ecb has left eurozone interest rates unchanged at 0.75%. any decision by the ecb, even when to hold interest rates steady, is a sure-fire market mover. here is a report from the frankfurt stock exchange. >> the euro dollar exchange rates declined significantly while and after the ecb president spoke at his press conference here in frankfurt. draghi said that the key interest rate for the eurozone remains stable at 0.75%, but he also said one risk for the economy in the eurozone was the appreciation of the euro/dollar exchange rate, meaning it is getting tougher to export goods and services out of the eurozone if the euro gets too expensive. that is why he underlined several times that the monetary policy stance of the ecb remains accommodative. some investors now are betting on lower interest rates for the eurozone or other monetary policy ideas to keep the euro in check. >> welcome to the raw numbers from the markets today -- the dax finished on a slight gain. euro stocks 50 dropped nearly 0.75%. across the atlantic, the dow is down 5.41%.

. >> in germany, the president has urged citizens to use the eurozone crisis as an opportunity to show unity and solidarity. the president delivered a speech friday calling on germans to think beyond the borders of their own country and to draw strength on the values that they share with the rest of europe. here's more. >> he set himself a tough task -- he wanted to speak up for europe at a time of political and economic crisis. the german president acknowledged the anger and disappointment with europe that many people feel. he said europe is at a critical point. >> this crisis is not just about economics. it is also a crisis of trust in the european political project. we are not just struggling for our currency. we are struggling with ourselves. >> he said europe for him was the promise of peace and common values like freedom and the rule of law, but he said europe was ill equipped, saying it must grow closer but without putting itself under pressure. >> the key question with all changes should therefore be -- what could a democratic europe look like that dispels the fears of its citi

that is why the eurozone is looking at italy quite closely. the answer so far seems to be austerity. that is what mario monti's government has been pushing. like and other country, greece and spain have huge question marks on whether austerity is the best or worst thing for the economy? it means the economy does not grow. that is one of the issues of anyone at the voting booth today or tomorrow. >> thank you. staying in rome, pope benedict the 16th has been reassuring ball worse that he is not abandoning the roman catholic church. he was giving his final sunday blessing to a packed crowd. paul brennan has the story. >> it lasted barely 10 minutes. his last ever blessing in rome was laden with significant. to an audience of tens of thousands and a global television audience of millions, the pope offered reassurance. if the lord calls me to go up and dedicate myself more to prayer and meditation. this does not mean abandoning the church. if god is asking this of me, it is so that i may continue to serve it with dedication and love and a manner m

unemployment hits a grim new high according to figures revealing record levels of people out of work in the eurozone that after french economic woes drove a man to set himself on fire. the u.s. military wants those who carry out remote killings to take center stage by giving out battle accolades to soldiers operating american drones. and there's been no response from british police one week after a report revealed a shocking culture of neglect by hospital staff caused the deaths of hundreds of patients. from a new center here in moscow this is r.t. with the online on screen twenty four hours a day. the pentagon wants those fighting us wars from a. in the spotlight defense secretary leon panetta has announced the creation of a distinguished warfare medal it will be handed out to joystick wielding drone pilots who wage their battles without setting foot in combat zones. and in a going to explain to my colleagues what it takes to get the award. so you're cygnus here you have a joystick and you point click and they get an award as their sleeve that's all it takes to get it together and medal which is su

eurozone unemployment has been on the rise for the last five years. at the beginning of 2008, the jobless rate stood at 7.2%. today, 11.7% of eurozone residents looking for a job cannot find one. youth unemployment figures are especially worrisome. nearly one in four young people under the age of 25 cannot have a job. youth unemployment in spain tops 55%. >> german lawmakers began debating friday a controversial ban on the far-right party. the previous attempts to outlaw it failed in 2003. >> this new drive to ban the party came after revelations that a neo-nazi group linked to the npd carried out a decade- long string of racially motivated murders. >> a former high-ranking member of the far right npd is thought to have supplied the weapons used by the new lots is in the recent killings. along with others accused of aiding and abetting the neo-nazi terror cell, he will soon appear in court in munich. >> at the moment, the plan is to begin the trial after the easter holidays, which end on april 6, so i think it will take place around the middle of apri

