let's go to london with zain verjee. so zain, why the change of heart?'s not such a good idea. they decided that rather than take legal action and forcibly disband them, maybe what they should do instead is engage the protesters and see what their issues are and find a way maybe, they say, to work together to highlight some of the social issues that they are really frustrated with. this has been going on for a long time now. a very senior cleric at st. paul's cathedral also resigned. it's really caused a firestorm over here. what they want to do is try and come to some resolution. they say they're going to pause and talk just for a few days, not weeks. carol? >> we'll see what happens. >>> this is kind of an odd story. some u.s. soldiers in need of painkilling drugs may be handed lollipops? >> yes. and there's only one flavor, carol. and it is berry. and that's all the flavors they can get. it's actually kind of an interesting development because u.s. marines and soldiers in afghanistan will attempt to have more injected into their muscles if they need a

zain verjee joins us live with more on this. good morning, zain. >> good morning, carol.s more killed in yet more clashes in a brutal crackdown by the syrian government. this comes a day after the king of jordan, king abdullah said that bashar al assad should step down. this is a really big deal, the first arab leader that's come out and said something like this so explicitly. he said this, i would step down and i would make sure whoever comes behind me has the ability to change the status quo that we're seeing. now, that comment was preceded by the arab league taking action. a lot of people thinking this is an organization that's essentially toothless. but they surprised everyone over the weekend by moving to swiftly temporarily kick out syria from the group. at the same time the european union is targeting sanctions on at least 18 lead senior leaders of this country. the question is will he step down? is this going to be the writing on the wall. with more arab leaders jump on the bandwagon here and ask for him to step down. carol? >> what we're thinking is this is how l

thank you, zain verjee.ed occupy protesters plan to disrupt the iowa caucuses on january 3rd. organizers hope to have enough demonstrators on hand to occupy the campaign offices of president obama and all the republican candidates. they say their goal is to get them to start talking about the issues facing the 99%. >>> in tennessee a federal judge has ordered officials to stop arresting occupy protesters. the temporary restraining order blocks a curfew imposed by the governor last week that limited the time protesters could gather at a popular downtown spot in nashville. that order will remain in effect until a hearing in three weeks. >>> a long way from teaching engineering to lead ag nation that's just emerged from eight months of civil war. that's exactly where abdurrahim el-keib who has been' lokt elec prime minister. he represented tripoli in the national transitional council, lived in the united states since 1975. unclear exactly when he returned to libya, a former professor of engineering at the unive

zain verjee in lunden with a look at the internaestional headlines. what are the newspapers saying, zain? >> as greece holds the world by its chest hairs let's look at what they are saying. protesters confined to nice as police seal off fortress cannes. a repeat of the violence of the 2000 violence european union summit in nice. last chance for g-20 to show leadership. it says the g-20 was created in 2009 as the steering committee for the world economy, the latest unforeseen risks risks to a group of bystanders. then finally "china daley." bumpy road still lies ahead. needless to say, what the international community is hoping for is not just a joint statement at the end of the summit, but down to earth collective actions. kyra? >> zain verjee out of london, we'll be talking about the summit throughout the morning. >>> ladies, if you have just a few drinks a week, you know what, you can be at risk for breast cancer. dr. sanjay gupta here to tell us more about this linkage that has been made. what do we know? >> it's interesting. for some time there has

zain verjee is live for us in london. good morning, zain. >> good morning, carol. one of the biggest fears are the rival brigades fighting each other, responsible for the security of the country. the other thing the report says is the former rebels are holding about 7,000 prisoners in different make hit kind of jails all across the country. what the u.n. is saying, there are a lot of reports being heard of torture, the prisoners have no due process because frankly there are no courts or police or a system even functioning in libya. you've got the mercenaries brought over by colonel gadhafi and his family also being held. one other thing they say is a big fear, too, is weapons that are flowing so easily into the country. it says it has some of the biggest surface-to-air missiles, the portable ones being used in libya, and that in order to get control of the weapons, libya needs to create some kind of a future for those fighters. carol? >> let's switch to australia. this is a strange story. a passenger is sitting on a plane and their iphone just catches on fire. >> h

