"morning express" here on cnn starting at 6:00 a.m. eastern. and there's breaking news. other breaking news as well. there's been an arrest you know in that dodgers incident where the man -- the man who was put into a coma, they have arrested a suspect. so again, make sure you stay tuned to "morning express," cnn at 6:00 a.m. i'm don lemon. thank you for watching. hi, i'm zain vergee at cnn in london, here are the headlines. at least 11 people have been killed in an attack by the pakistani taliban on a base in karac karachi. eyewitnesses may about 10 to 15 mill tarrants were involved in the attack and they heard at least ten explosions and sustained gunfire. severe weather including twisters and tornados have caused damage in joplin, missouri. an american red cross worker says 75% of the town is virtually gone. the city of minneapolis was also

hit. the president of yemen's refused to sign a deal with opposition leaders to step down. the agreement had been brokered by make states. the ministers failed to convince fail the president. barack obama arrives in ireland today at the start of his visit to europe. as part of his trip he's going to visit the home of his great great great grandfather. i'm zain vergee in london. "world business today" starts now. good afternoon from cnn hong kong, i'm andrew stevens. and a very good morning to you from cnn london, i'm nina dos santos and this is "world business today."

from sink ronrow nized swim, the imf hangs out the hiring sign. and a "world business today" today exclusive, the mwe have t internal e-mail. another huge plume of volcanic ash shuts down iceland's air space is spreading towards the united kingdom. before all that we have a sell-off going on in the markets. asian shares down heavily. we'll have those numbers in just a moment's time. let's begin with the picture in europe. one hour into the trading session so far and indeed the trading week. as you can see, we have a number of the indices down by in excess of 1%. the heaviest fall is coming from the cac 40 and the dax. this sell-off follows the downgrade of the greek debt on friday as well as

standard & poors decision to cut its lookout. putting the euro zone debt issues to the forefront of investors' minds for another year in a row. let's take a look at how this is impacting the market. as you can see, the euro trading at 1.4014 against the u.s. dollar and 1.6145 is where the british pound stands and 81.39 is where the yen is trading against the green back. andrew? the european crisis worries that lead to a sell-off across the board here in asia. it's not just europe, though, it's also wall street obviously on friday. its concerns about what's going on in china. we've had economic numberses out thereof as well. there's a whole lot of concerns for investors here at the moment not to mention commodity prices as well, of course. i want to point out that number, tokyo electric power, tepco, they announced a 15abili$15 bil

loss and got rid of their chairman, their ceo, actually. they are down by 80% since the march 11th earthquake and tsunami, dropping as i said by another 9% today. looking at the broader markets, the nikkei finishing off sharply. the nikkei down by 1.5%. here in hong kong, the index down more than 2%, shanghai almost 3%. we had numbers out on a managers purchasing index showing it's slowing down, that the factories are not asking for as much. there are more indications there may be a bit of a slow down going on there. australia down nearly 2% as well. in the u.s., markets look set for a lower open when the new trading week gets under way. this is what the numbers look like so far. these numbers do change, of course, as we get closer to the

opening bell. the nasdaq down 0.6% and the s&p by 0.6% as well. nina. nominations more the imf's top job opened today. if you were to visit a british bookmaker you'd be forgiven for think that christine lagarde has it in the bag. trevor emanuel, he's on the bottom right-hand corner of the screen closest to me. he's making quite a strong impression. on the other hand, turkey's kemal dervis has ruled himself out of the running. the race continues. christine lagarde has come a long way since representing france. she was a synchronized swimmer back in the 1970s.

