i'm zain verjee at cnn in london. typhoon roke made landfall in japan about three hours ago. the storm rushed ashore with heavy rains and strong winds. the storm hit south of tokyo. authorities say there have been four deaths reported. afghanistan's president says peace efforts will continue despite the assassination of the man in charge of them. he was killed in a suicide bombing at his home in kabul on tuesday. he was a former afghan president and the chief negotiator with the taliban. the 66th session of the u.n. general assembly opens formal debate today. on the sidelines of that, the u.s. president meets separately with the palestinian authority president and israel's prime minister. barack obama hopes to avert a diplomatic showdown as mahmoud abbas presses for u.n. membership and recognition of a palestinian state which netanyahu opposes. libya's new plflag drew a

standing ovation. the general assembly overwhelmingly accepted to vote for the credentials of the country's new leadership which promises to form a new government in ten days. those are the headlines. i'm zain verjee, and "world business today" starts now. good morning from cnn london, i'm nina des santos. >> this is "world business today." these are your top stories on wednesday, september 21st. a disastrous day for insurers, earthquakes and extreme weather send lloyd's of london deeply into the red. flights, trains and work shifts are canceled in japan as typhoon roke makes landfall. and better maritime security forces somali pirates to change their business model.

so plenty to come on this jam-packed show. we'll check the markets for you. first let's have some positive news to consider. the greek government says that it's made progress in its talks with the european commission, the international monetary fund and the european central bank. these three institutions often referred to as the troika. as you can see, it's a bit of a mixed picture across europe for the moment after those gains yesterday, some of the main markets shedding them with, for instance, the dax down .75%. and on to the currency markets, this is how the euro is trading against the u.s. dollar. as we speak, it's currently trading at a price of 1.3687 versus the greenback and the japanese yen still around 76.31. well, we've got some moderate gains here in asia.

stork markets ending mainly higher for the day. investors, of course, are cautious ahead of the federal reserve's second day of meetings in the united states. and the latest developments in greece, they haven't swayed them either way. so here's where things ended up by the close of play. a modest rise for the nikkei coming despite japan's disappointing trade result for august. exports were up less than 3% from a year earlier. and government forecasts had predicted the number would be at least double that. the country's minister of finance blamed the result on the rising of the yen, not enough to pull back the market there, but otherwise i can tell you all the major markets here are looking pretty healthy. for now. nina, we always have to give that caveat. >> the european markets, asian markets, let's look at u.s. markets. u.s. stocks raised most of yesterday's gains to close mixed on tuesday. the dow jones industrial average finished the day basically flat. both the nasdaq and the broader

s&p 500 index closed down but less than 1%. investors are increasingly nervous amid the uncertainty surrounding greek debt, greece's debt debacle and they're also concerned about what the u.s. federal reserve may do or not do about the direction of interest rates. well, bearing all of that in mind, let's look at u.s. futures. they've been covering between positive and negative, trade on wall street pretty much flat. really fractional moves there. those markets going to be opening in a little over five hours from now. get a look at that. i think people are really looking for headlines to move on here, and right now we're not getting any, nina. yeah, let's move along to company-specific news and also the insurance sector because, obviously, we've had many natural disasters, high-profile natural disasters this year. and that's taken its toll on some of the big plays in this industry. lloyd's of london has just released its half-year earnings

report, and i'm afraid to say it doesn't look good. a series of natural disasters in the first six months of the year seriously dented the uk-based insurance giant's bottom line. well, lloyd's reported a pretax loss of some $1.1 billion for the period between january and the end of june. that was one of its worst performances in the company's total history of almost 300 years. it also comes after a profit of $986 million for the same period last year. lloyd's doesn't provide net profit figures. japan's record earthquake and tsunami back in march is one of those natural disasters and that double blow devastated the country. it also took a big toll on the world's insurance industry. initial reports for the japanese government put the total cost of damage at more than $300 billion. and just a couple of months before that, well, australia was hit by the worst flooding in the country's history. extreme rains disrupted mining and also wiped out entire crop