better off out of the eurozone just briefly. now but you're isn't it become a safety net your zones are to become get more europe inside and more politics not because not only gonna me so we have to have more europe not less the so that's not the problem the problem is you need more. changes and we need a safety net that we would expect to have inside the eurozone former greek m.p. eva kelly thank you very much indeed for joining us live here on r.t. good to hear your thoughts on this thank you. a week after shocking revelations of needless deaths in a british hospital there are still no signs of action the family and friends of hundreds of patients who died due to neglect calling for criminal action to be taken against those responsible and the former chief of another hospital says he was paid half a million pounds not to talk about a similar situation elsewhere on the sarah firth is been following the scandal. well in the latest twist we've seen an n.h.s. whistleblower come out and say that he was forced to quit after he'd rai

of the eurozone break-up now. i think one has to say those risk premium have compressed so much, so quickly in a straight line. that we probably are reaching the point where there isn't that much to go for on that. so the extent that that's been the negative driver for sterling, we probably at some point during the current quarter will reach the end of that game. >> i was just looking at the high tallan auctions we had this week. it seems as though we don't really care what happens with italian elections. we'll take it in our stride. >> i think yes, indeed. and one of the side effects of the ecb's omt which, of course, hasn't been used yet is that it has back stopped risks from most sources, and that includes politics in the eurozone and that markets have become tolerant of the potential for shock such as the election. we still don't rule out that coming back on to the markets in january at some point. but even then, within very limited parameters for how much the markets are prepared to rock price intellirisk. >>

and the core of the eurozone.erages have been ongoing for a number of years. >> have you been surprised by the market reaction or does it make sense to you to see the u.s. markets do so well when you put things relatively speaking? >> it's not surprising. because monetary policy is extremely loose. the fed is going to do qe-3 at least until the end of this year, maybe even next year, zero policy rates at least until the end of next year and the economy is gradually recovering. from market point of view having slow growth below trend is a positive because -- with zero policy rates and rates being so low people are chasing and searching for year. it is equities, commodities, emerging markets. so you have a significant amount of -- consistent with -- >> let's, you know, dr. doom. >> yeah. >> dr. doom means that the worst case scenario, the bottom falls out. the dollar crashes. the euro falls apart. >> yeah. >> we were, i think at the same dinner, and martin said the financial panic after six years is over. are you no

also in the program, jamie is here with business, looking at the eurozone. >> it looks like we're going for another year of recession. but the biggest worry is the growing divide between the two biggest economies, germany and france. germany continuing to grow, but france and italy as well as other countries sitting. >> it's noon near london and 2:00 in the afternoon in pretoria, south africa, where chief magistrate, desmond nair, is about to announce a decision that will settle the fate of oscar pistorius. he faces trial on a charge of premeditated murder after his girlfriend, reeva steenkamp, was shot dead in his home eight days ago. the question about to be settled is straight forward -- will he be freed on bail before trial or imprisonned? our world affairs droont, richard galpin, has the latest on a case being followed around the world. >> oscar pistorius has been brought once again to the court from the police station in pretoria, where he's been held now for more than a week. this time, though, a decision is expected on whether he'll be allowed out on bail or kept in custody for

certainly without the uk, eurozone can continue to exist.i think chancellor merkel certainly wanted to keep in the eu, because they haven't went into europe zone but they are an active member of the eu. she wants to keep them in. >> time is getting a little tight so let's go to questions very quickly. right here and then right over here. >> if you would, enhance economic opportunities in asia, more asian members of congress. >> that's an interesting thought. of course, you had some very senior members of congress, in fact the senior senator just died, senator inouye, wh who had tremendous clip it and you're seeing more and more asian members elected, male and female. and i think you will continue to see that. you know, speak who else? >> well, you have, i think there are several -- you one who is a korean and i think we have one korean-american come and i think you will see more going forward because you've got a lot of asian-americans who are mayors, you know, in major cities. and i think that the answer is i think it would be very helpful

certainly without the u.k., the eurozone can continue to exist. i think the chancellor certainly wanted to keep in the eu because they never went into the eurozone, but they are an active member of the eu. she wants to keep them end. >> time is getting a little tight here, so let's go to two questions very quickly right here and then right over here. >> you said that you would enhance economic opportunities in asia, asian members of commerce. >> that is an interesting question. some very senior members of congress, in fact, the senior senator testified -- just died who had tremendous clout, and you're seeing more and more asian members elected, male and female, and i think he will continue to us see that. you know, -- [inaudible question] >> well, you have -- i think there are several -- one who is korean, one korean-american. at think you will see more going forward because you love a lot of asian-americans who are mayors in major cities to lend that think that if the answer is, i think it would be very helpful to have more asian americans as mem

