, and her husband, dr. jeffrey randal. mr. brian lords and his guest, mr. bruce bozy. .

been to germany at all. berlin opens its arms to him every day but they can also wait. they have proved this throughout history. >> i look very much forward to being in berlin. the last time i was there we had a lot of fun. i am sure i will have zero wonderful time the next time i am there as well. i appreciate you assuming that i will have another term, so i will have plenty of time to be able to put berlin on my schedule. thank you very much, everybody. >> and i can promise that the brandenburg gate will be standing for some more time. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2011] >> earlier in the day, the white house offered a preview of preparations for tuesday night's state dinner in honor of the german chancellor. guests began arriving in the late afternoon. here is a look. >> ladies and gentlemen, the honorable philip gordon and his wife, rachel gordon. dr. elizabeth sherwood randall and her husband. mr. brian lord and his guest. gene

all germany games are already sold out. this is good news for the organizers who want to establish women's soccer as a broad-based sport. >> my dream is coming true. the world cup in my home country, the beautiful site of 2011. >> the women's squad has been hard at work promoting the competition. germany are both defending champions and host nation of this year's world cup. with the men's team cheering them on, germany's first 11 are hoping for a fairy tale ending. >> ♪ hello >> i'm really looking forward to this world cup. and i'm sure we can score a huge success. >> all over the world support for women's soccer is reaching fever pitch. all the participating teams are eager for the tournament to start. and anticipation is an all-time high. >> ♪ can i kick it yes, you can ♪ >> we're prepared. with that preparation comes positivism. >> the speed of the game, the physicality of the players. it's just become more professional. >> the women's game has, indeed, gotten more professional. and, of course, that includes the re

it brings the number of deaths as mainly affected germany. they were contaminated with spanish cucumbers imported to germany. the vegetable did not carry the bacteria. the german media and is usually restrained when it comes to the private lives of celebrities. the trial of a prominent swiss whether forecaster was accused of rape by an ex-girlfriend. he was acquitted today, but the case has raised serious questions about the role of the media. >> tuesday's verdict marked the end of the trial had the end of a feeding frenzy in germany. his private life has been laid bare. observers questioned with the judges would be able to act independently. >> they have been quite un scrupulous. i think it is sometimes on the verge of violating human dignity. >> was the best kwn tv personalities suddenly accused of rape. for months, they pored over the story presenting them as evidence for the prosecution or for the defense. supposedly they got a of the action, too. >> they just think everyone else is doing it so we will look, too. that is how many media ou

. >> many people have questions about germany in a german energy policy. they are not asking questions in a judgmental manner because they are waiting toto see if we succd when the plan changes. while there is a certain amount of skepticism expressed in conversations, people believe germany will make it. >> he said cooperation wasas a key, but many questions remain. energy companies, like one, say that the exit from nuclear power is too hasty and have warned of potential energy state -- shortages. they're also calling for more funding to of tackle the huge investments needed in renewable energy. the decision to exit nuclear power will be very expensive. the big energy companies will have to invest billions of euros in alternative energy. the change could almost see germany playing a leading role in the development of new enery sources. >> i thank you for that. the military government in burma has gotten an ousted leader to stop her activities. they worked to the nobel peace prize laureate, sayingng her pay was breaking the law by keeping their offices open

can learn from germany when it comes to the economy and well debate internet access is a human right and will speak only of think progress about the koch brothers role in oil speculation but of course a let's take a look at what the mainstream media has decided to cover nonstop point six thing it takes to get all this stuff out of the shadows you know what i think this is sort of why you know members of congress do which is that if they are actually congressman anthony weiner. of new york democrat congressman welcome to our consequences all that are anthony have you looked at yourself i mean you're really not i mean nobody really wants to see you with less clothes like me i don't take any pictures of me with less clothes on it's not. that's right your most popular talking heads on t.v. are still completely taken by wiener gate or wiener fever or wiener mania whatever you want to call it just be sure to add a little wiener to the mix now one of the things that i find is what's hilarious actually was watching two media personalities who have had sex scandals of their own talk about win