harvests in the northeastern state of queensland. at the height of the crisis, the prime minister estimated that the damage could be running up a bill of $5.6 billion. those events undoubtedly played a part in the big losses that lloyd's has just reported. for more on the insurance company's figures, lloyd's of london chairman peter levine joins us live from the firm's offices here in london. good to see you. >> good morning. >> your first comment on these figures, were you expecting, given the number and scale of these natural disasters in places like japan, were you expecting figures like this? >> yes, it's inevitable. you know, for us at lloyd's, our whole business is predicated on disasters which we are there to pay for which they happen. and so when you get a loss, that's when you pay out. if you go back two years ago, we made record profits. last year we made very good

profits. we need to make those profits to fund the claims. we don't deem them to be losses. they're claims. that's our whole business. >> let's hone in on japan because that was, as we were just saying, devastating for the country, devastating for manufacturers, devastating for property. we also have a nuclear crisis there as well. to what extent did that dent your bottom line? >> well, if you look at the catastrophe claims in the first half of this year, they came to around $4.5 billion of which the japanese claims amounted to nearly $2 billion, so it was almost half of it. it was a big claim. we fortunately weren't involved in covering the nuclear issue. but this is what people are insured for. and that's why we're there. >> do you think that you're going to be running up further losses or claims from japan? presumably not all of the claims have been accounted for at this stage. >> no, we're waiting to get the final numbers.

but i think we've got a pretty good hand on where we'd like it to end up. >> could you advise that figure up from $2 billion in japan? >> in due course. all figures are subject to revision. we don't do guesswork. we report claims when we know what we are. but we also have a pretty good estimate what's happening for the future, and the market knows we're in good shape. >> we should also talk about australia, unprecedented flooding there. were you exposed to that, and did that also contribute to the figures that you're reporting today? >> yes, the floods in australia for the first half of this year were about $300 million. but much more expensive and much more dramatic than that was the earthquake in christchurch in new zealand, costing nearly $1.5 billion. if you consider that against a country the size of new zealand, which is a very small country in terms of population, that's a huge hit for them.

and they insure significantly with us. in effect, new zealand have what they call the earthquake commission because they've also known they're subject to earthquakes and taken very prudent measures in the past to make sure that they are protected if something like this happens. it's a big claim, but as i said before, that's why we're there. >> now, earthquakes are one thing because they're difficult to predict, but when we're going back to weather-related events, for instance the floods in queensland, we've had a couple of hurricanes also in the last couple of months, how do you hedge against that? do you use weather derivatives, et cetera, to try and predict how serious some of these weather conditions, extreme weather conditions, could be and what your losses or claims as a result could be in the next quarter? >> lloyd's has been in business for over 300 years. and certainly in more recent years, a large part of our business relates to natural disasters. i wouldn't just say weather

because frankly, we would put earthquakes in the same category as natural disasters. now, what we have to do is to use all the predicting tools that are out there to try and make sure that we're properly reserved for whatever claims may come up in the future. >> thank you very much for joining us, lord levine joining us from london there. he is the chairman of lloyd's of london. >> very interesting stuff, nina. coming up on the show, "world business today," typhoon roke strikes. we'll be live in japan as the storm shows its force across the country. stay with us here on cnn, the world's news leader. that's a recipe for failed investing. open an e-trade account and open doors, seize opportunities, take action with some of the most powerful yet easy-to-use trading tools on the planet all built to help you maximize the potential of every dollar you invest. successful investing isn't done by throwing ideas against the wall and hoping. it's done by lowering your costs

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well, let's check on commodities and check in on the price of gold. up this session, more uncertainty about the global economy, particularly about what's being done in the u.s. economy and putting up the price of gold yet again. so far as the price of crude

goes, that's been fluctuating this week. let's look at the nymex crude contract. we are back up on that contract. very much the discussion of global growth and what that will mean in terms of demand for oil has been affecting that contract lately. welcome back. live from cnn hong kong and london, this is "world business today." so before the break we were speaking with the chairman of lloyd's of london about natural disasters, hurricanes, et cetera. let's get the latest now on typhoon roke which has made landfall in japan. our meteorologist is standing by at the cnn weather center with all the information. good morning to you, jen. >> good morning. it made landfall earlier today with winds at 167 kilometers. that's roughly a category 2 if you were to put that in perspective. as we look at the satellite, it has been weakening. but nonetheless, we're dealing with strong winds as well as heavy rainfall. as i take you over and show you on our radar, you can see the heaviest rainfall coming down in the southern part and the rain

