zain? >> jen delgado, thank you so much.going to like this story because these guys are very small. they're very famous. these are extremely rare snow leopards. take a look at them. they are nine weeks old. they're the latest attraction at the zoo in switzerland. how cute are they? the triplets have blue eyes, silver-gray coats and black spots just like mom and dad. the only thing they don't have so far are names. weigh in here, we're at facebook >>> when we come back, a convicted terror leader goes to prison. what now for his followers? >>> then, greece on edge, for the first time, the euro zone faces the possibility of a member state defaulting on its debts. the former haefd the world bank talks to us about that. no matter what small business you are in, managing expenses seems to ...get in the way. not anymore. ink introduces jot. a real time expense app that lets you track and categorize expenses on the go. so you can get back to the business you love. jot, the latest innovation from chase. only for ink customers. downlo

zain, good to see you.a little while. >> all right. >>> the defense in the casey anthony trial may rest as early as today. but is she herself going to take the stand and could we hear from the alleged mistress of george anthony, casey's father. yesterday, the defense tried to advance their argument that mr. anthony covered up his granddaughter's death and molested his daughter. >> i never would do anything like that to my daughter. >> my question is, you would never admit to it, would you, sir? >> forensic specialist told an italian court that dna findings used to convict american amanda knox of murder in 2009 were unreliable. the independent team said police did not follow international inspection procedures and the evidence may have been contaminated. this may be a boost for knox as her appeal is heard this week. >>> federal investigators say the manager of the west virginia coal mine where 29 workers died last april had been faking safety records before the worst u.s. mine disaster in 40 years. the mine

i'm zain vergee. you're watching "world one" live from london. >>> also ahead, still in charge and still defiant. colonel moammar gadhafi appears on libyan tv to denounce nato air strikes. >>> saab strapped for cash. the swedish carmaker says it doesn't have enough money to pay off its staff. >>> and acquitted of hate crimes and inciting violence against muslims, a dutch court finds geert wilders not guilty. >>> he went against the advice of at least two top military officials who wanted more u.s. soldiers to stay and fight. president barack obama set up plans to reduce american forces in afghanistan, speaking from the white house, mr. obama said 33,000 soldiers would come home in the next 15 months. 10,000 of them by the end of this year. that reverses the so-called surge of u.s. forces the president ordered back in 2009. internet new plan u.s. troops numbers will fall by around a third to less than 70,000. nato's already said it supports the plan but the president's critics have questioned the pace

zain? >> what kind of an impact is this going to have on the already bad relations between pakistan and the u.s.? >> reporter: again, it's not clear why the individuals were arrested or if they will be charged with anything. if they are going to be charged with a crime, it continues to drive home the fact that pakistan/u.s. relationship is at a low point. there is deep suspicion, resentment, finger pointing. last week leon panetta came here to islamabad, reportedly showed evidence the pakistani military may be clueding with insurgents, the isi has kicked out most u.s. military trainers. they're not sharing as much intelligence. lawmakers are calling on funding to be reduced and the list goes on and on. the question is, what kind of solution is there for these two countries who need one another to improve their relationship? and at this point no one teams to be coming up with an answer, zain. >> cnn's reza sayah reporting from islamabad. >>> inside the mind of a revolutionary, we'll take a l

zain? >> diana, just explain to people what is it like for the average greek person living there today? >> reporter: well, it's a lot more difficult than it was a couple years ago. they've already had a year of austerity which means they've had their wages cut, had their pensions cut, taxes on everything from food to household materials have gone up. value added tax at 23% on some items. they're considering bringing food up to 23% also. so you've felt sort of cuts on every level on your live. many people unemployed. the official unemployment rate is 16%. amongst the youth that's 40%. you really are in a country that is at the moment at a deep recession. many people here don't feel if you're taxing corporations and taxing individuals, that there's any way for greece to grow so it can ever pay off its debt. zain? >> cnn's diana mag nay in athens. >> you're watching "world." one something so breathtaking can lead to something so frustrating for anyone traveling by air. [ female announcer ] ima

zain, good to see you as always." in a little while. >>> i want to tell you about a lault against abercrombie and fitch. a young muslim woman in the san francisco area is suing the company. she worked at their hollister store in san mateo. she claims the store fired her because she wouldn't take off her religious head scarf at work. >> growing up in this country where the bill of rights guarantees the freedom of religion, i felt let down. >> no worker should have to choose between their religion and a job. >> be aer com bring is not talking about the lawsuit. this is a company where a lot of their staff don't wear too many clothes at all and they prided themselves on creating a catalog that some say borders on being soft porn. the company said it complies with the law when it comes to quote reasonable religious accommodation. >>> let's go to rob marciano live in atlanta. any delays right now at the airports? >> thunderstorms are popping up across the eastern section of the country. and those areas where there's going

i'm zain verjee. you're watching "world one." a scramble for work visas, indonesia slaps a ban on workers going to saudi arabia after a maid there is be headed. that's not stopping these people who still want to work there. >>> from chaos to calm on the streets of damascus, not a protesters in sight. cnn is finally allowed to report inside syria, but with government minders on hand. how do you turn a city into a formula one circuit? join us for a high-speed drive through valencia and we find out. >>> first, it's plan to save greece. the impact will be felt right across europe, just a few hours ago, the government in athens hammered out an agreement with the eu leaders and the international monetary fund to tackle its huge debt. the $40 billion savings plan will mean five years of belt-tightening for greece. in exchange international lenders will keep giving the money it needs to avoid defaulting on its debts. the bailout is not a done deal. it's dependent on the greek parliament now approving the necessary savings as well as the

