a complex near harasta. explosions could be heard. syrian activists say more than 9 # people have been killed in protests over the past two days. cnn cannot confirm these reports. hamid karzai has summoned 2,000 leaders and elders to kabul for a meeting. the grand council session will discuss the country's future peace plans and its relations with the united states. mr. karzai will also announce the next areas where afghan troops will take control from nato forces. italy could begin to see its new government take shape in just a few hours when the prime minister-designate mario monti is expected to lay out his cabinet choices. his first order of business, working to cut italy's massive debt. those are the top stories. i'm monita rajpal. "world business today" starts right now. good morning from cnn london, i'm nien that dos santos. >> good afternoon from cnn hong kong. welcome. these are our top stories wednesday, november the 16th. and caution remains the watch word among investors as the euro crisis shows no signs of letting up. that crisis is being keenly felt among spain's poorest. we'll meet the people who have moved into a bank building. and a year after free market reforms in cuba, we check on the entrepreneurs changing the country's cultural landscape. let's take a look at what might move the european stock markets for much of today's session. this man, the greek prime minister lucas papademos will be facing a vote of confidence later today. he had initial support from the parliament and also the greek people, but still, the challenge of passing those austerity measures, the unpopular ones, remains. his key priority will try to secure that 8 billion euro that greece so badly needs to meet its debt repayments. now, it's also d-day for mario monti, the prime minister-designate. he spent two days rallying support in parliament for this. monti faces the task of reining in italy's massive debt pile, $2.6 trillion and counting, equal to no less than 120% of gdp. italian bond yields jumped about 7% on tuesday, or to about 7% following a lackluster reading on third quarter growth for the entire euro zone. this is where the ten-year bond stands at the moment, shy of 7%, still 6.77%. and it has twice passed that crucial 7% level which many an economist says is too expensive and too sustainable. let's look at how the european stock markets are faring about an hour or so into the trading session. broadly speaking, a positive day. some cautious optimism. we've got the cac 40 and the dax moving up nearly 1%, but not quite there for the moment, andrew. >> yeah. positive optimism here is pretty hard to find, nina. president obama says they need to come up with a concrete plan and show they can deal with the crisis. this is the tone. you can see a pretty miserable day in asia as investors react to the ongoing uncertainty. financial stocks weighed down by troubles on the bond markets you're talking about. the nikkei, one of the better performers, as you can see, down almost 1%. hong kong down. that's after the imf warned hong kong was at the risk of recession. we saw some pretty weak numbers just last week. the obvious link here is what's going on in europe, obviously going to be hurting hong kong. hong kong such a big open trading center. so if trade weakens in europe, it certainly hurts hong kong. shanghai, down nearly 2.5%. and the same in australia. commodities bringing the isx 200 down by almost 1%. i want to talk about one stock we've been keeping a close eye on over the last few weeks, olympus. it was one of the biggest movers this wednesday, up by almost 16% today. it's been rising all week as worries lessen about it possibly being delisted from the nikkei 225. now, olympus had lost something like 80% of its value since the accounting scandal first erupted back in mid-october. today's rise in the share price, that came despite the fraud office in britain launching a separate investigate into the firm. that investigation joins the fbi of the u.s. and japan's financial services agency. they're all looking into this scandal. but it's only deepened since olympus said that three of its executives have concealed losses from investors. investigators from all three regions will focus on payments to a u.s. brokerage firm and its kaman islands affiliate. a report says they received $687 million, more than one-third of the value at that deal. both of those companies closing just a short while after. now, what we've heard from olympus is that they say those companies were covering trading losses. certainly the can of worms in olympus, you see a little pop but it's still got a long way to go before it regains anything like investor trust. >> over on wall street, u.s. stocks finished yesterday with some pretty substantial gains. they opened lower on the back of concerns about rising bond deals in europe. but sharply turned positive following some strong economic data coming out of the united states, in particularly, when it comes to retail sales, they rose for october. that was slightly above analysts' and economists' forecasts. manufacturing in new york city posted its first positive reading after five straight months of declines. here's how the numbers looked at the close. the dow gaining a little more than 0.1%. the nasdaq finishing up a little more than 1%. we're watching to see if u.s. markets can hold on to that kind of momentum right throughout the course of this week. right now this is how the u.s. futures look. they look set for a broadly speaking lower open when trading begins later on wednesday. as you can see, we've got the likes of the nasdaq composite falling about 0.2% in terms of futures but the dow down the