♪ tonight [ applause ] >> thank you very much. >> thank you very much. >> thank you very much. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com i'm zain verjee at cnn in london. here are the top stories. as arab league observering prepare to fan out across syria, more disturbing images of violence are being posted on youtube. this video purportedly is from the flash point city at the center of the brutal crackdown by security forces. a member of arab league advance team says damascus has promised complete access to the country. as north korea prepares for the fun ralg of kim jong-il, the country's new leaders consolidate in power as kim

jong-un pubically mourned his father, state media referred to him as head of the ruling party. sunday a group of visiting south korean visitors met with the assembly. two swedish journalists have been sentenced to 11 years in prison in ooet yoethiopia. they were found guilty of supporting terrorism. britain's prince philip will leave hospital today. a buckingham palace says the 90-year-old will rejoin the queen and members of the royal family. prince philip spent christmas in hospital following a successful surgery to open a blocked artery in his heart. those are the top stories. i'm zain verjee. "world business today" starts now.

good morning from cnn london. i'm charles hodson. welcome to "world business today." our top stories on tuesday, the 27th of december. hospital patients are put in pearl in india. 10,000 state doctors are on strike for a seventh day, calling for higher wages. rue pert murdoch's media empire made its own headlines in 2011. we explain why the phone hacking scandal is not all bad news for news corp. everybody loves a dame. a musical performer tells us how he plans to play a she in a pant mine stage play. it's not only the season of goodwill, but the time of seasonal diseases or little afflictions. i've got one of them. but bear with me. it sounds a lot worse than it feels. we're seeing thin trade on the world's markets at the moment, stock markets, that is, with many investors obviously having

taken time off. asian markets closed down today. in europe the festive cheer or whatever there is of it seems still to be in the air. let's have a look at european markets. forget the ftse. that's closed for a holiday today. the rest of europe, it's business as usual. we're now just a touch over an hour into the trading day. let's have a look at the paris cac. up by about .75%. the feeling is this is a certain adjustment for year-end positions, maybe waiting for data on the u.s. housing market and on consumer confidence due out in the next few hours or days. and that's probably going to determine the shape of trading, although the volumes are really thin. a look at asia now and trade has been thin with many investors still on holiday. hong kong's hang seng and sidney were closed.

elsewhere the major indices continued the downward trend for the year. japan's central bank issued a warning about the risk of the european dead crisis which did nothing to boost confidence there. the nikkei lost .5%. we've seen a good run up. still thin volumes there i suspect. in shanghai the composite slid a little bit more than 1%. in seoul the kospi was down 2.75% in the morning but clawed back most of those losses to end the day down by .8%. sony announced on monday that it's selling its nearly 50% stake in the flat screen tv venture that it has with samsung. the sale, which is worth about $940 million, brings to an end a seven-year collaboration between the two tech giants that is still yet -- still to make a profit. let's move to the other story that's moving big time here globally in the business world. that is in india, in the state

of rajistan, where a strike of doctors is in its seventh day. health ministry officials are denying reports that more than 40 patients have died during the walk-out. they concede there is a shortage of doctors, but insist that they're hiring replacements and deploying military physicians as fast as they can. cnn is in our new delhi bureau. ultimately, what is this about, this strike, sara? >> it's really all about wages and benefits. that's what the doctors say. they say they semply are not paid enough and not given the benefits they were promised by the state. the state says they are given the same kind of wages that other doctors who work across india are giving. the only good news, the two sides are still negotiating. but they haven't gotten very -- they are still, excuse me, very far apart. one thing to mention here is we were able to go and see the conditions in some of these hospitals in rajistan, one of

india's poorest states. there is some disturbing, disturbing scenes in some of these hospitals. >> reporter: a patient collapses in despair. her sister has died in childbirth at a state hospital. the family says they couldn't find a doctor to help her there. the doctors are on strike. for days now, thousands of physicians have refused to show up for work at state hospitals in rajistan. state health officials quickly denied any deaths have resulted from the walk-out but admit state hospitals are grossly understaffed right now. we found one completely empty. every single bed in this hospital is empty. this is an example of what's happening across rural rajasthan. there's not a doctor in sight. patients looking for treatment have to find other options. we are told by a nurse the doctors are actually in hiding, afraid they will be arrested.