certainly without the uk, eurozone can continue to exist.i think chancellor merkel certainly wanted to keep in the eu, because they haven't went into europe zone but they are an active member of the eu. she wants to keep them in. >> time is getting a little tight so let's go to questions very quickly. right here and then right over here. >> if you would, enhance economic opportunities in asia, more asian members of congress. >> that's an interesting thought. of course, you had some very senior members of congress, in fact the senior senator just died, senator inouye, wh who had tremendous clip it and you're seeing more and more asian members elected, male and female. and i think you will continue to see that. you

we're expecting the eurozone economy to contract another 10.2% this year. that's not that far away from the consensus. we expect that you get continued divergence within the eurozone and germany, which had a very soft patch at the end of the last year is picking up and that's supported by the pmi data whereas other economies in europe are stag nating or weakening. >> wouldn't it be easier if they were all stag nating or weak? even if germany is weak, the central bank can come in and say we have to be more accommodating. but if they're holding in okay, that puts more of the onus on the periphery or even france, that means the economies would like more saurt and might not get it. >> but this divergence in europe is part of the recovery process. germany needs to see stronger than after growth at other countries effectively deflate in order to get these big imbalances to reverse over time. and that's really part of the recovery process. we don't think that the european economy itself needs to be strong for european equities to perform well. let's face it, last

for the whole of 2012, the eurozone economy contracted by 0.5% as a whole. in 2011, the single currency area grew by 1.4%. >>> japan's gross domestic product for the final quarter of 2012 shrank slightly, that's for the october to december period. it marks the third straight quarter of contraction. cabinet office officials say it fell to a decline of 0.4% in annual terms. the base of decline was more moderate than the previous period when it was minus 3.8%. weak global demand was dragging down the economy. exports shrank 3.7%. capital spending at companies went down 2.6%. meanwhile, government spending grew 1.5% due to strong reconstruction demand in the areas hit by the 2011 disaster. housing investment also showed growth of 3.5%. consumer spending was up 0.4% due to strong sales of winter clothing. overall gdp for 2012 rose 1.9% from the previous year. that's the first growth in two years. . >>> policymaker will ease the -- bank members were in unanimous agreement. they say the economy appears to have stopped weakening. officials say concerns are easing ov

voter turnout was 8% was down five years ago, not a good omen for the eurozone's third largest economy. >> for the latest, let's go to rome and to our correspondent. it's looking quite close. what's the latest you've heard? >> italy is heading for a stalemate. in his neck and neck believe the left and -- between the left and right and it is still too close to call who will have a majority in the senate, the second chamber, but it is the deciding chamber because you would need both in italy to govern in a stable manner. >> there has been a low turnout over the past few days. what does that say about how they're feeling? >> the low turnout is partially due to the weather. we have had snow, rain, and large portions of italy and it's also due to the voters saying they are fed up with the old system and they do not want the old parliament anymore. the other part of this protest is voting for the comedian, the actual winner of this election, who came out of nowhere and now he is sitting in parliament, in both chambers with 20% in one chamber and 25% in the senate. >> how did he manage to pic

the latest data showed the eurozone economy sank deeper into recession at the end of last year. >> for the first time, it has hit germany hard. germany's economy contracted at its fastest pace since the worst days since the financial crisis. >> german exports are down, a sharper than expected drop in international demand for products made in germany caused europe's largest economy to get smaller in the final quarter of 2012. between october and december, germany's gross domestic product fell by 0.6%. italian and french gdp contracted by 0.9% and 0.3%, and the eurozone average was down by 0.36%, but leaders are optimistic the worst may be over. in a recent poll, 28,000 german firms said they expect the business climate to improve in 2013. >> those hopeful attitudes did not carry over into trading on the markets this thursday. we have more from the frankfurt stock exchange. >> the gdp figures coming for germany and the euro areas soured the mood on the frankfurt floor, especially for germany. traders thought that companies would have started sound investment in the fourth quarter, which