most, not quite 0.4%. u.s. president barack obama touched down in australia for a two-day set of talks and tours with the prime minister, julia gillard. mr. obama has announced a new joint mill temporaitary. cnn's brianna keilar is following mr. obama's travels. >> reporter: president obama is polishing up his g'day, mate. i think by the end of the trip he'll have it worked out. but the president and prime minister julia gillard detailing a more permanent u.s. military presence here in australia. while the president's visit to the apec summit in hawaii had much more to do with the u.s. economic profile in the asia-pacific region and certainly australia is an important trading partner. the u.s. actually maintaining a trading surplus with australia. the president's visit here has much more to do with increasing the u.s. military presence in the region. and that is really attached to this new announcement by prime minister gillard and president obama. >> we've agreed joint initiatives to enhance our alliance. 60 years old and being kept robust for tomorrow. it is a new agreement to expand the existing collaboration between the australian defense force and the u.s. marine corps and the u.s. air force. >> our u.s. marines will begin rotating through darwin for joint training and exercises. our air force will rotate additional aircraft through more airfields in northern australia. these rotations, which are going to be taking place on australian bases, will bring our militaries even closer and make them even more effective. >> reporter: how much of this has to do with china being a rising power both economically and militarily and the u.s. trying to provide a counterweight to that? president obama sidestepped that question a little bit. he and the prime minister emphasizing more of the ability that this new announcement will allow for them to provide humanitarian assistance in the region like was needed after the earthquake in japan and after the tsunami in indonesia. but white house officials have talked about providing greater geographic balance in the region. and so this military emphasis certainly ties in very much to commerce because you've seen china recently launch its first aircraft carrier and making some claims to the south china sea territorial claims to the south china sea which sees a lot of commerce. so the idea here that the u.s., with its economic interests in the asia-pacific regions, wanting to make sure that it can enforce its and its allies' interests. brianna keilar, cnn, cambra. inch just ahead here on "world business today," a titanic tax bill. the man who's been told to pay it says is a titanic injustice. we'll be bringing you the latest from beijing in just a moment. 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[ john ] i'm grill master john mazany. i'm grill master adrianna hollis. and we sea food differently. luck? i don't trade on luck. i trade on fundamentals. analysis. information. i trade on tradearchitect. this is web-based trading, re-visualized. streaming, real-time quotes. earnings analysis. probability analysis: that's what opportunity looks like. it's all visual. intuitive. and it's available free, wherever the web is. this is how trade strategies are built. tradearchitect. only from td ameritrade. welcome to better trade commission free for 60 days when you open an account. okay... uhh. the bad news, it's probably totaled. the good news is, you don't have to pay your deductible. with vanishing deductible from nationwide insurance, you got $100 off for every year of safe driving, so now your deductible is zero. the other good news ? i held on to your coffee. wow. ♪ nationwide is on your side ( laughing ) it's actually a pretty good day when you consider. that's great. welcome back. the chinese dissident and artist ai weiwei has paid part of his tax bill. he paid about $1.3 million, roughly half the amount of chinese government says he owes. now, the artist who was detained at least three months earlier this year says the tax bill is politically motivated, and he's appealing against it. let's go live to bay ying. where does ai weiwei go from here? >> reporter: well, andrew, he said to us this morning that he went down to the tax bureau, and he was able to finalize all of the paperwork for that guarantee. he said at this point over the next 60 days, he needs to list the reasons why authorities should review the case as well as potentially overturn the charges. now, this man was slapped with a $2.4 million tax bill. he was also charged with economic crimes. and this was after an 81-day detention. ai weiwei is the highest profile activist to be detained in a wider crackdown, and he said he is going to fight these charges tooth and nail even though he told cnn that he doesn't really expect to win an appeal. >> i don't think i have much chance. the chinese judicial system under the tax bureau is working for the police department. they're the same people. you know, there's no real i independence here in china affected by this kind of political intention. you know, we don't have much hope. our only hope is to ends the riots and to show the public what's going on and to make awareness and reach the public and to morally win. >> reporter: ai weiwei told us this process hasn't been just from the very beginning, though he did say he was very touched by the ground swell of support he's been enjoying by citizens here. about 30,000 people have already either wired or sent money to him by donation. about $1.4 million worth of donations either by bank transfer over the internet, or they've even just been going over to his studio and chucking money over the wall. he said he's very much