been to germany at all. he was in dresden, he was in buchenwald, he was in baden- baden for the nato conference. berlin opens its arms to him every day. but the berliners can also wait. they have proved this throughout their history. >> i look very much forward to being in berlin. and the last time i was there we had a lot of fun. [laughter] and i'm sure that i'll have a wonderful time the next time i'm there as well. and i appreciate you assuming that i'll have another term. [laughter] and so i'll have plenty of time to be able to put berlin on my schedule. all right? thank you very much, everybody. >> and i can promise that the brandenburg gate will be standing for some more time. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2011] >> in a few moments, a european union news conference on the people live up break that has sickened several dozen people. e. coli outbreak that has sickened several dozen people. >> a couple of live hearings to tell yo

we start with germany. >> germany's women's soccer team has gained more and more recognition in recent years, after snapping up one title after the other. now fans are hoping they can win the world cup on home turf. >> i don't think the pressure is such a bad thing. it's actually good to have expectations like these. we said ourselves we definitely want to win the world cup. >> germany coach neid is placing her faith on experience, but also made room for new talents, such as players from the under-20 world cup. and also at the last world cupp germany's goalkeeper didn't concede a single goal. >> if i had the chance to play the whole tournament with a clean sheet, i'd take it. i don't think i can top my last outing. >> as reigning european and world champion, germany is perhaps the world's most successful women's team. they'll make history as they secure a third world cup triumph. perhaps their new jerseys will give them that extra edge. >> it's nice to have shirts made just for us. but i prefer to play in white, rather than red. >> but whether they're sporting red or white jerseys, the

germany raises a lone voice in the e.u. to usher in a new era of known nuclear power generation as chancellor angela merkel vows to close all its reactors by two thousand and twenty two but it's already created a shortfall in electricity in germany which in turn is pushing up prices germany's now importing power from france and the czech republic and its crisis hit poorest who will pay higher electricity because. quite understand. you know project prices and of course always. industrial goods you know all will be paying more for the electricity will be the quantum will be the people there is no doubt about it around thirty percent of the e.u.'s electricity comes from nuclear generation so ironically the electricity germany ends up buying will be generated at nuclear power plants the majority of european countries aren't giving up their nuclear programs switzerland is phasing it out but france which has a long and successful history of nuclear power generation sees it as a solution for the future britain sweden spain and bel

well sure we can work well together for why years germany's economy thriving while the u.s. struggles to survive and could investing in people instead of wars be the key to economic success. like sixty thousand dollars. and the on education of america tuitions costs and unemployment rates are both soaring for young graduates with little to show for their schooling but debt so is college a smart investment or one giant scam. three million times. he's going to protect well apparently the pentagon itself the u.s. military is preparing to treat cyber attacks as lessons of real war and they're ready to retaliate with troops and bombs so this is just keeping up with the times threatening to keep the u.s. in a permanent war of their state. german chancellor chancellor on go merkel is in washington today which is meeting with top u.s. officials as well as receiving the medal of freedom from president obama now both leaders are trying to project a close working relationship glossing over recent differences between the two countries over the u.s. led in libya invasion not to mention t

germany, we did discuss last night germany's role, and there is going to be a lot of work to do when gadhafi does step down in terms of getting the libyan people back on their feet. economic, political work that's going to have to be done and my expectation is going to be that there will be full and robust german support as there has been in the past from from germany on a wide range of issues. with respect to the economy, as i said before this is a tough and complicated piece of business. and, ultimately, europeans are going to have to make decisions about how they proceed forward. what you have to do is balance the recognition that greece has to grow, and that means that there has to be private investment there, they've got to make structural reforms that make them more competitive, they have to have greater transparency in their economic system. but given their level of debt, it also means that other countries in the euro zone are going to have to provide them a backstop in support and, frankly, people who are holding greek debt are going to have to make some decisions working wit