zain verjee following it in london for us. good morning, zain. what is the big complaint workers have? >> they don't want their pensions lowered and the government is saying they have to do that because of cutbacks. they were trying to work out a deal, but it's gone no where and the trade unions here, don, are saying this is the biggest walkout in a generation. let me show you what some of the newspaper headlines are saying. "the independent" has this headline. no time for a winter of discontent. this strike is badly timed. britain's stuttering economy is on the brink of recession and the crisis and the euro zone threatens constantly to spread to the uk. "the guardian" cuts as far as the eye can see. yesterday was the day the government formally admitted its osterty plans had been derailed that series of numbers and policies could not disguise the hum humiliation. "the daily telegraph" it just got even worse. a much longer and harder slog than anyone imagined. quite as bad, in in many respects, as the osterty programs faced in some of the trouble

. >>> i'm zain verjee at cnn london. here are the top stories right now.s ended its aerial mission in libya, and its secretary-general traveled to tripoli to make the announcement himself. he said the alliance's goal was to protect civilians and forces has now been met. >>> the u.s. is withdrawing its pledge for the u.n. agency accepted a palestinian bid for full membershipship. they said the move would harm peace talks. >>> the prime minister has offered. the austerity measures that europe has changed have angered many greeks and it's not clear the voters want to accept the deal. those are the top stories. i'm zain verjee. the interview with jean-claude trichet is next. >>> are you ready for retirement? >> i'm not sure. >> hello and welcome. i'm richard quest. outside, the european central bank. on the day that jean-claude trichet retires as president of the ec bank. over the next half hour we'll look back at president trichet's legacy which can neatly be divided into two periods of time, before the crisis and what happened after it began. saddam hussein

. >>> i'm zain verjee at c nvrnlthsn in london. a valed threat from iran after the report from the international atomic energy agency. last week the he was accused of developing nuclear warheads. iran says it may reassess its policy of cooperation with the agency. >>> two members of a neo nazi terrorist cell were arrested this weekend. two others were found dead in a burned home. prosecuteers say the group claims to have killed eight ethnic turks, one ethnic greek and a police officer between 2000 and 2007. >>> the man tapped to be italy's prime minister is still in talks in developing a new government. monte says people may have to make sacrifices to help get italy out of its economic hole. he plans to stay in artist until 2013. >>> eye way way has until wednesday to play a tax bill. he's been ordered to pay a full amount or they'll refer the case to the police, ai wei wei says it's politically motivated. i'm zain verjee. "world business today" starts right now. >>> good morning from cnn london. i'm charles hodson. >>> good aftern

. >>> i'm zain verjee at cnn in london. here are the top stories. explosions rock the damascus suburbs early thursday. activists report heavy gunfire. meanwhile, arab league foreign ministers have given syria three days to end its crackdown or face sanctions. >>> thousands of angry demonstrators have stormed the parliament building in kuwait. the incident happened after police and security forces roufd up protesters marching outside the prime minister's home. demonstrators are demanding that he step down. >>> fifa's president says he never meant to imply that racism isn't a problem in football. earlier seth blater said players who think they've been abused during a game should shake hands with their opponent and move on. blater released a statement saying he is committed to fighting racism. >>> president obama and australian prime minister gallard discussed troops. he announced a deployment of 2,200 marines to australia. i'm zain verjee. world business today starts now. >>> good morning. from cnn london, i'm nina del santos. >> and from cnn hong kon

. >>> i'm zain verjee at cnn in london. here are the top stories t. leaders of friend vp and germany say greece will not receive imf bailout money if there's any doubt to the rescue plan. they're frustrated with greece's decision to hold a referendum after the agreement was reached. george pap dre' oh insist they have a right. >>> occupy protesters have shut down one of the busiest shipping areas in the west. a general strike on wednesday forced many local businesses to close their doors. >>> u.s. republicanal presidential candidate herman cain is facing more allegations of sexual harassment. the associated press is reporting a third woman has come forward saying cain made sexually suggestive remarks to her back in the 1990s. his campaign says the allegations are baseless. >>> the arab league says syria agreed to end its crackdown on protesters, that's part of a wider initiative which calls for talks with the opposition. the announcement comes as more than two dozen people were reportedly killed in syria on wednesday. those are the top stories from cn