as you said, the early money may be on christine lagarde for the imf top job. a lot could happen in 5 1/2 weeks before the contract is signed and sealed. let's look at the pros and cons of lagarde's resume. there's little doubt that it will to some extent be a popularity contest. she's well respected internationally and at home. coming second in a french poll to find the country's favorite personality. plus the financial times, up in voted her the best finance minister in europe. and another plus point there, gender, she is a woman. the imf hasn't had the a female boss in its entire history and george osborne is among those who says he wants to change that. there are negatives, though. lagarde is still under scrutiny for her role in a multimillion dollar state payout to a friend of president nicolas sarkozy. a detail that could work either

way, the very fact she's french and indeed european. every single boss since the imf's foundation has been european and the last three of the last five have been french. it's a convention that many countries are now speaking out against, especially emerging markets. you want to see their growing economic power reflected in high profile roles. nene a, a tough decision awaits the imf's executive boards. its 20 members only have a few short weeks to make it. >> they do indeed. the eyes of the world will be watching them. the imf said it wants to complete the selection procedure by june 30th. the description has been posted online. and what qualities are the executive board members looking for when they select the imf's next m.d.? they specify in particular, a distinguished flord economic policymaking at senior levels and outstanding professional background. candidates had you persuade a member of the board to nominate them before june 10th.

assuming more than three people are successful, a short list of three preferred candidates will be drawn up. interviews will take place before the final decision is made. one thing is for certain, the imf will come in for a great deal of criticism fits short list is limited to just europeans. tradition has dictated the sfund managed by a european while the world bank has an american at the helm. a growing number of leaders, particularly from emerging markets feel it's time to break with that tradition. in a joint statement, the finance minister to south africa and australia said the next minister should be picked on merits. they may yet get that change. trevor manuel is in the running. and montek-singh ahluwalia, the deputy chairman of india's planning commission is another potential runner.

australia and south africa's decision to challenge the europe centricity of the imf is particularly significant because the countries are co-chairs of the fund's eform working group. joining me now is simon cox, the asia economics editor for "the economist" magazine. just picking up on that point, does this carry extra weight, the fact that these two between them are the chairs? >> you could argue that they care about the institution and have its interest at heart. perhaps they feel they could be a spokesperson for the imf. >> we keep on hearing the word merit. >> yes. >> the new imf must be chosen on merit. if yi look at the cancers all of them could be chosen on merit, on they? there's no obvious political appointment in there, is there? >> i think that's right. the end of this process,

everyone will insist the nationality play nod part and christine lagarde will get the job. they'll say she got it because she was the best person of the job and her frenchness was incidental. >> they've been saying you have to have a european to lead the imf, particularly at the moment, because there's a euro debt crisis going on, it's a politically sensitive topic. does that hold water, that ar e argume argument? this is going to be focusing the imf for quite some time to come. the euro crisis will be the defining problem of the next term. it cuts both ways. i think you need someone with stature and political clout. you can sit down with european finance ministers at the ecb and make suggestions or hurry things along. however, a european may be too closely identified with the failed strategies we've already tried in europe. perhaps detachment might help. >> if you look at the candidates, a couple names i

mentioned, manuel, montek-singh ahluwalia, would they in your opinion be good candidates? would they be able to step into those shoes? >> yes, absolutely. both of them are experienced. trevor manuel have served on committees in the past, montek-singh ahluwalia was head of the evaluation group at the imf that have scrutinized mistakes made in the past. they're both extremely well credentialed people. >> it comes down to a numbers game, which this is a vote at the end of the day. the u.s. apparently will back a european candidate, this is what we read. so really does it look like a foregone conclusion to you? >> i think -- foregone conclusion is too strong. i think she's presumptive front-runner and it would take a remarkable coalition of emerging countries that wanted to make a fight out of it to change that. >> is it too early? >> they don't have too much time. >> do you think it will poison

relations within the imf when someone is chosen because it's getting so polarized now? >> it will be interesting to see how it plays out. lagarde commands support, even in asia. she was in hanoi recently where she went down very well. she was the star of the show in many respects. it's possible if people decide they don't want to fight for this job, they'll congratulate her on her appointment. if it becomes a dogfight and the europeans and americans assert past privileges, that will poison the institution. >> thank you so much for coming in. >> thank you. >> nina? a source tells cnn that dominique strauss-kahn sought the company of two female staff members at new york's hotel, one day before he allegedly forced himself on a chamber made there. the former imf chief is being indicted on seven charges of sexual misconduct. if he's convicted, strauss-kahn

