>> stuck in a holding pattern. australia's central bank keeps its benchmark interest rate steady as it looks for trouble spots. >> as -- at the nasdaq, a shakeup at zynga. a microsoft exec is now at the helm of the gaming company. and the winklevoss twins,

famously burned by facebook, are now putting their faith in bit going -- in bitcoin. >> welcome back to our studios here in washington. coming up, a look at the global car industry from the u.s. to argentina. y automakers in both countries are enjoying robust sales. and out with the old ceo and in with the new one. zynga hires a microsoft heavyweight. first, world news headlines. >> a defiant speech in the face of growing opposition. egyptian president bahman morsi refused to resign. he vows to protect his constitutional legitimacy with his life. he accused loyalists to the former president of carrying out these protests to topple his government. protests occurred in tahrir square and other places in egypt.

a bolivian plane carrying the president was rerouted after france and portugal refused to let it cross into their airspace. they had suspicions that edward snowden was aboard. no confirmation on that yet. trump venezuela, the president is coming to edward snowden's defense. he remained holed up in the moscow international airport, saying that he should be supported by the world for telling the truth. snowden is not interested in staying in russia any longer after that -- after president vladimir putin insisted that he stop any new leaks. japan is on the defensive after australia contains to the united nations about its whale hunting. australia wants the u.n. highest court to outlaw the killing of hundreds of whales in antarctic waters. japan insists it is gathering valuable scientific data to make wailing a sustainable activity. whale meat is considered a delicacy in japan.

back to you. >> the reserve bank of australia left its benchmark interest rate unchanged. the decision was not a huge surprise. the rba has not ruled out intervention. >> most economists predicted that the reserve bank of australia would keep the official cash rate on hold. the rba did exactly that. most of the hard work has been done for the rba by steeply falling australian dollar. the aussie has fallen 12% in the past quarter. it is the second worst performing global currency after the syrian pound. a weaker currency is imported for australia as it tries to rebalance its economy. he said australia can no longer rely on a chinese resource boom.

though interest rates and a low dollar are keys to stimulating other parts of the australian economy. the reserve bank of australia has cut rates by two percent in the past 18 months. it is decided that for now, that is enough. >> that is because the aussie dollar has done a lot of work for the rba. having depreciated substantially, it is supporting growth in the various sectors of the economy, including the manufacturing industry and the service sectors that are exposed, like tourism. >> if there rebalancing act proves tricky, the rba still has moved -- room to move. towards the end of july, the consumer price index will be released, the official gauge of inflation. if it remains under control, the rba will still consider cutting rates below the record 2.75%. >> joining us to talk more about the interest rate decision and how it may impact the economy is

a fellow at the brookings institution and a former legal adviser with the australian legal department of foreign affairs and trade. the rba said that the growth outlook was below the long-term average. why this conservative approach? >> there were a variety of factors going into the decision to keep interest rates on hold. they are looking at the broader international environment. some improvement in the economy would flow through to the broader, global economy. there has been significant depreciation in the australian dollar, around 10%. that will give a boost to the economy and achieve rebalancing that we would have otherwise to try to achieve with interest rates. >> is there any short-term concerns about that? >> the question will be whether this is a short-term depreciation or whether we will see more. that will largely depend on what is happening in china over the next period of time.

if the growth continues to slow, we may see further depreciation. >> let's talk about that relationship between china and australia. the old prime minister, now the new prime minister said that getting a free trade agreement with china is one of his top priorities. how important is that? he described it as a camel going across the sahara looking for water. it is not moving very quickly. is that a good way to describe it? >> eric arising it as slow is the best way of doing it. there have been negotiations for a couple of years now. the negotiation includes china and a variety of other southeast asian countries. the negotiations only restarted recently. significantly, china is australia's largest export market. being hit -- making headway