state health officials tell cnn 420 doctors have already been arrested because the strike violates state law. on average, doctors here make the the equivalent of about $600 per month. they say it's half of what doctors who work for the central government make. they want higher wages and better benefits. the state hasn't budged. the fight is taking its toll on the most vulnerable. health care facilities have collapsed here because of the strike, government hospital nurse tells us. he knows the poor rely on state hospitals where most treatments are free. the government is scrambling to find replacements, even bringing in doctors from the armed forces. at this state hospital in rajasthan's capital, a welcome sign for patients and their families on the sixth day of the strike. a gravely ill is unloaded into the hands of doctors. the doctors are not staff, but at least they are here. they are all professors from the

nearby medical college. but they can only deal with medical emergencies and have their hands full at that. 1,000 staff doctors, we're told, left this large hospital on strike. now 300 medical professors are standing in for them. with hundreds of patients a day in the emergency room alone, it's a herculean and, perhaps, impossible task to care for everyone lining up for treatment. besides the arrests that were made of those doctors, several doctors have been suspended and several more fired. >> sara, let's switch gears slightly and look at a national story. a big political story for you in india there. it's high noon, it would seem, in new delhi for the government in its efforts to push through an anti-corruption bill. the so-called lock power bill named after the indian word for

om budsman. that sounds like it's going to be, as i say, a high noon politically, a big showdown for the government. what's at stake there? >> reporter: yeah. there is lots of yelling, if you will, and interruptions going on in parliament as different parliamentarians are making speeches and trying to talk for or against points of the bill. there's a lot of contention not only between parties but between the government and one of the activists who became the face of the lokpal bill. there were corruption scandals involved with the head organizer of the commonwealth games arrested and fired from his post here in india. and it also has to do with this -- what's known here as a 2-g scam. telecommunications ministry accused of bilking the government of somewhere around $33 billion by selling -- underselling, really, these

licenses for mobile phone subscriptions to phone companies. so there has been a ground swell from the people who are sick and tired of corruption having such a deep impact not only in the higher echelons of society, but also the everyday person, saying that every single day they often run into issues where they have to pay bribes to either government officials, bureaucrats, to try to get things done. this bill is very important for the people of india. but there's a lot of contention surrounding the details. you know the devil is in the details when it comes to these bills. that is what's happening right now in parliament. people who normally watch these things, observers, say this could go on for days. they've already extended the parliamentary session just to talk about this bill. and that is because of this activist anna hazare who decided to go on a fast -- the government needs to get a good bill with teeth through. even he says the one that's on the table now isn't going to cut it. charles? >> sara, thank you very much.

we look forward to your updates on that continuing political showdown in the indian government over its anti-corruption bill. look forward to hearing from you in the next few days. for now, thank you very much indeed. india and japan are expected to unveil a new currency swap pact this week. the deal would allow the two asian powerhouses to swap their rupees and yen. it comes as a strong yen hurts japanese exporters. and with high inflation and a week rupee in india. after high-level talks, japan is also planning a deal with china. leaders are pledging stronger financial cooperation between the two countries. china and japan will make it easier for companies to trade in yuan and the yen instead of u.s. dollars. now, have a look at this graph. it shows china's yuan's appreciation against the dollar so far this year. now, sunday's yuan deal, yuan/yen deal wsh i should say,

came the day before a yuan hit an all-time high of 6.32 against the dollar. it has since eased -- let's get that back for you -- it's since eased a fraction. but it has still appreciated more than 4.25% in 2011. now, milk products made by china among a dairy company have been found to contain a toxin that can cause cancer. chinese state media are reporting that the products from china's largest dairy by sales were tainted by contaminated feed given to cows. they say they've destroyed the hazardous products and apologized to consumers. it says all its products on the market are safe. food safety scandals have plagued china's dairy industry since 2008. then milk tainted with melamine killed at least six babies and made hundreds of thousands of others ill. still ahead on "world business today," china's growth

may be slowing. we'll tell you why the country's influence certainly will not be diminished in the year ahead. 2011 was kind of a year to forget for rupert murdoch. we'll look back at the hacking scandal that stopped the presses at the news of the world forever but inspired lots of column inches elsewhere.

