rightly or wrongly, julia has lost the trust of the australian people, and starting on monday, i want to start restoring that trust. >> well, in response, julia gillard herself told a news conference that the choice of leader should be based on strength of character. >> the choice that the nation faces and my parliamentary colleagues face on monday is a choice as to who has got the character, the temperament, the strength to deliver on the -- to deliver on half of the australian people. it is about working out who can lead the nation, who has got the ability to get things done. >> russell is here. we're having a look at the tennis from dubai. a lot of attention on wozniacki again. >> yeah, she's shaping up. >> yes, now that she's lost the world number one ranking during the australian open, victoria azarenka went to the top of the rankings there. wozniacki is down to number four. but operation return to top spot has begun. she's in dubai at the moment, and she's been involved in a quarterfinal with another former number one, ana ivan vick, which she has won, 6-3, -5, so she's through

she has lost the trust of the australian people. starting on monday, i want to start restoring that trust. that is why i have decided to contest the leadership of the australian labor party. i want to finish the job the australian people elected me to do, and i was elected by them to become prime minister. >> president obama has offered a written apology to the afghan president after three days of violent protests sparked by burning of copies of the koran. the taliban has urged afghans to target foreign military bases in retaliation. two u.s. soldiers were shot by a man in an afghan army uniform. >> on the streets, the people have turned against america. it was police on the front line firing live runs. -- rounds. it has become a nationwide backlash with even small u.s. bases coming under attack. the clashes have claimed the lives of a dozen afghans. two american troops were shot dead by an afghan soldier. it all began at the main air base. afghan workers found u.s. troops burning korans. they rescued several copies. >> i do myself

the australian prime minister ask calls a snap election following the resignation of kevin rudd. it skewed the government's achievements. >> a bloody week in the syrian town of homs. two foreign journalists among the dead. a train crashes into a terminal in monasteries. 49 are killed. gloria are arroyo pleads not guilty to election rigging. it is 12:00 here in singapore. this is newsday. the julia gillard has called for an election after the resignation of our foreign minister. kevin rudd step down. he said he could no longer serve without confidence. >> the prime minister came out to defend our record and her abilities. for the sake of the party and the country, speculation about her leadership had to end. kevin rudd, the man whose job she took, what was the center of the argument. >> in order to settle this question once and for all. i believe it is in the interest of the party, but much more important in the interest of the australian nation. >> speaking from washington where he resigned, kevin rudd announced his intention to run and made clear only he could save the governmen

rightly or wrongly, julia has lost the trust of the australian people, and starting on monday i want to start restoring that trust. >> kevin rudd. in response, australian prime minister julia gillard told a news conference that a leader should be chosen on strength of character. >> the choice the nation faces and my parliamentary colleagues face on monday is a choice as to who has got the character, the temperament, the strength to deliver on behalf of the australian people. this is not celebrity big brother. it is about working out who can lead the nation, who has got the ability to get things done. >> australia's princeton julia gillard. staying in australia, a fourth in quest into the death of a baby girl who disappeared in the australian outback more than 30 years ago. the girl's mother, lindy chamberlain-creighton, insist that the baby was taken by a dingo. she was convicted of the child's murderer in 1982 but freed four years later when the baby's jacket was found near a dingo's ir businessmen will be extradited to the ninth states for conspiring to sell missile parts to iran.

but much more importantly i believe it is in the interests of the australian nation. >> there's been speculation about this for months and months and months. would kevin rudd make a challenge against julia gillard or not? what's this all about? it's all about kevin himself who was ousted by the prime minister from the job of prime minister in june, 2010. and he's never got over it. he remains bitter and angry about that and he wants his job back. a short time ago mr. rudd spoke about his intentions. >> i am pleased and encouraged by the amount of positive support and encouragement of me to contest the leadership of the australian labor party party. i have many more calls still to make. the overall argument to me is that they regard me as the best prospect to lead the australian labor party successfully to the next elections, to save the australian labor party at those elections and to save the country from the ravages of an avid government. >> the leadership contest is on monday. does gillard or rudd have the numbers? >> it's hard to say at the moment. i think julia gillard is the fa