coming up, relations between germany and >> welcome back. chinese premier wen jiabao has been in berlin with a large delegation. the two countries held joint cabinet negotiations. china and germany, among other world powers, is concerned about the european debt crisis. an estimated quarter of the debt is in euros. china has signaled that it will buy a european debt to help stabilize the financial situation in germany it also like a frank debate -- germany would also like a friend debate over human rights, but the issue has sometimes put a strain in their ties. >> germany's contacts with china have forged ahead in recent years, politically, economically, and culturally. but closer contacts have not always meant deeper understanding. for many germans, china remains a distant power, and one that keeps the rest of the world at arm's length. >> i think the fundamental problem with our entire dealings with china is that we look at the country from our viewpoint, as a faraway land, and we never go to the troubled to look at what is actually happeni

which is in germany are higher than the u.s. -- wages in germany are higher than the u.s. since the cold war, germany worked as an ally to the u.s.. now russia has its own interest to protect. with natural gas and the close alliance between germany and russia, how will this affect u.s. foreign policy in the future with germany? >> an interesting question. on the first issue, you are right to say that the wages of germans are higher than americans. they have a cushy welfare state and health care system. it is expensive to hire workers in germany. there has been some shrinkage of the system. some efforts have been made to reduce the benefits so employers are no longer as worried about the non-wage costs of labor. but the main reasons the germans have done well is they produce good stuff. they have the best engineers in the world, and produce machines and ball bearings. there is not serious competition in other places. that is why they continue to thrive and exports fuel their economic growth. on the second question, i might disagree with you a little bit on your characteriza

russia is marking 70 years since nazi germany attacked the soviet union. on june 22, 1941, hitler gave orders to invade soviet territory. millions of people were killed in four years of fighting. >> this is an important day for boris. he has come to the kremlin to take part in the reverse. he still remembers the day hitler's forces mounted the attack. he heard the news on the radio and immediately volunteered to go to the front. >> we were young. we had no idea what war really meant. it was only when we got to the front line that we realize we had to fight to defend our country. >> june 22, 1941. the start of operation barbarossa opened a new and brutal chapter in world war ii. it was pushed to the east, came at the cost of some 20 million lives in the soviet union. boris fought in the battle for moscow. he was wounded three times and has long since made his peace with the former enemy. >> we did not fight the germans. we fought the fascists. i do not blame the german people. >> he can forgive but not forget. for him, remembering the heroism of that time i

germany -- we did discuss last night, germany's role. and there is going to be a lot of work to do when gadhafi does step down in terms of getting the libyan people back on their feet. economic, political work that's going to have to be done, and my expectation is going to be that there will be full and robust german support, as there has been in the past from germany on a wide range of issues. with respect to the economy, as i said before, this is a tough and complicated piece of business. and ultimately, europeans are going to have to make decisions about how they proceed forward. what you have to do is balance the recognition that greece has to grow, and that means that there has to be investment there. they've got to make structural reforms that make them more competitive. they have to have greater transparency, and in their economic system. but given their level of debt, it also means that other countries in the eurozone are going to have to provide them a ba backstop in support. and frankly, people who are holding great debt are go

there is a changing perception in germany. even germany looks to its own. >> thank you very much. >> that has been our report on the future of the european union. we will see you next time.

in germany, he has a temporary visa. he says he was overwhelmed by the cleanliness and care provided here. did you have that in italy, too? >> no, i didn't. in italy, i was on the streets. i lived on the streets. i was homeless. >> what are you most afraid of right now? >> i fear to go back, that's what i am afraid. >> unlike habib, mostapha faces an uncertain future. the courts have ruled he can stay in germany for now but it's by no means a final decision. >> the summer palace which once belonged to the spanish dictator general franco has been opened to visitors despite protests from the franco family. it's been argued that the villa was paid for by money extorted from the spanish people so the house should be returned to the state. after years of dispute with franco's descendants, tourists have finally been allowed in. the villa is surrounded by meadows and forests. it was once general franco's summer residence. it was a gift from the people back in 1938. juan and carlos babio's family was one of the donors. their gra