there is critically important. >> how quickly do you think it could get done? >> i think we are talking two or three years. >> what about that relationship? as much as australia and the leaders like it, a lot of australians are not crazy about it erie it -- crazy about it. >> there is actually a trade surplus that australia has with china, which is white unusual. there has been a lot of welfare that has been generated by trading with china. overall, there are some concerns about investment, some areas of the economy. overall, they feel that it is the best relationship erie it >> you mentioned the slowdown in china. how where he are people in australia about that? >> very wary. the linkage of the australian economy for trade with china is significant erie it any slowdown in china is going to improve sentiment and lay through the

australian economy. >> labor, i saw this written by an analyst, labor has been unable since the 2007 election to deliver policies that actually work. how much pressure is on them to come through? >> the phrase is, is the economy stupid? the prime minister realized he has an election campaign focus on economics. >> and he says they cannot keep their eggs in one basket. how do you diversify? >> they are already significant with china and other key economies like the united states, japan, india. there is a lot of upside there as the demand for raw materials increases. through pursuing an ambitious trade agenda through the wto and

also helping to diversify. >> thank you. one of europe's fastest growing digital hubs is offering a lucky startup entrepreneur a $1.5 million prize for the world's best business idea. they are giving away the cash to generate a business using the contents of a startup community base. >> along the narrow streets of london, something is stirring. digital entrepreneurs gathering in large numbers. huddled masses over laptops seeking out financial backers or startup ideas. >> it is a great place to come together and find out what is going on in the tech world. >> you can meet people and that is what is great about this place. >> it is great for collaborating. so many people with different skills. if you have a problem or want a second opinion, there is always someone in this room that you can speak to.

it is really helpful. >> the numbers have attracted tech giants like google, an indication of a critical mass evolving into what they call tech city. it is getting the attention of some other big overseas players too. >> google provides a relaxing environment. it gives startups space to work and business advice. >> the man behind it all is also the man offering $1.5 million for the world's best business idea. getting heads together, he says, for the benefit of all. >> so many companies are coming into this area to do new things with tech and digital. and their proximity to each other rubs all. so more people come. >> and the city of london also has the big wheeling financial context. >> well-positioned with its

links to the city. it is a very big part of the space in the next decade. >> london may have been doing it for over 1000 years, people forming a critical mass. fleet street for the printers. now it is the turn of the digital age. they are just beginning, but they have all the optimism and confidence of youth. >> coming up on "biz asia america," president barack obama's health care law hits another stack -- another snag. and pedal to the metal. the u.s. and argentina zoom past forecast. why more people are hitting the roads in new cars.

>> a key portion of president barack obama's health care law is being delayed. originally, all businesses with 50 or more employees were required to provide health insurance or pay a penalty starting in 2014. that portion of the law will be pushed back to 2015. they say it is a recognition that the requirements for businesses are complex and they will attempt to streamline them over the next year. that does not affect the individual mandate which requires all americans to get insurance. u.s. car shares -- sales are shifting into high gear, a spike in sales not seen since before the recession. chrysler rose eight percent. general motors also having a big year at 6.5%. much of the boost came from

rising demand for big pickup trucks. u.s. automakers were not the only ones enjoying robust sales. japanese automakers all had double-digit increases as well. analysts say low interest rates and ettore credit access should keep sales strong through the end of the year. want another sign of how robust those sales are? take argentina. it may be struggling to keep its economy going, but do not tell that to the auto industry. its latest numbers hit a record high display record inflation and slumping sales of other goods. >> argentines love their cars. flocking in huge numbers to the annual motor show. as the publicity tells us, a look at what they will be driving tomorrow. sales in may were at a record high, 89,644.

