i'm zain verjee at cnn in london. the headlines this hour, people in the herian city of homs are struggling to survive under a constant bombardment that's lasted more than two weeks, creating a humanitarian crisis as basic necessities are getting hard to find. meanwhile two top u.s. lawmakers are calling for aid, including weapons to help syria's resis ap

tans movement. an indonesian man accused in making the bombs in the 2002 bali attacks is set to make a plea this monday. he could be handed a death sentence if convicted. 2002 people were killed in the bali bombings. at least 44 min mates are dead after a prison riot in new mexico. rival gangs were fighting in the prison and at one point inmates took a guard hostage. australian prime minister julia laggard says she will survive the office. australian media report the former prime minister says a leadership challenge is, quote, not in the prospect. those are the headlines from cnn, the world's news leader. i'm zain verjee and "world business today" starts right now.

good morning from cnn london. i'm charles hodson. a very good afternoon from cnn hong kong. i'm andrew stevens. today's trade deficit hits a record level. what's behind these numbers? natural disasters for one. europe's finance ministers hope to settle difference this is monday as they meet once again to try to fend off what could be the eurozone's first sovereign default. and iran stopped selling britain to britain and france as a team of inspectors arrive in tehran for talks about the country's nuclear program. natural disasters have taken a toll on the economies of two asian countries. we'll start with thailand here. you'll see the thai economy in the fourth quarter of the year

contracted by a whopping 10.7% compared with the previous quarter. that's due to the country's worst flooding, you'll remember, in decades. let's take a look at what it means for the whole year. the government figures show the economy grew just .10%. if you take a look at that, thailand is expected to grow between 5.5% and 6.5% thanks to increased domestic demand and a recovery in industrial production. but there is a much bigger concern on the horizon. we're talking about japan, the world's third biggest economy. japan has just posted a record trade deficit, a monthly trade deficit, $19 billion. that was much worse than anal t analysts expected. the ministry of finance says exports were down 9.3% in january compared with the year earlier. the main reason was the

continued strength of the yen which slammed japanese exports to the u.s. and europe. while exports were falling, imports were jumping by nearly 9.8%, mostly in the form of oil and gas to compensate for the loss of nuclear power in the wake of fukushima daiichi nuclear disasters. the yen weakened but is gaining once again. over the past 12 months or so, the yen up 8% against the euro and nearly 4.5% against the u.s. dollar. these are coming from a strong base, too. so the yen gets ever stronger which makes it ever less competitive for the japanese exporters. the yen is also becoming a strong deterrent for foreign companies operating in japan. for the second consecutive year for wren direct investment showed a net out flow as more overseas companies pulled out of japan. the 2.3 billion outflow is the second highest since records

began back in 1985. let's put all this in perspective now. cunning lao joins us from tokyo. when you look at these numbers coming out over the past 24 hours or so, kyung, what's it telling us about the state of the japanese economy? >> reporter: we have to let the numbers speak for themselves. these aren't just bad numbers, but historically bad. if you look at trade deficit and foreign investment, the news is simply bad across the board. let's talk about that trade deficit for one minute. that record trade deficit in january, that's worse than the deficit this country saw in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis. so the press sures on japan right now are historic. you look at the strength of the yen. you look at the aging crisis, the demographic time bomb as is referred to here. then you look at all the other factors internally. you have the tsunami rebuilding

that has to be done. you the crisis at the fukushima nuclear plant. then you have the highest debt-to-gdp ratio on top of that. this country has a number of issues ahead of it. there is an internal discussion about trying to raise the consumption tax. there was just a poll out that showed half the people are opposed to that. really there is a very tough road ahead for this economy, and there are a number of alarm bells really being set off in many economists' minds about what this country is going to do. >> one of the issues you tauchd on there, kyung, one of the reasons for the high trade deficit is the fact that japan had to import a lot of oil and gas to cover for the loss of power from the nuclear disaster. what is japan doing about covering that loss? does it have a policy in place? >> it doesn't have a policy in place. that's really what we're hearing from corporate leaders.