now germany managed. find some way to thrive and survive despite high taxes lots of social welfare benefits and high wages now these are things but here in the us many folks would scorn us business killers you know those lazy europeans they work less than we do and and get paid more than we do and have the social safety nets i mean a lot of politicians here in the us accuse that of socialism they say that it would destroy our economy they say that americans can't learn from their economies but we ask whether in fact germany has some lessons to offer and that's in fact the question i posed to the big picture tom hartman if you had to say. well with regard to trade germany has some very very colorful carefully calibrated trade policies particularly have to taxation that effectively work like tariffs so they're protecting their their trade economy but with regard to the short workweek and the unemployment which i think it's you know it's a bit more to the point of what we're talking about here they have a pr

now germany on the other hand is frankly not doing so bad it comes to unemployment germany boasts a rate of just seven percent thanks to policies that encourage companies to keep folks on the payrolls during tough times meanwhile here in the united states the unemployment rate hovers at just over nine point one percent that's nearly fourteen million americans who are looking for work not to mention the fact that most almost half of whom have been jobless for at least the past half year now when it comes to taxes germany has one of the highest tax burdens in the globe its average tax rate and the including social security contributions is a staggering fifty point nine percent now compare that with just twenty nine point four percent here in the states and how does germany manage to grow despite this huge tax burden right that's why we keep hearing from republicans here high taxes means no growth while exports and manufacturing actually leave a way i'm sure many and even more telling is the fact that germany ran a trade surplus of two hundred eighteen billion in twenty two and meanwhile he

germany and poland mark 20 years of operation. greece is the word of this two. never before has the vote of the parliament in athens been so crucial for the stability of the bureau's own. the prime minister and his government faced a vote of confidence within hours. with parliament was drawn support from the government, greece could default, a nightmare scenario for the of the countries that share the euro. >> outside of the parliament, the opposition is in the majority. thousands have come to protest against the austerity measures that the union is demanding from their government. the people here would like to see the prime minister lose the imminent vote of confidence. >> the prime minster and his prime minister want to get agreements for their austerity program but there just exploiting our payments for the gain of others. does the prime minister and his government want to get agreements for their austerity measure. -- the prime minister and his government want to get agreements for their austerity measures. >> the greek finance minister appealed for support.

versus greece germany and greece are on the same side in the sense that it's germany and france that lent much of this money to greece so if greece goes belly up a lot of banks in germany go up so they need to work together the question is whether there's a middle solution between just shuffling more money from germany to greece and cutting them off ok it's interesting. right go ahead philip should go ahead ahead go. i think we should not think so much in terms of countries but more in terms of the political elite and the citizens so of course the political elite of france and germany and greece want the euro to continue and of course also the venting system that the drone banking system the french speaking system that this lent to repair and maintenance of the government but it's not and maybe also some export us exporters want to continue but for a german consumer this is not a very and picks player this is not a very good deal with the america. they could import cheaper auto companies could import meant for resources ship or they could be occasions cheaper and we could buy vacatio

and here's what's coming up tonight on the big picture germany has announced it's going green pledging to explore all renewable energy resources over the next decade so america take the hint we continue our dependency on nuclear power after voting to cut funds for the environmental protection agency one congressman is calling for action from the very same organization he attacked. another republican hypocrite on capitol hill and there's a lot of voters or more some republicans annoyed at paul ryan's medicare bill the almost government shutdown and the battle of will on state budgets so with the g.o.p. voters still cast the same ballots today. germany is dropping nuclear power chancellor angela merkel announced plans yesterday to close down every single nuclear power plant in that country by twenty twenty two at seventeen reactors in all germany is the fourth largest economy in the world and the largest economy in europe and generates about a quarter of its electricity from nuclear power just like we do in the united states that already germany has shut down seven reactors in the wake o

