tomorrow the woman who may be the most dangous interview in the whole of television. she'll be here live. so watch out, america, because there's nothing that kathy griffin won't see. she's always outrageous, always hilarious. she'll be here for the hour tomorrow night. that's kathy griffin that's it for us tonight. hello, i'm monita rajpal at this hour. bashar al assad has given the okay for different political parties. after the u.n. security council condemned the ongoing human rights violations of the use of force against civilians in syria. the government says it's crackdown is aimed at armed gangs. the united nations says three more regions of somalia have slipped into famine.

one area includes the capital, mogadishu where an estimated 100,000 people have come looking for aid. the u.n. says nearly half the country is suffering from malnutrition. egypt's ailing former president will next appear in court august 15th as his trial opened. hosni mubarak denied charges of corruption and playing role in the death of more than 800 anti-government demonstrators. the trial of his rmer interior minister is scheduled to get under way at this hour. in eastern australia, a teenage girl is safe but police don't know who strapped a fake bomb around her neck. police say 18-year-old madeline pulver went ten hours after a masked intruder came into her home in sydney. those are the headlines from cnn, the world news leader, i'm

monita rajpal. "world business today" starts right now. good morning from cnn london, i'm nina dos santos. >> and a very good afternoon from cnn hong kong. i'm andrew stevens. you're watching "world business today." the top stories this thursday, august 4th, japan pushes back. intervention takes some of the pressure off the soaring yen but can it last? >> there's trouble in the banking sector. we'll be taking a look at the latest signs of weakness. we'll be hearing from one nobel prize-winning economist has to say about all this. >> and it's another case of deadlock in washington. lawmakers go on vacation without a resolution, leaving thousands of federal jobs in limbo. the japanese government intervened in its country's currency market fothe third time.

in a year. the finance minister says the move is to stop a surging yen undermining japan's economic stability. an overly strong yen hurts the country's exporters. many like toyota are struggling in the wake of the march 11 earthquake and tsunami. after the intervention, the yen weakened against the u.s. dollar, quite substanally now. right now one dollar will get 79.88 yen. let's take a look at the day's trading in the yen. it's fairly flat around the 77.2 level until the bank of japan stepped into the markets. you'll see a pop of slightly officer 3% gets around about that 79 level or so. certainly an immediate effect there by the bank of japan on the yen. >> you can certainly see it, can't you, andrew? japan's large companies were bearing the brunt of the surging yen for months to come. with news of this intervention, the nikkei shot up right along with japan's economic news as

well. kyung lah joins us from tokyo to explain all of this and these busy times over the last day or so. kyung, we should stress japan is an extremely economy. it needs to calm down the yen. it's made to exporters need to make more money on their sales abroad, don't they? >> reporter: well, absolutely. if you just go into your house, for example, and look at how many appliances or your vehicles may be from japan, you start to understand and get a slight glimpse into how much this economy relies on sell together global consumer. and the global economy survives on the u.s. dollar. what we've seen is over this u.s. debt uncertainty with weakness over the u.s. economy and continued uncertainty has been a plummeting dollar and then investors flocking to the yen. it's pushed up the yen. what that's meant for corporate

japan,ndrew mentioned toyota, toyota in just the past month, according to many analysts, have lost about a billion u.s. dollar just in repatriating. they need to help out corporate japan in order to support the overall economy of the world's third largest economy. here's what the financial minister said to reporters as he was explaining why japan was intervening in its currency. >> translator: while japan is dealing with the reconstruction of the tsunami zone, if the surging of the yen continues it could negatively affect japan's economy and financial stability. >> reporter: another important step was taken by the bank of japan, the bank announcing this afternoon japan time they wou be further enhancing monetary easing. what the bank is saying it would essentially do is increase the size of its asset purchase program by 10 trillion yen. that in effect would throw more

money into the market, throw more money at private companies and hopefully get them to re-invest. the bank's saying they hope that this in addition to keeping the interest rates flat and the all-out war against the yen by the government, they're hoping that all of this will start to control the surge of the yen. nina? >> kyung, that's an excellent explanation of how it affects corporate japan, especially corporate japan that is reeling from the effects of the march 11th tsunami. but we should also talk about the markets here. is there a sense where you are in tokyo that this is going to be enough to prevent hot money coming in and plowing into the yen, helping it to strengthen? >> reporter: well, if you look at what happened to the nikkei today, we saw an immediate reaction right after the governmentnnounced that it would be intervening in the yen. then we saw the market start to settle down toward the end of the day, ending up about a