the eurozone still definitely struggling as the region continues to slow down. the economy for the common currency block is struck now for a third straight quarter. the european union's data office announced gross domestic product for 2012 contracted 0.6% from the previous quarter. that follows negative growth of 0.1% growth from the previous period. portugal saw 1.8% negative growth. spain coming in at 0.7%. italy at 0.9%. the leading economies also shrank, germany contracted 0.6%. france by 0.3%. in terms of greece, its economy shank 6% compared to a year earlier. for the whole 2012, the whole economy contracted by .5%. in 2011 the single currency area grew by 1.4%. >>> near japan gross domestic product shank slightly for 2012 for the october to december period. it does mark the third straight quarter of contraction. cabinet office officials say gdp for the quarter fell 0.4% from the previous three months. that's a decline of 0.4% in annual terms. the pace was more moderate than the previous period when that came in at minus 3.8%. weak global demand was draggi

what are the implications of it for the italian, it -- economy and the eurozone? but they are huge.e have already seen the markets hurt. milan stock exchange -- a bigger sale tomorrow, that is not expected to go very well, either. that is in italy's main problem. it manages to balance its budget every year. the problem is the enormous debt it has. 120% of its gross domestic product. because the economy is not growing, they have very little chance of repaying the debt off. whatever the market is scared about the italian situation, viewing the situation as unstable, then the interest of the enormous debt starks' shooting up. then a lot of people get scared about a possible italian and ability to pay off the interest on the bed and italy having to ask for a bailout the eu and eurozone have to -- cannot afford. but we are still a ways from that. we are not seeing the interest that we saw at the end of the berlusconi era. the markets -- the markets are cautious but as soon as there is some idea what will happen politically, the better. >> live in rome. the uncertainty in italy has worrie

it's amazing to think of the eurozone. we've seen around 150 billion raised in various auctions across the year. spanish yields have outperformed against italy. 10-year gilt, 2.2%. sterling continues to weaken. we'll keep our eyes on that. euro/dollar, 1.3334. and the real focus has been on the yen. 93.96 dollar/yen at the moment. still shy of that 33-month high of 93.47 euro/yen. that's all post, of course, the g-20. no direct criticism of japan. let's check in on what's happening in asia on this first trading day of the week. li sixuan is with us out of singapore. >> hi, ross. asian markets finished on a mixed note with japan yet again dealing in the spotlight. the nikkei jumps 2% here to end a four-year high. this weakens further with japan avoiding criticism of the g-20. prime minister shinzo abe says buying foreign bonds could see options. and the market focus is also on his nominee for the next bank of japan chief. the banking sector led the gains with mitsubishi jumping almost 5%. sharp shares reversed early weaknes

we've talked a lot about what we call meats in the eurozone parties led by grillo. that's getting around 50%. this is fragmenting the vote. now, again, beryl skonny's party is gaining some steam with these remarks. don't forget, he also brought mario ballotelli to ac milan. will it be enough? it does come down to electoral dynamics. it's still likely in our base case scenario that you get a central left coalition, but the risk is that as beryl skonny's support picks up, that you could have a hung parliament. >> leaving it quite vulnerable and renewed market pressure. you have to do like balando lik find a way to net one. >>> coming up, george osborne is expected to warn banks to shake up risks or face a break-up. we'll stay with the full speech coming up straight after the break. >>> welcome back to "worldwide exchange." the baltimore ravens win the super bowl amid major power outages. and uk chancellor george osborne is set to unveil plans that could see bank broken up. we'll bring you live coverage of that highly anticipated speech. well, the dow has closed above

this is in the eurozone. there are so many changes, the relationship between the out in the end. >> let me say one thing about david cameron's speech. do they wish to continue being members, and each country can make a choice. without hijacking the others he i believe people will say yes. as it is, he will have to get out of the market, which i believe that they do not wish to do. rather than hanging on and paralyzing a day you the respect the eurozone. [inaudible] clarity, decisiveness, and europe, given its kindness, has an opportunity to move on and make the decisions that we have spoken about with the changes of an impact and the economies of europe. the job prospects for millions of people, which is essentially what politics is about here. we need to have our own perspective inside the eu. and also in a global sense in the coming years. food security, changes, climate changes, water, etc. just to be clear, the referendum question has to be in or out. >> that is a question for the british government. >> i