touched like this. right now it looks as though the government isn't as moved as much as the people have been. andrew? >> absolutely. i mean, your story illustrated that graphically, the response he was getting last week of people coming up to his compound and applauding him in the end, his mother there as well. he has been outspoken about what's going on. we haven't heard much from the government. are they saying anything? >> reporter: i mean, right now the government has been maintaining their stance which has been that he is suspected of economic crimes. what's interesting is that there was an editorial in this communist paper "the global times." and the editorial had really pointed out that weiwei might have received $30,000 people but that $30,000 in a country of 1.3 billion people isn't very many. the point of this article was that weiwei doesn't enjoy as much domestic support as a lot of foreign media tend to say. that was the point of this commentary. and they also said that weiweis come and go but that china continues to rise. in fact, they said that the true trend in china is the illumination of weiweis. andrew? >> interesting. authorities hoping he'll be going rather than coming. thank you for that update. eunice yoon joining us live from beijing. hear more from weiwei himself. he spoke with kristi lu stout on a mobile phone from a public park in beijing. ai says that he was being monitored during that conversation. so how does the artist fear being detained again? does he fear that? tune into news stream at 9:00 p.m. here in hong kong for the full interview. nina. andrew, austerity measures are forcing spain to take shelter in strange places. meet the squatters who call an unfinished bank-owned building home next. everything comes together. where there's magic. and you now understand what nature's been hiding. ♪ at dow we understand the difference between innovation and invention. invention is important. it's the beginning. it's the spark. but innovation is where we actually create value for dow, for society, and for the world. ♪ at dow, we're constantly searching for how to use our fundamental knowledge of chemistry to solve these difficult problems. science is definitive. there is a right answer out there. 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[ male announcer ] listerine® total care. the most complete mouthwash. who need imagine... one scooter or power chair that could improve your mobility and your life. one medicare benefit that, with private insurance, may entitle you to pay little to nothing to own it. one company that can make it all happen ... your power chair will be paid in full. the scooter store. hi i'm doug harrison. we're experts at getting you the power chair or scooter you need. i didn't pay a penny out of pocket for my power chair. with help from the scooter store, medicare and my insurance covered it all. call the scooter store for free information today. a good look at what's been going on in the currency markets this day. the euro, 1.35 against the dollar. up just a fraction today. the pound trading at 1.57. the yen at just under 77 yen to the u.s. dollar. welcome back. you're watching "world business today" live from london. and here in hong kong. now, we may know details about italy's newly forming government within just the next few coming hours, the prime minister-designate, mario monti, has wrapped up talks with political leaders and said he'll present his proposed cabinet to the president later today. once the president formally accepts his nomination, monti must turn to whittling down italy's $2.5 trillion worth of debt. the borrowing costs jumped in tuesday's session with rates on the bond crossing the dangerous mark for a second time. greek lawmakers are expected to overwhelmingly support their new government in a confidence vote later today. the prime minister, lucas papademos, have a tough mandate over the next three months to come. the prime minister will be required to push through unpopular measures to secure badly needed eu bailout money. the economy also dominates the political debate in spain. people fear more cuts will follow the elections on sunday. dan rivers shows us a building in barcelona where people are angry and also desperate. >> reporter: an unremarkable apartment bloc in barcelona. but behind the turning autumn leaves, evidence this isn't just another vacant relic in spain's property bust. this is now an austerity squat, taken over by a group of radical protesters, the indignant ones, determined to fight government cuts. inside a soup kitchen for hard-up families. food donated by local businesses who call this building 15-o, liberated for the needy on the 15th of october. as the election approaches, they're angry and clear about who they blame for spain's problems. this activist says they picked this building because it belonged to a bank. and since the working class saved the banks with their own money and the banks haven't given them anything in exchange, he says it's a legitimate target. this is one of the residents. he shows me his new home. his family is one of 11 occupying these half-finished apartments. inside it looks comfortable, but there's no heating, and the nights are getting colder. he's a former waiter who hasn't worked for three years. not unusual in a city where unemployment is running at 20%. now his government handouts have been cut completely. he says this accommodation keeps his family off the streets. spain's center-right people's party wins, he fears austerity will accelerate. he says the situation is very bad and it's about to get worse. the politicians will have to implement more cuts. but here the people will