zain verjee is live in london. good morning, zain. what's the latest on this? >> good morning. well, he was a contractor working for the u.s. government on an aid program in pakistan, apparently, according to these militant sites. and essentially, the demands, and there are eight of them, are totally unrealistic. i'll just give you an example. the speaker on the site, which is believed to be ayman al zawahiri, says the u.s. bombing of pakistan, somalia and yemen needs to come to an end. all prisoners at guantanamo bay need to be released. and it goes on and says anyone that's been arrested and charged with having any kind of links or contacts with al qaeda or the taliban needs to be released. and the speaker on the tape, again, believed to be zawahiri, says that he will only be freed if these demands are met, and it really is up to president obama. christine? >> all right, zain verjee this morning. thank you, zain. >>> still ahead, a warehouse filled with billions of dollars

zain, back to you in london. >> it's over.ght months and 26 days to bring us to this historic moment that you are watching on the right-hand side of your screen in baghdad. a lot of blood, sweat and tears from both the sides of the iraqi people. and the american people. if you think back to march of 2003, we went through shock and awe, war, suicide bombings, sectarian violence, the deposing of saddam hussein. executions, political disagreements, to bring us to this day and this moment, so big on symbolism and also big on substance, after almost nine years of war, $1 trillion u.s. spent and deaths on the iraqi side of 128,000, almost 4,500 u.s. troops died. it really is a day of a lot of conflicting emotions. iraqis on the one hand say that they're happy that the u.s. is leaving. on the other hand, a lot of people are still really nervous. they don't know that once the u.s. leaves, what will their future look like? and will the iraqi government be able to rule? will they or is it still so politically fragile? >> well, it's a bi

zain? >> cnn's paula hancocks reporting. thanks, paula. that's the top story from cnn, the world's news leader. i'm zain verjee, and "world business today" starts right now. >>> good morning from cnn london. i'm charles hodson. >> we'll forgive you for that, charles. good afternoon from hong kong, i'm andrew stevens. you're watching "world business today." the top stories this wednesday, december the 28th. as japan eases its self-imposed ban on weapons exports, we'll look at how its defense budget adds up. >>> it's already been a volatile year in the euro zone. now nervous banks have deposited record sums with the yeaeuropea central bank. >>> and today we say bye-bye to the boss. now time in the corner office is coming to an end, but not before some final questions. >>> stock markets in asia finishing broadly lower after another day of fin trade. that followed a quiet day on wall street. and in europe where an italian bond auction will be in sharp focus, the open was mixed just a short while ago. let's get straight to the numbers. charles,

i'm zain verjee in london.you newspaper editorials around the world are saying about what european leaders need to do to just deal with the debt crisis. >> all right, guys, thanks so much. plus a history of college hazing exposed. >> you have to walk from the front to the back of the bus backwards and while the bus is full with other band members and you get beat until you get to the back. >> former band member talks about a ritual that may have killed a florida a&m drum major. more on that next hour. the employee of the month is... spark card from capital one. spark cash gives me the most rewards of any small business credit card. it's hard for my crew to keep up with 2% cash back on every purchase, every day. 2% cash back. that's setting the bar pretty high. thanks to spark, owning my own business has never been more rewarding. [ male announcer ] introducing spark the small business credit cards from capital one. get more by choosing unlimited double miles or 2% cash back on every purchase, every day. what's

zain vergee joins us live from london with that story. so what did this man do?id. it's come under some kind of a blasphemy law which suggests he could have said something about the prophet mohammed. he's a shia muslim. he was on a pilgrimage to medina where the prophet is buried. his family has said that he suffers from really serious health problems. he's diabetic. he has a bad back and the australian government is saying, look, show leniency and let him go. this is the situation with this man. the government is trying to figure out what exactly is going on. as it stands officially he's going to get 500 lashes and a year in jail for whatever he said. we're still trying to figure that out. >> let's turn our attention to better news, happy news, fantastic news, i think. a royal pregnancy? everybody's wondering. >> yes. is she with child? is she not with child? we don't know. it's just a rumor, but rumors come from somewhere and what happened was last night there was this event with gary barlow singing at a big charity concert. will and kate were there, along with