could face up to 25 years in prison. he was released on bail on friday and is bound by strict rules that amount to house arrest for him. dominique strauss-kahn remains hid an way under tight security on new york's broadway, the world's media has been treated to nothing more than a resignation statement. however, cnn has gained exclusive access to a letter strauss-kahn sent to former imf colleagues via his deputy, john lipsky. in the personal note, he tells staff that the resignation, this is key for his resignation. he says, quote, i cannot accept that the fund and you, dear colleagues, should in any way have to share my own personal nightmare so i had to go, he says. he also praises the staff for helping him to grow in his role, making a surprising admission about his in addition prowess. he said i come from a place painfully aware of the slide from economic damage to

political strife, war and destruction but i had only the vaguest ideas about how to go about the task. tellingly web also signs the letter off with the following, so my dear colleagues, i say thank you, good luck for the future and also au revoir. directly translated says he believes he'll see his former colleagues again. that's what it means in french, andrew. >> i guess he'd have to say that. he's fighting this vigorously. it's interesting, nina. being at the imf, this must be such a demoralizing time for them to go through such a public scandal. we don't know whether he's innocent or guilty. to have to deal with this while the imf continues to deal with major issues in the euro zone. it must be trying for everyone at the imf at the moment, i would have thought. >> yes, andrew. it seems as though the people i've been speaking to, they've been telling me, quote, they

like a ship without a captain at the moment and they can only wait to see whether and when indeed they'll be getting their next m.d. they seem to feel to a certain extent -- we should point out in this very letter i have in front of me here, that comes from dominique strauss-kahn, to his staff, sent i should mention at 6:01 p.m. eastern time yesterday evening to staff, it does say that he reiterates a number of the good efforts that they manage to implement during his time at the imf, notably addr s addressing the financial crisis, the euro zone crisis and crucially moving from a g8 mod toll a g20 mod toll encompass a number of those growing and burgeoning emerging markets giving them more of a say at the table. >> it's interesting. it's a fair point. in 2007 most people would say under dominique strauss-kahn with the global economic crisis, that he did bring the imf back to relevancy. it was in danger of losing its

way, being forgotten in the new world order if you like. certainly it became very relevant and continues to be relevant with what's happening in europe. >> that's absolutely true. that's probably given a number of these emerging markets, andrew. a little bit of a spring to try and argue the case that they perhaps should have one of the two positions. we should also mention that john lipsky, the acting m.d. of the imf who was the deputy of strauss-kahn will be leaving his position a month after the selection process is complete. june 30th. he said already he's going to be going by august. so, you know, it seems one of those emerging market countries could get that second coveted job. i mean, who knows. let's move things along. upset with their country's economic woes, some spaniards vent and others instead seems are voting their anger and frustration. another volcano erupts in iceland.

will it mean more air travel disruptions across europe? we still have that just ahead on "world business today." stay with us.

welcome back. you're watching "world business today." in spain, opposition conservatives have cruised to victory in elections as public frustration with high unemployment and severe economic downturn grows. voters rejected the ruling socialist party in both local and regional polls. on sunday, protesters packed city centers around spain to express their anger over europe's highest unemployment rate, standing now at 21%. more than one in five people is without a job in spain. the demonstrations began a week ago. many protesters say they will continue. >> andrew, the huge rallies have been taken place across the country. this is despite a court ordered ban on demonstrations there. al goodman joins us with more on the growing demands for change in spain.