>> we will follow it, zain.ians, as a matter of fact. >> reporter: me, too! >> great music. >>> many journalists risk their lives pursuing important stories and understand that risk but none may be taking a bigger risk than a female reporter on the streets in afghanistan. her incredible story next. >>> the fbi reportedly investigating a confrontation between lance armstrong and one of his former teammates, a teammate who has accused him of doping on tv and in court. we will have much more on that. >>> many journalists have lost their lives searching for the truth. it's a risky job and what can make it even riskier, asking places in afghanistan. if the person asking those questions is a woman. this is mina hadbib. any woman who does this takes a tremendous risk. it's a big deal she is reporting. >> a huge deal and a tremendous risk. when i had my conversation with her last week, i said aren't you afraid for your life? i think about women in afghanistan in burqas during the taliban era. she is asking some tough qu

all right, zain.i'm going to come visit you. >> you better. >> we'll hit beju in our fasc a fascinators. if folks only knew how it was to spend an evening with you. >> kyra, how are the babies? >> they're fabulous. you come visit, aunt zain. >> all right. >>> gas prices have been falling and, guess what, they could go even lower. >>> also coming up, the stage is set. seven republicans running for president face off tonight in new hampshire at a cnn co-sponsored debate. live preview, coming up. mine was earned over the south pacific in 1943. vietnam, 1967. i got mine in iraq, 2003. u.s.a.a. auto insurance is often handed down from generation to generation, because it offers a superior level of protection and because u.s.a.a.'s commitment to serve the military, veterans, and their families is without equal. begin your legacy. get an auto insurance quote. u.s.a.a. we know what it means to serve. >>> seven candidates lineup tonight held by cnn, mur. there seems to have been a shift in what americans want

jen, what's the deal. >> hey, zaine.en you have one volcano erupting but two sounds unbelievable. we're going to start off right now taking about the volcano in chile causing all those problems. and here's the ash advisory. this is going to go for the next six hours, 1800 gmt. anywhere in red, all the way over the ocean. you're going to go south of australia, and then you're going to cover parts of new zealand. but you're not done there yet. this actually covers 20,000 kilometer area, roughly 12,000 miles. and then gets to the coast of antarctica. you can see how widespread this is and why we're dealing with so many cancellations. winds right at 30,000 feet. this is the area winds fly in. they'll be out of the west, strong and stay in that direction the next two days potentially pushing ash over towards the east because the volcano is still erupting sendinging ash towards the east. why is this such a problem? right now we're talking about the winds towardsed south. we talked so much about the polar jet stream north of th

zain? >> mohammed, it's difficult to know exact numbers, particularly as cnn isn't allowed inside yemen. what are your sources telling you about the latest death toll in yemen? >> there's been a lot of conflicting reports. we talked to medics, to eyewitnesss, to government officials. as far as sanaa we're hearing numbers as high as 40. now, tribesmen there are saying at least 20 of their tribesmen have been killed in fighting in the past couple of days. government forces are saying at least 15 soldiers and one army general have been killed. what we don't know is the correct number of civilians killed. it's very hard to get a handle on that number. everybody i speak with there is concerned this casualty figure is really going to go up once it calms down enough so an assessment can be made and real casualty figures can be counted. in taiz where there are government clashes, the u.n. put out a number in the last couple of days saying as many as 50 were killed by government forces in the past f

hi, zain. >> hi, carol.eally top of the mind of most up ins around the world and editorials. in "the guardian" in the uk, this is the headline "teenage victim becomes a symbol for syria's resolution." it says, hamza has come to symbolize the innocent victims in a struggle for freedom against tyranny and repression. the international herald tribune, syrians see tortured boy as symbol of brutal state. it says, the youth's battered body has cast into shocking relief the terrors wielded by the syrian state against its people. thailand's nation has this headline, ear rows on the streets will bring end game for syria's bloody junta. it will allow it to ride on the backs of the people, to insult them and torture them in ways they had never previously dreamed of. carol? >> zain vergee, i wonder what leverage the united states has over syria and our possible role of what happens in that country. >> the united states didn't have the a lost effective leverage right now, carol. there are already sanctions in place. they

cnn's sa zain verjee. zain. >> wall street says this. the u.s.ut the deteriora deteriorating situation in yemen. that islamist militants trying to seize control of up tos in southern yemen. you have the assassination attempt. protesters are out on the tre streets and u.s. is worried al qaeda will take advantage. the wall street journal goes on to say these drone attacks are secretly by president obama last year and these cia drones are going to be using, smaller war haefds than most manned military aircraft. u.s. officials hope they reduce the risk of civilian casualties and minute ms. any anti-american backlash in yemen. said something similar to the program in pakistan and want to do it in yemen. the way it works, at least for starter, the wall street journal, quoting officials, saying the cia ramps up u.s. intelligence efforts, and get help from the saudis, have a really good and extensive network on ground there. then they focus on a h targeted killing program after they got crucial information. kyra. >> all right. zain verjee out of london.