zain verjee joins us now with more. so zain, what's putin's problem with the secretary of state?tin's mad because he says the u.s. has been encouraging the protests that russia's been seeing out on the streets ever since sunday. what happened sunday? well, the parliamentary elections happened and putin's party came out on top but people have been really angry, they have a been demonstrating and vladimir putin is pointing the finger directly at u.s. secretary of state hillary clinton. listen to how he puts it. >> translator: the first thing that the u.s. secretary of state said about the russian elections was that -- by saying that she sets the tone for some public figures in that country. gave them the signal. they heard that signal. >> secretary of state clinton lashed back saying, yeah, they weren't free and fair. there have been irregularities and suspicions of fraud also in this election and wants to call for an investigation to occur. she also said that though russia has made some progress, the u.s. is still supportive of the rights and freedoms of the people of russia. >> z

zain verjee is in london.n, tell us about these attacks, specifically about churches on a very holy day for christians, of course. >> reporter: exactly, hala. this is the second time in two years this has happened. it's widely being reported that the group boco haram is claiming responsibility. that's translated into western education is sinful. this is a group that western agencies have kept their eye on. they have increased in sophistication in their attacks. they're better coordinated. essentially they have loosely founded themselves on the taliban in afghanistan and their goal is to impose saria law across all of my gear yeah one of their biggest concerns is that they'll continue attacks like this and fuel sectarian violence in the country. in fact, people are saying one of the ways they've been able to fund themselves is by robbing banks recently. there has been a whole spate of that that's been going on in the last few months. they've been flashing much more with police and security forces in nigeria. ab

we're joined now by zain verjee live in london. good morning to you, carol. this is a pretty historic day and an important tribute ceremony honoring u.s. troops, iraqi troops and troops from any other country that have fought the insurgency in iraq since the fall of saddam hussein. this is a really big deal, something like 11,000 u.s. troops still in iraq, and as the drawdown continues throughout the month of december, it's believed that there are only going to be about 150 or so u.s. troops left in iraq. so, a really important day, very symbolic, but this really marks the start, too, of a big, practical push to withdraw troops. >> on another topic, the suspect in the natalee holloway disappearance and her accused murderer, he's filing a lawsuit against chile. so, what's that about? >> reporter: yeah, yeah, this kind of took a lot of people by surprise. but essentially, he is suing chile over his extradition to peru. you'll remember that he is on trial in peru for killing a 21-year-old woman, stephany flores in a hotel room in lima

zain has taken it a whole new direction. thank you, zain.appy holidays. >>> well, i don't know if she's going to be wearing a hat, but we are going to talk about the dow jumping almost 200 points on friday to wrap up the week. straight to the new york stock exchange and karina is with us this morning. >> morning, kyra. i wish i had a hat. you should have given me advanced warning. >> how about a hat trick? pull some good numbers out of your hat. >> i can't do that either. unfortunately we are looking for a drop of about 120 points on the dow. and as we have seen, the market driver remains europe with concerns about their debt problems. initially remember on friday the markets were happy with the proposals presented by eu leaders, and were happy some long-term solutions were being discussed. but the problem is, they didn't come up with a plan to tackle the short-term problems, ie the rising borrowing costs. and the agreement is expected to be finalized in march, and we know a lot can happen between now and then. on top of that, we have rating

cnn's zain verjee is following this story for us from london now. zain, what do you have? >> hi, there, fred. yes, he's saying that there's specific demands that need to be met in order for warren weinsten to be released. he is an aide worker and living in pakistan for seven years and then just disappeared in august. it wasn't really clear whether he was kidnapped by criminals or what was exactly going on. it seems, though, based on this message by ayman al zawahiri. zawahiri wants all al qaeda prisoners released that the west is holding. he wants all prisoners in guantanamo bay released. he wants all of osama bin laden's relatives that are being held released and he is demanding that the u.s. stop its bombing of afghanistan, of yemen and other places like somalia and also in pakistan where the u.s. is reportedly operating drone attacks in those area. now, u.s. officials have said that they're going to follow every single lead to try to get hold of this hostage. the family is really concerned. they have been appealing to the captors over the past while saying their hostage

let me turn to our zain verjee. the whole world, zain, she's joining me from london. the whole world watched this event today. what is the world saying now that it's over? >> well, there's been a lot of reaction today, as you can imagine. it's been eight years, eight months and 26 days. and a lot of blood, sweat and tears on both the sides of the american people, as well as the iraqi people. let me give you an idea. "the guardian." has this headline. the u.s. troops are pulling out, but what have the people left behind? iraq has readied itself for a moment big on symbolism, but like so much of the war and subsequent occupation, what appears to be big in symbolism subject to claims that it is lacking in substnsh. "the national" says this. the future of iraq will not be built on empty words. iraqis will no doubt cheer the moment when the last u.s. service member boards the plane and latches the door, but glossing over the challenges ahead will not see them vanish. "the washington post" man of the shadows. this article actually questions whether the prime minister nuri a