as shown as in this australian police re-enactment video, the prosecution believes watson killed his new bride by turning off her air supply on her scuba tank. and holding her in a bear hug while she suffocated. and they say he turned the air back on, which is how it was found, all under six minutes. the defense argue that scenario is impossible. and that tina's death was a tragic accident. >> two inexperienced divers, in a perfect storm, a culmination of bad facts and bad circumstances. >> i can tell at that point, she was scared before. but at that point, i could tell she was frightened. >> reporter: today, in court, the jury watched a tape about australian police questioning gabe about the dive. gabe says tina struggled to swim in the strong currents. and that she began to sink in the deep water. he said he signaled to her to inflate her buoyancy vest, to help her stay afloat, but she couldn't. he then held her hand to help pull her along. >> her hand hit my mask. it knocked my mask sideways. so, you know, i had to let go. >> reporter: gabe then says he fate a fateful decision to

the australian model changes that. we're number one. hey, great. there's some issues and i'll do them quickly. other countries that do this. germany, what happens in germany is you have a pop-up on your screen which says basically we notice you're infected. call this number if you want help, right? the australians and some other countries that do this say, click here and we will clean your computer for you. a few other places that don't go public, they just intervene without your knowledge. you have a privacy issue, you've got to be careful about that. one of the things that comes up over and over again is should we isolate infected computers. should we cut infected users off from the internet? some companies are doing this. you are putting such a burden on me that i'm going to cut you off. big issue. if you look at the databases where we have data, there's an amazing drop in the rate of infection. so this works. and it would be useful if we followed the australians, the germans, the japanese, the turks. >> i'll give you two other points on austral

but at the moment, there are no signs of any australians on this ferry. as we heard from the captain, there are reports of in life jackets, reports of people being picked up out of the water. just the sheer numbers involved in what could have been as reports say was rough weather suggests this is a major rescue operation. we have to say at the moment, no casualty figures to report. just the rescue figures reported by the captain and others at the scene. >> thank you for the update. at least 79 people have been killed in clashes between football fans in cairo. the home team fans of al-masry rushed on to the field to sell operate vare victory. >> it is egypt he is worst football disaster at a time when the country is already in a political turmoil. the deadly clashes between these bitter football rifles have shaken this country to the core. >> it all started at the final whistle. fans of the team in port said streamed on the egypt to celebrate a victory against al-ahly. first, the al-ahly players had to run for their lives. and then the home fans charged in

this is an australian air force surveillance plane.his is over the indian ocean, an area where most pirates are. this plane allows a combined anti piracy forced to look far over the horizon. >> please report any switches this activity. >> this is straight ahead of us. >> flying at practically space height, they document every vessel in the area. >> they tried to hide. someone flies by. >> like these two fishing boats. something about them made the australians suspicious. the pictures are beamed back to headquarters. if pilots were detected on board, a warship would investigate. >> are you safe? >> on land, this is the trade operations, the first point of contact for merchant ships. >> all be with you at the moment. >> this shows the pirates shadowing them but they have armed guards on board. for a crew that does it captured, an attack is terrifying. "obviously they will have a massive panic. if they are going to get shot at, they will be hiding. -- >> obviously, they will have a massive panic. >> pirate success rates are coming down bu

but australian business just is very resolute. it's going on, yes, it's a distraction but it's getting on with its daily business and doing good business at the moment. >> adam, thuchl for your thoughts. let's see how things develop next week. that was a board member of the australian chamber of commerce. beccy? >> we'll see what occurs next week. >>> coming up on today's program we have more from that exclusive interview with government councilmember liikanen. >> it is very clear here what the ecb did was done for public policy purposes and we are outside of bsi. on the other hand, of course, it's not to create profits. it's not a profit seeking operation. the revenue is to get on these we pass. it is part of a normal dividend policy. and it's for the states to decide. >>> welcome to the show. the headlines today greece is set to launch its mega debt swap with private investors after the measure is passed in parliament. its first step to a much-needed bailout fund. ecb governing councilmember liikanen tells cnbc the central bank