zain verjee, live from london. thank you. mitt romney is about to declare he is running for president. no surprise there. he has all that name recognition, a war chest full of money. why isn't mitt romney a bigger hit among the gop. >>> the man at the center of the missing balloon boy hoax is selling the ufolike kraft to help tsunami victims. really? we will have that story ahead. >>> in just about three hours, mitt romney will make it official and enter the race for president. he is the front-runner. most republicans have a positive reaction to him but despite his numbers and his name recognition, his campaign money and his business background, romney seems to have an enthusiasm problem. >> i don't know him at all. he seems not to resonate. i was beating everybody, including him. it is an interesting thing. he doesn't seem to resonate. he has been running for four years, six years, and longer. you would think that he would be doing better in the polls than he is right now. sheila hewitt is a radio host. he wrote a book calle

zain verjee now. what have you heard? >> the accounts are pretty chilling from them.

zain verjee is watching this for out of london right now. zain, what can you tell us? >> reporter: hi, kyra. the british foreign secretary william hague has said iran is carrying out covert tests of missiles capable of delivering a nuclear payload. else said iran wants enriched levels of uranium far greater than is needed for peaceful nuclear energy. iran said we wanted to do this to generate electricity but the united states and other countries don't believe them. listen to what the foreign secretary had to say moments ago. >> these are enrichment levels far needed for peaceful nuclear energy. we will maintain and continue to increase pressure on iran and negotiate an agreement on their nuclear program. >> reporter: iran, kyra, has successfully tested, according to iranians drills. they also talked about these underground launch sites that have been established. what that means they can fire off missiles as ordered by commanders a lot faster. there are western observers too who say iran has missile capabilities that can hit targets up to 800 miles. we are talking abou

the longest day of the year. >>> let's check in with our zain verjee check in with zain out o london.xt hour, hln's robin meade debuts her cd here in the news room. it's called "brand-new day." it's actually where she was singing with kenny chess knee. not on her new album, but i will tell you what, it was pretty good. >>> tomorrow, tom hanks joins me in the justudio, and will talk about his new film. that's right here in the studio. calcium rich tums goes to work in seconds. nothing works faster. ♪ tum tum tum tum tums i thought it was over here... ♪ [car horn honks] our outback always gets us there... ... sometimes it just takes us a little longer to get back. ♪ 14 clubs. that's what they tell us a legal golf bag can hold. and while that leaves a little room for balls and tees, it doesn't leave room for much else. there's no room left for deadlines or conference calls. not a single pocket to hold the stress of the day, or the to-do list of tomorrow. only 14 clubs pick up the right one and drive it right down the middle of pure michigan. your trip begins at michigan.org. you know, th

take care, zain. you can watch zain every morning 5:00 a.m.re on cnn. >>> what would drive someone to rob a bank and then wait for police to arrest him? this is a sad story actually. 58-year-old james had no job, no money and serious medical issues. they thought jail was the best place he could go for medical treatment and a roof over his head. he entered this bank in north carolina unarmed, and he handed the teller a note. >> the note said, "this is a bank robbery. please only -- please only give me $1" because i wanted to make it known to whoever would know, that, you know, it wasn't done for a monetary value, it was done for medical reasons. >> he was hoping -- really sad. he was hoping for a three-year sentence to collect social security when he gets out, but because he only demanded $1, police charged him with larceny, not bank robbery, so he might not get as much time in the slammer as he was hoping for. so he's going to have to figure out something else. >> that's a sad situation for him. >> i know. breaks your heart. >> it does. >> ahe

hear what he told our zain verjee and how zain fired back. when an investment lacks discipline, it's never this obvious. introducing investment discipline etfs from russell. visit russelletfs.com r a prospectus, containing the investment objectives, risks, charges, expenses and other information. read and consider it carefully before investing. oh, just booked a summer vaycay. ooo. sounds pricey? nah, with the hotels.com summer sale, you can find awesome deals for places nearby. interesting... wow, i'm blown away. you look great. hotels.com summer sale, save up to 30%. and get a free kindle. hotels.com. be smart. book smart. >>> all right. let's hit showbiz headlines. "the voice" wrapped its first season last night. >> the winner of "the voice" is javier colon. >> the vote was super close. only 2% separating javier and his runner up. >>> he played one of facebook founders in the movie "the social network" but justin timberlake bought a stake in the site which changed hands yesterday in a bargain basement deal. timberlake says he is, quote, ex

i'm monita rajpal. >> and i'm zain verjee.the city of christchurch, new zealand, was struck by earthquakes. there are reports that the power lines are out, phone lines are down. about 180 people were killed by an earthquake back in february. >>> in bahrain a group of doctors and nurses who treated injured protesters during anti-government rages are standing trial today. they're accused of trying to bring down the mgovern monarchy. they say they're trying to help those. >>> more than 3,000 people in europe have fanl ill from e. coli. german authorities have identified a farm in lower sauk sony >>> turkey's ruling party has won a comfortable victory giving it a third term in office. prime minister ed won secured almost half of all the votes cast on sunday but the poll wasn't without incident. it boosted its parliamentary presence by ten seats. >> the blast really underscores tensions between the two parts and it is among the challenges for the new government's facing. for latest now, let's go to ivan watson. ivan, how is the gov