quarter percent. it's difficult to tell if this will correct the jitters of the market itself, of the investor. we have to look to the united states. what's going to happen to the united states? even though you and i have been talking about the yen through all this, what it comes down to is the u.s. economy and the strength of the u.s. dollar. >> it certainly does, kyung lah joining us from tokyo. many thanks for explaining it all to us and our viewers. andrew? nina, certainly a key point kyung raised there, it's all to do with the u.s. dollar and the u.s. economic policy. adjusting currency values can be tricky stuff. this is the third time this year japan's government has intervened to try to devalue the yen against the dollar. it comes a day after the swiss authorities move to take the heat out of their ever-rising currency, the swiss frank. there remains big questions about the effectiveness of such measures. wel joined by daniel houy.

thanks for coming in. there are questions already on just how effective this can be in the long term. japan steps in unilaterally on its own to try to take the strength out of the yen. how successful do you think it will be over the weeks and months ahead? >> as this happened, that's one the big questions the market had, whether it would be unilateral like it was last september or whether it would be part of a coordinated activity by global center banks to try to weaken the yen. if you do it unilaterally, there's a muchesser chance of it being successful because the markets are so deep. it needs to expend quite a bit of energy buying up dollars and printing a lot of yen if one bank does it alone. >> if a concerted action you have more chance of success. but even then, over the longer term, we haven't seen that

success. >> you do need to expend a lot of resources to try to move the price considerably. it's because of the deep liquidity in the japanese yen market which is why investors and risk managers have been fleeing to japan recently. they see japan as a safe haven. it's a bitf an ironic situation, i think. >> let's have a look at the yen graph, because it's increased against the u.s. dollar just 4% in the last month or so. it's already strong as we know. you have to feel sorry for japan, don't you? this is really a u.s. dollar story. japan is purely a hostage to u.s. economic policy. as we've seen, politics as well. there's very little japan can do about this, isn't there? >> if you look at the dollar more broadly, it's been weakening and for good reason. the global financial crisis emanated from the u.s. and problems and imbalances it had in its system. the balance sheet problems that the u.s. still faces continue on. so really the dollar should be

weaker and you say it's holding all these other currencies hostage because from these other countries' perspectives, their currency relentlessly appreciates against the dollar. >> you would say as a currency strategist that the chances of the yen strengthening again would outweigh the chances of the yen being weakened by the japanese government or concerted action at this stage? >> our expectations is that this will only slow the strengthening of the yen. i think it's inevitable, in part because the dollar itself needs to be so weak. >> give me a number, 75. that's what some people are saying to the dollar? >> i think in the next couple of months we could see 57. >> i have to leave it there. daniel hui, currency strategy wift hsbc here in hong kong. nina? silvio berlusconi has broke his silence, finally admitting that italy is facing a crisis. he urged lawmakers to act without panic.

he insists that italy has solid financial foundations and that the current crisis is more to do with confidence than it is cash. take a listen. >> translator: it is clear to everyone that the emergency that we had to tackle recently is the direct consequence of a confidence crisis that has hit the international markets. uncertainty regarding the euro and uncertainty regarding the financial speculation. this crisis needs to be tackled with determination, without any panic in order not to worsen the situation. >> speaking of panic, silvio berlusconi's speech was delayed until after the close of markets in milan yesterday.

italian investors are just getting a chance to react to the country's debt crisis. the ftse is up by 0.25%. the bond yields are moving as well, currently trading just shy of 6%. berlusconi's comments seem little to affect bond yields. the yield is the interest investors demand to hold this debt. i have a report in high haand t italy may default but spain may just escape. this is coming from the center for economics and business research. it's not just the italian bond markets that investors and traders are shying away from. we have the head of trading services in italy for that company. max foster asked him for his own assessment of the country's financial needs going forward from here. >> what we assist in the last session is a self-fulfilling

loss of confidence. if you look at maturities for the debt is basically seven years. it's true we got a massive amount of debt outstanding that's equal to 120% of our gdp. we have 1.9 billion euro. the average maturity is seven years. i'd focus more on growth rather than worrying about the short-term problem about italy. >> these debt yields that we've been talking about, these bond yields and the way they've been creeping up, everyone is watching that. it affects confidence, doesn't it? at what point do you get concerned by those figures? >> certainly they affect the economy. we saw a breach in the 6% level on the ten-year yield and they didn't reach the 7%. hopefully they won't reach that level. if you look at other countries, european countries, ireland and then greece, we see that when their ten years bond market went over 6%, they had like a couple of months before they had been