not stop and watch. we're going to fight, he says. 14-year-old maria is ashamed to appear on tv. none of her school friends know she lives in a squat. >> translator: i'm worried i'm not going to have luck. how many i going to look after myself? there are no jobs. there's nothing left. >> reporter: this from a 14-year-old. it speaks volumes of the despair per v pervad even the children in this building. behind each door in this building is a family which has run out of options. they've already had their lives turned upside down by austerity. the prospect of more cuts is simply too much to bear. ♪ in the stairwell, gabrielle perez sings a gypsy lament. he, too, is out of luck. evicted from his last house, his job running a market store brings in half what it used to. spain's battle to control its deficit is being felt painfully by the squatters and the indignatos. dan rivers, barcelona, spain. >> the 15 to 24-year-old age unemployment is already running at around about 50%. let's turn our attention now to a story that we've been covering for several weeks now. the flooding in thailand. floodwaters there are slowly receding from at least some parts in the country, but they continue to have a damaging impact on the tight economy. let's go to jen delgado who's been looking at this one for us. jen, these floods is like a slow-motion crisis in thailand even when they're retreating, there are still major problems. >> oh, absolutely, because all of that water so backed up towards the north. and the canals and the drainage system so poor in parts of thailand. this is going to be a slow-moving story. we're going to be talking about this through next year. and this is really having an effect on the economy of thailand, especially in bangkok. and you have to keep in mind, they're estimating sheer losses to be double what they estimated the $5 billion. and we're also talking about the small, the medium-sized businesses. many of them ones that aren't insured. and keep in mind, only 1% of residents have flood insurance across parts of thailand. so this is, of course, devastating. it has been deadly, but it's really crippling the economy for thailand. as i step out of the way for you, this image coming to you out of nasa. and it's showing you anywhere in blue. this is reflecting the water. and anywhere in green, this is vegetation. we're starting to see some improvement. the water is receding in some areas far up towards the north. of course, all of that water has to flow down towards the bay. but the problem is areas just to the north and west of bangkok, it's moving rather slowly. rather stagnant in many areas. it's also affecting the airport and areas just to the west of that. potentially we won't see the water receding there probably until january. as we said, we're going to be talking about this for weeks ahead. areas over towards the east, we've seen just a bit more improvement. again, that image just coming to you from november the 14th. as i show you on the satellite right now, things are fairly quiet. and weather is not going to be a factor. we're talking about dry conditions as we go through today as well as thursday as well as into friday. so, again, we'll be following the story. and another story coming out of africa, the democratic republic of congo. let's go to the video to show you all of this ash that's being blown. i should say, sorry, lava that's being blown into the sky. this is happening at the virunga national park. the most active volcano erupting since november the 6th. it's not a threat apparently to anybody nearby. but we'll be watching that. andrew, nina, if you get rainwater in there as it looks like through the next couple of days, that could cause some problems for residents and nearby the region. >> absolutely. and not to mention the wildlife, too. i think it's known for its gorilla population as well. >> absolutely. >> jen, thanks very much for that. coming up on "world business today," while europe struggles to retain its financial footing, many companies are looking east. the health care giant bayer is among them. it's just released strong growth forecasts for asia. we'll be hearing from their ceo in just a second. ( phone ringing ) okay... uhh. the bad news, it's probably totaled. the good news is, you don't have to pay your deductible. with vanishing deductible from nationwide insurance, you got $100 off for every year of safe driving, so now your deductible is zero. the other good news ? i held on to your coffee. wow. ♪ nationwide is on your side ( laughing ) it's actually a pretty good day when you consider. that's great. that's how the asian trading day finished this wednesday. you can see there, red arrows pretty much across the board. the neck kikkei, down nearly 1% shanghai down about 2%. india still trading. financial stocks among the big losers still following the bond yields in europe. they have come off that 7% level in italy but still around 6.7%. a lot of rumors about buying of bonds by the ecb, nina. >> yeah. and let's have a look at the european stock markets. slightly better performance. they're snapping a two-day losing streak. some of the things to keep in mind today on the agenda is a greek vote of confidence for the new government there. we'll also get details about the new technocratic government in italy. we have the european commission saying that this crisis is systemic. welcome back. you're watching "world business today" live from cnn london and hong kong. certainly patter of bad news coming out of europe means weak economic growth. and that sluggish growth also in the u.s. means that companies around the world are looking for new sales outlets. many are already