the men are doing a good job, says the australian engineer. they can improvise -- they got used to doing that in the past. sometimes former managers visit. em leang was head of maintenance before he retired. he's thrilled about the new developments. before, we had nothing, he says, no replacement parts, no equipment, no money. every locomotive's location can be tracked by gps. sovannaphuong tang is a ticket inspector. until two years ago, she was an aerobics instructor. she's proud of her new job. with the computer system i always know exactly where a train is. 120 kilometers of track are already in service. the railway is undergoing a renaissance in much of southeast asia. cambodia is the weakest link in a plan to connect singapore with china specialists have come from india. the tropical temperatures are nothing new to them, says this man. but the tracks suffer in the heat. the air may be 46 degrees centigrade, but the tracks are 55 degrees. china is especially interested in a train network to southeast asia. there are many options for a sin

in fact, more australians work than at any other time in history. the unemployment rate on the back of those extra jobs added fell and that was an unexpected fall. it's now down at 5.1%. forecasts were for an increase of 1 percentage point to 5.3%. economists say the positive data means the central bank sun likely to cut its benchmark interest rate next month, nina. >>> andrew, in the united states, we've got about five hours to go until the start of trading on wall street. the main markets look set for a mostly lower open, tracking the kind of picture we've seen here in europe at the moment. all of this comes after the dow jones industrial average actually suffered its steepest fall this year on wednesday's session alone. as those tempers started to fray in europe over greece's seemingly intractable debt crisis and the possibility of a default for that country. from new york, alison kosik has the day's action. >>> stocks sank on wednesday as uncertainly over greece's bailout sent investors heading for the exits. minutes from the latest u.s. federal

the 40-year old australian is wanted by swedish authorities for questioning over alleged sex offenses which he denies. mr. assange remains on condition of bail in the u.k. and claims the allegations are politically motivated. why do some of us seem to collect friends by the dozens what others struggle to maintain even a few? you might have thought it has to do with how open and generous you are, or perhaps how funny you are. all of that might be true, but there is not another reason. researchers at oxford university in britain saying it has to do with the size of a particular part of your brain. joining me from oxford is professor robin zumbar -- rabin dunbar. at the school of anthropology. a gross simplification. give us an layman's terms of what this research tells us. >> very simple terms, the size of this particular part of the brain just above the eyes, as it were, correlates with your social skills or ability to understand other people. and in turn, with the number of friends you have, or at least the number of close friends you have. that is in turn correlated with your total s

while australians are the stars that clinched her first back to back wins of the season defeating better it's at cosco for the czech republic in straight sets us i've been champion stows that ended last year on a high but it's had a rocky start to this season. and after winning his fortieth title last week phil mickelson is again the man to catch as the american has a one shot lead after the first day of the northern trust open in california where mickelson is in a rich vein of form after winning at pebble beach last week he hit a five under par sixty six during the first day at the riviera country club and that's puts him on top of the leaderboard one shot ahead of j.b. holmes went home to maine. while a spectacular tee shot stole the show on the women's l.p.g. a tour as seven time major winner carry web ace the past twelve hole in thailand this cracker adding to her sterling effort on the coattails second day the thirty seven year old australian posting just one bogey and four straight birdies over fourteen holes before play was suspended due to rain with webb took a preliminary two st

imports despite the strong australian dollar which, for instance, has hit. but the point is julia gillard, her term as prime minister, has coincided with a drop in the popularity of the leadership party and this election is all about that. the labor party back benches are desperate it shall. >> who is the real winner there? i'm wondering, regardless whether julia fwil ard or kevin rudd wins, maybe the real winner is abbott who may come out from behind, be able to clinch an early election since the public is just completely disenfranchised with this tit for tat move. >> even on monday, they're not really sure who is going to win. the point is when you look at it from a broader perspective, australia has been really at the mercy of the international market so when rudd was prime minister he benefited from a cheap australian dollar and the fact that china was growing very strongly after the 2008 crisis that helped his inkcumbency. when gillard came in, it slowed the economy somewhat and there were some policy moves, the tax on energy consumption that didn't go

and australian women forced to give up their children for adoption. it's midday in this area but in homs, it's said the ground assault seems to have begun. activists say it could lead to a blood bath which is why humanitarian fears are rising to the top of international agendas. china now may be prepared to back the rest of the humanitarian initiative. >> they certainly seem to be feeling the pressure of being one of the few that vetoed humanitarian intervention. the secretary general talked to the foreign minister of saudi arabia and much is said about the humanitarian situation, etc., etc. but the chinese don't want anything that smacks of intervention or forced regime change, anything like that. so if the west is looking at the humanitarian issue as a way of itself achieving corridors that would be imposed rather than accepted by the syrian government, i think the chinese, as well as the russians, would be against it. the west have long abandon the talk of anagreement. i wish i were privy to satellite communication, because communication with activ