bailed out. i don't think that's the case for italy. what i was saying basically is we have much longer maturities. in a way i think it is quite worrying. the cost of funding is too high for italy to stimulate growth in the next few years at this level of funding. >> effectively what he's saying is that italy doesn't need cash in the short term but what it has at the moment is a problem of potentially having to pay much, much more interest on its outstanding debt as the yields head ever closer to that point of 7%, which is what economists say is unsustainable. let's move on to the bond markets. it seems as though the main indices have been buoyed by wall street's positive ending. the lloyds banking group having to put out far more money than expected to pay for misselling

of pay protection insurance. the rest of the markets rising and the ftse down to the tune of 0.22%. andrew? a bit of optimism in asia as well. investors in tokyo and shanghai. you can't say this has any great long run here. there's still so many concerns about the position of the global economic recovery. and that indeed did lead to losses in other parts of asia as well. let's start in japan. the nikkei there, it overcame a lackluster start, obviously before the intervention. after the intervention the market turned positive, not convincingly, less than 0.25%. exporters getting the lion's share of the buying today as the currency weakened. that certainly helps to reign in the appreciation of the currency. if you look at the other markets as well, the shanghai, up just a fraction. up about 0.25%. hong kong, the hang seng is down

0.5%. financial stocks among the biggest decliners of the day. rio tinto, one of the big mining companies in the world, bringing out its first half results. and a little weaker than expected, actually. $7.6 billion, that's a net figure, after-tax figure. doesn't look too bad. less than analysts community had been expecting. the ceo, coming out with a couple of key warnings. one on rising interest rates in its key developing markets like china and also some real issues about the euro debt crisis and also the debt problems in the u.s. which he says could lead to destabilizing commodity prices which have worried the big mining houses. if you want to know more about what he's saying, he'll be on our show later this day. as you see there, we'll be talking to him from the london

stock exchange at 9:00 p.m. here in hong kong, 2:00 p.m. in london. nina? okay. you're looking there at the closing delve the new york stock exchange. and some relief on the street on wednesday as markets snapped an eight-session losing streak to stage a modest recovery. would you believe that had there been a loss would have been the longest losing streak for the dow since 1978. didn't quite get there. trading volume also pretty high. at times it was a volatile session. investors trying to square the disappointing numbers with generally good results from corporate america. earnings aren't too bad at the moment. certainly the eight-day sell-off was long, more than three decades long.

it raised the market gains for most of the year, the dow shedding 6.5%. the s&p down by 6.3% and the nasdaq just under 5%. big falls for the market as they digest with what's going on with the u.s. economy and it doesn't look good. another round of layoffs at yet another bank. who is it this time that's sending scores of work tortz unemployment lines? keep it here and we'll let you know. you're watching cnn. 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 now to find out how an aarp... medicare supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company, helps cover some of the medical expenses... not paid by medicare part b.

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a warm welcome back to you. from cnn london and hong kong, you are watching "world business today." britain's lloyds banking group has swung to a first half loss. the state-owned group posted a loss of $3.8 billion for the six months ending on june 30th. they had to set aside 5.2

billion today's pay back customers who were missold payment protection insurance on products such as mortgages and other loans. meanwhile, the royal bank of scotland has already some problems of its own, it's preparing to cut as many as 2,000 jobs from its investment banking operations. those cuts come as rbs completes its integration of the dutch lender abm amro. andrew, layoffs among european investment banks it seems at the moment are coming at quite an alarming rate. earlier this week, hsbc said it would be slashing no less than 30,000 jobs over the next two or three years to come. and then barclays says it will be cutting 3,000 jobs by the end of the year and ubs is going to lay off 5,000 stof over the

years to come. and credit suisse, about 2,000 jobs. that amounts to 4% of the work force and societe generale said it will be missing its forecast thanks to a $500 million writedown on sovereign debt. the stock lost more than 8% and was temporarily suspended from trade yesterday. as you can see, there's quite a bit of turmoil in the banking sector. the question is how worried should we be and how likely is it we might even be in for another banking collapse like the one we saw during the global financial crisis a couple years ago? joseph stiglet said the banking sector lacked sufficient capital to ensure it against another big disaster. he told a u.s. senate banking committee that regulators should act now to demand that banks beef up their capital even though that may take out

liquidity from the economy. >> i want you at the same time to be aware of the large risk especially under the current circumstances of delay. it is precisely because the b k banks are fragile, it's more concentrated before the risk, that the risk of a financial catastrophe of the kind we experienced in 2008 is so great today. the downside risk of not doing something are especially grave now. >> it turns out that the recent spate of signer atacks might just be the tip of the iceberg. a new report from a security firm has pretty sobering statistics. we'll have more details, including where the hack attacks may come from later on in this very program. but with 24-hour zyrtec®, i get prescription strength relief from my worst allergy symptoms. so lily and i are back on the road again. with zyrtec® i can love the air®.