where is the energy policy? where is the guidance from the prime minister's office and the top lawmakers in this country. without a significant energy policy, without reassurance to corporate leaders, what we're hearing from corporate japan is that outsourcing of jobs is going to continue, pushing productivity outside of japan is going to continue, the investment outside of this country. that's going to translate into banging this economy down even further. the concern is that tonight another reactor is going to go out of service. that means there will only be two nuclear reactors operating in this country tomorrow, a country that formerly had 50 reactors going, 30% of their power from nuclear energy. there's a void in place that has to be filled. right now they are looking at a significant energy crisis this summer without any nuclear policy in place. >> kyung lah joining us live

from tokyo. charles? let's have a look at stock markets now, andrew. obviously over an hour, hour an eight minutes into the new trading week in europe, investors keeping a close eye on the situation in greece. eurozone finance ministers, the euro group meeting today and will decide whether greece will receive its second bailout. we'll cover that in a lot of detail. meanwhile that seems to be creating a fairly optimistic mood. all these markets are up by about .75% in the case of the xetra dax. the euro a bit stronger, a shade below 1.32 to the u.s. dollar. i was noticing this matches my tie beautifully. i'll have to lay off the red ties unless you want a shortened market, unless you do, andrew. >> these condense boosting

measures very, very important. i'll keep to the fairly youthful -- whatever this color is. let's take a look at the numbers here, charles. you talked about a lot more optimism at the start of the asian trading day than the end of the trading day. hang seng, hong kong market, you'll see it got off off the blocks, it did fade finishing down about .3%. the initial opt anymore coming from the move from the chinese authorities to cut the reserve requirement ratio, basically allowing the chinese banks to lend about $63 billion collectively more to borrowers in china trying to get the economy moving a little bit quickly, more quickly. that initially gave a boost both to hong kong and to hang high. in fact, right around the region, the companies exposed to china exports getting a boost in japan, australia getting a boost because the miners got a boost

there. as the day wore on, the concerns about what this actually means, because the authorities are having to cut these reserve ratios, what duds that say about the state of the chinese economy? analysts in hong kong, charles, are saying we've got more cuts ahead. the economy is perhaps slowing a little more quickly than authorities would like. that sent a bit of a chill through the markets toward the end of the session. >> interesting there are always two sides to any piece of news like that. speaking of any piece of news, here is a piece of news. we've looked at all sides it seems several times. it's crunch time for greece again. eurozone finance ministers will decide about five hours from now to decide whether greece has done enough to qualify for a second bailout and avoid defaulting on a bond payment due next month. as part of the deal, european finance ministers are insisting

that the greek government sets up an escrow account which would have enough cash set aside to cover up to 12 months' of debt. essentially 12 months' warning if they were running into trouble and we were looking at a default. the greek government could have to take 20 additional steps before the end of the month, mostly on things that it hasn't quite followed up on. the greek government has brought in plenty of very, very unpopular austerity measures though. we saw demonstrations last night yet again, the measures people are protesting against include pay cuts, lay-offs, pension reforms. on the other side, private sector bondholders are expected to agree to voluntary write-downs up to 70%, reduce the value of their holdings by some 70%. there are some sweeteners involved. we can get into that later on. the threat of yet more cuts elicited, as i mentioned, what

is a familiar scene in athens with thousands of protesters marching through the center of the greek capitol opposing pension cuts. another big day for greece and the whole of the eurozone. joining me to look at what the future might hold is the co-head of economic research at deutsche bank. good morning, gill. are you sure we'll have an agreement when the finance ministers meet today. >> it's very fluid, but it seems that, yes, we'll have an agreement in principle. probably what is more important is we'll probably get a deal on all the legs of the package. as you know last week there were talks about splitting the package in two, starting with the money that was earmarked to fund the psi and maybe wait until the elections in april to agree on the leg of loan package

earmarked fund, the remaining redeficit. it seems we're moving the a comprehensive deal which is probably what the markets really want to hear. >> of course it's what the markets want to hear, i note the eu's word earlier, fluid. even though it's less probable than a positive outcome, what would you see the implications of a negative outcome if there simply were not a deal today in brussels? >> it's just that we're running out of time basically. as you noticed, we have this massive bond redemption coming due on the 20th of march, 14 billion euros. the way to deal with this redemption is basically to agree on the psi. that bond redemption would be actually contained in the psi. if we don't get there, we'll have to find some further shortened fixes, and honestly i think everyone is running out of creativity there. so probably further t bill

issuance subscribed by greek banks and repoed at the ecb. this would give a sense -- a completed sense of resolution. we're already late. the market was expecting resolution last wednesday. we're already four to five days late. anymore delay would probably be quite, quite negative. it seems -- >> gilles, let me press you on one point. let's see we have a deal today, as set out. are you kwon fi dent as an economist that greece can deliver on this. it seems what's being contemplated in the longer term is a complete transformation of the greek company xhooe from one based on the public sector and borrowing in order to keep that public sector going to one that will have to be driven by its private sector and tax receipts. can greece really deliver on that? >> there's the most important thing, of course. one thing i would like to say.