the case of a baby girl killed in the australian outback 13 years ago. the family claimed she was taken by a dean delaware -- by a dingo. >> it was the case that divided australia. it happens 31 years ago during a family -- happened 31 years ago during a family camping trip. the mother claimed the dingo got the baby. the jury did not believe her. she is back in court to get dingo's officially blamed for her doctor's debt. -- daughter's death. the couple is looking for one more thing in this long-running case. so that it is called formally and finally that it was a dingo that killed her baby. >> it gives me hope that australians will finally be warned and realized that dingo es are a dangerous animal. i also hope this will be a final finding, which closes the hter'st into my daug death, which was open and unfinished. >> we believe the dingo baby story will finally come to an end. >> meant in high school and music together and the marching band may be the first thing that springs to mind. in sowetto, once famous musician is actually a pupil. after leaving

what was being reported in the australian press about the conditions for the australian commonwealthroops? >> things were going well. they weren't admitting to any major defeats which in fact was a slaughter house. >> at the age of 30, his father went to investigate problems to the hoops. >> he was shocked by what he saw. he was shocked by the british general who were charge of the whole thing. ordering suicidal attacks. >> generals were on out on the ships drinking their gin and tonics. >> you had to agree --. >> oliver: from these miserable trenches thousands of young men charged into enemy fire. even so, they went over the top again and ken. keith murdoch and another reporter set out to tell the truth. >> they actually, they were together and they had to get word through the political masses who were not getting the truth. >> oliver: keith murdoch carried the letter as far as the french port. >> when he gets to marsiilles he is confronted by intelligence officer who seizes the letter. so at that point he reconstructs the letter. but news didn't make it immediately into the newspap

and, finally, workers at one australian bus line say they have the most generous boss. after he unexpectedly shared millions of dollars in bonuses after he sold the company. some decades long employees took home more than $100,000. hopefully, bosses are taking notes there! >>> coming up, the spurs rally. the magic win one. the 76ers pull off a big upset. >>> plus kevin durant shows dallas why oklahoma city are called the thunder. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. >>> if any groundhogs out there from colorado to nebraska you'll need a snowplow. your forecast is coming up. you're watching "early today." >>> good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." >>> in sports, last night's latest installment of the nba's battle of the great plains went all oklahoma city's way. here is mario solis with an early look at all of your sports headlines. >>> last time we saw the oklahoma city thunder they were on the wrong end of a blake griffin highlight reel. last night they took out their frustration on the reigning champs by dunking the mavericks

and, finally, workers at one australian bus line say they have the most generous boss. after he unexpectedly shared millions of dollars in bonuses after he sold the company. some decades long employees took home more than $100,000. hopefully, bosses are taking notes there! >>> coming up, the spurs rally. the magic win one. the 76ers pull off a big upset. >>> plus kevin durant shows dallas why oklahoma city are called the thunder. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. >>> if any groundhogs out there from colorado to nebraska you'll need a snowplow. your forecast is coming up. you're watching "early today." ♪ [ male announcer ] little owen wanted to play, but his nose was raw and sore. achoo! [ male announcer ] and common tissue made it burn even more. ♪ puffs plus lotion is more soothing than common tissue, and it delivers our most soothing lotion for every nose issue. a nose in need deserves puffs plus lotion indeed. to give your cold a comforting scent, try puffs plus lotion with the scent of vicks. >>> good morning. if you're just waking up, this is

