find out where a site near you. >> great, well said. and your album the debut album by jeff bridges "the dude" is out on august the 16th . it's been such a pleasure. >> thank you. >> thank you so much. i really enjoyed it. that's all for us tonight. here is "ac360." hello. cnn london. here are the top stories right now. the death toll has gone up in the u.k. riots. police say a 68-year-old man died in a london hospital thursday. he had been attacked monday night. david cameron said police did not act fast enough to stop the violence. the u.s. is pledging $17 million to help victims in the

horn of africa. the united nations says it has received half of the $2.5 billion it needs to tackle the crisis. china says it is slowing down its bullet trains and stopping new construction because of an accident that killed last month that killed at least 40 people. the accident was blamed on design flaws on equipment. and syrian troop -- efforts are growing to end the crackdown. under scored the urgency of the situation there. those are the top stories from cnn, the world news leader. "world business today" starts right now. good morning cnn london. >> and a very good friday

afternoon, from cnn hong kong. i'm andrew stevens. you're watching "world business today" and the top stories for today, friday, august 12th, four countries go to protect their banks. a short-selling ban goes in effect today. >> growth slows to zero. and several reasons to celebrate. a reversal of fortune for this group, whose company just announced massive layoffs. let's get straight to the markets now, after some strong gains on thursday. this is where european shares are at the moment. as you can see, some tepid gains. we have the ftse 100 up about 0.5%. you see traded at 5188 at the moment. zurich smi, that market up about 1.3%. and the dax up about 0.6%.

one market in particular, it is france. let's look at the cac 40. this is the weak player at the moment. it's virtually flat at the moment. a lot of pressure on the banks for this particular market. the markets are relatively settled now. they were anything but earlier in the week, with steep declines of stock prices that sent investors into a panic. now, four governments have taken this step. they're going to reduce the volatility in the market by attacking speculators head-on. france, belgium, italy and spain, have banned short-selling for the next 15 days to come. that begs the question, what is this short-selling that they've banned? let's tell you exactly how you do it. what you do is you bet on shares falling. hedge funds do this by borrowing a stock. and selling off that borrowed

stock with the hopes of buying it back later when they've fallen and they market the difference. naked short-selling is when you sell the stock without borrowing it first place. the e.u. legislator says this would be from spreading the false rumors. france was potentially facing a downgrade on its sovereign debt. that, in turn, sent shares, particularly for the french banks into a nose dive. that's one of the reasons the cac 40 is one of the weaker sellers today. one of the banks which is on the shorter selling ban list. its stock price crashing 20% on wednesday, as rumors of its position sent through the market. the short-sellers also includes other big french banks.

among them paribas and credit agricole. and since that run on the stock, this is how it's trading now. as you can see down about 0.3%. paribas, slipping by another amount. and credit a agricole is higher. a lot of commentators are seeing this move by the four countries as a sign of desperation. it was tried in 2008, at the height of the crisis there. and i think the consensus was that banning short-selling then didn't have a huge impact. >> yeah. if you look at what happened in the wake of the lehman brothers collapse, back in 2008, as you were saying, in the united states. they did ban short-selling,

andrew. and the immediate affect was a rally on the afternoon. that was because a lot of people have borrowed this kind of stock. they find themselves short. and they have to try to buy back to cover those positions because they have to give the stock back to the people they borrowed it from. what happens in the long runs is the stocks fall after they stop short-selling. stocks fell after the initial rally. and they were down 26% for the next year. the particular financial stocks that they banned short-selling on. it can have long-term effects, negative effects in the long-term. and hedge fund managers telling me, it is a sign of weakness here. >> yes. a sign of panic, some would say. it's an interesting comment from jim channels who made a lot of money in the 2008 financial crisis. a big short-seller, as well. most financial institutions are using it as a legitimate tool to