now, all the currencies that you see here have strengthened against the u.s. dollar this tuesday, if only slightly, in this rather light trading. the euro and pound are up by between a fifth and a quarter of 1% while the yen is up over .1%. the euro is comfortably above 1.30 having gone down obviously in recent sessions to comfortably below 1.30 against the u.s. dollar by half a cent below that. recovering a cent and some change from the low it touched in 2011. speaking of 2011, looking

back over the year, news corporation has arguably made as many headlines as it has written this year. that's hardly surprising when one of the company's most popular outlets, "the news of the world," a tabloid sunday newspaper here in britain, was shut down altogether. the phone hacking scandal that enveloped the murdoch empire cost dozens of people their job. for a time it looked as if it would cost news corp. a lot of money. here's how the company's class a stock performed in new york throughout this year. as the scandal unfolded between july and early august, the share price fell by 25%. but rupert murdoch's not the sort of man you can write off. in fact, look at this. the stock has actually rebounded in recent months. if you look year to date it's actually up more than 20% for 2011. that, of course, is the headline news corp. will want its investors and would be investors to read. of course, the year will probably will remembered for the

roll call of celebrities and high-profile britts who lined up to point a finger at murdoch and his journalists. perhaps the most damaging were allegations of phone hacking by the family of a murdered teenager. the scandal may not have inflicted lasting harm on news corp.'s share price, but the same really can't be said for its reputation. atika shubert explains. >> reporter: it was not a good year for rupert murdoch. in july, dozens of reporters, including myself, camped out here in front of british parliament where we watched an extraordinary sight. the powerful media mogul being grilled by lawmakers for the illegal activities of one of his british newspapers. and he did so alongside his son and chief executive of news international, james murdoch. >> this is the most humble day of my life. >> reporter: the humiliation didn't end there. a foam pie intended for murdoch's face was stopped in its tracks by his wife, wendy.

throughout, the 86-year-old media mogul seemed old and frail. >> i don't know. that is the first i've heard of that. i can't answer. i don't know. >> reporter: a far cry from the young and ambitious man who bought britain's oldest paper, "the news of the world," in 1969. murdoch made "the news of the world" the tabloid for raunchy headlines and racy scoops. the most widely read weekly paper in britain. readers were shocked to discover the routeless methods the tabloid used. rupert murdoch personally apologize apologized. it wasn't enough to save the paper. >> 7.5 million readers, this is for you. >> reporter: remember this? this is the last edition of the once venerable "news of the

world." the paper reported on the sinking of the titanic. but it didn't survive the phone hacking scandal. here in britain murdoch's media empire now faces two inquiries and three criminal investigations. scrutiny that could make next year as painful as the last for rupert murdoch. >> atika shubert reporting there from london, explaining why we can expect this particular story to run and run and run. now, while shoppers here in the uk hit the high streets on monday in search of bargains, u.s. consumers were apparently more concerned with returning items that they didn't want after all. yesterday had analysts predicting sales up to $29 billion. but americans are expected to return unwanted gifts to the tune of $46 billion after record sales on black friday. the outlook for the week as a whole is a little rosier for u.s. retailers. customers are expected to spend up to $72 billion between

christmas and new year. now, as mentioned, british shoppers spent more than $3 billion. the annual boxing day sales did a roaring trade. that's the 26th of december. in london t-- a strike by drives on the city's underground, that's the subway, the underground railway system, failed to deter shoppers. nationwide, as many as 11 million people took to the stores in search of deeply discounted goods. retailers are hoping this week will go some way to turning around what has been a slow season for sales. now to say it's been a tough year for europe is definitely a bit of an understatement. nowhere more so than in spain where 2011 saw widespread and prolonged protests, brutal austerity cuts, record

unemployment and the end of a government. ahead, we'll look back on spain's year to forget.