anywhere in the red shading producing in some locations about 25 to 50 centimeters of rainfall. and i want to point out, you can see that heavier precipitation working into areas including parts of tokyo and the winds, of course, have been quite gusty as well. as we said earlier, it made landfall, and that is in the prefecture. as i show you the winds right now, roughly 33, 54 for nagoya as well as 85 for tokyo, roughly about 53 miles per hour. now let me show you video of what it looked like when it made landfall earlier today. as i said, in hamamatsu, more than 200,000 people had to take shelter and abandon their homes as that storm system approached and reported by 8500 people are without power across this region and of course more people anywhere along the path of roke.

as i said, the winds sustained right now 167. as we go through the next 12 hours, this is the track of the system. notice it's going to be moving to the west of tokyo as we go out 12 hours, it's going to be just to the west of the fukushima power plant. and then 24 hours out, it's going to be back into the ocean just to the east of hokkaido. we're talking about very heavy rainfall and flooding will be a problem as we go through the next several hours. i'm going to give you a visual exactly where the track is. it moves off towards the north, guided by a boundary system. and behind that the weather is going to greatly improve. nina, japan really suffering this year. keep in mind, just 2 1/2 weeks ago, they were just recovering from tropical storm talad which proved to be deadly as well. that's in the western part of japan. and they had a lot of damage there. >> okay, jennifer delgado, as

always, many thanks for that report. we can take a closer look at typhoon roke which as we've just heard is lashing japan. our paula hancocks is tracking the progress of the storm from tokyo, so she's there and can tell us what it's looking like where she is. obviously, paula, we want to talk about fukushima, and we'll get to that in a moment. jennifer said this storm probably moving to the west of that, but how is it looking in tokyo right now? >> reporter: well, we've certainly seen over the past couple of hours that the winds have picked up significantly here in tokyo and also there has been driving rain. but, of course, it did make landfall south of here in the region. and that's the particular area and the key peninsula where there are fears of serious flooding and also fears of mudslides. as jennifer mentioned, there was a tie finance just a couple of weeks ago, and that hit the key peninsula very hard. there were significant

mudslides, deadly mudslides, and there is a concern that this could happen once again, that the rivers could burst their banks once again at a time when they're just recovering from the typhoon which has been called in local media as the deadliest typhoon in about three decades here in japan. so, of course, the typhoon moving closer to tokyo. it will pass west of tokyo. we're feeling the effects here. it has caused. transport chaos. hundreds of flights have been canceled. trains have been canceled between here and osaka in the south. schools have been closed early. many people have actually gone home early from the office to try and get away from the rain. >> yeah, let's talk a little built more about reaction to institutions to this kind of storm. tell us about the fukushima plant. also a spokesman at toyota saying there were canceled shifts at some 11 of the factory

s. this type of a storm shuts things down, right? >> reporter: absolutely. toyota's canceled evening shifts. also, we understand nissan has canceled or postponed its operations in at least three of its factories. basically because these are in the areas that are being affected. so it does have a big impact on business. the fukushima nuclear power plant, we've spoken to tepco, the company that's in charge of the power plant. they say that all the outside reconstruction work is canceled at this point. it is on hold because people cannot be outside in this weather in those contaminated areas. of course, the biggest fear is the amount of water, contaminated radioactive water, within the reactors at fukushima which at this point was being decontaminated and trying to be stored in a separate place. with this amount of heavy rain falling on top of that, there are serious fears that this could overflow and that maybe

this radiated water could either leak into the sea or leak into the groundwater. now, that has happened in the past. and we have seen there have been higher concerns about food safety. tepco says it believes that it can stop any overflows, but obviously with the amount of heavy rain we are seeing which is heading towards fukushima, there is a concern that this could undo some of the work that the tepco workers are trying to do at this point. >> okay. we'll keep an eye on things. paula hancocks there. we can quite clearly see the rain behind you. we'll let you get into shelter, looking very windy. live in tokyo, thanks for that. well, it's a business that generates billions of dollars and strikes fear into the hearts of ship owners worldwide. when we come back, we'll take a look at how somali pirates are now changing their tactics in a worried new way. treat you like a policy, not a person. instead of getting to know you they simply assign you a number.