cover their own positions. you're hurting people who are using it as a tool. there's a lot of debate about this story. we'll continue to cover it, of course. in the center of the concerns about short-selling, as we've been saying, is france. and banks may have received more than their fair share of attention this week, as has french debt, which is rumored to be on course for a downgrade. at the end of the day, investors also have their eye on the bigger economy. today, we have some indication on how the french economy is performing. and certainly, it's not looking brilliant. figures just out show that fans's economy did not grow at all in the second quarter of this year. that's a slowdown of growth of almost 1% in the first quarter. things are a little better on the jobs front, though. the french economy adding 68,300 jobs in the second quarter. that's 1.3% up on the same period a year ago. but generally, that's a pretty bleak economic report card for

france, nina. >> it is, indeed. you have to put this into context, andrew. the growth was 1.9%, as you were saying, nearly 1%, in the same period last year. but economists were expecting france's economy to grow by 1.2%. it has come in lower than expectations. that, in turn, makes people worried that france may not be able to balance its weakening growth with its growing debts. we're going to look at a closer look of the french economy by john randall. good to see you again. what do you make of the french growth figures? they are weaker than expected, aren't they? >> particularly disappointing. particularly in the backdrop of u.s. growth being weaker than expected, as well. global slow june. it simply adds a lot of anxiety in the markets and a lot more risk aversion and concerns about french banks.

>> what about these french banks? are you really worried about it? or do you think it's just market rumors? there's been a lot of rumor and counterrumor. the french sovereign raising is almost secure. there's no question that the french will do the deficit cutting program and balanced budget. they have a strong track record about this. there is concern about exposure to the southern euro zone. this is something we shouldn't get too overexcited about. >> is there likely to be more -- are there likely to be more comments, more headlines? we're going to learn about the exact exposure to banks. is there more to come? >> well, i think it's understandable that investors and lenders to banks, those involved with banks, understand

what's on their balance sheets. how much they have in terms of exposure to greek governments, italy. they did have strong capital cushions. and by and large, the french banks did avoid the 2007, 2008 crisis. they didn't have a property bubble. there's a lot of positives in the french banking system. >> we were talking to one analyst and investor on this particular show this time yesterday, who was saying he really feared for the future of the euro and the euros. we have a country as strong as france, the second economy caught up in the u.s. debt crisis itself. >> there's a lot of people who believe in the domino theory. i don't particularly buy into it. greece, feeling to get market access. the other countries, it's almost like self-fulfilling prophesies.

it's true that the euro will be bought or sold on the southern flank, italy and spain. both these countries have to undertake more aggressive deficit cutting. and also, stimulus to growth. at the same time, we need the ecb to be a true lender of last resort. and it's not behaving as such. it's coming in strongly on the markets. but it's also up to berlin. berlin has to work in parallel with the ecb. >> jan randolph. thanks for your time there. let's look at this part of the world now. most asia-pacific markets ending friday moderately higher, rounding out a week of, well, what could be described as extreme volatility. better than expected data out of the u.s., including lower jobless numbers and cisco helping to boost investor confidence.

let's go to all of the details of friday's action. tgif. >> back to you, andrew. most of the markets did end higher today, except for japan. the nikkei ended down 0.2%, failing to stay above that 9,000 mark, after touching it briefly this morning. automakers were the big pull, with nissan falling nearly 2%. and the yen has been gaining strength all day. it's trading about $76.71 to the dollar. that's hurting exporters in japan. in hong kong, the hang seng is up about 0.1%. we're seeing this is the third week in a row this index will be down overall. there's one major performance to fengs. that's li & fung, it beat first-half net forecasts. they're one of walmart's main clothing suppliers.

in shanghai, that was up about 0.5%. it's coming along with more speculation that the central bank won't raise interest rates to fight inflation. finally, down in australia, the asx 200, eked out about 0.7% gain here. losing before the investors cashed out for the weekend. the big four banks were up most of the day. but they were mixed. mining stocks gained. then, they lost ground. but they managed to close in the green. after all the ups and downs over the last five days, you might be scratching your head and wondering, where did the markets turn out overall? this year is the bigger picture. the nikkei closed down more than 2%. the hang seng was the big loser of the week. the shanghai composite, down