>> in the first five months of the year, we saw close to a five percent rise from 2012. we expect the market to and the year at these levels. >> the roads are crammed with shiny new vehicles. growth in the argentine economy is slowing. household goods have slumped. the answer lies partly in the high inflation rate. independent economists have closer to 25%. >> the reality is that, in argentina, it is cheaper to buy a car with dollars. there is a great deal to choose from in the market. the value of the used car keeps at a very good rice so the possibility of buying a new car is better than previous years. >> cars in argentina hold their value, a good hedge against inflation. the fancier the car, the better

the investment. argentine investors love for wheels. -- 4 wheels, the modest and the top of the range. if it has an engine in it, they buy it. >> straight ahead, what happens when your startup does not hit it big but does not fade away either? usually the creative tech genius that's pushed aside. zynga's ceo is the latest to join the club after its creation dumps him for a microsoft heavyweight. for we owe to the break, we will look at how wall street ended the day.

>> welcome back to "biz asia america," broadcasting across the u.s. and around the globe. i am at the nasdaq market site at the heart of a somewhat wet times square on this tuesday evening. a shakeup at zynga. former microsoft xbox boss don

mattrick is now taking over as ceo of the game maker. how is the industry viewing this power play? >> one of the companies that pioneered social gaming ran into obstacle after obstacle this year, losing its status as the top facebook game maker and top social casino haymaker. those are two reasons why don mattrick is taking the reins from founder and ceo mark pincus, who agreed to his hiring. pincus remains chairman of the board and chief product officer. >> the shareholders have been calling for his head as zynga has been struggling. he has found someone who is acceptable to him as his replacement and he probably could not have found someone with a more impressive resume. >> mattrick presided over the

meteor a growth of the xbox 360. takahashi says he lacks experience in a key area. >> he has no experience in mobile. microsoft never got its feet wet in a handheld device. mattrick is going headfirst into zynga, whose entire future lies on how well they do at mobile games. >> he says popular social media games have been far more successful launching on facebook and mobile. on the download rankings, you have to go all the way to number 18 to find any zynga games. zynga became a $1 billion company by capitalizing on the popularity of social gaming and quickly expanded. but the transition to mobile proved harder than expected. last month, zynga was forced to layoff more than 500 people. a new ceo, seemingly

overqualified in every way except for his experience in mobile, to try to right the sinking ship. >> zynga's decision to bring in the head of microsoft's xbox is in this to replace mark pincus is a bold stroke that has been hailed by wall street. the stock closed up 10% on tuesday and gained over six percent today. it still leaves questions as to will this really be a game changer for the game maker? joining me now is a spokes percent -- spokesperson. will the hiring change their performance in anyway given that mark pincus is still the chief product officer? >> that is a good question. it is unclear. it is something that people thought would happen when mark

pincus hired their coo, also a games industry veteran from electronic arts. that did not happen. people are wondering whether pincus will let go of the reins a little bit and let mattrick ru n his company. so far, it is unclear. >> do you expect to see any change day-to-day in terms of operations, making hit games with mattrick onboard? >> as a former social gaming executive and someone from the industry, i would love to see some changes, specifically with regards to how zynga has gone about focusing on scale and distribution over product quality. hopefully that wil flip. one of the biggest strategic mistakes that zynga made early on and many would agree, they focused heavily on scaling boast

their user base and revenue -- both their user base and revenue, primarily focusing on distributions rupe gentles and viral channels on facebook. they did not focus on product quality, which is really interesting. the culture of that company in silicon valley is quite the opposite. the cliché in the valley is companies build it and hope that people will come. in zynga's case, it has been the opposite. they have not focused on building great products, they were just focused on scaling and distribution. it has not served them well. i am hoping that with the change in ceo, that is something they will go back to, focusing on building great, quality entertainment. >> "farmville" was considered great quality entertainment. if you look at zynga's model, it relied heavily on selling virtual goods to gamers on the facebook platform, from those

virtual cows to the virtual seeds. it began to disintegrate in 2012 and the stock limited about 40%. what does zynga need to do to get back into the game, so to speak? is there another revenue stream they can tap into other than advertising and the pay to play model of buying those virtual additions? >> that is an interesting observation. zynga's products and their business model were heavily built around facebook as being the dominant social gaming platform. virtual goods, you mentioned "farmville" as a business model. zynga put all of their eggs on the facebook ask it. they bet heavily on facebook and believed it would be dominant platform for social gaming. at has turned out not to be the case. mobile, especially smart phones