contrary to something very popular right now, the program that is proposed to greece is not undoable, it's not science fiction there. what greece has been asked to deliver is 4.5%. this is the kind of primary surplus that countries such as belgium or italy managed to deliver in the 1990s. same thing in terms of relief on debt. yes, even after psi, greece will keep a very high debt-to-gdp ratio. the benefit is much more than belgium had to cope with. yes, it's possible. >> we have to leave it there unfortunately. than thank you very much indeed. gilles moec joining us live. plenty more ahead including feeling the pressure.

iran is lashing out against pressure. we'll look at how much of the country's oil may be going know where next. ew. seriously? so gross. ew. seriously? that is so gross. ew. seriously? dude that is so totally gross. so gross...i know. there's an easier way to save. geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more.

let's check in on very active energy markets right now. brent crude up slightly trading just over $120 a barrel, up b three-quarters of a dollar. obviously that is two things really, supply concerns -- the debt drama with greece and above all the iranian oil sanctions. welcome back. you're watching "world business today" live on cnn. it does make you wonder, doesn't it, charles, when the oil price starts eating into the global economic out put, price of $120 hurts a lot of economic

activity. iran appears to be in an increasingly tight spot as the oil sanctions begin to bite. the european union marked july 1st as the day it will stop importing iranian oil. on sunday, tehran retaliated saying it had suspended oil sales to britain and france effective immediately. that means iran is left without a buyer for nearly a quarter of its annual crude exports. the first half of last year, eu countries accounted for 18% of iran's oil exports. that's about 450,000 barrels a day. charles? >> a team from the international atomic energy agency is in iran to assess the country's nuclear development which is ultimately what sparked international sanctions on its oil. for more on that we're joined by matthew chance here in the london studio. what seemed to be the implications, have been the implications for iran and ordinary iranians as well for what's going on here? >> i think for ordinary iranians

it's having a big impact. there are already complaints that there are shortages in the country, they're feeling the economic pinch of the tough economic restrictions put on the country. if you take all these developments as a whole, the cutoff of fuel supplies to british and french companies which isn't in itself going to affect britain and france or even iran. the other development is iran has suggested it will expand its uranium enrichment activities as one of its nuclear firlts. in itself doesn't add up to much. clearly what the iranians are saying they're prepared to go forward despite concerns in the west that it may have a military dimension, which they deny, and despite the tight sanctions against its people. >> seems to be leading us to -- we're already in a state of economic war, but shooting war potentially as well, at least if the diplomatic rhetoric is to be believed. >> it's certainly a concern,

charles. that's what's the conversation is anti, particularly in israel, should they transcribing against the nuclear facilities or not. what we're also seeing is these international sanctions are an attempt by the international community, led the united states and others, to persuade israel it doesn't need to attack iran's nuclear facilities. that's the hope amongst a lot of people monitoring the situation. the other situation is that it's not altogether clear that iran would use its nuclear capabilities for military means. that's something that's now trying to be discovered by the iaea, the international watch dog. >> that's the crucial thing, isn't it, matthew? in a way, if the iranians are right and they can prove they're right saying there is no military dimension to this nuclear program, then we're all off the hook, including the iranians. >> probably they'll find it very difficult to prove they've never

undertaken any. i think what they're trying to do is create some space for negotiations so conflict can be avoided. if the world can live with a nuclear-capable iran, that might be a way out of the crisis. >> matthew chance joining me live in london. many thanks. andrew? still ahead on "world business today," a sea of red banners filled the streets of spain as protesters voice their anger at new laws they say make it easier for companies to slash jobs and add to already soaring unemployment. al gooden was there. we'll bring you his report in just a moment. @

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to worry about buying the wrong mattress. hurry this week to the ultimate sleep number event. only at the sleep number store. welcome back to "world business today" live on cnn. let's get a check of your business forecast. pedram joins us from the international weather center. >> talking about what's been talking about asia. not long have we gone the winter season talking about clear skies over china, at least in parts. you take a look, fairly clear across the southern region with the exception of a few thunderstorms across northern china, a weak disturbance cruising on along chang dong. this is video coming out of areas within shandong province.