0.4%. and the asx 200, gained through the weekend. we're going to pick this up again on monday. >> here we go again on monday, i'm sure, ramy. that's fascinating. i suspect people would think that the gains would be bigger than that. volatility, such intense levels. at the end of the week, it looks like it's almost wearable. interesting stuff. ramy, thanks for that. crunching the numbers for us. >> more numbers to crunch i'm afraid. on wall street, the u.s. stock markets rebounded on thursday. what we had is optimism returning to the markets, thanks to, in part, a report showing that jobless claims fell to a four-month low. at the closing bell, the dow was up by almost 4%. it was a gain of nearly 4.5%. but the s&p 500, the broader index, and the nasdaq. the u.s. stock markets really showing a strong rebound. but, andrew, we've seen swings

and gains. swings between losses and gains every day. it's really a different picture to the one we saw a month ago, isn't it? >> absolutely. it's interesting, though. seeing this slight disconnect now, where you get the wild swings still in the world's biggest market. but here in asia, the movement has become much more subdued. investors are sort of stepping back a bit, perhaps taking a longer view of what's happening, at least in this part of the world. you're watching "world business today." she was once president obama's economic adviser. she will tell us what she would do now if she was still at the do now if she was still at the discover aveeno positively radiant tinted moisturizers with scientifically proven soy complex and natural minerals. give you sheer coverage instantly, then go on to even skin tone in four weeks. aveeno tinted moisturizers.

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. hello. welcome back from cnn hong kong and london, this is "world business today." >> barack obama has made a promise to deliver new ideas every week to create jobs and improve the economy. he spoke to workers in the usa in michigan, at a plant built

with stimulus money. mr. obama criticized congress for bickering about raising the debt ceiling. but he has praise for the workers of the plant for helping fuel the country's growth. >> factories in the world. you're helping america lead in a growing, new industry. you're showing us how we can come back from the worst recession that we've had in generations. and start making things here in america that are sold all around the world. and that's why i'm here today. i said it before. i will say it again. you cannot bet against the american worker. >> there's still plenty of economists who are willing to bet against the u.s. government. christina roman is not one of them. the former economic adviser to president obama told richard

quest not to write off u.s. policy. at least not just yet. >> i don't think policy is tapped out. i think the actions taken by the federal reserve on tuesday is important. to keep the fund rates low for another two years is a bold move. and it's something that can have an appreciable impact on interest rates. probably more of an impact than qe-3. that was important. and i think the fed will continue to be thinking about other actions they could be taken. but in terms of where do we get other sources of growth, we are, unfortunately, still in the world where consumers and firms are hesitant to be spending. and, quite frankly, i think the government needs to be taking some more action. so, here in the united states, were i still advising the president, i'd be saying, come out with something bold. come out with a tax cut for firms that are willing to actually hire workers.

and the way you make that fiscally responsible is say, you know the supercommittee you just created? let's have them do $3 trillion of deficit reduction over the next decade. pair short-term support for the economy with more long-term deficit reduction. >> and when it comes to the core question of raising taxes, obviously, no one's going to raise taxes in the short-term, although some in europe have done so to cut the deficit. do you believe the republicans who have basically closed their minds off to raising taxes, principled or dangerous? >> i think they're dangerous. i think more fundamentally, they're wrong. if you look at certainly the u.s. fiscal situation, you know, we have such a large, long-run deficit problem, we're, in fact, going to need to do everything. we're going to need to trim our entitlement programs. we're going to need to cut

discretionary spending. but we are going to have to raise revenues. there's no way to balance the books if you don't use all of the tools that you have. >> they are perhaps headed to the unemployment line until something spectacular happened. we'll tell you why this is not seeing the blues in the wake of massive layoffs at their job. that's coming up next.