announcer: when life's this hard, it's no wonder 7,000 students drop out every school day. visit boostup.org and help kids in your community stay in school. one of the staples there of the hong kong tourist business not to mention just getting across the harbor. that was the ferry, of course. beautiful day in hong kong. not often you see a sky that color these days. welcome back. you're watching "world business today," live on cnn. we're keeping an eye on two tropical storms on opposite sides of the world. let's go to jen delgado at the cnn weather center with an eye on both, obviously not at the

same time though, jen. >> we're tracking two storms. a tropical storm storm and a typhoon. we're starting off with tropical storm emily. right now it's battering parts of the dominican republic. you can see along the southern coastline, heavy rainfall moving in and spreading in. you can see it's affecting parts of puerto rico and moving into parts of haiti. as we go through the next several hours we'll continue to see weather conditions deteriorating in the dominican republic. hispaniola will be dealing with heavy rain. the winds at 83 kilometers. if you notice for yourself, it will be moving to the west, northwesterly direction eventually. as we go through today, it will be passing over very likely part of the western peninsula of haiti. then heading toward cuba later this evening and skirting up towards the northeast. again, we'll be tracking that. right now here's the area we're dealing with the tropical storm warning in place for the island hiss pan yoel la as well as in parts of bahamas. i want to show you video coming out of haiti right now.

it's detailing kind of showing you the preparations under way across the island, of course, more than 600,000 people now still living in tents. you see a hilly area. when you deal with all this rain coming down, we'll be dealing with the potential for mudslides because when you get these storms popping up, in this mountainous region, it enhances the rainfall. that's why it's a dangerous situation for haiti again. we're expecting anywhere between 25 and 30 centimeters of rainfall. as i show you on the satellite imagery, this is typhoon muafa. again, weather getting worse, especially in the overnight as well as in the morning. the center of the circulation will be move together south of okinawa. notice the winds, 167. as we head into the weekend, getting close to the china coastline and that includes

shanghai. notice the winds could see intensification. if you put that in the atlantic, it would be a category three potentially hurricane. we'll be watching out for that. and as i set, you can get a better visual of exactly how the center of circulation likely to move just to the south of okinawa. i lee you with video coming out japan. this is a lighter story. andrew, you'll probably like this. you're a snappy dresser and you'll probably want something like this, this is actually the latest rage in japan, air conditioning jackets to cool you off. it's been hot there. the maker of that has been selling out of those dreadful looking coats. >> how do they work? >> basically it has a fan inside, it blows it around and gets that air circulating in there. now, maybe if you don't smell so great that will be circulating that air as well. >> you want to have a pretty good relationship with your colleagues. could be a bit noisy as well. fantastic stuff. you're the first person who has

ever called me a snappy dresser. i'll hold on to that one. >> you know it. >> nina? coming up next on "world business today," we'll be telling you now nationalists in china are using the net as a key artillery in a war brewing in cyberspace. that's next.

i'm nina dos santos. >> i'm andrew stevens in hong kong. welcome back. you're watching "world business today." the long list of computer attacks it seems is getting even longer. any report from a security firm

says that an unprecedented series of cyberattacks on governments and industry are all apparently coming from the same source. cnn's brian todd reports on the damage done and just who may be behind it. >> reporter: remember all the recent hack attacks we've reported on, groups like anonymous and lolsec. according to a new report that was a nuisanc compared to one massive series of sner atacks targeting dozens of governments and companies around the world. >> what we're witnessing is the largest transfer of wealth, a form of intellectual property in history. >> we spoke with this man from the cybersecurity firm mcafee incorporated who discovered the attacks he calls operation shady rat whonchs were the targets of this attack? >> every single industry you can imagine, from i.t. industries, energy industries, governments, nonprofits, the united nations,