zain? >> nick paton walsh. i'm zain verjee. "world business today" starts now. >>> hello, i'm andrew stevens in hong kong. >> and from cnn london, i'm charles hodson. this is "world business today" and these are our top stories much there had a cautious mood on the markets after a downgrade warning in europe. >> a change of tact by china breathes new life into climate change talks. >>> and a trickle of tourists return as thailand recovers from devastating floods. >>> the timing could hardly have been worse. just as leaders of the euro-zone's biggest economies put on a united front standard & poor's threw a big spanner into the works and put 15 euro-zone nations under review for possible downgrade including germany and france an put the brakes on the rally we've been seeing. >> we'll bring you numbers and detail in a moment. suffice it to say europe apart from the uk is off by 1%. have a look. these are the 17 that all use the euro. greece's credit rating reflects a high rick of default and cyprus which was already under review.

let me bring in zain verjee who is in london for us. zain, just some things. you are not supposed to take a knife or nuclear material on a plane. what happened here? >> what happened was is that this was a flight from moscow to tehran and it was found in a passenger's luggage. actually, it was 20 times the normal levels of radiation levels that you normally have there and it raised a red flag and this is what the federal customs service said in a statement. i'll just read it to you. they said 18 metallic objects of industrial origin were found packed into individual steel boxes. tests then found that the objects were, in fact, the radio active isotope sodium 22 and could have only been obtained as the result of inwork of a nuclear reactor. that's an important last line because that is a direct contradiction to russia's atomic agency who says that this kind of stuff, sodium 22 is only used for medical and scientific research. now, cnn spoke to a nuclear expert that said, number one, there is no radiation hazard here given the levels that were still high, but th

thank you, zain verjee.ays a good time. >> what a fine mocha it is, thanks, don. >> bye-bye. >>> you missing some money lately? the irs may have it. isn't it usually the other way around? thousands of people still haven't gotten their tax refunds. alison kosik at the new york stock exchange. alison, i think i have some idea how this could happen because i think this happened to me. >> did it really? did you give the irs or did the irs have your wrong mailing address? is that what happened to you? >> i haven't gotten it. it has been months. they're trying to track it down and figure out where it is. >> this story is for you, don. the irs says the problem here is that it has the wrong mailing addresses. for future reference, take note here, don. you want to make sure you get your refund in the future and get direct deposit because it is faster and more secure. at this point 99,000 people have yet to get their money. it's a small percentage of taxpayers, but those people are losing a lot of money because their

anybody taking responsibility for these explosions, zain?l, no, so far no one has taken responsibility, just a short while ago, we heard from one spokesperson on the ground in kabul saying 40 at least are dead and at least 100 are wounded. this happened at a shrine called abdel faisal shrine. we're getting reports that the other attack in the area has killed four. we'll continue to follow the story. this is the situation on the ground and the scene as it's unfolding. important day, carol, for shia muslims around the world marking a few days known as ashurah. let me just show you some live pictures coming from karbala in iraq. the death of the prophet muhamm muhammad. they feel he was betrayed when he had to fight this losing battle and thought at the time he should have had more support than he did so imam hussein was killed in battle and like here in karbala will mourn his death and the fact they feel he was betrayed. some will beat their chests in mourning but hussein was killed in karbala which is why this is sachi a symbolic mays for shi

. >>> let's bring in zain verjee now for more on this. he's disputing everyone else's claims and what the pictures show here, zain. >> that's exactly right. bashar al assad very defiant in that interview and sticking by what he says that he never ordered a crackdown. in fact, it's his troops and his supporters that died. listen to how he put it. >> we don't kill our people. nobody kill no government in the world. kill its people unless it's led by israeli -- i became president because of the public support. it's impossible to follow in this state. >> do you feel guilty? >> i do my best, you cannot feel guilty when you try your best. >> u.s. has already reacted to this interview, don. the state department is saying this, that the spokesman mark turner put it, i find it ludicrous that he is attempting to hide behind some kind of shell game, but also some sort of claim that he doesn't exercise authority in his own country. and the point that he was making in the interview was essentially that he's the president, he makes policy, he doesn't c