♪ sing polly wolly doodle all the day ♪ ♪ hah

the view of hong kong there, looking out west. you're watching "world business today" live on cnn. stormy weather is soaking parts of europe. so, let's get the latest now. just how soupy is europe about to become? >> it's been soggy the last couple of days. at least for the first part of the weekend, it's going to stay wet across portions of the u.k., especially working your way towards scotland. look at the rainfall totals. 56 millimeters in 1 area. edinburgh, 53 millimeters. it is about 50% of what they expect for august. it is the dry season. try telling that to folks in berlin. this was a couple of days ago. right now, we're getting

scattered showers. and again, this is the pattern they're stuck in. and this linear feature across the top of your screen, that's the jet stream. and it rides from west-to-east. you can see the next batch of moisture that will bring rainfall towards scotland. and check in on the forecast extended period. and it looks like they're going to get rainfall for the next seven days across the northern portions of scotland. beyond that, looking calm and quiet, with the exception of the black sea. that's going to cause travel issues around istanbul. up to an hour and a half on friday afternoon. we know parts of the streets in istanbul have flooded, because of some of the poor drainage in that area. you look at this. only 18 millimeters of rainfall in istanbul in the last 24 hours. the last time they picked up rainfall was over 40 days ago,

on the 1st of july there, when they picked up four mill meters. it's been a quiet summer. and the storm system going to cause problems across turkey. in asia, they had a typhoon that worked their way out of. portions of china, things have quieted down there. another storm system on the horizon. shanghai getting some rainfall. possible delayed friday, into saturday, as that storm system shifts across the korean peninsula. >> thanks very much for that. have a great weekend. with the world stock markets all over the place these days, the question is, what's the best bet for your money? cnn's felisha taylor looks at the gold rush that's pushed the price of that commodity sky-high. keep it here. plenty more to come.

from cnn london, i'm nina dos santos. >> let's have a look at the trading session is faring here in europe. this is where we stand at the moment. it's been an incredibly volatile week. as you can see, stock markets, despite starting the day on the lower note, once again, will change tact. we have them all firmly up. and the dax up by 0.6%. it is smi leading the charge. let's look at the currency markets. the euro is weaker against the dollar, down over about 0.1%.

as we speak, trading at 1.42. when it comes to the pound, that currency has lost ground against the greenback. it is down about double the euro's loss. it is trading at 1.6197. the yen is at 76.66, to 1 dollar. volatility as we've been talking about. let's look at how the markets ended here. a quiet end, if you look at that. the nikkei down just a fraction. hong kong, up just a fraction. shanghai, more of a rally there. there is a general consensus that the interest rate movement in china might be down. australia, finishing the week on a high note. had a good week, all in all, australia. the s&p closed higher for the week. >> looking at how the trading

session could progress when things get started on wall street. the u.s. markets, at the moment, look set for a basically lower open when trading begins, as you can see there. the futures indicate we could see the s&p 500, the broader index, falling by about 0.8%. similar situation for the dow. but remember, some of the markets have been up and down to the tune of inexcess of 4%, from one day to the next this week. it is a very difficult market to call. and of course, volatility does reign supreme, andrew. >> i'm glad you say that, nina. take a look at this. this does say it all. this takes in the movement of the dow, from last thursday, to yesterday, this thursday. the last trading week. we start last thursday. down 513 points, 4.3%. that came after there was intervention by japan to take the strength out of the yen. and intervention by the european

central bank. it was, the single worse day since 2008. a slight rally there, 62 points. then, we get to monday. the worst day since the 2008 financial crisis. 635 points down. that's 5.6%. why? remember the s&p downgrade on the friday after the market closed. that was the result. now, we go forward to tuesday, a rally. see there? 430 points. the fed announcing it would keep interest rates unchanged. now, european and u.s. debt worries drive the index down, 520 points again. and on thursday, a blue chip ral rally, due to jobless claims at a four-month low there. this is wild volatility for the