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with help from the scooter store, medicare and my insurance covered it all. call the scooter store for free information today. piracy is a concern of ours. it is a problem that is there. it's not getting better. it's not getting worse either, but we know more than 700 seafarers are from somalia and surrounding countries. >> that was maersk's ceo on monday. pirates cost millions of dollars in ransom money every year. according to the one earth foundation, maritime hijackings deprive the industry as much as

$12 billion in 2010. until recently pirates made their money by holding up commercial boats at sea. that's as the world steps up its efforts to police the world's shipping routes while pirates are changing tactic. we have this report. >> reporter: in a resort that draws movie stars and magnates, police comb the beaches. earlier this month, gunmen stormed the island in kenya, killing a british tourist and capturing his wife, judith. at first, al qaeda-linked islamists were blamed. but now a disturbing theory has emerged. senior security analysts with sources inside somalia tell cnn that judith was abducted by somali pirates and taken to a remote central location in somalia. for the pirates, it's a marked shift in tactics. pirates grabbed headlines by hijacking huge commercial ships with corporate insurance, pulling in millions of dollars in ransom and always working at sea. by striking on land, security

experts say the stakes are raised. >> from a security standpoint, this changing dynamic in terms of tactics by the pirates is increasingly worrying not only for travelers to the local region but the fact that the pirates are feeling that they are suitably uncontrolled by any infrastructure of law enforcement that heeds them from carrying out actions into tourist resorts as we saw. >> reporter: the kenyan police say that there were 20 security officers on or near the island. >> they certainly must have seen it as a soft target. you know in the sea the entire international community has come, and it has become increasingly difficult for them. and people are looking for easy money. >> reporter: striking at sea is getting harder. the full navies controlling the shipping lanes to deter pirates. but kiwayu lies close to the border with lawless somalia, easily within reach of a small boat. still the kenyan police say that they were taken by surprise. >> some big questions will now

need to be asked to the kenyan government as to what security measures they can now install to reassure the international community and also tourists that are visiting their country that they will be safe. >> reporter: the government says it has stepped up operations and surveillance at the coast and assures visitors that they are safe. but this shift in tactics is leaving many uneasy, questions as the fight against piracy is a new phase. david mckenzie, cnn, nairobi, kenya. now, there's not much to dance about when it comes to the u.s. economy, but the fed has a name for some new moves meant to boost economic growth. the twist. we'll have more on that. it's just ahead on "world business today."

from cnn london, i'm nina del santos. >> at cnn hong kong, a warm welcome back to "world business today." >> let's see what's going on in the european markets. third day of the week, trading session of the week, and as you can see, we have surrendered most of the gains that we saw yesterday. pretty substantial gains yesterday amid optimism that greece could be near eventually negotiating that extra tranche of money from the troika. as you can see, despite positive signs on the greek front, the markets shrugging that off. one of the reasons behind that is an imf. the dax now down by twice as much in percentage terms as to what it was just half an hour ago. here in asia, nina, stock markets ending mainly higher for the day.

a somewhat different picture than europe. the nikkei rising slightly this session despite a disappointing result in japan. there are the closing numbers for you. you see the hang seng pulling back somewhat. you had some of the bigger chinese listings doing rather well today. more focus again on china and whether or not it can weather the economic storm raging all over the world. now, of course, all eyes are on the u.s. federal reserve as it tries to breathe new life into the ailing american economy. as a two-day meeting ends this wednesday, a new strategy is expected. it is called "operation twist." as felicia taylor explains, it's not completely new. >> reporter: the fed's first "operation twist" was launched back in 1961 during the kennedy administration. the fed originally called the program "operation nudge," but legend has it that traders nicknamed it "operation twist" after the dance craze at the time made famous by chubby checker. ♪ and now 50 years later, the

twist appears to be back in fashion. the fed could announce as soon as this week that it's dusting off the program in another attempt to boost economic growth by lowering long-term interest rates. and here's how "operation twist" might play out. for the past few years the fed has been buying massive amounts of both long and short-term treasuries to give support to the economy. so one way that it would work is for the fed to sell a portion of its short-term debt and put more money into longer-term debt. it would simply shift its holdings but not expand its balance sheet in any way. this should leave short-term rates pretty much the same, but it could lower long-term rates. and that's the point. that could lower borrowing costs for businesses and homeowners and help stimulate the economy by encouraging borrowing and forcing investors to move into riskier assets. but one big question is how much money the fed might put into "operation twist." some estimates say as little as $20 billion. but others say in order to be effective, the fed needs to put