. >> 12 australian citizens are being held on drug charges. he has told made the australian citizens have confirmed what happened last night, at least what he has been told by officials, is that a riot broke out among six inmates. we believe the riot was the result of a stabbing over the weekend. unidentified gay members staged this retaliatory attack. the pictures and -- unidentified gang members staged this retaliatory attack. the pictures show them trying to stop this attack from taking place. wheat understand the right is over, but no visitors have been allowed in -- we understand the riot is over, but no visitors have been allowed in as they try to figure out what happened. >> for the children of the afghan capital, this winter politics is the least of their concerns. they are dying at attractive rates from sheer cold. nearly four children have frozen to death -- they are dying at an alarming rate from sheer cold. nearly four children have frozen to death. this is raising questions about the afghan government's ability to protect its peop

the malaysian government has already decided to grant an operating license to the australian company, but protesters have filed a complaint. they are asking a court to prevent the refinery from starting operations. rare earth metals are essential for manufacturing mobile phones and motors for electric vehicles. more than 90% of global supplies odom from cha na. but china has restricted exports forcing firms in japan and other countries to look elsewhere for reliable sources. the malaysian facility was considered one of those potential new sources of rare earth metals. but if recent protests continue, it could make this new supply route difficult to operate. >> slash and burn farming is often blamed for destroying forests. it also creates pollution as many countries in southeast asia are currently experiencing. the skies over northern thailand have been blanketed with a thick haze for weeks. visibility was reduced in eight provinces over the weekend with dust particles rising above safety standards. flights were delayed and locals want to wear masks when they go outside. in indonesia u

. >> australian legislatures are preparing for a showdown. the country's current and former prime ministers will face off in a leadership contest next week to resolve a long running power struggle within the governing party. former leader kevin roth told reporters on friday that he will challenge the prime minister in a labor party vote next monday. he said the labor led government has a lot of work to do if it is to regain the confidence of the australian people that he is ready to start restoring that trust. he was forced from office in june 2010 when gillard led a party revolt. she named him as a foreign minister, but he resigned on wednesday. gillard announced the showdown to put an end to the divisive conflict. votes will be cast by all labor legislatures. polls show roth is more popular with the public. japan's auto production surged in january going up nearly 19% from a year earlier. the own country's eight car makers say they produce a total of 799,000 vehicles in the latest reporting month marking the fourth straight monthly increase

. >> australian legislatures are preparing for a showdown. the country's current and former prime ministers will face off in a leadership contest next week to resolve a long running power struggle within the governing party. former leader kevin roth told reporters on friday that he will challenge the prime minister in a labor party vote next monday. he said the labor led government has a lot of work to do if it is to regain the confidence of the australian people that he is ready to start restoring that trust. he was forced from office in june 2010 when gillard led a party revolt. she named him as a foreign minister, but he resigned on wednesday. gillard announced the showdown to put an end to the divisive conflict. votes will be cast by all labor legislatures. polls show roth is more popular with the public. japan's auto production surged in january going up nearly 19% from a year earlier. the own kuhn tri's eight car makers say they produce a total of 799,000 vehicles in the latest reporting month marking the fourth straight monthly increas

now to my to australian k.c. starting or appears to be in no mood to relinquish his wild title for the twenty six year old to set a track record as he tested his name honda by. they say upon international circuit in malaysia he became the first ride ever to complete the circuit in less than two minutes he said valentino rossi his previous best by just under a second and rather ominously stunning the says there's still time for improvement the head of the new season. you know the way has been really good to us we've been out of it to get us as many laps in as we can still not feeling great but the bike is we have with me now to make some more progress try and reduce the chatter a little bit more. and just try and you know decide in a few things couple different settings in the shop that we haven't tried before. and just a few other things that we've had to test on the. two winter sports now opponents you see in our culture counted all pettersen of sweden won the moscow stage of the cross-country skiing world cup t

on track australian casey stengel looks in almost form as he gets set to defend his moto g.p. world title. breeze the magic number deny moscow come from behind to record their third consecutive k h l a victory. but there's only one place to start the hottest ticket in town this weekend is undoubtedly for super bowl forty six excitement is mounting as the new england patriots and the new york giants prepared to go head to head in indianapolis on sunday the giants have held their final media session ahead of the showdown the press were invited to watch them train cornerback cody webster wide receiver hakeem nicks and linebacker jackie williams all trained despite injury concerns coach tom coughlin is confident of victory although he says suggestions that his side a favorites a wide of the mock. still us against the world the way we play a period you know we were in here seen a lot of the stuff that's been said but i recognize what but in terms of where we are we're still the underdogs and we still have an awful lot to prove. and as i said talk is cheap play the game i mean that'