toyota's newest energy conscious compact has hit the market in japan. it's proving popular with 60,000 ordered. a fuel efficiency of more than

35 kilometers per liter. it uses both a gasoline engine and an electric motor. the hybrid has a price tag of about $22,000. as thailand recovers from devastating floods, the government there is considering a proposal to raise $11 billion for flood prevention inf infrastructu infrastructure. the spending plan comes as powerful waves bring new dangers and destruction to parts of the country. our meteorologist jennifer delgardo joins us from the weather center. it sounds given the huge devastation they've suffered already in thailand, this will be good investment, jen. >> absolutely. they december prately need it. it's the poor drainage system that's caused problems across the thailand region. we talked about this so much over the last couple of months. now they're dealing with another sort of problem just to the southeast of bangkok. let's go to an image to give you an idea of what we're talking about. we're talking about waves roughly four meters crashing in

the southeastern part of thailand. what is this effect doing for this country that's already recovering? let's go to some video to show you. in addition to those four-meter-high waves, we're talking about coastal regions, are now sandbagging, residents are, to protect their homes, their businesses. this is just another weather feature that is affecting parts of thailand. again, you can hear those waves crashing. as we go through today, we'll continue to see rough waves as well as tomorrow. as i take you back over, i want to point out to you, looks fairly quiet across parts of thailand. a lot of moisture over towards the east in the south china sea. if you remember early, we showed you a live shot coming out of hong kong. it was beautiful out there. we have this big ridge of high pressure. this is setting up what is triggering these strong waves across parts of thailand. so, again, one more day for bad weather across this region. we also continue to follow parts of the philippines. of course, they're cleaning up. we do know the death toll now is reportedly 1,400 people.

let me correct that for you. do know that we just got updated information. looks like it was reduced from 1,453 down to 1,249. this is following that tropical storm washi that made land fall ton the 15th and the 16th down to southern parts of the philippines. see for yourself, a lot of rain has been moving through the area. we'll continue to see scattered showers and thunderstorms. that will continue to hamper the rescue effort as we go through the next couple days. that's where we're going to see rainfall. leaving with the story coming out of antarctica. this is video as we go over to the video, of basically -- it looks like we don't have that video. but we'll talk about it a little bit later on. apparently a ship actually got stuck there because of all the ice. well, apparently a vessel in south korea, charles, made its way down there and apparently the people had to abandon ship. they're in rafts. keep in mind, this is antarctica. this is not northern parts of

australia. help is on the way. it looks like they're trying to repair this hole which is roughly about 16 centimeters. but apparently it's causing big-time problems. >> i'm not surprised. jen, thank you very much. >> you want to see that video, don't you? >> let's point out your many fans. this is your last week on this particular set of shows. >> yeah. >> i know you're going to be sorely missed by many fans. >> i'll be around. >> foremost among those who are going to be ordering extra boxes of issues will be myself. coming up on "world business today," will emerging economic super power china maintain its momentum in 2012, or will the financial woes besetting europe slow beijing down, too? we'll take a close look. transformation ime. a pantomime grand dame is really a man. and he's spilling the tricks of the trade.

