zain vergee is standing by in london. it will be a big day in london. expecting to see big strikes. good morning, zain. >> good morning, ali. everyone is bracing themselves. it is supposed to be some of the biggest strike action that we're going to see since the 1920s, hundreds of thousands of people are going to demonstrate and get out on the streets. we're going to have things like airport delays, schools have been shut down. courts are not operating. teachers are on strike and nurses as well. they're basically mad, ali, because the government wants to cut their pensions. it's making front-page news all over the country. this is "the independent." what people are saying, why should they have to deal with it and the politicians aren't getting any cuts to their pensions, too? so they're pretty mad about this. ever since this government has come to power, ali, it has been cut, cut, cut. they want to reduce the deficit and this is part of that. people really upset today. >> all right. and switching over to the other side of the atlantic, will and kate, the

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

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

let's check in with zain vergee. >>> hi, carol.o tell you what the up in headlines around the world are saying today about syria and about that brutal killing of the 13-year-old boy, ham hamza. >> i'm elizabeth coeen in atlanta. the world health organization has a new verdict about cell phones and cancer. why doing this may not be the best idea. i'll tell you why at the top of the hour. >>> i'm brianna keilar at the white house where president obama is set to meet with almost all of the republicans in the house of representatives, a rare meeting and this comes one day after the house failed to pass an increase of the debt ceiling. i'll have that at the top of the hour. >> plus, we'll talk to one of the iowa businessmen who flew to new jersey's capital and asked him why he wants governor chris christie to run for president. christie says he's not going to do it. was the trip worth it? we'll find out in the next hour. [ kimberly ] when i was 19, i found myself alone with two children and no way to support them. people told me i wasn'

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

. >>> i had, this is "world one," live from london, i'm zain vergee. after the killing of osama bin laden, al qaeda announces a new leader. egyptian-born ayman al zawahiri served as bin laden's deputy for more than a decade. the statement posted on a number of jihadi websites say there won't be any change in al qaeda's policy and it will continue to support the taliban in afghanistan. >>> the man described as the spiritual leader of the jihadest slup has been sentenced to 15 years in jail in indonesia. it was ba'asyir's third trial on terror-related charges. hundreds of supporters were outside the courthouse listening to the verdict. he denies all charges. >>> greece's prime minister will be reshuffling his cabinet to try and deal with the country's debt crisis. the main opposition wants the prime minister, george papandreou to get out, quit. that follows a day of violent protests in athens. look at the streets of athens yesterday and what was going on. about 25,000 demonstrators took to the streets of the capital. >>> there have also been violent clas

. >>> i'm zain vergee at cnn in london. here are the headlines this hour. u.s. president barack obama says america's military goals in afghanistan have been met and that it's time to focus on problems at home. he's given a speech outlining a plan to begin sending u.s. troops home, all 33,000 surge troops will leave by september 2012. >>> in a televised address, moammar gadhafi called nato attacks on his country barbaric and urged the u.n. security council to investigate an air strike that reportedly killed 15 people, including civilians. nato says the target of that attack was a military command and control center. >>> an outspoken artist jailed for tax evasion in china is out of prison. way -- ai weiwei was released. >>> a dutch lawmaker has been acquitted of hate speech verdict. he was on trial for inciting racial hatred against muslims. >>> those are the headlines. "world business today" starts now. >>> good morning, from cnn london and welcome to the show, i'm nina dos santos. >> and a very good afternoon from cnn hong kong. i'm andrew stevens. you're watchi