biggest market in the world. where does it leave us after that sort of trading? would you believe the dow, for thursday to thursday, down by just 2.1%. nina? >> that really says it all, doesn't it, andrew? despite this kind of voltivety, investors, just need to stay calm at the moment. >> i do believe that what's causing investors to panic are problems that can and will be resolved. i think the u.s. debt crisis is much more containable, even though it's large from the kind of problems we had in 2008. the european central bank has within its power the tools necessary to stabilize the bank, stabilize the bond market, and giving the restructuring moving at a good pace in europe. >> peter morici there. and he had advice on where investors could put their money. take a listen. >> most of the folks heading to

retirement, are keeping a reasonable amount of cash. i don't particularly feel that i need to pull stuff out. in fact, if you have extra available cash because you continue earning money, as i do, i keep putting it in. i do it on a dollar cost average basis. i continue to buy in because i'm buying in at a cheap price. young people, i wouldn't say empty out your savings account. but keep on the program. and you should have a steady program of investing, with some in cash and most in stocks if you're young. so, with all that fear on the markets, it's sent investors rushing to safe haven assets. and arguably, the biggest beneficiary to that flight to safety, has been gold. this is how gold is trading at the moment. just over $1,758 an ounce. it's off of the high. it's up $6.50 this week alone.

with stocks so uncertain these days, the gold rush is on. and felicia taylor at the mercantile exchange is right in the middle of what has now become a fierce competition to get the best deal on it. >> here we are at the nynex, where the gold trading has been high. we're seeing gold trading at 1,787. this is the opening bell in the nynex pit. here you go. >> this is where the action is. this is where the game is right now. the game's in gold. 2,200. >> hey. 21 in trade. >> how is the open? >> i can't smile. it's a little hectic right now. okay. we just pretty much unchanged. >> do you think there's enough buyers out there to bid up the gold market? >> absolutely. i'm looking for $1,800 or better by some time tomorrow. >> as you well know, there's been tremendous volatility in

the gold market. they've raidsed the margins by 22%. in dollar terms, that's about $1,000 per contract. it's not that much, when you think about it in dollar terms. >> it was told to us last night, having a small effect. but i don't really feel that they're going to be affected by the margin. >> what you're seeing behind me is open outcry. this is the way that most trading took place for many, many years, until digital systems took over. what you're seeing is where eye-to-eye combat has to take place. there has to be a buyer and a seller on both ends of the transaction in order for it to take place. and people are writing things down on paper to confirm the trade. you're watching people going like this and like this. this is a sell. this is a buy. we had the equity market open at 930. are you seeing major buyers coming back into the marketplace?

you told me earlier, you saw central bankers buying today. >> there is residual sell-off when the equity market opened up. when the equity market calms down, there will be selling pressure in the gold. but selling pressure means what? $1700? $1,725? >> how does it feel to be one of the hottest markets there is? >> i'm enjoying it very much. i've been doing it for 28 years. this is the most excitement in a long, long time. and as long as it doesn't cost me any money, i'll keep doing it. >> 28 years. no wonder he has a gravelly voice. a lot of people these days know what it's like to lose a job. but how many find out they're getting laid off and then go and celebrate the very next day? well, it happened to a group of co-workers in canada. >> reporter: this is a quiet

celebration, something none of these employees thought they'd be doing on a thursday afternoon. until yesterday, their future was uncertain. >> wouldn't it be nice to win the lottery. >> reporter: tuesday, willard along with 200 of his co-workers learned they'd be losing their jobs. this morning, though, things have changed. willard and 17 co-workers regularly buy lotto tickets. this time, their numbers came in. >> i looked at the numbers. i had to have somebody take a look at them. she said you got them all. and i started to shake, vibrate in my seat. and i had to tell some of the people that were in it. and nobody believed me. you're joking. no, i'm not joking. >> reporter: a $4 investment has made each of them about $400,000 richer. >> my wife and me were wondering, where am i going to go from here? and we're going to make it. >> reporter: back at the plant,