zain verjee here with more details. very interesting. >> truly fascinating that he's talking about getting into this race, kyra. one of the richest men in the world. something like $11 billion in metal industry. we do know that name. does he have a shot? many people really wonder if he could really win. one says, yeah, maybe he's jumping on the band wagon of a lot of protesters in russia. he saw thousands of them gathering in moscow over the weekend and maybe he's jumping in on that and give putin a real run for his money. the opposition and the cynics of the opposition saying that this is just a strategy being used by the kremlin. he is being used as a kremlin stooge just to give the appearance that vladimir putin is going to have a run for his money and there is some real competition. what they're saying is that he is in the race to draw the voters that would have voted for the opposition away. they don't go to putin and the opposition, but it gives putin a little bit of an edge. jury is still out on what's true and w

let's bring in zain verjee live in london.terview with the syrian president he seemed sort of delusional. >> he said crackdown? what crackdown? i haven't ordered any crackdown. he went on to insist he doesn't feel guilty about it because he's not responsible for it and, in fact, he said i'm the president and i deal with policy, i don't command the security forces. they're not responsible, what their actions are for him in terms of the president's office. but this dignity strike idea is something that's really gaining momentum in syria, on-line, on facebook. it's supposed to occur in different stages. the idea is basically civil disobedience. get out on the streets, block roads, close businesses, tell kids not to go to schools, things like that. and what activists are now hoping is that by using this new tactic, that they can put even more pressure on the regime and go that kind of strategy, rather than violent protests. >> wow. okay. let's talk about something much happier. the royal christmas card. >> i don't know if that loo

. >>> i'm zain verjee at cnn in london. here are the top stories. the u.n. says more than 5,000 people have been killed on the syrian's government crackdown. meantime the military is threatening to attack the city of homs if there's no surrender. >>> the united states says it wants its missing drone back. the general in the military says they won't return the spy equipment. the remote-controlled aircraft was displayed on iranian state tv and appears to be intact. >>> one of the world's richest men says he plans to challenge premier vladimir putin. the owner of the new jersey nets basketball team has invested in russia's hybrid car. he was pushed out earlier this year after a disagreement with party veterans. >>> canada is pulling out of the kyoto accord, this comes days african da and 193 other nations agreed to a new climate treaty that extends the accord by several years. canada's conservative government criticized the previous liberal government for endorsing kyoto. those are the top stories from cnn, the world's news leader. i'm zain verjee. "world busin

zain, thanks very much. i'll see you a bit later. >>> claiming syrian authorities have moved hundreds of detainees to secret military sites to hide them from outside observers. arab league monitors in the country now. they're there for a second day to see if the government is ending its bloody crackdown. this video allegedly shows syrian forces spraying water canyons at protesters on tuesday. protests and violence have erupted ahead of the arab league visit. mohammed jamjoom is following developments. the monitors are saying they aren't seeing anything frightening in the streets of homs or other parts of syria. of course, this is raising some eyebrows saying there are only ten of you in each hot spot and you are being acompacompanied be syrian government. >> that's right, hala. we were told observers would fan out to other citiy ies and we hd that in hama there were protests and clashes earlier in the day. now, we're being told, in fact, those visits were postponed for logistical reasons and causing more con

zain, what have people been saying about what is happening there now? >> let me give you a sense of what the newspaper headlines are now. let's look at t"the national." credibility tests for arab league in syria mission. it's an opinion piece that says this mission should mark a turning point in the syrian crisis for that to be true, however, the arab league has to show its determination for fair and comprehensive reporting. take a look at "the guardian" hala. syria's story can follow a different script. it's a comment piece that says, "amid the horror. the first glimmer of good news has appeared. the airing leeb are deploying as part of a deal which offers the best and perhaps last chance of a political solution rather than a slide into all out civil war." the "international herald tribune" death toll in syrian city is said to be rising. it describes the scenes in homs and spoke of an intensifying war in some neighborhoods and holed in bathrooms or lower floors for safety were not able to say where most of the fire was coming from. interesting to see i