more like $500 billion in longer-term debt to make a difference. but over the past year, the ten-year treasury has already seen yields fall off a cliff beginning in august as the debt ceiling battle raged and the eurozone prices deepened. demand for treasuries have been so great that the ten-year yield briefly fell to below 2% to half-sentry lows. some suggest lowering rates even further won't be enough to persuade businesses and consumers to spend. one thing is certain. there will be many twists to this story if the fed agrees to launch "operation twist." felicia taylor, cnn, new york. well, as i was just saying a couple of moments ago, there has been a stark warning from the international monetary fund. the global economy says it's in a dangerous new phase that could push europe and the united states into recession. well, the fund says that global economic activity has weakened, that confidence has fallen sharply and also the downside risks, it seems, are growing.

gdp in advanced economies will probably grow at just 1.5% and 2% next year. so 1.5% for 2011, 2.5% for 2012. however, these numbers due to a number of things that as yet remain uncertain, frankly. one, that european policymakers contain the crisis in the euro area, and that u.s. policymakers strike a balance between stimulus and also austerity. and also that volatility in the world's global financial markets doesn't escalate from the levels we've seen of late. all in all, those are some three pretty big assumptions. well, the world bank president says time for muddling through this crisis is over. he says that the rest of the world is watching and waiting for the eurozone and the united states to sort out their economic problems once and for all. our max foster asked him if he agreed with the irs view that the situation was getting more serious. >> i think that they're

suggesting the odds are increased, and i agree with that. but what we started to see in august was the contagion effects of the issues in europe and the united states. and so for emerging markets, debt, for example, the bond yields in the spread increased some 70 basis points, about three-quarters of a percentage point. the equity markets, the stock markets, took hits as the developing countries did. the developing countries have already been suffering through the slow exports to the developed world. and the issue that i suggest that we have to watch closely is the domestic demand in emerging markets so their consumer confidence, the business investment, if that also starts to get influenced like developed countries do, then we'll lose what's really been in the bright spot in the world economy, the emerging markets which have represented about a half of global growth. >> and the imf is interesting because it's talking about the westphaling back, possibly

falling back into recession if political indecision continues. also talking about the emerging markets and potentially overheating, going the opposite way. but that's damaging, isn't it, if it goes on? >> yeah, that was really the issue that was in the forefront of people's concerns through august because the emerging markets have come back very well. they've been a good source of growth. but the risk was overheating. now the developing country policymakers have to walk a very fine line because we still see, for example, high food prices. and that affects a lot of their inflation indices because food is a more important, larger component of the household purchasing. but at the same time, they may be seeing the ripple effects that i mentioned in terms of the falloff of demand. >> now, don't forget if you want to comment on that or any of the stories you've seen on this show, get in touch with the whole of the team. you can do so via our facebook page. just go to facebook.com/cnnwbt,

let us know your thoughts. let's bring you up to date now on some of the other business headlines that we're following today. board members of the recently embarrassed swiss bank ubs are gathering in singapore today as part of a planned meeting leading up to the formula one races. ubs is a major sponsor of that event. the ceo has used this opportunity to express his disappointment with the latest trading scandal which has cost the bank $2.3 billion. and said he would, quote, bear the consequences. meanwhile, shareholders are putting pressure on the bank to make changes in its investment business to limit unnecessary risk. one of those shareholders includes the bank's biggest investor, government of singapore investment corp. and three companies will testify alongside google when it faces an antitrust hearing in washington. that's happening later on wednesday. former ceo eric schmidt will represent going the at that inquiry. the hearing will examine whether google has abused its dominant

position on the internet. yelp and expedia says the search giant gives preferential treatment to its own products online and buries the search results of rival companies. google, for its part, is denying that it profits by punishing other search engines. it now controls around two-thirds of the global search market. after the break, chicken and rice. chicken exports ruffle feathers in the u.s. while rice proves to be a bit of a sticky issue in terms of prices. we'll be serving that up right on this very show just ahead. and tastes simply delicious. for those of us with lactose intolerance... lactaid® milk. the original 100% lactose-free milk. at aviva, we wonder why other life insurance companies treat you like a policy, not a person. instead of getting to know you they simply assign you a number.