again, some of the highest accumulations we've seen in quite some time. not sure if we have the video for you. regardless, that has all moved off this region and the temperature is going to gradually warm up. no significant travel issues, whether it be hong kong, shanghai or beijing. the major cities look pretty good. in europe, we have a weak disturbance in and around portions of milan. in frankfurt there was some delays associated with industrial reasons, not weather related at this hour. take a look at this. we find the linear feature, a cold front beginning to come in from the northwest. with it rain showers, a few flurries possible in the higher elevations of scotland. take you to north ireland. we do know some strong thunderstorms in the morning hours have caused a few problems out there. generally speaking everything beginning to fall apart t. showers work their way to the south. it's the middle portion of the week. that's where we'll see the biggest concerns over europe wednesday and thursday with travel delays.

down to six below in the early morning hours and has warmed up to minus one. we'll have more "world business today" coming up next.

andrew stevens. >> and i'm charles hodson at cnn london. welcome back to "world business today." let's have a look at european stock markets, 91 minutes into the trading day, a positive start, quite strongly positive really, up by more than 1% for the dax and the paris cac

currant. i think the policy easing we saw in china is having a positive effect on global markets. note though we have the u.s. markets closed for a holiday, so not too much really to be read to what goes in on european markets under those kind of circumstances, andrew. >> absolutely, charles. pretty much the same story here. obviously there is some optimism, overall optimism that greece will get the requisite signatures to get the bailout and we can take one step -- no matter how small, but one step ahead on the eurozone crisis, but also china cutting those reserve requirements helping the mood as well. for the first time this year, in fact, beijing has cut that triple r, the reserve ratio requirement. it applies to banks. it's the proportion of deposits they have to keep on hand rather than lending it out. it's effective from this friday. the new requirement for china's

major banks will fall about .5% to 20.5%. let's go to ramy inocencio now. what does this mean in trms of real cash flying into the system? >> good question. it's expected to open up the flood gates for this much, an additional $64 billion in new lending. it was a pretty welcome move actually expected a few weeks prior before chinese new year back in late january. when asia markets open, they did end higher. the reason is china's cooling economy, back in the fourth quarter of last year. the country's gdp growth dropped to this 8.9%. this is its slowest rate of growth in 2 1/2 years. one catch phrase we've been hearing with regard to the chinese economy is beijing is trying to engineer a soft landing, especially as exports fall because of europe's debt crisis. with this latest flood of liquidity, beijing is trying to

prime the pumps of the economy to keep its growth momentum going. looking ahead, we might see beijing cut the rrr even more. note hsbc said earlier, get ready for more easing steps such as bigger, new loans and another two 50 basis points rrr cuts. hsbc also says when china's inflation rate falls to 3%, it expects a third cut of .25%. the bottom line being beijing is nervous that the me is going to stall. >> certainly not beijing either. everyone is watching what's going to happen there. china is not just in the news for this cut. it's also making headlines for a rare show of unity with japan in regards to europe. what's going on there? >> it seems that china and japan have found a common enemy on the other cited of the world. it's not europe per se, but rather the economic slowdown that's produced by the continents on going debt crisis that we've been talking about. the eu is china's largest export

market. so both china as well as japan, they're now saying they're willing to throw more money into the ims fund. that's out of a sunday meeting in beijing between china's vice premier and japan's finance minister. question, how much are they willing to throw in? so far that hasn't been said out right. both say they won't add money into the imf fund unless europe does more housekeeping first. the imf currently has this much money in available funds, $387 billion. chris dean laggard has been pushing for this fund to be increased by another $500 billion. the support from china and japan has been described as conditional which makes sense. basically telling europe, you start putting your house in order first and then we'll pitch in after you've made some progress. so far we're still waiting for something more concrete. >> ramy, thanks so much. ramy inocencio, our asia business editor. charles? >> thousands of people took to

the streets of the spanish capital sunday marching against new laws they say make it easier for employers to dismiss workers. the new laws go into effect against a backdrop of rocketing unemployment in the country. almost one in four people in spain is out of work. nearly half of the country's young people are without a job. from mad drinks al good man has more. >> reporter: the first big union protest against the new dv government since it took power two months ago. they're here especially to protest against the labor market reforms which make it easier and cheaper to fire workers. the government says the labor reforms are needed to help create jobs and simulate growth and reduce spain's nearly 23% unemployment rate. >> translator: we don't think that. we think unemployment will increase because these reforms directly attack the workers. >> reporter: there are 5.2 million spaniards unemployed.