others weren't so fortunate. still, they say the winnings are welcome news. >> i'm very happy for them. we're very good friends, co-workers. >> things are good now. >> reporter: now, the tables have turned. even though $400,000 isn't a huge fortune, it's enough for small dreams. >> american stratocaster, retire. mortgage. a little bit to my daughter. a little bit to my mom. >> reporter: tomorrow, none of them will be back at work. that's because they'll be heading to toronto to claim their winnings. let's take a check on the markets here in europe. this is where they stand, nearly two hours into the trading session. at the moment, we seem to be in positive territory. do remember that stock markets actually, for the most part, on this part of the atlantic, actually opened lower today. that just goes to show that the volatility still reigns supreme. and we have the zurich smi up

nearly 3%. that's a different situation than a half hour ago. things are really moving. we'll keep track of this on cnn as the day progresses. that's about it for us and the "world business today" team. >> you're watching cnn, the world's news leader. see you again soon.

this week on "marketplace middle east," a whipsaw buzzes through the markets. we take a look president. plus, from turmoil on the markets, to ongoing turmoil on the streets of syria. gulf states react to continuing violence by recalling their ambassadors. we look at the impact on future relations.

hello, i'm nina dos santos. stock markets in the energy-rich gulf states went on a rollercoaster ride this week, after an unprecedented credit downgrade for the world's largest economy. the ongoing debt crisis in europe and new fears about a recession were factors moving the markets. middle eastern markets were the first to open after standard & poor's downgrade of the u.s. credit rating from aaa to aa-plus status. we look at the fallout in the region. >> middle east stocks took a battering on the first day of trade this week. it was the first time investors got a chance to react to the s&p downgrade. the tel aviv ta-25, lost 6%. abu dhabi, its main stock market lost 2.5%. saudi arabia's main index initially lost 5.5%, but ended

back up in the plus column. the federal reserve's decision to keep interest rates low until 2013 restored some confidence. but the sharp losses across wall street, europe and asia, meant there was plenty of nervousness in the middle east. one of the biggest concerns here is the price of oil. nymex crude fell sharply, down below $80 a barrel at one point. there's concerns that economic weakness could impact oil demand. that has ramifications for the middle east's main oil exporters. one bright spot, gold. many investors headed for cover under safer bets. the price of the precious metal rocketed this week, above $1,800 an ounce. the volatility that's created a crisis of confidence around the world, is being felt on the cash-rich shores of the northeast. >> aside from outside concerns, the region's stock markets have

been grappling with the impact of the arab spring. violence throughout the region has led to key indices trading down. egypt is down 35% compared to this time last year. and tunisia has slumped 17%. both egypt and tunisia are looking to boost their economies after revolution and encouraging investors to return. we talk about europe's roll in the north african recovery. >> what can we do about africa? there's no question, we have to focus more on africa. we have to really focus more on africa. and we have to differentiate from country-to-country, also from region-to-region, in africa, what kind of help, what kind of corporation, we should then do and decide on.

>> you're a believer on the euro med pack, where we would have more trade between european companies. are you a believer in it? >> i believe that we should come to a closer cooperation. i think we are well-structured. well organized. we continue to look at the fallout from the arab spring. taking a stand on syria. leaders of saudi arabia, kuwait and bahrain hand a diplomatic slap to damascus. and from bread lines to fuel shortages. how libya's capital is feeling the impact of unrest. agicians ♪ ♪ we can't read your mind ♪ ♪ read your mind ♪ we need your questions ♪ each and every kind ♪ every kind ♪ will this react with my other medicine? ♪ ♪ hey, what are all these tests even for? ♪