>>> i'm zain vergee at cnn in london. here are the top stories. u.s. legislators have approved measures stopping u.s. companies from doing business with iran's central bank. they're punishing iran over its nuclear weapons program and for storming the british embassy in tehran. white house officials caution it could backfire because it will push up oil prices and do better to deter iran's nuclear ambitions. >>> aung san suu kyi says she's confident the country is on the road to democracy. she spoke to reporters after holding a second round of talks with hillary clinton. the u.s. secretary of state has called myanmar's reforms a positive step. she warned they need to make more changes before the u.s. will consider restoring diplomatic relations. >>> jipgs wi s -- the militarys of egypt say they won't be ready until does he or sunday. >>> democrats and republicans say an extension of the payroll tax cut will help the economy but can't agree on how to pay for it. the senate shot down proposals brought by both parties forcing more negotiations. those are th

. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com >>> i'm zain verjee at cnn in london.ere are the top stories. as arab league observering prepare to fan out across syria, more disturbing images of violence are being posted on youtube. this video purportedly is from the flash point city at the center of the brutal crackdown by security forces. a member of arab league advance team says damascus has promised complete access to the country. >>> as north korea prepares for the fun ralg of kim jong-il, the country's new leaders consolidate in power as kim jong-un pubically mourned his father, state media referred to him as head of the ruling party. sunday a group of visiting south korean visitors met with the assembly. >>> two swedish journalists have been sentenced to 11 years in prison in ooet yoethiopia. they were found guilty of supporting terrorism. >>> britain's prince philip will leave hospital today. a buckingham palace says the 90-year-old will rejoin the queen and members of the royal family. prince philip spent christmas in hospital following a successful surgery t

aquÍ van a ver como serei vinoed kahn las card zain en dallas texas con los niÑos necesitados.ecesita en esta navidad. no se pierdan como estÁn honrado al chavo en colombia. pijamas alud vic paletta con su novio como antes. llega al estudio el grupo pesado y las imÁgenes del dÍa de hoy. lo van a dejar pasmado. por eso no se la pierda. tÓmbola comienza a girar ya. >>> muchas gracias. mi querida tÓmbola. estamos a solo 2 dÍas de celebrar la navidad y el ambiente huele. que rico, huele a fiesta. huele a comida. >>> y algo mÁs >>> oyeme hueles rico. y huele a ninel conde. >>> te estaba hablando pero bien amigos que lindo estamos por celebrar la navidad. y adivinen quÉ. el bombÓn asesino estarÁ en el estudio. >>> sÍ. >>> y tenemos un show espectacular y en vivo. es mÁs, esperense que tenemos tremenda bomba. . >>> vamos a una bomba y lo vas a soltar asÍ >>> seÑora directora por favor ayudeme a explotar esta tremenda bomba. >>> cuenta, cuenta, cuenta. te cuento, felicitamos a la reina grupera ana bÁrbara, que anoche dio a luz a su pequeÑo gerÓnimo en un hospital de la ciudad de mÉxico

zain verjee has more.u know they're going to go on to make a reckless accusation. what makes him think that the united states is responsible for the illness of latin american leaders, zain. >> hi, hala. hugo chavez is saying that it is very, very, very, very strange as to what's happening. he is saying that five former and present latin american leaders have cancer. himself, he says, he's defeated cancer. argentina's president has just been diagnosed with thyroid cancer and she'll have to go through surgery. paraguay's got lymphoma and the former president is being treated for throat cancer. so, hugo chavez is saying, this cannot be a coincidence. he goes, what if the u.s. has developed a technology to induce cancer and nobody knows about it. and then while he was speaking in front of some kind of military event, he cited these revelations that the u.s. between 1946 and 1948 had carried out human experiments in guatemala where the subjects that they used were exposed to sexually transmitted diseases. he sa

i'm zain verjee. "world business today" starts now. >>> good morning from cnn london. i'm charles hodson. >>> i'm andrew stevens from hong kong. welcome to "world business today." the top story this friday, december 30, the final wbt of the year. >>> penultimate. anyway from austerity measures and anger on the streets to bond yields going from bad to worse, it's been a rough year for the eurozone and there could be more of the same to come. >>> traders have had a turbulent time of it, too, as major stock markets slumped. we'll take alike at the best and worst performance. >>> and it's been a quiet christmas for occupy london protesters, but eviction from their central london camp looms in the new year. >>> and as the year draws to a close, we have seen a modest rally here in asia following those gains on the u.s. overnight and ahead of a higher open in europe, charles. things at least in the final trading day are looking a little better. >> yes, i think we are seeing a certain amount of buying going on here. it doesn't take much to boost these indices. clearly the trad