here is one of them. are these government reforms going to help you get a job? >> not at all. this reform is not going to help anyone that's unemployed in spain. >> reporter: there are all sorts of symbols in this protest including these scissors which refer to cutbacks for this young lady, cutbacks in education. she's a student. >> translator: they offer you internships for a year, she says and fire you without severance pay. there's no future for young people here. >> reporter: the unemployment rate for young people in spain is nearly 50%. this young lady has a job but what's the future like for you here? >> i'm very lucky in my case, but in spain we're having a lot of problems and they're trying to solve it by getting people unemployment with very bad conditions to work in. >> reporter: there are even children in this march here with their parents or their grandparents. >> translator: we are going back

to slavery like when we used to wait in town and the foreman for and there owner would come by the site and say who would work that day and who wouldn't. >> reporter: the ruling party has a command majority in the parliament and a free hand to try to fix spain's troubled economy. the protesters here are trying to send a message that the government doesn't have all the power. al goodman cnn, madrid. staff at the largest supplier of apple's ipads and iphones have received a significant pay rise. foxconn increased wages by up to 25% at chinese factories. base pay for workers after probation rose by $48 to $397 a month, well above the state minimum of about $238. for many workers that might be enough to offset worries about all the negative publicity that foxconn has had in recent years.

in its latest audit of conditions at foxconn apple reported two dozen labor and human rights violations including excessive hours and child workers. >> they're not likely to be pleased by the latest move by their employer. lloyds is seeking to take back more than $1.5 million that it paid to its top executives as part of their. they've been targeted for punishment for their bank in reselling payment protection insurance. it averages about 200,000 pounds each, so $300,000 is believed to have come from the bank's chief executive who gave up his own multimillion dollar bonus earlier this year. this man, the former chief executive eric daniels is

expected to lose up to $500,000. lloyd's the first british bank to take such a step. it may indeed encourage others to follow suit. interesting stuff. i suspect not too many hearts are bleeding over that, one andrew. >> i suspect not, charles. still ahead here on "world business today," it's london fashion week. beyond the bright lights of the catwalk, it's big business in the uk. we go behind the scenes and take a look at the fashion industry's big bottom line just ahead.

britain gets a new sunday tabloid newspaper this week when "the sun" hits the news stands for a seventh day. rupert murdoch says he'll personally oversee the launch following a series of arrests amid allegations of corruption.

"the sun" closed last year in the wake of the phone hacking scandal. welcome back. you're watching "world business today." it's interesting reading, the reaction to that saying mr. murdoch is getting his mojo back. >> absolutely. i don't think he's finished by any manner of means. 80 or plus he may well be, but the man certainly has a good business brain. i think that is going to be an instant financial success. london fashion week kicks off here today in the midst of some encouraging retail sales figures. they're up for the second month in a row, boosting hopes britain may yet avoid a recession. fashion is the 15th largest industry here in united kingdom. it's worth that, around $33 billion a year. emily ruben takes a look at a serious business with a big bottom line.

>> reporter: you might think fashion is frivolous, all that fuss about hats, frocks and shoes in their many forms. the industry wants you to think again. >> there's got to be some privilege volatility attached to it to create awareness. underneath all this is very serious business. >> reporter: the big names gathered at the start of london's fashion week. according to report commissioned by the british fashion council in 2009 the uk fashion industry directly contributed about $33 million to the uk economy. that's around $1.7% of gdp. the industry employs 816,000 people, that's more than works for the uk's entire mow tore industry. fashion is clearly big business. how can it or indeed any industry grow at a time when some economists are predicting that the uk is headed for recession. >> these are pretty tough

economic times. is this a good time to be launching a plan for growth and job creation in the fashion industry? >> as you've heard, it's the second largest employer in the country. the answer is that we think hopefully we've got a business that's still developing and we've got to go find the new talent, develop it. that's our job. >> the industry wants to create training, establish apprenticeships and build on the success of colleges like these. i also wants to boost a side neglected for years, textile manufacturing. the retail side of fashion has been growing, but the same can't be said for manufacturing which pretty much sfell off a cliff i the last couple decades. that could all be about to change. 50% of designers showing here at london fashion week say half or more of their collections are made here in the uk. it's not going to change overnight, some of these designers told us they're finding it harder to get uk factories to commit to their