zain, thanks.here do you go after you cause a 20 million dollar security breach? to court? to jail? how about to work? one man lands himself a job after making a name for himself as a hacker. alison kosik new york stock exchange with the details. >> the question is how best to keep out a hacker out of your company. of course, you can hire one. george hoats made a name for shim elf by unlocking apple's iphone in 2007 and left it open to be hacked and figured out how to hack into sony's playstation network and posting instructions online. that caused a 24 million dollar security breach there. reports say this guy has landed a job working at facebook and reports say a software engineer there to work on the new facebook ipad app but something tells me he is also going to veer into consulting on the security end of things. tech companies, they always say they want innovators, people who think outside the box. maybe a hotz on their side to see how hackable facebook. inspe keep in mind, this guy is only 2

i'm monita rajpal. >> and i'm zain verjee.f parliament spormz prime minister george papandreou and its parliament, a fresh bailout deal should follow but defeat would make a bailout an immediate possibility. >>> shots were fired and petrol bombs, bricks and fireworks were thrown in ireland and reports of masked men attacking catholic owned homes following claims of attacks on sunday of protestant homes. >>> two central attacks in iraq left 22 people dead, 23 were dead outside the president's house. they included police officers and citizens. >>> chile's ash cloud is back. oh, no, and it's grounded flights in ten australian cities. meteorologist pedram jabhiri is here with the latest at the weather center. >> it's similar to what we saw some 17 days ago. june 4th the initial eruption. on the 14th is circumnavigated the globe and ten days at it again. it was well south of australia in the past 48 or so hours, the ash plume was out toward areas within the antarctic sea. this was a doozy of a storm system. gusty conditions and cau

zain verjee tracking these live from london this morning. zain, what's going on in greece?need a bailout. before they can get that they've got to fulfill pretty tough austerity measures. this is the scene right now on the streets just outside of parliament in athens. thousands of people are out demonstrating and they are really mad. they do not want to lose jobs, wage cuts, higher taxes. that's all what is in their future. they're saying you know what, go tax the millionaires, don't give us more pain. but you know the government has to do this because there's a danger they could default on their loans. it will be bad for the euro. there are 16 other countries that will be dragged down. look. there appears to be a scene breaking out here. i heard shots being fired. police are there. there could be just warning shots or tear gas. there is a lot of anger in greece right now that this situation is coming to a head and they have to deal with it. they're waiting for the lawmakers to come in. >> are you watching this, zain? >> i am. >> i am. >> something just went off on the left

cnn's zain verjee is following the international reaction now from london. zain?> reporter: hi, kyra. well, the piece of good news was that a vote of confidence was passed and greece has a government, so at least they have that. now what the government has to do is to push forward and present an austerity program that are going to make people poorer much, much faster. let's take a look at the international headlines. here is what they are saying. the daily mail has an opinion piece, headlined "bring down the curtain on this greek tragedy." it says what frightens the eu politicians in germany and france is the euro zone's weakness casts a doubt on the union itself that the future of the union has never looked so shaky. in "gulf news," "political union cannot fix the euro crisis. >> it says most europe leaders assert they will do whatever it takes to save the euro but the leaders operate in ghks. if they take decisions the voters simply cannot accept, they will lose their jobs. kyra, a huge debate here on this side of the pond, because some people say, you know, tha

zain verjee live in london with more on this. zain? >>, hi, guys.re is that they have traced phone calls to a group known as har ka mujahedeen. the question is, is that militant group in pakistan responsible for sheltering and protecting osama bin laden while he was in pakistan? even more critical question is, did pakistani intelligence know. this militant group in pakistan has very, very close ties to pakistani intelligence. that's because the isi is basically mentored and grown them for the last 20 years. they set the group up to fight the soviets in afghanistan, to fight india over kashmir, so they go hand and glove. now "the new york times" when it talks about tracing the phone calls it says that harco commandos had called pakistani intelligence officials but also says quoting officials this is not a smoking gun, that the isi knew that bin laden was at this compound in abbottbad and were protecting him but it does say they're going to investigate this further because there is the crucial link between this pakistani militant group and the pakista

thank you, zain. talk about getting creative. >>> gas prices, never thought we would be happy to pay $3.50 a gallon, right? that just shows you that everything is relative. allison kostik at the stock exchange. they're expect ed to go lower, probably 50 cents lower. what do you think? >> hearing less than 50 cents but let's rejoice. $the 3.53 a gallon, down more than 20 cents in three weeks. we've gone from almost a dozen states over the $4 mark down to just two states, alaska and hawaii at that mark. these lower gas prices, what do they mean? americans have more money to spend on other things. it could give a much-needed boost to the overall economy. we are getting consumer confidence numbers out tomorrow. kyra, we'll see if consumers have noticed these lower gas prices. kyra? >> this doesn't even factor in obama administration move last week. >> that's right. they could go lower than where they are. the general consensus is that prices haven't hit bottom yet. some experts say we could see prices dro