>> well, to lead on getting the global economy going. >> but how could germany could that. >> germany can do it -- >> it has an export economy, the most successful around except for china. >> mainly doing what is necessary to stabilize the zone. at the end of the day, the american government is fearful that, mber one, europe will be stuck in a sluggible recession and not contribute to global growth and even wse in they don't do wha is necessary to stabilize the euro, we will see a repeat of the -- >> uld she do that without political damage? >>o. and the obama administration wants germany to start consuming more andheis reluctant. >> and also in order to stimulate the global economy, saying if germans are given tax cuts and can buy more this is helpful, but we have an aging society, we need to -- this is the crux of the disagreement over economic policy between the u.s. and germany. >> and i think there's one other issue that is in play, and nobody has answered this, but, one interpretation is that, this is a phase in german politics, mirk sell weak, she will come back. another interp

stalin was not naive but he thought that germany would not attack in nine hundred forty one he thought the attack would come late and he believed that he could use this pact to develop the soviet union's and sphere of influence and the same time. the red army and transferred industry you're on your own mountains but in fact he got it very very badly wrong and of course the red army was course deeply unprepared in nine hundred forty one your book is about the sort of human story behind the how did it develop militarily cheering the current. beginning and nine hundred forty one on the road i mean was that. by the order of nine hundred forty one the roads between two and three million in terms of killed missing and captured i think few are in the world could sustain that level of punishment and still carried on fighting and it was not madness for him in this high come on to believe at that point the soviet union would cave in and what was it that kept the red army fighting. the sixty four thousand dollar question an extraordinary mix of. brutal leadership tough leadership from stalin but

coli outbreak in germany is finally slowing. at the same time, the financial fallout is only beginning. european leaders spent the day trying to hammer out a compensation package for the farmers affected. however, spain's prime minister called the package insufficient. from the meeting in luxembourg, our bbc editor since this report. ds this report. >> there is growing frustration that the source of the outbreak has not been identified, and mounting calls for growers to be compensated. >> this spanish mep, curious that spanish cucumbers had been blamed, demanded that the honor of the vegetable be restored. you could sense the tension at the meeting. ministers from holland and spain objected to the compensation being offered. they were told to sit down. the figure on the table was 130 four million pounds. for growers, that amounted to 30% of the market price. spain later denounced the deal as insufficient. judging by the strength of feeling here today, the level of compensation is likely to go higher. the funds will come from an

environmental groups in germany and the u.s. have vowed to resist efforts to develop shale reserves. >> i am still thinking about that lunch with warren buffett. i hope the stake is good. >> germany is a step closer to getting rid of nuclear energy. the cabinet signed off on a package of bills that will make germany the europe's largest economy that is nuclear-free by 2022. a power grid will bring renewable energy to homes everywhere in the country. >> many conservative colleagues used to criticize his negative view of nuclear power. that change with the fukushima disaster. germany plans to exit nuclear power within a decade. >> we are creating a national consensus out of the decades-old issue of nuclear power. >> germany's social democrats have already signaled their approval. the greens are more cautious and are planning a special congress to debate the issue. they say the government oppose the about-face on atomic power is due to their own -- the government's about-face on atomic power is due to their own stance. >> if we bui

ironically some french nuclear electricity going across the border to germany it is as well as russian natural gas being imported as well as more german coal being burnt. i think it's important to look at the major countries of the world and if you do that i think you see that germany is an exception that almost proves the rule let's take the world's two largest countries. india and china both of those countries are set up on the path of very very large scale nuclear building programs for the twenty first century and they are not wavering on their commitments about objectives russia is not wavering britain is not wavering the united states is not wavering brazil is still committed to nuclear energy so too is france so too with south africa the major the major and even even japan has announced its renewed commitment to nuclear power along with a new interest in renewables but the fundamental support for nuclear power is there everywhere in the world except for this strange lot in the center of europe where the swiss are continuing to wonder whether they should continue with it or the ge