a big victory for the opposition conservatives over the ruling socialist in spain's local and regional elections on sunday. but for the protesters in madrid and other cities whose demonstrations overshadowed the campaign, the big change they say they want in the political and economic system is yet to come. >> translator: we're ready to stay here and try to change things another way, she says. hopefully the political parties will react just by seeing this. the conservatives consolidated their position ahead of national elections due by march of next year. spain has 21% unemployment and the socialist lost barcelona city hall and the regional presidency. voter turnout was similar to the last local election. the prime minister voted early. the opposition leader went to the polls soon after. >> reporter: while the voting was going on across spain, the protest camp here in madrid was

carrying on its normal activities. their own form of democracy, assemblies here debating how to serve meals to the protesters. earlier sunday they voted to keep the protest camel going another week in madrid. besides eating, a number of protesters did go to eat. >> i think it's necessary we can go to vote and our grandparents did fight, we have the right to vote. >> reporter: this man also voted. he said that's not the point. >> it's not about voting. it's about sending -- changing the system out of unfairness in the system. we think that we need to change this. >> reporter: they've had what many consider to be a successful first week of protests nationwide. now, many wonder if this will just get bigger. al goodman, cnn, madrid. deja vu over iceland? another cloud of volcanic ashes blanketing the skies there. will it cause travel chaos?

like an ash cloud did this time last year? we'll be taking a look at where this one is headed next on "world business today."

welcome back to "world business today," live on cnn. take a look that the picture behind me. it's a giant cloud of volcanic ash and it's on the move. it's already disrupted some travel plans. the question is could it disrupt airline profits? it's been more than a year since the last ash cloud closed european air space for no less than six days. that cost carriers an estimated $1.7 billion. the volcano in iceland began erupting over the weekend, causing the cancellation of some flights in the country.

we go to the cnn weather center. >> i think it will hit the uk, heading into the middle part of the week. now, that does not mean we're going to shut down air travel in and out of the uk. we have to get samples of that ash to determine whether it is going to be impacting aircraft. we understand it's coarser and perhaps it won't do that. nonetheless, this is not looking good. it's kind of a take two here. take a look at our i-reporters snap something pictures in iceland. at this point what we talk about are the upper level winds. they were shutting down air traffic in and around iceland itself but as far as where that ash cloud is going to go, the upper level winds will carry that to the north for now. this is moving away from europe. certainly excellent news. by the way, this is the worst eruption this thing has had in 100 years. this is a big one here. the ash is going into the jet stream. we are going to be able to push that further and further to the

south and east. vanek activity in iceland, no stranger to that as those plate boundaries are diverging there. we had with it another one about a year ago. this say traffic did i not want to bring out. it is the volcanic ash advisory center from london butting this out. the red is the no-fly zone or the dangerous area for aircraft. this is the forecast for tuesday. that would be monday night and again, there you see it approaching the uk. we'll keep you posted on the latest advisories coming out of there. hopefully we won't have major disruptions. stay with us, "world business today" continues after break. this is cnn. because they've discovered the power of aveeno daily moisturizing lotion. the only one that nourishes with active naturals oats, it's clinically proven to seal in moisture for a full 24 hours. so skin looks and feels beautiful all day.

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live from cnn hong kong in london, you're watching "world business today." 19 minutes in the trading day, the dax is down in excess of 1.75%. heavier losses coming from the cac 40. all this after ratings agencies downgraded or cut their outlook. that means it's brought the euro zone debt crisis right to the forefront. >> that debt is four levels below investment growth. it's into four levels of junk status. that gives you an idea of what they expect will happen in greece. greece is one of the wall of

worries that investors face this day. we have some disappointing numbers coming out of china today on manufacturing purchasing. we have the u.s. obviously the weaker close on friday. all adding up to a sell-off. let's take a look at some of the big falls here in asia today. it's pretty much across the board if we can get those numbers up. there we are, the nikkei down by 1.5%, hong kong down more than 2%. shanghai down 2.9%. the hsbc purchasing managers index coming in weaker-than-expected. australia being hit by weaker commodity prices down nearly 2%. which is say big fall for australia. in the u.s., markets set to open lower. it looks like the sell-off will roll right around the world. this is what the futures look like. even since the start of this show, futures getting worse. we were looking at a loss of around 0.5% at the start of the show. as you see now, expecting the dow to open down nearly 0.75. in fact, all three main indices