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♪ [ male announcer ] the new citi thankyou premier card gives you more ways to earn points. what's your story? citi can help you write it. after months of standing on the sidelines, arab leaders are

now breaking their silence on the bloodshed in syria. regional powerhouse, saudi arabia, is alt the forefront of new efforts to turn up the pressure on president bashar al assad. the saudi arabian king abdullah condemned syria's crackdown and called for quick reforms. saudi arabia, kuwait and bahrain have withdrawn their ambassadors from the syrian capital. we spoke with robert jordan about what lies ahead for relations between syria and saudi arabia. >> the only surprise in a way here is it took the saudis and the arab league this long to condemn what bashar has done, in contrast of their movement to libya. so, bashar's atrocities, i think, have finally gotten the attention of the saudis and the arab league. they've been quietly behind the scenes trying to encourage

bashar to stop the violence, to stop the brutality. they were clearly ignored. they had no choice but to take this action. i think it's also quite important to understand, that saudi resistance to the influence of iran is also behind this because they view syria as a client state of iran. they have tried the last four or five years to wean syria off of iran's orbit, unsuccessfully. and this is now the result. >> so, when the saudis would have normally supported the status quo in syria, they can't be doing that anymore. the relationship has broken down to such an extent with iran, they're worried about iran filling the vacuum in syria? >> they're somewhat worried about that. they did not originally want a destabilized syria. even though it was run by a small, 10%, minority, who were

essentially shia slplitoffs. once it creates a vacuum, it gives iran a greater chance to insert its influence. it could be a sunni islamic faction that might be less inclined towards regional stability. >> the crucial question here is, with the saudis, speaking out in such an unusual way, will that have an effect on president assad? >> well, it certainly puts the saudis on the right side of history and gives them preeminence within the sunni arab bloc, which i think is also a design of the saudis. it unifies that bloc in a way that will provide, i think, more effective resistance by any incursions by iran. it will also play well in the west. so, whether it's effective in deterring bashar, i think is less certain. if i had to guess, i would guess

that bashar will go down as a consequence of this and his regime will not survive. >> the united states is also taking action, freezing the assets of syria's largest mobile phone operator and also syrian bank. the sanctions will prohibit americans from doing any business with syria and the commercial bank of syria, and its subsidiary in lebanon. elsewhere in the region, an international blockade and sea ports of moammar gadhafi has led to widespread fuel shortages and blackouts. the gadhafi government accuses nato of bombing electric power stations and pipelines, charges that the military denies. >> reporter: this is what downtown tripoli looks like, pitch-black, except for the lights of passing cars. widespread power outages have

plunged entire neighborhoods into darkness. on a daytime visit to a market district, some people told us they haven't had electricity in days. over the last two weeks, it got really bad, says this shopkeeper named ridha. we can't keep our food from spoiling. and some babies can't take the heat. >> this situation make the libyan people angry, bored. get tired from everything. >> reporter: tripoli's also suffering from crippling fuel shortages, causing huge gas lines. and even forcing some drivers to simply abandon their cars. hope for a reprieve died last week when libyan rebels somehow captured this libyan fuel tanker off the coast of malta. instead of docking in tripoli, "the cartagena" and its precious

cargo sailed into the rebel capital of benghazi on thursday, flying the rebel flag. officials in tripoli are accusing nato and the rebels of carrying out an act of piracy, charges the alliance denies. >> when this tanker ship arriving in libya, we have managed to alie the consumption of fuel for three or four months. and that will allow pressure on the protection. >> reporter: bread lines. there's no question the international blockade of the gadhafi regime is making life harder for ordinary citizens. and many here blame nato. >> go, go. >> maybe if nato stay away from us, i keep it from the libyans themselves, it would be much better. >> reporter: but in other neighborhoods where residents say gadhafi's security forces

have rounded up and arrested hundreds of local men, some libyans secretly tell us they support the campaign to overthrow the man who's ruled the country since 1969. >> we want the freedom. >> reporter: freedom from what? >> freedom for everything. we don't see freedom from 1969. we don't see the freedom never here. >> reporter: and so, the siege of tripoli continues. with some neighborhoods dark from blackouts, while near nightly air strikes leave other parts of the city burning. ivan watson, cnn, tripoli. that's it for this edition of cnn's "marketplace middle east." i'm nina dos santos. thanks for watching.