the international olympic committee, the world anti-doping agency, the association of southeast asian states. >> reporter: he says six u.s. government agencies, a dozen defense contractors are among those that have had data stolen over the past ve years, data like information on summits, military secrets, other sensitive projects. a common method used, spear phishing. what's that? i spoke to president of the firm ec council, the trained cybersecurity personnel from the defense personnel and other personnel. >> he's spearphishi me, what does he do. >> he sends me an e-mail. i'm getting it. it looks like it's from someone i know. >> it's a harmless e-mail asking you to click a link. >> reporter: hackers sometimes use your personal e-mail to get in. what the hackers are counting on

is me as an employee using my work issued computer to access my personal e-mail. if do i that, click on a link from an e-mail from a hacker, download that mishs software, that means the hackers on to my employers network and can move around. the report's author says these attacks were so large and sophisticated they could only come froa government. he won't name one because he says he didn't have the hard evidence. i spoke with an espionage expert. >> you can narrow this down to two countries, china and russia. when you look at the target list, yo have to think china. who else spies on taiwan? >> reporter: the report lays out a circumstantial frame that could point to china. the fact that the hackers targeted the u.s. and several asian governments, american defense contractors. and the fact that none of the targets are in china. contacted by cnn, an official at the chinese embassy called that assertion unwarranted,

irresponsible, an attempt to vilify china. he says china is itself often a victim of hacking and wants to work with other countries to prevent it. brian todd, cnn, washington. mcafee has identified more than 70 victims, some of them attacked over a spate of seven years. in operation shady rat, mcafee said the number of victims rose from eight in 2006 to a high of 38 in 2009 with subsequent declines over the past two years. many see hacking as a personal attack on another computer user or users. we've seen how it can impact business. as eunice uhn shows us -- >> reporter: wan tao trains the

next level of warriors. code named eagle said he hacked and shut down the white house website. it was a way to make our voices heard, he says. >> this is where you have friends, hacker friends. >> reporter: chinese hackers have been blamed for high profile attacks, targeting governments and fortune 500 companies like google. there's no evidence any were launched from china. he and other i.t. specialists here understand what motivates many chinese hackers. a key driver, they say, growing pride in china. >> one motivation for chinese hackers is nationalism. and where they identify with

china as a country and the government whereas most american hackers might have a negative bias towards quote, unquote, patriotic causes. >> reporter: juan has done his share of nationalist hacking. during his heyday, he used technologies to identify weaknesses on websites and computers before infecting systems with a virus or trojan horse. >> did you ever feel bad about it? >> no, no. you feel like you are the freest person and have the power to change the world. many believe china's hackers are the most sophisticated in the world. but the government here says it's cracking down on illegal activities with a contingent of cyberpolice. >> reporter: the government denies it's unfairly sithed out by its critics. >> it maybe plays into this larger narrative, at least in

the u.s. of the china threat of china posing an economic, perhaps a longer term military threat. >> reporter: wan now works at an i.t. company of beijing's version of silicon valley. "the government didn't support us," he says "but it didn't and couldn't stop them, either." eunice eunice uhn, cnn, beijing. gains seem to be cheering investors on this side of the atlantic. unilever first half profits up to the tune of 9%, lifting investors' spirits. when it comes to the ftse 100, one stock dragging on that market is loidz banking group. it swung to a loss after having to put aside billions of dollars

for misselling of payment protection schemes linked to mortgages and loans. we had the suisse re saying it was up as well. andrew? nina, here in asia we did see gains for tokyo and shanghai. exporters in japan getting a bit of a boost, after the government intervened in the currency markets to take the heat oust strengthening yen. it seems to have worked, too. the yen went from 77.2 to the u.s. dollar to just over 79 to the dollar. there has been at least short term relief for the exporters there in japan. but still below that key 80 yen mark. there's also a much bigger cloud globally. the slowdown is not weighing on just investors in japan but pretty much everywhere. hong kong down another half of

1% today. the shanghai up just a traction and australia. resource rich, resource heavy, very closely linked into the strength of the global economy, particularly the chinese economy, which is also slowing down. the s&p losing another 1.3%. on that note we'll say farewell for now. you've been watching "world business today" here on cnn. ahead, another budget impasse in the u.s. congress has some federal aviation workers locked out of jobs while congress takes a vacation. with precise pain relieving cream. it blocks pain signals fast for relief precisely where you need it most. precise. only from the makers of tylenol.