zain verjee is live in london. who burned down the building?m group that was pretty angry and upset with all of this. it's not clear specifically who it is or who they are, but an investigation is going on. basically the french magazine was going to publish a cover with the prophet mohammed showing him bearded and turbined, and the headline was going to be "100 lashes if you're not dieing of laughter." this issue is supposed to be a commentary, satirically making fun of islamic law. one of the executives of this magazine who said the people who did this were just plain dumb, they don't know what the content of the actual magazine is. this comes down to the whole debate that is happening between freedom of expression and journalism versus religious sensitivities and small extremist groups that interpret the whole idea of showing something like an image of prophet mohammed on a magazine cover and being mocked as just not okay. so this is something that we've seen before. let's see what the fallout is of it. it definitely puts that front and cente

zain verjee live in london with more. good morning, zain. >> good morning, carol.ritish prime minister says that that attack was outrageous and indefensible. the uk is also warning of further serious consequences to the attack. it's not clear exactly what they would be. but the one instant move that the british have already taken, carol, is to pull some of its embassy staff already out of tehran. britain has cut financial ties to iran, the first time it's completely severed ties. anything transactional with any bank, any kind of deal is nonexistent between uk and iran. iran lashed back on sunday. its parliament voted to expel the uk ambassador to iran. so they're both upping the ante on either side. but the iranians, carol, are saying they regret what happened. carol? >>> on another topic, let's talk about the uk hacking investigation. are you going to tell me about the voice of the -- what was her nickname? she had the voice of an angel. >> the voice of an angel. i think that's me. but i'm not quite sure. who you mean. >> besides you. >> the important thing here i

zain verjee joins us live from london. zain, this is an extremely fluid and possibly dangerous situation. what are you hearing? >> we are hearing that the iranian press tv is saying that the police and security forces on the ground have the situation under control right now. what happened was just a short while ago, about 1,000 demonstrators, mostly students gathered outside the british embassy in tehran and a demonstration that was mostly peaceful to begin with and then turned violent. they broke down the door and started throwing stones at the embassy and went inside and started throwing all documentation and all paper around and, also, got rid of the british flag and planted the iranian flag. why is this happening? well, first of all, on sunday the iranian parliament decided to expel the british ambassador and they also wanted to downgrade diplomatic relations between iran and the united kingdom. the reason for that, ted, they're mad because the british government basically slapped new sanctions on iran and cut off all f

zain verjee is following this for us. hi, zain. >> hi, kyra. this is a really big deal.e is the first arab leader to come out and call for that explicitly, the stepping down of another arab leader. king abdullah of jordan spoke to bbc world. he said this, "i believe if i were in his shoes, i would step down. i would step down and make sure whoever comes behind me has the ability to change the status quo that we're seeing." jordan has been pretty critical of this crackdown in syria on protesters of king abdullah in the past has said assad to create a whole new era of syrian political life. a couple other countries, too, that have protested. saudi arabia and qatar, kyra. they withdrew a while ago because of the crackdown. this is a huge deal, you have an arab ruler saying this. one thing if the u.s. says it and a total other thing if an arab leader says step out, get down. a couple things the arab league which is seen as a toothless organization in the nation, they surprised everyone by kicking syria out, temporarily, of that group. the european union is also putting more

zain verjee joining us from london. zain, what are the headlines saying about it? >> youth unemployment is grabbing the headlines today just ahead of the g-20 summit. let's take a look at the herald in south africa, jobless youth are a ticking time bomb. the greek crisis, the american governments, bailout of banks and the onset of a double dip recession all points to a crisis in capitalism and a need for a global rethink on how business is done. let's take a look at the south china morning post. act now on the global jobs crisis or risk a lost decade. as a guest editorial written by the labor organization and it says with the slowdown in the global economy, we're on the edge of global jobs recession that could last a whole decade. and if we ignore the widespread aspiration for a fair chance at a decent job, the social and political consequences could be catastrophic. and then a guest editorial by the international herald tribune. this headline, the clock is ticking. it says together women and young people make up more than two-thirds of the global population in eve