getting a growing share of their revenues from asia. here's what two ceos say about their eastward expansion. >> everything is for the long term. that's why these big flagship stores are opening up. we're growing in selling space in london alone. we just opened a beautiful paris flagship last week. taipei, hong kong. when you're playing long term and you're playing the global luxury brand game, it's very different. >> we are increasing our investment in china. we are seeing a large demand for chinese companies to become global companies and grow internationally, and obviously s.a.p. is the preferred choice. we want to capture this opportunity with the increased investment in china. >> now, another global brand making a greater push into asia is bayer. the company specializes in making health care and agricultural products. it employs more than 100,000 people worldwide. now, bayer's forecast sales in asia will reach nearly $15 billion by 2015. that's a big jump considering that's an increase of about 60% on last year's level. earlier i spoke to the ceo to find out whether bayer's expansion into this region is meant to compensate for the weakness in other parts of the world like the u.s. and europe. >> so much of compensating for weakness, but, of course, as a large global company, you have to invest where you think you can get the most optimum growth. and that's what we've done in the last ten years. bayer has invested $3.5 billion just in capital equipment, capital investment in asia. and as you said today, we announced that we are planning to get 60% growth in asia over the next five years from around 7 billion euro to 11 billion euro sales, and we're very confident we will achieve that. >> how long do you think europe and north america will experience subpar economic growth? how long is it going to take to unwind this economic crisis there? >> well, i believe that part of the problem is, of course, a slowdown in some economic activity, but it is also influenced by strong political uncertain uncertainty. and i think both in europe with respect to the euro and in the u.s. with respect to political uncertainty over the next year, when we can get that behind us and focus again on real economic development, the situation is much better than what sometimes we here in the news agencies, political uncertainty heavily weighs right now on the economic environment in the western world. >> how does the intellectual property rights issued concern you as bayer expands into asia? is this kind of a concern for you, protecting yur oour own ip? >> it's very important for an innovation company like bayer to protect intellectual property, but we are very confident that the chinese government is well aware of some of the challenges in the past there and is actively managing this. and therefore we are confident to expand in china and really introduce our newest process technology in our chemical plants here as well. >> that's the ceo of bayer. interesting, nina, he sounds like he's quite comfortable about the ipr problems that they could face. certainly ipr remains a big, big issue between china and the u.s., for example. he's hoping for some better luck there. >> then again, china is one of the world's largest markets for products like the ones that bayer creates. now, it's 12 months since the president, raul castro, started to introduce free market reforms in cuba, and business is booming. for many of the country's new entrepreneurs. when we come back, we'll be meeting shopkeepers changing the urban landscape in cuba. let me tell you about a very important phone call i made. when i got my medicare card, i realized i needed an aarp... medicare supplement insurance card, too. medicare is one of the great things about turning 65, but it doesn't cover everything. in fact, it only pays up to 80% of your part b expenses. if you're already on or eligible for medicare, call now to find out how an aarp... medicare supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company, helps cover some of the medical expenses... not paid by medicare part b. that can save you from paying up to thousands of dollars... out of your own pocket. these are the only medicare supplement insurance plans... exclusively endorsed by aarp. when you call now, you'll get this free information kit... with all you need to enroll. put their trust in aarp medicare supplement insurance. plus you'll get this free guide to understanding medicare. the prices are competitive. i can keep my own doctor. and i don't need a referral to see a specialist. call now to get a free information kit. plus you'll get this free guide to understanding medicare. and the advantages don't end there. choose from a range of medicare supplement plans... that are all competitively priced. we have a plan for almost everyone, so you can find one that fits your needs and budget. with all medicare supplement plans, there are virtually no claim forms to fill out. plus you can keep your own doctor and hospital that accepts medicare. and best of all, these plans are... the only medicare supplement plans endorsed by aarp. when they told me these plans were endorsed by aarp... i had only one thing to say... sign me up. call the number on your screen now... and find out about an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan. you'll get this free information kit... and guide to understanding medicare, to help you choose the plan that's right for you. as with all medicare supplement plans, you can keep your own doctor and hospital that accepts medicare, get help paying for what medicare doesn't... and save up to thousands of dollars. call this toll-free number now. real, objective investing