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tariffs on american chickens have wiped out about 90% of u.s. poultry exports in the world's biggest market. now the u.s. has septembernt a to challenge the tariffs which it estimates cost the u.s. chicken industry between $500 million and $1 billion. the move is the latest spat in the fractious relationship between the two countries. some say that the chicken tariff was levied in retaliation for imports on chinese chicken and automobile tires. but china accuses the u.s. of dumping chicken on the chinese market. a statement on china's trade ministry website says that the tariffs on american chickens are in line with international law and wto regulations. well, let's keep with the food theme and turn to another big issue certainly here in asia. thailand is the world's number one exporter of rice, supplying some one-third of the globe's entire exported supply. but following the election of

prime minister chinnawat in july, a new policy shift may push the international price of rice higher. our business analyst joins us now with the details. so what's this one all about? >> yeah, well, the price of rice may indeed rise. in fact, it's already been doing so over the past six months. an hsbc note just out today says that since march the price of rice has risen by about 7%. but in that same period, the imf's own index, own food index, has fallen by about this much, 2.2%, while the price of another staple, wheat, has fallen by 4%. so basically the question, what is happening with rice? well, the answer lies here. in thailand. the thai prime minister who was elected in july is about to start delivering on one of her campaign promises. that is a pledge to buy rice from farmers at a price as much as 40% above the current market price.

and that's about $500 per metric ton. with the prospect of a higher payout looming in the near future, traders and consumers are starting to actually hoard rice which is also pushing up the rice. and that new policy is set to take effect october 7th. in addition to pressures from thailand, hsbc also notes that there may also be growing demand for rice from japan. after the march 11 fukushima disaster, japan lost an estimated 1.5 million tons of rice because of radiation. so tokyo may step into the international market moving forward. and if rice prices continue to rise, exporters across the region may start hoarding their own stocks. we saw that in 2008, the world's second largeest rice exporter, restricted its exports instead of sending more to help boost supply. >> well, let's talk a little bit about those countries that might be a bit more resilient. you mentioned japan. it's fairly self-sufficient. and vietnam, second only to

thailand in rice production. are there countries that will be insulated from rising prices and are there others that won't be? >> take a look. these countries in green are the self-sufficient ones in rice production. and they include china, india, pakistan, vietnam and, of course, thailand which i mentioned. and they would be relatively protected as rice prices rise. these countries here in yellow, japan and south korea in particular are just about able to meet domestic demand. they're at a bit of a break-even point. but it's this countries here in red that are rice reliant. indonesia, malaysia as well as the philippines. none of these countries here, the philippines is actually the most sensitive to price changes. that's because rice makes up 9% of the country's domestic consumption basket. and that's the biggest percentage in all of asia. looking ahead, hsbc says we shouldn't see price hikes as high as we did in 2008. that is when rice actually hit $1,000 per metric ton.

that was in april of 2008. but right now we're seeing prices at about $570 per ton right here in august. this is at a 17-month high, though, according to the indexes. and as i said before, this is expected to rise. >> yeah, that spike, i think that tells the whole story. thank you so much. up next, it's something all of us strive for, a better work/life balance. so how much more difficult is it when you're actually in charge of the company? we'll catch up with the ceo of mywardrobe.com and take a look at how some top bosses juggle their work and personal lives.

let's take another look at the price of gold. session rising some $8 or so. up about 0.2% on the session. a warm welcome back. we're live from cnn hong kong and london. this is "world business today." now, being the boss has its perks. you can choose your own direction without anyone else telling you with a to do. but it also has its challenges. and that's especially true when it comes to your work/life balance. and if you have a family, it can be even more tricky. andrea jung is the chairman and ceo of avon. this lady says that some days the company wins and some days her children win. she says you can't have it all, not in one single day. she says you have to make a choice. let's take another look at another example here. jean jackson is the president of

direct-to-consumer nike. she says it's okay to take a break. then there's this lady, the chairman and ceo of pepsico. she says that sometimes she has to call her family together and say that basically she's not likely to be home for quite a while. well, the ceo of mywardrobe.com has been out of the office for a while for a summer break. she says that it's difficult to make her company appreciate that she also has a son. for sara, it's time to go back to work. >> previously on "the boss," finding the perfect fit. sarah curran draws up fresh tactics to help grow her customer base. >> we're using existing team members to really help create a visual identity and a real person. >> hey, sophie, it's sarah.