. >> zain verjee with me now. zain, that was clearly impressive. i've always been impressed with people who can just easily and fluently go back and forth between languages like that. you have to give the man credit. >> you sure do. good day, mate. t.j., how are you? let's actually take a look at what some of the newspapers around the world are saying about president obama's visit. they're really focusing on the military deal that the u.s. has made with australia and they're taking the china angle here. the australian 2,500 u.s. marines on australian soil to increase defense ties is the headline. it says the agreement is set against the background of growing chinese military spending and the dramatic expansion of the chinese navy. and then the daily telegraph here in the uk, barack obama to deploy 2,500 marines in australia. as he says, we do not fear china. it says, mr. obama insisted the deployment was not targeted at countering beijing's rise, but he pointedly called on china to play by the rules of the road. t.j., the message the u.s. is sendin

zain verjee here with all the details. guess sort of a mission to mars. >> sort of a mission to 35 million miles away, but they were just, you know, a few yards from mission control in moscow. kyra, what would you do for 520 days in a tiny little module? what would you do? >> you know, i just had twins, i have already done that. it was a family room. >> all right, these guys spent all this time in isolation because there was the study that was being done and the question is, can people survive in that short of physical space, physically and psychologically and go all the way to mars. they really just wanted to simulate a journey to mars because you know what happened a few years ago is that a crew spent 420 days and they got really drunk, couple of them ended up fighting each other and then someone tried to kiss the female crew member. that ended in total disaster. but it looks like from europe, russia and china ended up quite successfully and right now they're in quarantine they met with their family and what analysts are

zain verjee is following that for us out of london. zain, what do you know? >> i've been looking at newspapers around the world. the guardian here in the uk has a comment piece and its headline sa says losing friends. syria's expulsion from the arab league tomorrow marks a change for an organization whose more traditional posture is astride a fence. the move is largely symbolic, but symbolism matters. this is an analysis piece that says, all signs are pointing to the end of the line for the syrian regime of bashar al assad. the overwhelming majority of arab states now openly oppose the syrian leader, and even iran, is now edging its bet. on syria, rare arab west reproachment. revise to the full extent. consistent in supporting the uprising and calling upon president bashar al assad to step down. rare to be on the same page here, kyra. and a big deal have monarchs calling for one of their own to step down. king abdullah of jordan has done it and let's see who may do it next, kyra. >> we'll follow it with you, thanks. >>> congresswoman gabrielle giffords in her

." >>> let's check in with zain verjee. >> hi there, kyra.ner that was really applauded when it finally took off? it had a landing gear glitch and its landing was not that dreamy. i'll tell you exactly what happened in just a few minutes, kyra. >> and i'm jason carroll at penn state where two university officials have resigned facing perjury charges. another former coach out on $100,000 bail facing allegations of sexually abusing young boys. details of the sexual abuse scandal rocking penn state coming up. >>> and i'm christine romans in new york. you thought greece was the word. how about italy? italy is the story everyone is talking about today. pressure to step down as the mounting debt and deficits of that country become the european problem. we'll have that story at the top of the hour. >> all right. thanks so much. also next hour, people in oklahoma still shaken up after a couple strong earthquakes over the weekend. we'll find out what's going on from our rob marciano. d back do. down the hill? man: all right. we were actually thinking,

zain verjee joins us now with details and other world headlines. zain? >> hi, fred, good morning. let's take you through some of the newspaper headlines around the world. all of these are comment or opinion pieces, okay. this is what "gulf news" headline is. al assad has run out of options. it goes on to say, what is regrettable and surprising is the syrian president not cooperating with the arab league. what lies ahead is difficult to ascertain at the moment. then, look at the "jerusalem post." syria on the brink. the latest threat to the assad regime is multi-facetted which is precisely why it should be taken seriously. what should be cleared, though, is that a chaotic violent transition of power would not be in syria's interest or israel's. finally, "wall street journal" it says syria game change. this is the europe edition. it says it may not be this or next week, but bashar apssad is heading for a fall of syria. the puzzle for the syrians other arab states and not least the u.s. is how to get the butcher out of damascus quickly and with as little bloodshed as possible. in spi