there down fairly sharply. looking ahead to what's going to be driving the markets this week, there's another big batch of earnings. we have sony out, exxonmobil and costco among the big hitters. let's take a quick look at what's going on in the week ahead. on monday, obviously, this is when the u.s. president is due to touch down in ireland. he touches down on monday morning. barack obama on a five-day trip to europe which will wrap up after the g8 sum knit france. that starts on thursday. now, this wednesday we'll be getting numbers on japan's trade balance for april. economists expect the deficit to have grown after exports dwindled following the earthquake and tsunami in march. the bank of japan is releasing its monthly report. on thursday, we first ever all have sony due to report fourth quarter and full-year earnings. sony's share price has fallen more than 20% last month after 100 million customers had their

personal information hacked. so certainly a lot of people will be seeing what the damage has been to sony. we won't get the full damage but at least we'll have an understand of how bad they are at sony at the moment. in the u.s., look out for second readings in the fourth quarter gdp. the the u.s. gdp is advised up 2%. andrew, the markets will obviously be watching as g20 world leaders gather to hold their annual sum think the week. some of the key issues will include the arab spring, nato's campaign in libya and the afghan war in the post-bin laden era now. but nicolas sarkozy opens the conference on thursday. the imf leadership will also, you can bet, loom large. jim bitterman is live in paris for us today. jim, this conference will kick off, i assume the official agenda is already set.

boy, the subject of christine lagarde's potential candidacy for the imf will be high up there, won't it? >> reporter: well, it certainly will. we saw a little bit of sarkozy this morning, he was talk together g20 labor ministers this morning. what starts later in the week in doville is the g8 conference. the labor ministers from the g20 conference are gathered here this morning. sarkozy delivered the opening address, basically urging them to take unemployment and labor concerns, put them more in the forefront about economic concerns. with him was christine lagarde. he said nothing at all about the leadership battle for the imf. christine lagarde is now the front-runner. almost all the european governments, including the netherlands, great britain, germany and others are backing christine lagarde. where she's going to run into

some opposition is from the developing world. the developing world feels they should have a head of the imf at least once. the imf over the course of its life has been headed by ten different directors and of them have been french. there's a real question as to whether or not she will make another french person the head of the imf. nina? >> it's wonderful to get a chance to talk about the subject of g8 and g20 in france. of course, that is the major question mark and hurd that'll christine lagarde has to face. let's move on and talk about dominique strauss-kahn. we've had an exclusive look at a letter that was sent to staff by him. and it just goes to show hoy chris mat thi charismatic this man is. >> i would say it would be a tough battle for him to ever come back into french politics. he's been written off for the presidency in 2012. people have moved along, the socialist party has moved along.

the number two in the party is now the number one according to public opinion polls and the number two advanced -- number three advanced to number two. the fact is they're already making calculations in his absence. it seems so unlikely that he'll be immediately cleared of those charges or anytime soon, at least soon enough for him to be back in france to campaign for the presidency, basically i think people have written him out of the political equation in terms of the presidential elections. in terms of working his way back sometime down the line, he's the subject of an incredibly humiliating series of jokes here. there's nothing but one joke after another about his activities in new york. even though he hasn't been convicted of anything, nonetheless, he's a target and butt of a lot of cutting remarks and jokes by people. i think basically people have moved on and it seems really unlikely that he'll be ever again be able to regain his

stature here as a senior politician. nina. >> jim bitterman, thank you very much for that update there from paris. it seems as though battles on the home front for strauss-kahn and also battles on the international stage for christine lagarde as a potential candidate to replace him at the imf. we are joined now from the hague, an investment specialist at ing. we'll be talking about the markets. they are very much affected by what's going on in the sovereign debt crisis area of the euro zone. thanks very much for joining us this morning. >> good morning. >> let's talk about the downgrades for greek debt and revisions for outlooks for italy. this sovereign debt crisis is continuing, years on, it's not solved. >> no, no. that's clearly holding mark eliminates back. the fundamental outlook for equity markets is not that bad. if you look at corporate