>> reporter: sarah curran is back at work. feeling refreshed and refocused after a six-week break. already she's throwing herself into her hectic schedule. >> all right. i'm in paris tomorrow, but let me know anyway. >> reporter: the summer break has been sarah's first opportunity to completely shut off from her business. something she's been unable to do since she launched mywardrobe.com in 2006. >> it was a really hard decision to take time out of the business. and it was always something i thought i would never be able to do. i'd get this feeling of nausea. >> reporter: this last year has been a busy one for this boss. sarah has rebranded and relaunched mywardrobe. >> it's been a truly incredible journey. >> reporter: we've seen her

expand her senior management team with three new additions. >> welcome. >> thank you very much. >> reporter: and only recently we've seen her take on menswear. >> i think with men, the photography has to be even more detailed. >> reporter: today she sees her role with fresh eyes. acknowledging the difficulties of being a mother and a female ceo. the sacrifices she's had to make to get here. >> so talk me through how many people are going to be there. >> we've got 15 so far. >> mywardrobe is part of me. and you kind of lose your own identity in a strange way. because i'm so, you know, if i'm not at work, i'm with my son or, you know, or it's the weekends and i'm socializing with friends. but work is all-consuming for me. so to have that time away, to not be sarah for mywardrobe to just be sarah and to be a mom, for me personally was what was the time i needed.

is it one or two in september? >> you've just got the one in october. >> reporter: dividing her time between both of these roles has been a real challenge for sarah. a frustration of sorts. >> i think over the last six years, it's been a managing of guilt one way or another. i either feel guilty i'm not spending time with jake or i'm not doing enough with work. it's just managing of guilt. and the frustration is still there. but actually, i'm a little bit more relaxed about it. i would change it to uk's most stylish. >> reporter: the break has made her aware of the issues that come with being a ceo. more importantly, she's learned she can't deal with them all at once. >> we want to give it more of the global spin. that's perfect. that's good to go. yeah. perfect. the hardest thing is learning to say no, actually. learning to say no. actually, no, i can't do that. no. because because. because i've got to get back for

jake. because i'm actually too busy. because no has been really hard. but i've come back and, you know, i'm much more -- i'm not as stressed as i was. there's always something to do. lovely. >> reporter: so after years of struggle and sacrifice, sarah has learned something has to give. she can't have it all. >> i love the business. i love everyone in it. but i'm also -- i know when i close the door now at night, i haven't forgotten it. if it's the weekend. but actually, you know, i also need to focus on jake, on being mom and that personal part of my life. >> reporter: next week on "the boss" -- >> i am a very big and strong believer in love. >> reporter: selling love to the world. shawn cornwall is the international vice president of eharmony and our new "boss."

we want to bring you some breaking news right now. you may remember the story of the american hikers who were jailed in iran. they were jailed as spies. a lawyer has been working on their case. and we've learned that the lawyer is saying that their release should take place in about an hour and a half. that's 3:00 p.m. local time. he is saying that apparently he has all the signatures and has paid the bail money. we're going to get more details on this story for you and try and bring them to you. but a very interesting and important development in that story concerning those hikers in iran, nina. yeah, we have some developments when it comes to the situation in greece as well. these are comments made by the greek finance minister, saying ahead of a cabinet meeting expected to announce public sector layoffs and tax rises, that greece must take more

austerity measures to secure an eu and imf aid tranche and athens desperately needs that money, of course, to avoid bankruptcy. he says, quote, do we need to take additional measures? yes, we do. we need to take additional measures. and they will likely be cutting more jobs across greece. some economists have been concerned that could bring the total number of layoffs there to over 100,000. of course, it's difficult to raise tax money when you're cutting so many jobs, and the markets, as you can see, falling. yeah. we have a slightly different situation here in asia. markets actually mixed by the close. but for now, that's it for this edition of "world business today." i'm in hong kong. >> i'm nina des santos in london. you're watching cnn. it's good-bye for now. 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.

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