the eurozone economy is still expected to grow at 1.4% in 2014. this follows a contraction of 0.6% in 2012. and the contraction of 0.3% now for 2013. its initial forecast was for 0.1% growth in 2012. these have repeatedly proven too optimistic. and you can see the reaction across european markets. we are seeing still a rally take place after two days of sharp sell-off, but the euro in particular dropped below that 1.32 level. it is trying to hold higher now, up 0.1% on the day, much weaker than where we started the session. >>> u.s. stocks fell for a second day thursday on the back of the sell-off. that was after the disappointing german pmi numbers yesterday. markets did manage to close off their lows, but the dow posted its worst two-day drop of the year. joining me now, bill trazulo at bell curve trading. bill, at a time when the fundamentals can be a little confusing, what do the charts tell us here? >> well, kelly, on a shorter term basis, we've been if you will bullish for the last several months. the shorter term has been positive for the l

going to go below their 2% target. >> and eurozone january cpi fell 1% on the month. it's up 2% on the year. now january cpi forecast, that is right in line with forecasts. so core cpi was down 1.8% on the month and up 1.3% on the year. so if you want to play the core game, we're significantly below that 2% level. ex tobacco, january cpi was down 1.1% on the month and just shy of 2% on the year. i did just talk earlier about how there's no currency -- how u.s. paper money is holding up relatively wall because there's not inflation. what i should say is there's no monetary velocity. there's plenty of inflation in other forms, but not much of it showing up at least in the eurozone january cpi figures. take a look at markets. we'll see if there's any reaction to this. generally speaking, some key levels for the major indexes in the u.s. were hit yet. the dow closed above 14,000. the real test will be whether it can close at 14,000 for two consecutive days. s&p is within 50 points of its high. for now, futures are pointed higher, but european markets have been a little bi

the eurozone stuttering economies and people ultimately taking their lives when it all becomes a bit too much to bear we were reporting earlier on r.t. about a frenchman who set himself on fire outside a job center in the town of knowledge let's get some more on this now from a sociology and a philosophy lecturer at the university of the g.n.r. panagiotis sorted us now joining us live here on sea as you were hearing me say just a moment ago so thanks for coming on but i was talking about this poor frenchman who set himself on fire now we understand that the unemployment rates in france are currently a thirteen year high as it is the man's actions symbolic of the frustration the people there a feeling well that is symbolic of the situation all over the euro zone and i think that people in europe are realizing that what has been happening in the european south and especially greece in the past two or three years has not been an exception it is going to be the rule all over europe. greek's a trick social situation karen flu is very close to a social disaster for example our unemployment

perhaps keyed off the weaker than expected eurozone gdp figures.he nasdaq/s&p 500 looking for slight declines when the session begins trading in just a little while. overnight, the cnbc ftse 100 gives us a sense of what we're seeing. the china markets are closed for the lunar new year holiday. european markets give you a sense of where the declines are happening. a lot of focus here on the weakness in sterling and in gilt lately raising some eyebrows. xetra dax, look at this, now down by 1.1%, just about a large move for this index. germany's gdp came in at miceus 0.6% in the fourth quarter. while there are signs of a slowdown, this has clearly gotten some people worried. this is a place where analysts are worried there could be more deepening of the recession. we'll keep an eye there. the ibex 35 down 1.6%. greek unemployment hitting 27%, shrinking by almost 2% on the quarter. back to you. >> yeah. so just to remind you, that 0.9% i said in the headlines, that's for the year. the one you're focusing on for the quarter is 0.6% for the quarter. quar

the things will become clears as the eurozone stabilizes. as long as business focuses on the opportunities in the world, which are very, very large, you know, the global economy is going to grow between 3% and 4% over the next couple of years. there's plenty of growth out there. we have to go out and find it. >> now, this costs just over 100,000 pounds lift. but there is one advantage to the dound grade before brit yap. >> a downgrade indirectly helps us because of the pound being weaker. but essentially, how we will achieve greater growth is by increasing the volume of products that we make. so an extent, we should be much prouder of what we make here and the fact that we have some of the best companies in the world. you know, rolls-royce and ricardo designing all the engineering for the cars of the future. of course, that's what we need to do is concentrate on the things that we're really good at. morgan, along with thousands of other brands will be hoping the 61 days of expo in june next year will push the starter button on britain's much

this is in the eurozone. there are so many changes, the relationship between the out in the end. >> let me say one thing about david cameron's speech. do they wish to continue being members, and each country can make a choice. without hijacking the others he i believe people will say yes. as it is, he will have to get out of the market, which i believe that they do not wish to do. rather than hanging on and paralyzing a day you the respect the eurozone. [inaudible] clarity, decisiveness, and europe, given its kindness, has an opportunity to move on and make the decisions that we have spoken about with the changes of an impact and the economies of europe. the job prospects for millions of people, which is essentially what politics is about here. we need to have our own perspective inside the eu. and also in a global sense in the coming years. food security, changes, climate changes, water, etc. just to be clear, the referendum question has to be in or out. >> that is a question for the british government. >> i