[pig oinking] [hissing] [oink] [oinking] [ding] announcer: cook foods to the right temperature using a food thermometer. 3,000 americans will die from food poisoning this year. keep your family safer. check your steps at foodsafety.gov. [oinking] welcome back. you're watching "world business today." >> another budget impasse in washington. this one involves the u.s. federal aviation administration. congress is on vacation but about 5,000 jobs still hang in the balance. the faa has been partially shut

down for more than a week now. only employees essential right now are on the job, that includes air traffic controllers and mechanics. now president barack obama is calling on lawmakers to get back on the job, too. >> this is a lose, lose, lose situation that can be easily solved if congress gets back into town and does its job. and they don't even have to come back into town. the house and the senate could, through a procedural agreement basically do this through unanimous consent and they can have the fights that they want to have when they get back. don't put the livelihoods of thousands of people at risk. don't put projects at risk and don't let a billion dollars at a time when we're scrambling for every dollar we can, get left on the table because congress did not act. so i'm urging the house and the senate to take care of this.

>> the u.s. secretary of transportation, ray lahood overseas the faa. the former congressman had harsh words for his old colleagues at the capital. >> this is the thing that really makes the public mad, that congress can't do their job. when ordinary citizens around the country hear that their friends and neighbors ought to be working on a construction site at an airport and they're not because congress couldn't do their work, this is what infuriates the american people. >> now, as ted rolands reports with the lawmakers out of town on vacation, those who are out of work and waiting have few places to turn. neil bolland has been building radar buildings for the faa for 22 years. he has two kids and a mortgage but now, without warning he doesn't have a paycheck. >> i'm incredibly disappointed and frustrated, particularly in

our congressmen and senators. they went on vacation for four weeks when they could have taken an extra day and finished this job. >> reporter: neil is one of 4,000 faa employees who are out of a job until congress passes a funding extension and millions in much needed federal revenue is gone, all thanks to capitol hill's latest game of chicken between the parties, both sides, of course, blame each other. >> unfortunately republicans continue to practice the politics of confrontation and hostage taking. and it is severely damaging our economy and the livelihoods of people across our nation. >> there hasn't been any clear policy for faa for 4 1/2 years. that takes a great toll on all of our programs. someone has to say no. >> republicans say the main issue is the subsidizing of rural airports. democrats say airline employees' ability to unionize is at the core of this fight. republicans want to make it more

difficult, which democrats say would help one airline in particular. >> the issue is labor issue. an anti-worker ajen daf one airline, delta airlines. this is what this is all about. >> i'm very disappointed for neil bolland and the thousands of others without a paycheck, it's about lawmakers not doing their job. >> i'm incredibly disappointed that they think this is appropriate, that they can go on vacation for four weeks and have a great time, while being paid and i'm sitting here wondering if i'm ever going to get paid by them. >> lawmakers are not expected back in washington for four weeks. or they could decide to come back early and deal with this, which is what a lot of folks hope happens. >> most workplaces don't let you drink on the job, let alone bring alcohol on to the premises. for this man it's mandatory.

that's next on "world business today." ♪ sing polly wolly doodle all the day ♪ ♪ hah

welcome back. live from cnn hong kong in london. this is "world business today." now, there's some work you really wouldn't mind taking home with you. richard patterson certainly falls into that category. he's a master blender for whiskey makers white and mckie.

>> you say hello, then you go back and say how are you? then you go back and say quite well, thank you very much. whiskey is very important to me. because it was running in my family, my grandfather and my father were whiskey blenders. whiskey runs in my blood. i normally get up at four minutes past 6:00 in the morning. in the office for quarter past 7:00. i see what mail is on my desk and i go into my favorite place. we pour it into my glass. swirl it around. make sure it's clean. what do we do with it? throw it on the carpet. it cleans the lip of the glass. this is how ready for assessing the whiskey. hug it like this. you've got to have not just 100%, 120% passion for your job.

you've got to love it. you've got to get into it. but you've got to make it really good that you can share with all our people. hello there. i'm been with whyte mackay for 41 years. i've seen 9 takeovers, 17 different bosses but my passion for whiskey has never diminished. when i look at this whiskey and sip it, savor it, hold it it my mouth, you know life isn't so bad. >> i've got to say, it's a little bit early for whiskey here where i am but he does make that look very april tiesing, doesn't he? let's take a look at the european stock market. things broadly speaking higher,

this is on the back of wall street's gains last night. ftse 100 still suffering today, dunn to the tune of about 0.2%, after companies like loiloyds posted a lost. the other european markets having quite a buoyant day, zurich smi up 1.1%. >> nina, we're getting towards cocktail hour. that's it from us for this edition of "world business today." thanks for joining us, i'm andrew stevens in hong kong. >> i'm and i'm nina dos santos at cnn in london. you're watching cnn, the world's news leader.