from cnn london, i'm charles hodson. welcome back to "world business today." let's have another quick look at european stock markets, where they're standing about an hour and a half into the trading day. quite positive. the ftse is closed. the other indices, as you can see, making quite decent gains. bear in mind, obviously these are pretty thin trading sessions. not much going on. a little bit of adjustment possibly for year-end positions. a few stocks being bought there and that's showing up as a positive. same story in asia in terms of thin trading. many investors still on holiday, maybe with only just one eye on the markets. hong kong, the hang seng and the

sidney were both closed. elsewhere the major indices continue their downward trend for the year. japan's central bank issued a warning about risks of the european debt crisis which did nothing to boost confidence there. in seoul the kospi was down 2.25% in the morning but clawed back most of those losses. ended the day down by a little more than .75% lower. china's economic growth may be finally slowing. but the world's second biggest economy is still on its way to topping the table. the past four quarters clearly show the downward trend. total growth for the year will come in well below 2010's figure of 10.4%. to put that into context of western economies over the same period, china is by no means performing poorly. here's another reason for the -- for the beijing administration to be cheerful. the country's war on inflation

seems to be paying off. consumer price index fell back from a july high of 6.5% to just 4.2% last month. it's worth mentioning that november was also the month when china's manufacturing output, the manufacturing output obviously the heart beat of the economy, contracted. that fell to a 32-month low. so as beijing wins one battle, another might very well be looming in the year ahead. that might be with a more -- a broader slowdown. now, one lady who'll be keeping a close eye on developments is jp morgan chases -- asked her whether the markets -- what the markets, rather, are likely to be watching in 2012. >> well, the number one concern for the market is basically gdp decelerating. in first quarter 2012, china gdp growth may actually drop below

8%. our forecast is 7.6%. one of the key reasons for that is basically export has been te se decelera decelerating. another reason is a softening of the development market. the combination of an adverse external environment and slowing domestic economy means the first quarter 2012 will be a challengi challenging quarter. >> does that constitute the hard landing? >> hard landing basically means china gdp growth would half from current levels. 4% growth, 5% growth. i don't think we'll have a hard landing. even though the chinese economy is decelerating, we still believe in 2012 gdp growth overall can be around 8%. so, therefore, soft landing can be achieved. >> you mentioned the property sector. what is your view on what's happening there? is it the bubble bursting, or is it just a decline and a

slowdown? >> well, the property sector has been decelerating for the past 12 months now. in terms of transaction volumes, we're seeing in the key cities transaction volumes coming down by 30% to 40%. prices across the key cities have also been softening. so, therefore, in 2012, the central government may consider lifting some of the restrictions. not immediately, but i think in the third quarter of 2012 they may have to lift some of the restrictions. so, overall, the market is deflating. i wouldn't say this would constitute a bursting of the bubble. >> now, exports are down, as you mentioned. europe is china's biggest export market. if things don't get better with the european debt crisis, how will china try to counterbalance what's going on with their export sector? >> you know, china clearly is -- has been counting on exports to drive economic growth for many years. europe, indeed, accounts for 22%

of all chinese exports. in the new year, china is going to focus very much on domestic consumption, domestic growth, to offset the slowing exports. exports has been slowing throughout 2011 and in 2012, we're actually expecting net exports to detract from overall growth. basically, net exports will not contribute to growth at all. therefore chinese boost domestic construction, as well as private consumption, especially in the service sector. >> how are they doing in boosting consumption? at least they've gotten inflation to come down. are there other big concerns that you have in their strategy of trying to boost domestic consumption? >> well, inflation has come down which is quite conducive for the central government to loosen policy. so in the new year, monetary policy will be relatively accommodating. also in terms of fiscal policy, we are expecting quite a lot of tax cuts for businesses as well

as for individuals. >> let's talk about the stock market in china. it's been very depressed. what do you expect for 2012 in the stock market? >> well, in the near term, there's not going to be a major turnaround in the stock market. because domestic investors have a lot of concerns about the macroeconomy. also, they're concerned about a lot of large ipos coming in the new year. basically, you know, the supply is overwhelming and the demand from institutional investors and retail investors is relatively lukewarm. however, if you consider the long-term picture of the chinese stock market, we've come down from 6100 points for the index to now about 2100 points. so clearly evaluations are much less demanding compared to before. however, i don't think the stock market will have a major rebound until the economy stabilizes. >> jing ulrich there.