thank you, zain. very generous.ove you. >>> foreclosures are one of the biggest drags on the housing market right now. today a new study shows that foreclosure filings plunged 33% in may compared to may 2010. sounds good, but alison kosik is here to tell us that that number isn't really all that it's cracked up to be. what is the story? >> reporter: you're right about that, kyra. you know what this is is all about? a paper work backup so it doesn't mean the housing market is getting any better. this is all about the fallout from that row bow signing debacle we have heard about in the past year or so when banks fr foreclosured on people that they shouldn't have. banks are dotting their i's and crossing their t's and banks are no no rush to repossess homes. they repo cessing homes faster than what they can handle. >> reporter: we have new numbers on the new housing reports. >> reporter: we got hopeful signs for the broader housing market. building permits which is a sign of future building they hit a five-month high.

they're working on that. >> that mincing part got me, zain.u didn't say mincing. >> growing cells and mincing it in the lab. >> mincing muscles in the lab. mmm. >>> advocates say they'll now focus their attention on maryland, rhode island and maine. in new york city, tens of thousands of people took to the streets yesterday to celebrate the new law during the gay pride parade. new york is the sixth and, by far, the largest state to legalize is same-sex marriage. >> now to the question of the day. with new york state legalizing same-sex marriage, do you believe other states should follow suit? here are some of your responses. i'll go first. from mckelemen from twitter. anyway, he says the same-sex marriage law passed was one of the most humane and sensible things that the state has ever done. >> on our blog, robert fairchild writes i hope that no other states even consider this. i can't believe that anyone in their right mind truly thinks this is right, let alone even okay. >> adb1201 on twitter says i don't see why not? as a straight male i su

that's what's going on. >> all right, zain verjee, thank you so much.'s another really great international story in switzerland we wanted it ask you about. >> zain, i'm sorry to turn from the riots to snow leopards, but they're so cute. the pictures are creating quite a buzz. >> they are. >> awwww. >> they're trending very high around the world. i want to show them to you. these are very rare snow leopard, what's also rare is that there were triplets that were born in a zoo in switzerland. they're eight weeks old. this is a very endangered species. there are only like 4,000 left around the world. they don't have names yet, guys. but the important thing here is that the europeans have this project where they breed endangered species at zoos and this is something that's grabbing people's attention around the world as well. >> so cute. >> just gorgeous. with paws like that, you know how big they're going to get? >> they're so cute right now. >> you can watch zain verjee at 5:00 a.m. on "world one." >>> hockey's stanley cup showca showcase marred by violenc

i'm zain vergee in london.world business today" starts now. >>> good morning, from cnn london and welcome to "world business today," i'm nina dos santos. these are the top stories on thursday, june 16th. the bears move the markets as the grisly greek debt crisis shakes investors. >>> and samsonite hopes it can pull it out of the bag despite a disappointing debut. >>> and we take a look back at tech titan ibm. >>> and i'm jeff defterios at the russian economic forum. we'll talk to a major shareholder of the tnk/bp joint venture who keeps their door open to bob dudley before he comes tomorrow. >> plenty to come on this jam-packed show. first up, that sunking feeling is hitting the markets this thursday. it's all bleak and the reasons almost all greek. as uncertainly rattles the debt-ravaged country, it's clearly rattling investors as well, throw in, of course, poor u.s. economic deet and you can understand why everybody is seeing red. increasing worries about greece and whether it will be able to avoid a default

. >>> i'm zain verjee at cnn in london. the main story this hour. terrified hotel guests jumped from windows. one even wrote his will. the luxury continue anyone tall hotel is still smoking after a taliban terrorist attack overnight. one man who hid in his room said the assault lasted for hours. a reporter is there with the latest. >> reporter: this morning as the sun rose over kabul, the building still smoking, we understand a fire was ignited when the building was attacked. the police very cautiously still searching through the building looking for more victims and indeed survivors but also very wary in the chaos, there may still be taliban insurgents hiding in the buildinging. in the previous attack in 2008 the attackers described themselves as policemen and when the police eventually made it into the building, it was only by chance that they spotted one of the attackers in his uniform as he tried to flee. there's no suggestion that last night's attack that the insurgents used police disguises. eyewitnesss said they saw these men laden with explo

i'm zain verjee in london. "world business today" starts right now. >>> good afternoon, welcome to "world business today." i'm andrew stevens in hong kong. >> good morning for me, nina dos santos in london. >>> japan's prime minister survives a no confidence vote but signals he'll step down after the earthquake aftermath is cleaned up. >>> and hundreds of high-profile gmail accounts are breached after suspected chinese hackers go phishing. >> this guy is not the only trader who has had better days on wall street. the steepest u.s. stock slide in a year exposed fears of a stalling economy. the dow and the broader s&p posted their biggest loss since june of last year after a dismal job data, economic slowdown and a new downgrade in greece. that puts greece on par with cuba now. >> that downgrade to a caa-1 rating by moody's, something that perhaps you would expect from an impoverished developing nation but not one from a major eurozone partner. that greek downgrade is understandably weighing heavily on the europe