was smaller than it was in the eurozone. but the measures that were taken in the u.s. at that point in time in 2008 and 2009 were a lot more stringent than they were in the eurozone. if you look at the job cuts at that point in time, if you look at insolvencies, i think it's a lot more stringent than it happened here. but the flip side of the coin is the way it worked itself out of the recession i think is more impressive than what we're seeing here. wouldn't you say that has more to do with avoiding a sovereign debt crisis by virtue of not being a haphazard monetary union? >> that's part of it. but also, i think the way the u.s. manage itself out of the crisis was a lot more draconian measures than what we saw here. and i think some of the things in the u.s. like the labor market, it will be an asset to being out of the crisis in a better way. if you look at the u.s. economy today and you contrast it to the eurozone, we'll come to that in a minute, but if you look at the u.s. economy, we're optimistic about the way it works itself has worked itself out of the crisis.

hits a grim new hall i according to figures revealing record levels of people out of work in the eurozone that after french economic woes drove a man to set himself on fire. u.s. military wants those who carry out remote killings to take center stage giving out battle accolades to soldiers operating american drones. there's been no response from british police one week after a report revealed a shocking culture of neglect by hospital staff caused the deaths of hundreds of patients. and anti-government demonstrations to mark the two year anniversary of the protest movement in bahrain reportedly resulted in the teenager's death. from the new center here in moscow this is r.t. with the online on the screen twenty four hours a day. one out of every four greeks including overhaul the country's young people are out of work that's according to the country's ages unemployment figures with the jobless rate more than double the european average former greek m.p. of the center left panhellenic socialist movement eva kaley says that the dire situation as a result of the failed economic rescue well it

the eurozone stuttering economies and people ultimately taking their lives when it all becomes a bit too much to bear we were reporting earlier on r.t. about a frenchman who set himself on fire outside a job center in the town of north let's get some more on this now for most sociology and philosophy lecturer at the university of the panagiotis sorted us now joining us live here on our duty as you were hearing me say just a moment ago so thanks for coming on but i was talking about this poor frenchman who set himself on fire now we understand that the unemployment rates in france are currently a thirteen year high is it is the man's actions symbolic of the frustration the people there are feeling what it is symbolic of the situation all over the euro zone and things that people in europe are realizing that what has been happening in the european south and especially greece in the past two or three years has not been an exception it is going to be the route all over europe. greek's a trick social situation karen flu is very close to a social disaster for example our unemployment rate

they want to excel britney eurozone and the eu's political and economic integration. >> our political correspondent is following this and we go live to our parliamentary studios. all parties concerned about corruption in spain likely to hinder the premier and his ability to solve the crisis in his country? are those concerns in berlin? >> his own personal ratings are at an all-time low before the allegations surfaced. both think it could be the last straw, but he has denied that there is any truth of the matter. at the press conference in berlin, he said three times "absolutely false" a reference to these allegations and that he would prove they are false. we will wait and see. even if they cloud of suspicion remains hanging over him, it is not at all certain that it will hamper his political maneuverability in spain. recent surveys show 96% of spaniards believe the political class in spain as corrupt anyway. remarkably, although they are angry about it, they show an extraordinary degree of resignation. >> there is quite a bit of resignation. what about angela merkel considering the b

. >>> the european commission says the eurozone economy will contract for the second straight year in 2013. the commission says it expects gross domestic product to shrink 0.3% in the 17-nation eurozone from last year that compares with the previous forecast of 0.1% growth. tight lending conditions, job cuts, and sluggish investment are dragging the recovery. but it's projecting 1.4% growth for 2014. the commission says leading indicators suggest that the region's economy is bottoming out and economic activity is expected to gradually pick up. >>> it may look like a wrist watch, but it's a computer. i.t. giant apple has filed a patent application for a computer that people can wear like a watch. the u.s. patent and trademark office disclosed the patent filing on thursday. the computer has a flexible touch panel display, censors inside detect a change in the state of substrates and automatically adjust the user interface to a new position. the computer wirelessly connects with other portable devices like smartphones. there are rumors that apple is developing a wearable computer. google