tokyo electric power company or tep koe, as it is known, is seeking $9 billion more in aid from the japanese government. japan's biggest utility says the money would help compensate victims of the fukushima nuclear disaster. it likely will just be a fraction of the total cost of compensation and clean-up. the march 11th earthquake and tsunami shut down reactors at tepco's fukushima daiichi plant and forced thousands to flee fearing radiation leaks. in a just released report, a committee slams tepco and their regulators for handling of the disaster. it sais they failed to adequately prepare or to respond and that tepco lacked even basic safety measures. after the blistering report, tepco shares skidded down two yen or nearly 1% to 211 yen in trading today. let's have a look at the year that was for tepco. you can see how shares just plunged back in march.

right down there. that was the time of the tsunami and the earthquake. and they've hardly recovered yet, by any means. in fact, if anything, tended to trend down a little bit lower towards the end of the year. this means that overall, tepco shares have lost 89% of their value as 2011 nears its end. the utility reportedly expects a net loss of more than $7.5 billion for the current fiscal year, which ends in march 2012. coming up on "world business today," we look back on a tough year for spain. and ahead to what could be another year of pain.

well, let's look at crude oil prices on the new york mercantile exchange. at the last check they've slipped .03%. so very, very, very marginally to just very marginally below $100 a barrel.

continuing concern over the weak global economy and middle east tensions. so 2011 the year of the protests. the year of the unemployed. the year of austerity. whatever you call it, it was certainly a bad year, 2011, as far as spain was concerned. the so-called may 15 movement was instrumental in bringing about the end of the run as prime minister after he implemented a host of unpopular cuts. still more than one in five adults in spain is out of work. almost one person in two among the younger population. as if that weren't enough, prime minister rajoy has warned of austerity to come. we report on an unhappy past and uncertain future. >> reporter: this is not what we expected to find when we went out to do a story on spain's economic crisis. but for juan jose carasa, out of

work for two years as a waiter, these chickens in his backyard are a means of survival for his family. they make every egg count. even if you look for a job, it is very hard to find one. because so many people are out of work. the truth is, you don't know where to turn. >> reporter: spain's unemployment rate stands at 21.5%. but a staggering 45% for youth. the country's nearly 5 million jobless crowd the unemployment offices. businesses, large and small, struggle to survive. this food distributor on the eastern mediterranean coast has laid off 10% of staff. >> translator: i have never seen anything like this crisis. there's a lack of movement. it's absolutely vital to invent solutions day by day. >> reporter: economic protests started last may 15th fueled by social media. the so-called indignant ones,

criticizing an economic and political system they say favors only the privileged. now the so-called may 15 movement has come to this. a bustling encampment in madrid and at em blematic plazas in par barcelona and other spanish cities. protests by day and night. encampments eventually were lifted. protests, largely peaceful, lifted. the prime minister squeezed by the financial crisis and unpopular austerity measures reluctantly called early elections in november, and he didn't even run. the conservatives, promising to fix the economy, won in a landslide. but they say there's still more austerity to come. a country in crisis throughout 2011 faces a new year of uncertainty. >> translator: i think there's a pent up rage. the workers and young people of this country are fed up. it's been years of frustration over cutbacks and lower salary. >> reporter: al goodman, cnn,

madrid. coming up, we go to london's east end where they're putting on a festive production of cinderella. we meet the man playing a pantomime dame with a twist. he spills some of the tricks of the trade, and that is next. for a limited time, passages malibu

will be giving away free copies of the alcoholism & addiction cure. to get yours, go to ssagesmalibubook.com.