zain verjee joins us for more on that., zain. >> reporter: a couple of headlines for you, both critical, actually. the guardian, a left leaning newspaper here has this headline "strategic drawdown or rush for the door?" and goes on to say those who call for an immediate full exit are making a grave mistake. such an approach risks an outcome that should be unacceptable in washington and london. a taliban takeover olve or substantial portions, of afghanistan. "international herald tribune" has this. "the way out?" obama will need to do a lot more to explain why it is in this country's strategic interests to stick things out for another three years plus and why his drawdown plan has a credible chance of leaving behind an afghanistan that won't implode as soon as american troops are gone. that is part of the debate, kyra, that's a big concern. is afghanistan, once u.s. troops pull out, going to distinct grate into total chaos and civil war? or are the afghan security forces actually going to be able to step up and take respons

. >>> hi, i'm zain verjee at cnn in london. a 48-hour general strike has begun in greece against the new austerity measures. parliament is proposing five years in tax hikes and spending cuts if they are to avoid outright default. >>> the international criminal court issued an arrest warrant for moammar gadhafi and two of his relatives. libya rejects the warrant saying it is nothing more than a cover for nato war strikes. in dmas cass key leaders of the protest stayed away saying it gave legitimacy of the government. constitutional change is set for next month. >>> floodwaters from the missouri river are threatening two nuclear power plants in the state of nebraska. workers are monitoring both plants around the clock to keep water out. so far both facilities have stayed dry. i'm zain verjee at cnn in lon n london. >>> world business today" starts now. >> hello and very good morning from cnn here in london. i'm charles hodson. this is "world business today." christine laguards is odds on favorite for the imf and final furlong as

i'm zain verjee from cnn in london. "world business today" starts now. >>> good morning from cnn london. i'm charles hodson. this is "world business today," and these are the top stories. >>> new zealand is rocked by a series of earthquakes rattling the dollar. >>> three are a crowd as the imf hopefuls try to strengthen their support. >>> and we'll look at the economics transforming the country. we'll bring you up to speed on the stock markets f lit's start here in europe where trade has been going for the start of the week for about 61, 62 minutes. investors clearly still concerned about the global economy and the great debt crisis, but we are seeing very cautious gains there across the board with the exception of the zurich smi, which is off about 1.2%. otherwise up by one and a third percent. some difficulties for the euro and seesawing around. euro, 1.4354. and the japanese yen, still i suspect uncomfortably high for japanese exporters, just a shade over 80 on the dollar. >>> for more on, that let ee go to ramy inoc

vrnlths i'm zain verjee at cnn in london. u.s. president barack obama has promised american troops will begin leaving afghanistan next month. later today he's expected to announce just how many will leave and when. sources say some 30,000 troops will be sent home by the end of 2012. greek prime minister george pop drew survived budget needed to prevent a default. greece risks being abandoned by europe if it fails to get its finances in order. >>> police clash with huneds of riote authorities say molotov dock tals were thrown as a large crowd gathered on the street separating catholic and protestant neighborhoods. >>> in syria clashes erupted between the anti-regime protesters. there were reports that two people were killed and several others wounded. cnn cannot independent confirm that. those are the headlines, i'm zain verjee in london. "world business today" starts now. >>> good morning from cnn london. i'm charles hodson. >>> good afternoon from cnn hong kong. the top stories this wednesday, june 22nd. >> george pap pan droe wi

. >>> hi, i'm zain verjee. here are the headlines. demonstrators are hitting the strooets of athestreets of athe. two big greek labor unions plan to stage a strike as they stare at more austerity and cuts. lashing out against air strikes on libya accusing nato of attempting regime change and political assassination. later today the british prime minister, david cam can ron, will meet with anywnato to talk about the successes of the air campaign. >>> syria's crackdown on dissidents is spreading across the country's north. the military campaign has sent thousands seeking safety. many remain in syria but more than 8,500 people have reportedly crossed into turkey. pakistan's intelligence agency has taken into custody a number of cia informants who provided information leading to the killing of osama bin laden. u.s. officials say one detainee copied the license plates of cars visiting the bin laden compound in the weeks before the raid. those are the headlines. i'm zain verjee. "world headlines" starts now. >>> good morning from cnn london

zain, great ta talk to you always. catch zain 5:00 a.m.n "world one" on cnn. >> kevin kline will be on capitol hill lobbying on behalf of diabetes research. first he will be here to talk with us about his real life passion. aflac! oh, i've just got major medical... major medical. ...but it helps pay the doctors. pays the doctors, boyyy! [ quack ] oh yeah? what about your family? ♪ we added aflac, so we get cash! it's like our safety net... ♪ to help with the mortgage or whatever we need! so my family doesn't feel the pain too. ha! [ male announcer ] help protect your family at aflac.com. [ pigeons ] heyyy! hooo!!! [(rawhen an investmentrsation)t yourlacks discipline, om. it's never this obvious. introducing investment discipline etfs from russell. visit russelletfs.com r a prospectus, containing the investment objectives, risks, charges, expenses and other information. read and consider it carefully before investing. 42 miles per gallon on the highway. to get there, a lot of complicated engineering goes into every one. like variable valve