and tablets, have really come into their own as the dominant social gaming platform. zynga has not been able to take either the gameplay in terms of the content and the business model, and parlay that into success on mobile. what they need to do is build games that are designed from ground up for mobile systems and not try to take what worked on the facebook system and plug that into mobile. that have not -- that has not worked well for them. speaking to the business model options -- >> let's focus on the business model. we had the advertising in and around the games. and you have the virtual sales. what is a another potential revenue stream? could we see something different from zynga poker, for example? >> what they are doing, venturing into real money gambling, is definitely an interesting move. it is a very nascent market

still. i am not sure that it is clear yet whether zynga will succeed and dominate that market. the interesting thing about the social casino gaming space is that, along with the typical games industry competitors, big fish games is one that is doing really well with casinos, zynga now faces a petition from actual casino go -- gaming companies. the largest is now owned by caesar's as well as igt, massive slot machine operators. it may be too little, too late. it is unclear whether zynga can dominate the space given the competition that is already there and they're late entry into that space. >> you mentioned facebook. since the departure, zynga not only focuses on putting games on its own site and mobile, but with mattrick on board, should

they be thinking bigger into putting them on a gaming console perhaps? >> with him on board, i would think they would at least consider consoles as an option. going back to not having a place , a huge bet on facebook and not being able to turn their games into profitable enterprises on any other medium, now is the time for them to look act on that strategy and decide whether console games will be something that will work for them. interestingly, both google and apple are rumored to be getting into the console business, which may be great news for zynga. >> we will see how that pans out. thank you so much. zynga's mark pincus is hardly the only startup founder to be kicked from the top spot of his own company. earlier this year, groupon

ousted founder and ceo andrew mason, offering a nosedive in the company's stock price and increased competition in the daily deal market that groupon helped create in the first place. mason is keeping busy. he has released a seven song album about his business knowledge with tracks such as "the way to work" and "my door is always open." and of course, the king of all tech giants, steve jobs long before he change the world. he was pushed out of his own company in the mid-1980s. he made a big comeback to apple and as we know, his career worked out just rate. apple is running into trouble again in europe. french regulators raided several of the company's stores and distributors last week. they are being accused of unfair retail practices.

investigators said the company prioritized supplying its own stores with its newest rod ochs while limiting supply for retailers. french officials are probing developers hoping to sell their apps on the company's website. apple has refused to comment on the raids. internet entrepreneurs cameron and tyler winklevoss, best-known for their feud with mark zuckerberg over there share of facebook, are now putting their faith in bitcoins. they are planning to bring them into the digital mainstream. it is a currency as a form of electronic cash. no central agency controls the exchange. the twins are trying to get permission from the u.s. securities regulators to allow any investor to trade bitcoins just like they were stocks. they have created a bitcoin tr

ust to allow any investment house to buy and sell bid coins -- bitcoins. the twins already have $11 million worth of bitcoins. >> let's get the latest on egypt and the rest of the international news. >> our top story is the situation in egypt. just a few hours ago, president mohamed morsi addressed the nation, vowing to keep the presidency. he says he is prepared to defend democracy with his life. this is a live look at career quare. people chanting on both sides, those who support him and oppose him. we are now live from cairo. what is the latest? >> we have reports from military sources that the armed forces is currently on the move to protect vital areas in the country. it is spreading its troops and

just a few minutes after we heard this report, we found the main stage of tahrir square announcing that the army is protecting the entrances to protect the protesters. to protect them from any attacks like what we saw at cairo university, where morsi supporters have clashed with protesters. the casualties rose to 6 officially dead. we expect more casualties and over 50 injured. one of the tourist sites, clashes have happened there as well, about 14 are injured. this comes as a series of clashes spread all over the country and still is spreading as president morsi spoke to the nation today. during his speech, he insisted