on strike australian casey stoner looks in almost form as he gets set to defend his moto g.p. world title. and freeze the magic number deny moscow come from behind to record their third consecutive victory in the k h l. but we start with a further reaction to the footballing violence in egypt the world governing body fifa has demanded a full report into exactly what happened on wednesday when more than seventy people lost their lives in a match between al masri and our alley meanwhile in a show of solidarity hundreds of people came out to welcome home those who were caught up in the violence fans packed into cairo's main train station and many unfurled egyptian flags seventy four people lost their lives when opposing supporters classed following a pitch invasion every single member of the egyptian f.a. has been sacked following the incident it's also overshadowed the quarterfinals of the africa cup of nations which get underway tomorrow. first let's pray for those who lost their lives in the violence in egypt marches in my opinion reward them with paradise and base tell their

one room registered to an australian man, the other to a man and woman from new zealand. all three were arrested on suspicion of possession with insent i intent to distribute the drugs. >>> if you happen to be heading out the door wondering what the traffic is like, we got your answer. >> to the peninsula, embarcadero off ramp is the one of choice this morning. at the bottom of your screen, use winchester to lark as your alternate. we will go out to a live shot and show you what it is like across the golden gate bridge and a nice, easy clear view from the north bay. you might find some spots with wet pavement because of overnight rains. use caution, slow down as conditions require. back to you. >>> we all know it is basketball season and out in new york it is lin-sanity. jeremy lin lighting it up but there is another big sporting event going on, crowning a champion last night. >> it was the westminster dog show wrapping up last night with its best in show award. the winner -- a 4-year-old pekingese named malachi. >> handsome young guy. >> this is actually his $1 115t best

image if your daughter was drown on australian honeymoon by her husband who pleads guilty to neglect manslaughter in her debt. because of the tireless actions of your family he's also finally on trial in the united states when suddenly the judge steps in and declares him not guilty before the jury has a chance to render its verdict. frank has the exclusive with the heartbroken father and prosecutor who tried to bring her husband of 11 days watson to justice. >> the curl minute nation of-- culmination of a 9 year fight for justice it was the opinion of one man. >> when you heard the judge say the evidence is sorely lacking and dismissed the case against your former son-in-law gabe watson what went through your mind? >> for a judge to take it upon himself to do that and acquit him without giving the jury the opportunity, it just destroyed us. >> the long battle to bring their son-in-law 34-year-old gabe watson to justice in the ladies and gentlemened murder of tommy's beautiful daughter gina began shortly after her honeymoon drowning in october 2003 while scuba diving on australia's gr

the daughter of former australian open tennis champion wins golf's australian hope her dad does a scissorrs are hosting two teams he was cut by. ellis with a little good luck here from his son. looks just like him. through the line to david lee. i would say that is good. second quarter and how can monte not be in the allstar game? it continues with the rush hour. for three and final 13-0 run. warriors are up seven and he had 33. warriors with 13 three pointers. how about some passing. a reverse lay up and one. warriors win it and they have won four of their last few. to college hoops and he is driving and finds owens. he knows how to put it down. second half and cardinals started running away. randal from connecting from downtown. randal with the steel. he had 15. stanford wins it 59-47. believe it or not. their first victory in seven years. up in the maple pavilion her team gets six straight wins. same two and 25 points and cardinals by five at the break. steps it up in the second. off the glass and plus one. stanford rolls 82-59 your final. a 9-game road trip and opens it up. from the p

it says the australian economy is humming along quite nicely, thank you very much. very quickly, toyota coming out in japan with its latest quarterly earnings which are pretty good. it's full-year forecast wasn't as strong as many had hoped for. that came out after the bell. watch toyota tomorrow morning. nina? >>> 20 years ago today, political leaders gathered in the dutch city of maastricht to realize their vision of an integrated europe. well, what a difference a decade or two has made since then. as greece teeters on brink of a disorderly default and the rest of the region dreads the possible domino effect of that, the european union and its own common currency, the euro scarcely looked so shaky. i spoke to the former british finance minister lord norman lamont who told me he doesn't need hindsight to see what originally went wrong. >> i didn't believe the euro was a good concept or a workable concept. my abiding memory of that negotiation was the germans insistence on two things, one that the european central bank should be modeled open the bundes bank. the lat