zain verjee is watching this carefully from london.is that clearly this matters a lot to the greek people, in a very different way to everybody else in europe and the rest of the world. >> exactly. i mean, we're talking confidence in markets, it affects the u.s. financial system, the u.s. financial system has links to european banks that hold greek debt. perhaps that has something like $56 billion of exposure to greek debt. so it really does matter to the u.s. also today is such an important day. the greek government is between a rock and a hard place. they have to pass this us a tear itity plan so they can get all this bailout money. billions of dollars so they do not default on their debt. so it's a really crucial moment. and as you can see, thousands of people are out on the streets. they're really mad. the greeks are getting poorer. they're not gets pensions, workers are not being paid and they're being asked to take a major cut here. we're talking $40 billion over a period of five years. greece is being asked to take out 10% to 15

i'm zain vergee at cnn in london. "world business today" starts now. >>> good morning, from cnn london, i'm nina dos santos, this is "world business today" and these are the top stories. >>> the battle may have been won but the war has just begun. greece presses ahead with harsh spending cuts. >>> thousands of workers walk off the job in the united kingdom in mass protests over pensions. >>> and birmingham city football club carson yeung is charged with money laundering. >>> negativity on the streets of athens, but positive news for stock market around the world. the avoidance or a deferral of a default for greece has given investors room to excel today. here in europe we saw hefty gains on wednesday as the markets got wind of what was happening in athens. around 2:00 p.m. local time yesterday. those gains have largely been sustained in early trading today. there is a note of caution that optimism echoed by the european central bank, juan claude trichet. we must point out that now that the greeks have passed the awe s

. >>> hi, i'm zain verjee at cnn in london. here are our top stories this hour. cambodia is reliving a national nightmare as four former khmer rouge leaders begin a war crimes trial, charged with genocide and crimes against humanity in the deaths of almost two million cambodians in the '70s. the defendants say they are innocent. the trial is expected to go on for several years. >>> as the crackdown in syria continues, dissidents and intellectual are to attend a government-sponsored conference today. president assad says it's a step toward national drag about reform, but -- dialogue about reform, but the opposition voiced concerns that the conference is just for show. >>> employment will speak with with republican and -- president obama will speak with republican and democrat later to start negotiations to get the debt celling back on track. the government will start defaulting on loans in august. >>> greece's parliament is set to vote on a new set of austerity measures this week. passing them means that greece is going to get another $40 billion of bailout funds.

i'm zain verjee in london. world business today starts now. >>> good morning from cnn london. friday to you. i'm nina desantos. >>> good afternoon from cnn hong kong. i'm andrew stevens. you're watching "world business today." there's friction with opec. >>> prada has more style than substance with a stock market debut that disappoints. >>> sunny side up. from the paris air show we'll meet the pair nearing solar plane pilots. >>> first up, let's take a look at the markets, asian stocks had a pretty good day on the hole on the back of hopes that the greek debt crisis could be nearing a resolution, also hopes that chinese inflation is now under control. it was a pretty positive open here in europe as well. for the most part the indices kicking things off with gains in excess of 1% for this final trading day of the week. let's go straight to the numbers. greek hopes definitely powering things ahead. some of these markets were down in excess of 2% yesterday. most notably the kec 40. it's rebounding the most currently up by 1.5%. >>> interesting, nina. greek helping the mood in asi

meanwhile software zain was nasty sailed through her opening set against a mini kudzu bull go but the slovakia world number twenty four fought back to clinch a three set when the lead was now secure waiting for her amazing grand slam while venus williams lost civil garrus spit out a wrong caught in the repeats tora bora shares quarterfinal however former champion maria sharapova is safely through the world number six ran into some position early in her match against china spending sure why but the two thousand and four winner improved to triumph six four six two and has yet to drop a set so far as she reaches the quarterfinals for the first time in five years. i feel like my movement has definitely improved this year but i think that's because i played a lot of matches. i think a lot of it is also reaction in. getting ready for the next. thinking it's over being prepared to hit another one another. just always hated it . doesn't come. sharapova is the last remaining female russian player as compatriots not yet the troll of phillips and number four seed victoria azarenka and prospect s

our zain verjee in london. what are they saying about this guy, zain? >> hi there, kyra.ays u.s. crime boss captured after 17 years on run. so corrupt and sordid it says was the relationship between bulger and the fbi that many bostonians assumed the fbi was not really looking for him. take a look at "the irish independent." links to ireland helped mobster stay free. james "whitety" bulger it says was immensely proud of his irish heritage and in fact it was the irish-american connections that are believed to have helped america's most wanted successfully stay on the run from the fbi for 16 years. those are the headlines today out of ireland. kyra? >> okay. zain, thanks. >>> flooding in minot, north dakota, back here at home coming faster than first predicted. a lake near the city is already overflowing. cnn's jim spellman is live in minot where people now expect record flood levels. so jim, more rain in the forecast or no? >> reporter: might get a little bit of rain but the problem is the rain getting up in canada. the other day they got six inches in one day and that's g