now, look at this. the price of gold obviously fell away substantially in the first half of december. despite gaining a bit of ground at the start of last week, we're now looking at a falling price

once again. there we are just below $1,600 per ounce. couple other business stories we're following this hour, brazil now has the sixth largest economy in the world. the center for economics and business research says the country knocked the uk out of that slot. brazil's economy grew about 7.5% last year, boosted by strong exports to china. now, apple wants you to change your battery. i mean, really change it. the company has filed a patent, indicating it could begin powering future idigital devices with hydrogen fuel cells. that means that instead of running down after days or even hours of use, ipods and iphones might last for weeks on just one charge. i'm sure that'll be very welcome. you may not know what a pantomime is. but it's a kind of a joky stage play. it's very popular here. particularly popular around christmastime, around the holiday time. particularly with children. we're going to talk to you about

a pantomime dame with a twist. we'll raise the curtain on one man's transformation into an ugly sister for a festive production of the old story of cinderel cinderella. he spills some of the tricks of the trade in "the world at work." >> ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, raise the curtains. thank you. >> hi, gorgeous! >> i've been an actor now for about 28 years professionally. i started when i was about 10 during amateur dramatics. it's just something i've always enjoyed doing, really. i tend to give myself a routine. i quite like routine. i would come in, tap on everyone's dressing room door, make sure everybody's okay. see who's ill. see who's not ill. make sure they're eating. you become a bit of a grand dad to them. make sure they're eating properly. we need to keep them lubricated.

luckily we've got this boiler that's on all the time. then i would do a warm-up on stage. then we'll come back to the dressing room. maybe have a cup of tea. get our makeup on. you don't want to look like women. you want to look like men with silly makeup on. we have to go on stage and get into a hot air balloon basket. then we're flown up into the fly tower for 20 minutes. what we tend to do is have a bit of a comedy chat. we have a bit of a laugh before we start. ♪ >> it's great to make people laugh. i like to make people laugh. >> i don't want to get caught by surprise.

>> children like all the sort of physical slapstickness of it all. older adults, the older people in the audience, like the cheekiness of it. we can get across and have a chat with them. >> my radar is saying you, sir. look at you. put your stuff down. come on. >> for instance, in this one we're doing, i go into the audience to pick a guy out. i actually go into the audience to talk to them. ky say whatever i want to them, really. >> he's got his christmas jumper on as well. >> oh! >> stand there. don't sit down yet. >> the tricks of the trade for being a dame are listening really to the audience and you sometimes get big laughers in. you can play to them a little bit. if you get them going on a bit of a laugh, then it makes the other parts of the audience laugh as well. >> you're dancing not just under mommy's thumb. it's under a big toenail. >> the role of the team backstage is very, very

important in pantomime. from the dresses to the -- to the stage management team to the crew on stage, it's a big family. and we've created a big family here. >> if we don't have fun, it doesn't make sense. we come to work to have fun. >> yes. >> anybody that's in a job that doesn't enjoy it, get out, get out. >> this is my first love. that's why i like to do it. >> nighty nighty! >> that's a very, very old tradition going back probably to twenties or hundreds of years, maybe. at least 100 years. let's have a look at the stock markets. for what it's worth, obviously thin volumes. a little joggling. a bit of year-end positioning going on. we are seeing on the markets, they're open, which does not include the ftse closed here in london, up by about two-thirds a percent for frankfurt, paris and zurich smi inching i.t.s way up by about a fifth of a percent.

we'll see how it goes during the session and it starts to be influenced by the open and propekts of the open on wall street. many investors in the asia pacific region are still enjoying the hol dais. hong kong's hang seng and the sidney are both closed. japan's central bank issued a warning about the risks of the european debt crisis. hearing it from them did quite the opposite of boosting confidence. i suppose they felt they needed to be honest about that. i'm sure i agree with them, actually. don't forget, if you want to comment on any of the stories in the show, we can get in touch -- you can get in touch with the whole team on our facebook page. go to facebook.com/cnnwbt. and you can let us know what you think. you can also send us your thoughts on twitter. follow us @cnnwbt. that's it for this edition of "world business today." i'm charles hodson in london.

you're back in four hours. meanwhi meanwhile, you're watching cnn, meanwhile, you're watching cnn, the world's news leader. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com