zain verjee, it's interesting. you know, how we're covering this, the european media is also covering the greek crisis and you've been monitoring that. what's your take? >> well, let's take a look straight away at some of the headlines and what they're saying today. as this crisis unfolds in greece. we're waiting with bated breath to see what exactly happens and whether or not the government will collapse. the international herald tribune has this headline, no continent is an island. it's actually a guest editorial from gordon brown, the former british prime minister who said no one should be lull under to a false sense of complacency. the euro summit called to bring a lasting solution to a three-year crisis may have brought a little more than a short breathing space. the "daily telegraph" in the uk. the euro tragedy is meeting its bloody end. it's an opinion piece that says we had the mellow drama, the comic flourishes and the lunetic interludes but there's still no telling how it's all going to end. the australia

zain verjee, thanks as always. let's head to the weather center and rob marciano. you buy someone's tooth? >> i'm kind of an obsessive person but i don't have any money. so i can't buy anything like that. that's a nasty looking piece of enamel. to each his own. at least a dentist can appreciate it more. want to talk about radar. this is what's going on as far as severe weather right now across parts of the midwest, the western great lakes. general rain for the most part from peoria to st. louis. it will become heavier. snows from minneapolis to northern wisconsin. severe thunderstorm watch in effect for the next few minutes across part of west texas. either way, dallas is about to get hit hard with heavy duty thunderstorms the next couple of hours. delays in dallas and chicago because of the storms. st. louis and kansas city and houston later on. there's your highlighted area for severe thunderstorms. one intense tornado dropped down in tipton, oklahoma, yesterday. luckily, no injuries. the potential for seeing tornadoes across the red shaded area today. relatively

let's head round the world and bring in zain verjee live in london. the situation in syria, zain. >> good morning, carol. >>> the focus is on the situation where the arab league has told syria we're going to give you three more days. stop and end this brutal crack down. otherwise, there will be consequences. they want to kick syria out temporarily from the arab league. and what they're saying is they want to put something like 500 observers from that organization on the ground in syria to determine exactly what is going on. we keep getting pictures like this, but it's very difficult for cnn and other news organizations to verify the reports that we're getting because syria has not allowed western and international news organizations, or arab television chanchannels, for th matter, on the ground. the other situation is today there were explosions in the capital of damascus reportedly followed by gunfire. we're trying to figure out exactly what's going on. definitely, there's a lot more pressure on syria right now. the question is what will bashar al as

. >>> i'm zain verjee at cnn in london. here are the headlines. george papandreou meets leaders today. greece's cabinet supports the referendum, but other politicians oppose it. they face a confidence vote friday. >>> officials say drownings and ee electr electrocutions are mostly to blame for deaths. health officials say malaria could compound the disaster in the coming weeks. the floods are also taking a financial toll. finance ministry estimates the waters have caused $6 billion in damage. >>> two pakistani cricketers have been found guilty of conspiracy to accept corrupt payments and conspiracy to cheat. the two players threw parts of last year's test match between england and pakistan. sentencing is wednesday. both players could spend up to seven years in prison. >>> there may be new trouble at japan's crippled nuclear plant. tepco says it found signs that it may have started in a nuclear reactor. they're trying to prevent any reactions. >>> those are the headlines from cnn, the world's news leader. "world business today" starts now. >>> the

zain verjee joining us from london. zain, could berlusconi actually lose his job? >> he may. we're on to see what exactly happens with that vote. it will happen in about half an hour and it really will be very important for the entire world to see what the outcome of that vote is. let's look at the headlines and see what they're saying. the international herald tribune appears to be getting closer for berlusconi and the european debt crisis threatened a second european government on monday but mr. berlusconi is unlikely to go down without a fight. then the scotsman, which knive comes out for berlusconi as italy creeps closer to abyss. increasingly, mr. berlusconi is being seen as the problem, but he has remained defiant insisting he still commands enough support in parliament. finally "wall treat journal" in europe how berlusconi survived this long. that's pretty harsh. it says forget his taste for young lovers, mr. berlusconi's true sin is his lack of resolve. a supposed macho in bed, he is a coward in governing. mr. berlusconi has always readily abandoned the field whenever