zain, thanks so much. >> all right. >> watch zain every morning, 5:00 a.m.e" on cnn. >>> coming up next on "american morning," more than 30 campers trapped by a massive mudslide. details on the effort to get them out safely. it's 47 minutes past the hour. >>> 48 minutes past the hour. here are your headlines this morning. democratic leaders stepping up pressure on new york congressman anthony weiner to resign after new racy photos of weiner posing in the house gym emerged on tmz, the website. weiner so far has refused to resign. instead he's announced he's taking a leave of absence to get professional help. >>> a series of earthquakes rocked christchurch, new zealand. at least ten people injured and one building destroyed. it's the same area, though, where another earthquake killed more than 180 people back in february. >>> arizona congresswoman gabrielle giffords all smiles in the first photos the public has seen since she was critically wounded in a january shooting. giffords is expected to leave a rehab facility soon. >>> with rebel forces closing in on t

with me thanks for joining us another day at fierce fighting between pro khadafi forces under rubble zain levy or has left twenty four insurgents dead and while nato forces are continuing to tighten their grip on colonel stronghold tripoli civilians in the capital live live in constant fear of being killed and now a petrol shortage is making their lives even more difficult as archie's maria and ocean reports nato's actions aimed at protecting civilians have succeeded only stoking people's anger. it may have some of the largest oil reserves on the planet but these days labor is also god some of the longest queues at his petrol stations the international sanctions imposed on the embattled colonel's regime did not include a few in bargo but nato is targeting. if suspected the fuel might be used by gadhafi as military forces with roads closed factories at a stop and foreign workers long since gone from the war stricken country is facing its worst energy crisis ever the new reality is ordinarily been drivers now spend vast amounts of time queuing for fuel to months ago this became a common thi

but mazen al-zain is one reason to believe the locals. holding his military i.d., he admits he deserted. and he told cbs news the mutiny is spreading. witnesses tell us that there are hundreds, maybe even thousands, of frightened syrian families sheltering under the trees over there and in the fields. they're close enough to turkey that they could make a dash to safety if they needed to. what they really want is for syrian forces to withdraw and let them go home. mustafa daas is one of a handful of young men who figured out how to slip past the turkish military patrols. we gave him a small camera and asked him to go back to the syrian side and film the huge make-shift camp ground that has sprung up. personally mustafa is just grateful to be alive. last friday at an anti- government protest, soldiers opened fire. panicked and trying to help the wounded, mustafa tried his best to gather proof on his cell phone before escaping to turkey. now he worries about what he's left behind. what news are you getting from jisr al shugour where the army

zain, was it? >> reporter: i'm not sure if it was her dress to be honest.newsrooms, she was an icon. we just had the royal wedding. what would it be like for prince harry to look at this. everyone was asking on wedding day what if diana was here, you know? it's a pity. so it's just like tugs on everybody's, i guess, emotional heart strings a little bit on that one because she was such an icon for all of us. >> it certainly has all of us talking about it. tina brown, the editor, said it was meant to -- >> shakes things up. >> exactly. go ahead. >> reporter: sorry. we did call "newsweek" and tina brown did issue a statement and basically said we wanted to bring the memory of diana alive in a vivid image that transcends time and reflected my piece. that is what they are saying to all of the criticism today. >> our question of the day. >> why did they have to digitally age her. >> oh, stop. our question of the day, as you said. here is what some have said about "newsweek" with princess diana on it. who has got this? oh, got it. this is diane. sorry. a little sl

good things but look at their track record as you stated it's horrific you know or shortage of jihad zain any taxes i mean that was all about you know staff. well how about do you gain a dollar and i mean this. this is just absurd i mean how long are we going to keep all in for their propaganda and then i just thought and remain well the future is literally going up in flames economically it's a question i want to just point to a little bit more of g.e. track record and the track record of these corporations on obama's council because you mentioned offshoring you mentioned the g.e. has not paid taxes i think they paid zero for their corporate taxes this year a lot of has to do with tax havens with foreign investment we're taking our investments and investing in other countries and in fact if we can bring up this graphic showing g.e.'s foreign investment there reinvestment abroad is jump from forty seven billion dollars in two thousand and six to ninety four billion dollars in two thousand and ten that is according to their disclosure filings and according to bloomberg study a lot of the c

. >>> i'm zain verjee at cnn in london. greece's parliament has two weeks to approve a new round of austerity measures. it will be poised to free up the next installment of a next installment lone. protests and strikes are planned for today. >>> sectarian rioting has broken out in northern ireland. in belfast crowds hurled molotov cocktails. dozens of masked men raided catholic homes following claims protestant homes were raided over the weekend. >>> in an address, mr. assad promised a new national assembly by august, western leaders are saying that's not good enough and calling on him to make new changes. >>> the worlds oceans are being warned climate pollution are putting many forms of marine life, fish, sharks, whales and dolphins at rapid forms of extinction. those are the headlines. "world business today" starts now. >>> good afternoon from cnn hong kong. a warm welcome to "world business today." i'm andrew stephens. >> good morning from cnn london. these are the top stories on tuesday june 21st. the greek prime minist