help? that's a little harder to find. but here's what i know -- td ameritrade doesn't manage mutual funds... or underwrite stocks and bonds. or even publish their own research. so, guidance from td ameritrade isn't about their priorities. it's about mine. straightforward guidance. that's what makes td ameritrade different. ♪ [ male announcer ] trade commission-free for 60 days. plus get up to $600 when you open an account. a bit of a hazy day here in hong kong. welcome back. you're watching "world business today." businesses have been popping up across havana over the course of the last 12 months as some cubans try their hand as small business owners. this comes after free market reforms put in place by president raul castro. we get a look. >> reporter: it's the chaotic sound of commerce. we have herbs, roots, branches, this man shouts. remember, ours is the same but cheaper. something not heard in cuba for decades. here in havana, shoppers can find everything they need for a spiritual cleansing or to ward off an evil eye. "i can use this in the bath to protect me against the shadows," says a client buying bunches of basil. dozens of shops catering to the religion have opened here since last november. that's when president raul castro announced reforms to allow more private enterprise. there are plenty of rules and restrictions, but more than 300,000 cubans have now bought licenses to operate small businesses. most of them entrepreneurs often selling sandwiches or snacks. these businesses are actually changing the urban landscape. cubans are using their living rooms, their driveways, even front stoops. right here, in fact, we have bun man fixing watches, and right next door people are selling arts and crafts. everything from little wooden cars and dolls to statues. castro has slowly adopted a number of free market reforms. handing idle land to private farmers and most recently allowing cubans to buy and sell their homes. the measures have injected a bit of capitalism in the heavily state-run economy. the newly self-employed pay taxes. they also provide jobs at a time when the government has begun massive layoffs. "this has been a big opportunity for a lot of cubans who didn't have work," says the owner of a snack stand. the mango milk shake gets a thumbs up. clients like the variety and the prices. but it's not at all clear how much prosperity these limited reforms can bring for cubans and the economy as a whole. and no figures are available on the number of businesses that have flopped in the last year. cnn, havana. >> you're watching "world business today." coming up next, work hard, play hard. we'll meet the managers who made it a priority to award their staff and to liven things up in the office. your appointment with "the boss" is up next right here on cnn. where there's magic. and you now understand what nature's been hiding. ♪ at dow we understand the difference between innovation and invention. invention is important. it's the beginning. it's the spark. but innovation is where we actually create value for dow, for society, and for the world. ♪ at dow, we're constantly searching for how to use our fundamental knowledge of chemistry to solve these difficult problems. science is definitive. there is a right answer out there. [ male announcer ] the same 117 elements do the fundamental work of chemistry. ♪ the difference, the one element that is the catalyst for innovation, the one element that changes everything is the human element. ♪ taking a look at the price of gold, it's down nearly 6%. we've got a slippage here, this particular commodity. some fairly steady gains over the course of the past month which saw gold rising to above $1,800 an ounce. welcome back. live from cnn hong kong and london, this is "world business today." so we're calling this hillary's hawaiian surprise. check it out. >> i hope y'all captured that. >> and here it comes again. and by "it," we mean the guy in nothing more than a loincloth. it happened on saturday, but only now we're getting the images. the u.s. secretary of state was in the aloha state posing for a photo. when suddenly the streaker said aloha in his own way. no one really knows why he did it or who he was. but it's nice to see that the secretary of state retains a healthy sense of humor. that's just fabulous. >> it is indeed. turning to more fun and games, it doesn't matter how good a boss you are. when you're running the show, you're only as good as the people around you. that's the philosophy of two managers featured on this week's installment of "the boss." the first is this man, the vice chairman of galaxy entertainment group which operates the lucrative galaxy casino in macau. and shawn cornwell from e-harmony, helping people find their perfect match online. both men are taking their time to reward staff for their hard work. and who's to say they can't have a little fun along the way. it's time for "the boss." >> reporter: previously on "the boss" -- a different kind of matchmaking. shawn cornwall introduces us to the agency that will be creating his e-harmony adverts. >> i think it's important they bring in new thinking, approach this in a different way. >> reporter: and francis lui finds room for improvement. >> i want to do it bigger. how are you? >> reporter: francis lui is used to being in the spotlight. he's even grown accustomed to the handshakes and the pats on the back. today, however, it's not about him. the celebratory clap for his staff who tonight are being congratulated for their hard work and loyalty. >> this is a special night for us. this is the night when we celebrate with our team members. >> reporter: as the vice chairman of galaxy entertainment