a sharp rebound from last year's tumble when there was the impact of the eurozone debt problems. influence from japan fell20% souring bilateral relations havd determination to implement the new democratic state. >> the revision allows foreign investors to be exempt of corporate taxes for five years instead of three years. it let's them lease land up to 50 years. japanese companies are behind chinese and south korean businesses in their investments into myanmar. >>> all right that's going wrap it up for biz this hour. let's close things out with the markets. >>> japanese prime minister abe and u.s. president obama are flipping through their notes on some shared challenges. they will meet on friday at the white house. officials there say the leaders will discuss economic issues as we've been talking about. the u.s. japan security alliance and their approach to north korea. north korean officials launched a robert in december. they said they put a satellite into space but western leaders said they were testing technology for a ballistic missile. such a missile could reach the u.s. w

italy has the third largest economy of the eurozone and a political deadlock could be damaging.s voters reject reforms, it could threaten the market. it all sounds rather gloomy. voters there are still undecided. traveling around italy, listening to the concerns of people, today we are in the fashion and business capital of milan. >> it is the fashion and business capital, that is right. you do see italy in a steep economic recession and extremely divided. relatively speaking it's still seems okay, but they it -- it is still considered a freezing and biting recession as well. people say that it really matters and they will change their minds. 60% of the voters are unsure or about to change their minds. joining me now is the editor of the [indiscernible] newspaper. we travelled across italy to speak to people from all walks of life. they say that this time it is different. that really matters. >> we are in milan. thousands of people policing the villas. the establishment is really angry. against the political class. >> are we going to see changed? we have seen a lot of people say

italy's economy is the third largest in the eurozone. and an uncertain outcome could put more question marks over the region. some fear a repeat of the drama in greece. lawmakers there failed to form a coalition government after an election last may. so, the next month voters were forced to head back to the polls. many italians hoped the election would deliver a stable result so their leaders could tackle the debt, a deep recession and rising unemployment. now, it appears their wishes will go unfulfilled. josho watanabe, nhk world, rome. >>> investors have been keeping a close eye on this election. they, too, have expectations for italy's next government. kaori nagao has more. >> the debt crisis has eased. ecb officials decided they would buy an unlimited number of government bonds from governments in serious financial trouble, however, investors are growing concerned in the wake of the italian election. they fear the european debt crisis may be reignited. no party has won a majority? the upper house and that political parties may try to

italy has the third largest economy in the eurozone. what happens here matters inside and outside the country. >> testing the mood and temperature on the tuscan coast. you may have noticed that the universe is moving faster than expected and scientists are struggling to explain why the galaxies are rotating at these speeds and planets are flying apart more quickly than they should. a team from america is going to use the hubble has -- hubble telescope to investigate what is called dark energy. our science correspondent explains. >> the world around us is made of atoms. they link up to form the buildings that we see, the water that flows, and all life on the planet. scientists have discovered something else out there that makes up most of the universe, a force that was present at the beginning of time. the current theory of physics suggests that the expansion of the universe slow down after the big bang and would then contract. instead with seems to be happening is that galaxies seem to be flying apart faster than ever before. scientists

no one thinks at the end of the day italy is going to leave the eurozone.ot 26% like spain. >> the issue doesn't seem to be so extreme that italy would leave the eurozone, it's that it would follow through on the reforms that people who think that the markets are going to go up didn't have to worry about that before yesterday. now they do. >> yeah. >> so cds backed up 40 bips, 40 basis points, the only gains they made since the beginning of the year but divided government at best impedes or waters down. doesn't mean that austerity is going away. that's the collective sense of the market. >> that's the crux of the issue, isn't it, this is more of an anti-austerity vote than a vote for or against a particular candidate which i think is calling into question whether or not those economic reforms are going to be completely derailed, as scott suggested. >> what's interesting to see is whether or not what comes out of this, who gets some pro-growth policies. that's kind of the other side of the coin, if you will, from the austerity. >> we haven't heard that. >> w

they say that those businesses are getting more optimistic with worries over the eurozone debt crisis now easing. those worries contributed to a slump at the end of 2012. now there are hopes of a rebound. >> located in the middle of the black forest, testo produces measuring instruments. one of its newest products is this thermal imaging camera. the company expects turnover to go up around 8% this year. they recruited 100 new staff last year. now they plan to employ more -- a trend that can be seen across the board. the survey says half of all firms question expect to hire additional workers. 28% say they will stay the same size while 22% expect to get by with fewer staff. economists are optimistic. german industry has recovered from last year's downturn. >> it looks like business confidence for the coming year is not that bad. if things go well, we expect business activity to pick up in the course of the year. >> as so often in the past, much of that growth will be driven by exports from small to mid-size companies. >> but the u.s. tire maker goodyear is not taking any chances in eur