orders because so many fashion companies want their goods to be made here. the factories can't cope with the demands. with the queen's diamond jubilee and the olympics this year, the spotlight is on london. the fashion industry will will be hoping with that comes more business and uk fashion plc will continue to be appreciated for its contribution to growth as much as for its good looks. emily ruben, cnn at london fashion week. >> what's that story got to do with these birds? it wouldn't be fashion week without plenty of exotic embellishment like ostrich feathers. for supplies in south africa, business has never been better. we caught up with a designer to talk about the booming business. >> os strip is not just about fashion, it's about business? >> absolutely. for us one of the xet dif advantages or the things you have to put up internationally is the fact that you have access

to exotic skins and beautiful kind of hides. it es something we use in our collectiontion and impacts in terms of our bottom lines, the collections we produce always have to have some exotic skin. >> you've actually shown in paris particularly with ostrich. what was that like? >> i think for us it's always interesting, coming from africa, despite having to over come more stereotypes than the average designer has, and also not really having access to everything that other designers have sitting in their artilleries in europe or wherever they are. for me it was about looking at what we had and seeing how we could develop that and take it to a new level. we showcased in 2006, the first time we premiered a kind of technique which was foiling an ostrich skin. obviously nobody blooechd it came from south africa. at the same time nobody believes there is craftsmanship that exists in africa which is at a

level which is as good as the couture produced in paris, if not sometimes better. >> we're going to stay on the theme for a moment because i want to talk about a frenzy of samba and sequin. according to organizers 2.5 million people turned out to rio de janeiro's annual street party. no expense there putting these lavish parades on, certainly pays off. in rio alone, carnival will generate more than $600 million dollars. a party with a profit. that's what we like to see, charles. >> we love that, particularly for throwing them ourselves. none of mine have made a profit to date. i'll have to work on that. from ribs to roast, corns to kobe, burgers, beef is a staple

of the diet. we'll tell you how the humble cow could soon be out of the picture. that might be good news for some. we'll see. matt's brakes didn't sound right... ...so i brought my car to mike at meineke...

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xi jing ping sampling irish sport in dublin. the chinese vice president is in the irish republic on a three-day tour. it's his only stop in europe

following his visit to the united states last week. in spite of taking in irish culture t focus of his trip is promoting trade and investment between china and ireland. welcome back live from cnn london and hong kong. this is "world business today." i have no idea what that stick was he was using to hit that ball with. now, china is rolling out the red carpet for hollywood. the u.s. film industry will soon have greater access to the booming chinese movie market worth about $2 billion last year. in the past, china limited the number of foreign films in the country to 20 a year. but after a u.s. complaint to the world trade organization and a deal reached with china's vice president last week, china will now allow an additional 14 foreign films, as long as they're formatted for either 3d or i max. this is a big win for hollywood. part of the deal also includes giving u.s. studios a bigger share of profits in china,

increased to 25% from the current 19%. now, let's move on to the humble hamburger. we all know where the beef comes from, cows. there you are. we saw one actually, mr. xi was being confrontd with an irish calf. those hamburgers may not come from cows like this one for much longer because, instead those burger patties could be grown in test tubes. the world's first test tube burger is being nurtured in a laboratory in the netherlands right now. scientists are growing cow muscle from stem cells and hope to have british celebrity theft heston blumenthal grill it in october. the thinking between the $320,000 project is this is a more sustainable form of food production that could reduce the number of cattle farmed for food and also reducing greenhouse gas

emissions as a result. i'm not sure actually, will it take mustard, will it take tomato, catch chup? will it be acceptable to vegetarians? a lot of interesting thoughts there, andrew. >> i want to see the marketing department that can turn cow muscle grown in a glass tube into something you want to eat. i can't see it getting very far at all. i like the idea about it. let's face it. no one is going to eat -- i guess it's not artificial, but factory grown, beaker-grown cow muscle. it doesn't really roll off the tongue. >> would you really kill this poor animal or would you go to this -- which would leave you feeling an awful lot better. this is what a lot of our food looks like already to be perfectly honest. i'm not sure that this might not be a very good idea, certainly more sustainable, keeping a lot of these is frankly not terribly

good for the planet and not very good for them if they're only being killed for sort of -- i tend to prefer the real thing when it comes to meat. but, you know, i must say, i do have mixed feelings about this. let's move on and tell you about the european markets. here we are. green across the board in anticipation of a deal on greece. the two big eurozone markets, germany and france both up by about 1%. that's it for this edition of "world business today." i'm charles hodson in london. >> and i'm andrew stevens in hong kong. thanks for watching. we'll see you a little later this day. good-bye for now. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com

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