fundamentals, they are good, earnings going up fast, even surprise on the upside last quarter. you see share buy backs, m & a. on the macrosign with downward revisions of leading indicators and with the euro crisis rekindled again, you see certainly head winds. we think for greece, the restructuring that being proposed. the lengthening of the duration of debt will be the solution, which will be reached right now. there is no other solution available because real restructuring will be too castly at the moment and would also have too much influence on the other countries and on sentiment as a whole. there is a high political will to go for the soft restructuring option and the len thinging of duration. that's what we have to hope for. >> thank you very much for your insights on the markets there. andrew?

nina, shoes, bags and shares, ahead we'll go shopping. the luxury goods market is booming in hong kong. that's got investors reaching for their wallets. and one hat fan paid more than $130,000 for this piece of head gear. we've all seen that one. you may recognize it from the royal wedding. we'll tell you where the money is going in just a moment.

welcome back. you're watching "world business today" today on cnn. >> we want to turn to handbags and shoes. a passion for some, a big business for others. jim ask jimmy chu, the upscale british shoemaker. he was made famous by the tv show "sex and the city." reports say the company is being brought by a privately owned

luxury goods group, labelux. they put the price tag at more than $810 million. jimmy choo sales have been booming despite the global recession. helped in no small part by advertising. milan station jumping by as much as 77% on their debut in hong kong. the city is the center for a lot of financial activity in asia and now it seems to be becoming a hub for high-end ipos as well. ramy inocencio has more. >> reporter: secondhandbags are first rate musts have for hong kong's fashionably budget conscious and milan station is the store where deal seekers climb aboard. the hong kong-based chain buys previously used brand name handbags and resells them at their stores across china, high want and macao. there's no secret to the success. >> i heard they have the most amazing handbags, et cetera.

i'm from europe where we're very fashion keen, especially on handbags and shoes. i wanted to come and check it out. >> for us it's good. >> translator: there's lots of variety. >> reporter: including new designer bags. milan station's business model isn't just pulling in consumers, it's propelling investor interest. in last week's ipo, milan station expected to make about $35 million. but actual subscription requests shot past $7.4 billion, nearly 2100 times more than forecast, breaking a 2006 record. >> with a lost growth potential in china, i think there's a lot of room for imagination and whether the long-term store riff the stock will live up to the expectation, it really comes under the execution of capabilities of the management. >> reporter: now, the ipo for milan station is a sign of more high-end to hit hong kong later this june, prada, the italian

fashion house will likely start trading here. that's after an expected $2 billion ipo. >> reporter: and prada's hong kong listing, the first for an italian company will usher in more to the hang seng. last week, coach, the u.s. leather goods maker announced an ipo by the end of this year, jimmy choo and his shoes, sampsonite and ferangano will likely join, too. >> they realize the growth in china and asia will be quite phenomenal. according to our understanding, the chinese luxury consumer market will grow from 15% of the global market to over 44% by 2020. >> reporter: and that's why luxury brands are launching ipos in hong kong. it's partly a big ad buy and

partly a downpayment on hope for future returns aimed at the world's fastest growing luxury goods market, china. ramy inocencio, cnn, hong kong. the luxury goods industry may be booming but it does have a darker side. in south africa, workers complain they aren't being paid adequately for work in chinese factories there. we take a look at the complicated relationship. >> reporter: at first glance, this rural village near south africa's east coast appears far removed from global events and their ramifications. but the impact of china's growth is being felt even in this remote corner of africa. cindy is one of many facing possible job cuts in south africa's embattled clothing manufacturing industry. the only employed person in her family of seven she makes $34 a

week ironing clothes. "we earn very little" she tells me "but at least i can buy chicken pieces and a bus ticket. it's better than not earning anything at all." in a country with a staggering 36% unemployment rate, she's still one of the lucky ones. but that might not be for long. her boss says he's struggling to compete with chinese imports. ironically he and about 4 acor so members of the chinese chamber of commerce and industry came to south africa a decade ago to exploit business opportunities. now he says manufacture them are battling to stay afloat. the south african government expects them to pay a machinist in a factory like this at least $68 per week but he argues that some are not producing fast enough for him to make that