we'll see how long it lasts or if we'll see another flare-up of the eurozone crisis." that's jack ewing of the international herald tribune. bersani is said to be still trying to form a government. president obama's pick to head the securities and exchange commission is catching flack from congress. in january, the president named mary jo white as his pick for the job. now, the new york times reports, senate banking committee members are asking white to answer detailed questions regarding her past experience. lawmakers are concerned due to white's time spent representing wall street as a defense attorney. white responded, stating she has an established track record and a reputation of being tough but fair. she will attend a senate confirmation hearing on march 11th. boeing is running lab tests on lithiom-ion batteries for its 787 jets, grounded since january. but the faa wants to see the results of those tests before deciding whether to allow test flights. some published reports indicated that federal regulators were close to allowing those flights, but that was refute

lawmakers have put spaniards on a starvation dieieieieieieieieie qualify for eurozone bailouts. barclays bank says it will scrap some 3700 jobs as part of a major restructuring drive. half of the cuts are planned in the investment banking sector. >> that has been the british bank was the major earner in recent years but also the source of a scandal of interest- rate manipulation, which has shaken confidence in barclays. several top executives were forced to resign and the company had to pay hundreds of millions of fines. the bank has promised to win back customers trust by making ethics count more in the future. >> let's get a check now on how the markets reacted to all of that news. our correspondence sent us this report from frankfurt. >> more and more signs show that the worst may lie behind german companies. although profits broke down, the incoming orders sent out a little glimmer of hope, which did not lead to a party on the frankfurt floor, so traders at other reasons to party. it is carnival day, and this tuesday, it is the traditional day when traders dress up in costum

a lot of issues in the eurozone. ashley: that is interesting.cone any the pole before the blackout had him 5% of the leading parties. berlusconi promised to undo everything that mario monthty to put in place and the outcome could be disasterous, could it not? >> absolutely. he is on a anti-monte rhetoric and anti-euro. saying germany is behind all of italy's troubles. if he were elected he would live up to pledges of tax cuts and reforms and rebates to various vested parties. so that's probably the last thing we need. but what will probably happen we'll indup with a very weak left-of-center coalition and probably within three months there might well be another election which could be berlusconi's main chance of getting back in. ashley: last week we got a look at the data for the national gdps in eurozone and regional and the bottom line it was ugly reading. do you see any signs of growth for the year ahead, steven, in the eurozone? >> i see signs of growth in terms of those good corporations that operate on a global basis. they may well decide t

the third biggest economy in the eurozone what happened here is for the economy. the bankers and politicians over in europe. because. total. total. population is lost the one thing that they have they have made clear is that. the technocrats from brussels are. really saying yes to any one single party the. old policies that have been implemented by him and so we're doing everything. we. just willing to do anything even voting for. experience and he's not really a politician basically voting for anybody. this is this is what's happening in italy right now. well the vote which is also crucial for the eurozone ultimately triggered a rollercoaster on the markets as the results are pouring in artist on bad news to tell us more about it tom so a roller coaster on the markets they seem to be italian election or ups and downs what do you have for us absolutely rory well i mean it must be said late last evening as it seemed that these block may have gained a decent majority the markets were actually up but as berlusconi's bloc drew level so neck and neck today the markets

we could be heading into -- better for the eurozone. we could be heading into a better economic period. also for italy. so it's a bit of a mixed picture. i think what supports is the ecb, what it supports is also the global economy. but i think there is nervousness about the italian elections. i don't think anybody really wants to commit too much ahead of these elections. >> okay. christian, stay with us as we wait for the results from the three and 30-year paper. i keep calling them linkers. they're floating rate debt. christian shultz will return with us. we'll take a break. >> i said link, i meant floater. i planted it -- >> plant the seed. >>> president obama vows to jump-start the economy in his state of the union address. >>> societe generale slides after profits miss forecasts. >>> g-20 policymakers tackle fears of a global currency war meeting in moscow. to grow, we have to boost our social media visibility. more "likes." more tweets. so, beginning today, my son brock and his whole team will be our new senior social media strate