germany -- we did discuss last night to germany's role. there will be a lot of work to do when gaddafi does step down, in terms of getting the libyan people back on their feet -- economic, political work that will have to be done. my expectation will be that there will be full and robust german support as there has been in the past from germany in a wide range of issues. with respect to the economy, as i said before, this is a tough and complicated piece of business. ultimately, europeans will have to make decisions about how they perceive forward. what you have to do is balance the recognition that greece has to grow. that means that there has to be private investment there. they have to make structural reforms and make them more competitive. morehave to makhave transparency in their economic system. but it also means that other countries in the eurozone will have to provide them a backstop and support. frankly, people who are holding greek debt will have to make some decisions working with the european countries in the eurozone about how

trish ultimately it was going to be germany that would lose that war and it was this dreaded phrase a war on two fronts wasn't it will hit the believed that a war on two fronts could work if you won the war council soviet union quickly and of course if it had been one quickly that could well be in the chaos but once the war started dragging on into nine hundred forty two nine hundred forty three and germany was worst and the very marked which had behaved with a deal of decorum on the western front it's behaved in a completely different way nice didn't it what do you put that down. part of the war the german claim that it was fighting a clean war and it was. the you know it's behind me and it was the us that were doing all the unpleasant stuff that was not true that soldiers on the eastern front would do something to you certainly but many were affected by the race proper conduct towards the smallest towards the curious and the german army of the participated in the choice of two special service accounts that you use against the russians really important relationship or certainly knew

germany is under pressure to lock up in a tourist nazi officer who's been convicted of war crimes but remains a large cause karo father escaped from a dutch prison over half a century ago and found shelter in germany there's legislation prevented his extradition. and a russian intelligence chief has been found guilty of treason for exposing a group of russian sleeper agents and the u.s. last year of her good bye moscow court is being delivered in absentia as colonel alexander fled with his family just before him the news of the scandal emerged. as we had lines here until you're back at the top of the hour with more updates for you in the meantime though we'll bring you the cross talk with peter lovel. keep. a low and welcome the crosstalk i'm peter lavelle the euro and it's meeting with destiny the greek government survives a vote of confidence as its crushing debt ordeal continues unabated but this appears to settle little if anything the u. still has to decide whether it will continue to rescue greece from crisis has doubts mount whether the euro project has a future. king. cross-ta

turning now to the women's world cup soccer here in germany, the u.s. played north korea in dresden. the north koreans owns the first half, but the americans turned it around to claim the victory. >> it was not an easy victory for the u.s.. a feisty north korean side started out stronger. they left the u.s. defense gasping. the u.s. are among the famous -- favorites to win the world cup, but at halftime things looked unclear. but the american team folded together in the second half and started shooting at the no. 3 in bowl with dangerous crosses from both sides. -- at the north korean golgoal h crosses from both sides. defender rachel piehler delivered into the north corner in the 77th minute to, solidifying the u.s. lead at 2- 0. despite their loss, many realized that they need to pay attention to the north koreans. >> sweden beat columbia 1-0. the scandinavian dominated the game, but failed to use their chances. a pass was picked up by jessica evans from -- jessica lynn strohm. in wimbledon, sabena has become the first german to win the final since st

making bankruptcy easier is what germany might do. the idea is to reduce red tape and let the business sector have more say in your position process. >> lots of businesses closed down during the economic crisis, but that is happening less often these days. in the first six months of 2011, nearly 15,000 businesses declared themselves insolvent, a drop of just over 11% compared to the same period last year. the number of private citizens who cannot pay their debts fell as well to about 5%. the decline in insolvencies is another strong effect of a german economy. investors predict even better times are ahead. a duesseldorf-based think tank says gdp growth this year may top 4%. that would be the economy's best performance in nearly 20 years. >> to a story now that could mean big business. making bankruptcy easier, to iceland. >> that is right. we are on me now. i sent in the european union have begun accession talks. negotiations are expected to hinge on the issue of fishing rights. the icelandic foreign minister was in brussels for the o