money back. >> it's at 70 per hour. she's reaching her target. >> reporter: she's doing 75 at the moment? >> yes, yes. another one you can see is 60 but she's only achieving 50. >> reporter: your argument is they cannot be paid the same minimum wage? >> yes. >> reporter: so they pay workers less than the minimum wage, saying they cannot give them more and remain in business. >> some of our members are considering to close down here and relocate their factory to either neighboring countryies like lesotho. >> reporter: where they can pay workers less. >> yes. >> reporter: in south african manufacturers are trimming their work force or closing down. >> according to the clothing and

textile workers union, in the last three years, more than 18,000 people lost their jobs in the sector. with employers like lu calling for a lower minimum wage, the south african government finds itself in a situation where it's desperately trying to create jobs but unable to guarantee what it considers decent pay. >> china is a source of major opportunity. >> reporter: industry minister rob davies says china maybe shrinking the local clothing sector but south africa and the continent at large benefit from its huge mining investments. >> china and the industrialization of china is what's compelling the min tall boom. it's one of the major areas in which africa is experiencing a growth surge. >> reporter: a growth story of some major gains and significant losses, too. cnn, south africa.

on a different note, whether you're fascinated with princess beatri beatrice's fascinator, you'll want to know this young lady had a big price on her head, so to speak. we'll tell you how much the decisive define fetched after a battle royal on ebay. stay with us. new neutrogena® ws with helioplex. the first sunblock designed to be applied directly to wet skin. ordinary sunblock drips and whitens. neutrogena® wet skin kids instantly cuts through water. forms a broad spectrum protective barrier. with wet skin kids, your kids have full strength sun protection. try new wet skin sunblock for adults too. neutrogena® #1 dermatologist recommended suncare.

welcome back. live from cnn in hong kong and london, this is "world business today." it's being compared from everything to a pretzel to a toilet seat to a uterus. it's perhaps as much flummoxor has fascinator. it's been auctioned off more mover than $130,000. i am, of course, referring to this, princess beatrice's

unconventional headware for last month's royal wedding. it went up for sale on ebay. the money raised will be split between unicef and children in crisis. the year's most talked about accessory is proving just a little al truistic. certainly, nina, it will be talked about for many years to come, i suspect. i'm surprised she made it out of the car with that fascinator on her head. it seemed quite high, don't you think? anyway, not something i would attempt myself. >> yes. >> let's move along from talking about crazy headwear to talk about what's going on marketette. we have a significant sell-off going on at the moment. some of the indices down by in excess of 1.8%, especially if you look at the dax, and the cac 40. it really is a question of euro zone countries suffering today.

there's a main reason for that. late last week we saw a ratings agency downgrade the greek debt even further, would you believe it, putting it down there in the midst of the junk status bracket we also saw standard & poors having its decision to cut its outlook for italy over the course of the weekend. what happens is that it could be a precursor to them actually cutting the ratings of that debt. it just goes to show that everybody talking about six months ago about countries like italy, now italy is on that map, andrew. >> the euro debt crisis did not go away. a grim picture across the board, too, as you see there, steep sell-offs in hong kong and shanghai. a bit of a double whammy there. concerns about what's going on in europe. also in china, new numbers out from the purchasing manufacturers index which showed

that that was slowing a bit. that's a bit of a concern about the chinese economy. hence you get the hong kong sell-off. australia responding to weaker kprodty prices and certain volatility in the commodity markets. in tokyo, traders had their first chance to react to tepco. shares of tepco had already nose dived more than 80% since the march 11 earthquake and tsunami. it dropped today as you see by another 9%. that's it for this edition of "world business today." thanks for joining us. i'm andrew stevens in hong kong. >> i'm nina dos santos here at cnn london. "world one" is next.