. >>> and some workers at one australian company said they have the most generous boss. some decades-long employees took more than 100,000 big ones. >>> the 76ers pull off a big upset. plus, kevin durant shows dallas why oklahoma city are called the thunder. your "first look" at sports is straight ahead. you're watching "first look" on msnbc. [ male announcer ] juice drink too watery? ♪ feel the power my young friend. mmm! [ male announcer ] for excellent fruit and veggie nutrition... v8 v-fusion, also refreshing plus tea. could've had a v8. [ sighs ] i can't wait till morning. wait! it's morning in china! ♪ [ male announcer ] it's sweet, it's nutty... it's absolutely delicious. kellogg's crunchy nut. it's morning somewhere. ♪ ♪ it's nice to see you... [ male announcer ] this is your moment. this is zales, the diamond store. take an extra 10 percent off storewide now through sunday. >>> welcome back to "first look," i'm lynn berry. in sports, last night's latest installment of the nba's battle of the great plains went all oklahoma city's way. here's nbc's mario solis. >>

they called on australian mining firms to suspend the construction of a refining plant for rare-earth metals. local residents fear that radioactive waste from the facility could harm the environment. >> translator: we are worried that negative effects emerge after 10 or 20 years. we're concerned about the next generation. >> reporter: the factory behind me is the rare earth refinery plant. the construction is more than 90% complete. the malaysian government has already decided to grant an operating license to the australian company. but protesters have filed a complaint. they are asking a court to prevent the refinery from starting operations. rare-earth metals are essential for manufacturing mobile phones and motors for electric vehicles. more than 90% of global supplies come from china. but china has restricted exports forcing firms in japan and other countries to look elsewhere for reliable sources. the malaysian facility was conceded one of those potential new sources of rare-earth metals. but if recent protests continue, it could make this new supply route difficult to operate. n

the malaysian government has already decided to grant an operating license to the australian company, but protesters have filed a complaint. they are asking the court to prevent the refinery from starting operations. rare earth metals are essential for manufacturing mobile phones and motors for electric vehicles. more than 90% of global supplies come from china, but china has restricted exports forcing firms in japan and other countries to look elsewhere for reliable sources. the malaysian facility was considered one of those potential new sources of rare earth metals, but if recent protests continue, it could make this new supply route difficult to operate. reporting for nhk world, malaysia. >>> and that wraps up our bulletin for day. >>> business is drying up for home builders in the city of asahikawa in northern japan, so one contractor is branching out to mongolia. many people there complain their houses don't keep out the winter cold. the japanese builder plans to draw on his firm's technology and experience in building winter-proof homes. >> reporter: about 1.1 million people li

the malaysian government has already decided to grant an operating license to the australian company, but protesters have filed a complaint. they are asking a court to prevent the refinery from starting operations. rare earth metals are essential for manufacturing mobile phones and motors for electric vehicles. more than 90% of global supplies odom from cha na. but china has restricted exports forcing firms in japan and other countries to look elsewhere for reliable sources. the malaysian facility was considered one of those potential new sources of rare earth metals. but if recent protests continue, it could make this new supply route difficult to operate. >> slash and burn farming is often blamed for destroying forests. it also creates pollution as many countries in southeast asia are currently experiencing. the skies over northern thailand have been blanketed with a thick haze for weeks. visibility was reduced in eight provinces over the weekend with dust particles rising above safety standards. flights were delayed and locals want to wear masks when they go outside. in indonesia u

australian market down 0.9 ers. the political dewhackbacldebacl gillard winning, the sensex trading to the down side 2.6%. some caution in the markets today, ross. >> we're just hitting session lows, christine. advancers being outpaced by decliners here by more than 9 to 1 after slim gains last week for european stocks, the ftse 100 just after half a percent. the cac up nearly 0.8%. xetra dax up. the ftse mib down nearly 2%. 0 oil prices certainly weighing on stocks are weaker. bp is an outperformer. as far as currencies are concerned, euro/dollar 1.3424 is where we stand at the moment. remember, euro/dollar hit 1.3486 which was a two and a half month high. yen continues to weaken. stronger today. 108.52. we did get up to 109. dollar/yen pulling back as well. we did hit 81.66. the yen is weaker, around 7% on the month before this morning's session. sterling/dollar steady 1.5866. as far as the bond market, tr treasury yields back below 2% 6789 we have the minutes last week suggesting there might be more qe. gilt fall