group, francis lui is leading the celebration. with a staff banquet organized by his executive team. this is one of 12 staff dinners designed to thank employees who have been with him since the beginning. >> cheers. >> reporter: in this case, they're celebrating the fifth anniversary of francis' star world casino. >> i think in the hospitality business, staff is by far the number one asset of the company. and we treasure every one of them very much. >> reporter: these are not empty words. francis knows he's nothing without his staff. and in macau where there are too many jobs and not enough people, holding on to your staff is key to success. >> of the 5,000 people that we have in the company who work for us up to the end of last year, 3,000 of them actually stayed with us. so that's a colossal, impressive retention rate in this very competitive market. >> reporter: to retain his staff, francis knows he has to keep them happy. and celebrations like this one with dinner, entertainment and raffle prizes help to do just that. >> while they stay with us, we make sure we give them all the facilities and make sure that they can do a good job for us. ♪ >> reporter: in soho, central london, another boss is following in francis' footsteps and taking time out with his staff. shawn cornwell, the head of e-harmony international, is joining his team at a quiz night. >> we spend a lot of time together. and it's important occasionally to make sure that everyone just kind of pauses for a second and just has some fun. >> reporter: shawn organizes events like this one on a monthly basis. for him, it's the best way for his team to get to know each other. >> ladies and gentlemen, good evening. welcome to the pop quiz! >> reporter: with beers to hand and chicken and chips at the ready -- this e-harmony team is ready to go. >> a new single. >> reporter: he believes nights like these help break down the barriers that come with being the boss. >> i guess i do want to be seen as someone who is more informal and who has that balance between work and life. and i want people to have that integrated sense of themselves that they can be at work who they are at home. >> this sunday, nights of october was the 44th anniversary of which icon's assassination? question four. she thinks she knows it or just enjoys making that noise in a silent room. this sunday, the 5th of october, was the 44th anniversary of which icon's assassination? we all know it. it wasn't e-harmony. >> reporter: despite the laughter, shawn is the first to admit it's impossible to completely remove his boss's hat at events like this one. >> from that perspective, i'm still boss. i'm still their manager. and, you know, they will always view me as that. but i'm not there analyzing them. i'm not there taking notes or scoring them. one, that's totally unfair. and two, it's not the point of it. >> reporter: as the quiz night reaches its finale, shawn is glad he's making time for his team. after all, it's a win-win situation for both employee and boss. >> these events definitely help productivity because people enjoy them which means that they get to know each other better which means that they have more fun at work because they like the people better and they know the people better. and if you have more fun at work, ultimately, you're more productive. >> reporter: next week on "the boss" -- we follow shawn cornwell from london to berlin as he pushes his brand to mainland europe. and in brooklyn, new york, steve expands his empire by betting on italian beer. >> well, they've always said that beer is recessionproof. speaking about things recessionproof, take a look at this. in these troubled economic times, you wouldn't think that reproducible photos are an attractive investment, but feast your eyes on this image. it's called rhine 2 and has just sold for $4.3 million. at a christie's auction in new york. the digitally altered photo of the rhine river was taken in 1999 by the german artist andress gursky. it's the world's most expensive photograph. perhaps a sign of the times, grim. >> yeah, the weather looks pretty grim there as well, i must admit. >> doesn't it? it doesn't seem to be inspiring a lot of joy in the guy having a look at it either. that's it for this edition of "world business today." thanks for joining us. i'm andrew stevens in hong kong. >> i'm nina dos santos in london. you're watching cnn. for the two of us, it's good-bye for now. let me tell you about a very important phone call i made. when i got my medicare card, i realized i needed an aarp... medicare supplement insurance card, too. medicare is one of the great things about turning 65, but it doesn't cover everything. in fact, it only pays up to 80% of your part b expenses. if you're already on or eligible for medicare, call now to find out how an aarp... medicare supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company, helps cover some of the medical expenses... not paid by medicare part b. that can save you from paying up to thousands of dollars... out of your own pocket. these are the only medicare supplement insurance plans... exclusively endorsed by aarp. when you call now, you'll get this free information kit... with all you need to enroll. put their trust in aarp medicare supplement insurance. plus you'll get this free guide to understanding medicare. the prices are competitive. i can keep my own doctor. and i don't need a referral to see a specialist. call now to get a free information kit. plus you'll get this free guide to understanding medicare. and the advantages don't end there. choose from a range of medicare supplement plans... that are all competitively priced. we have a plan for almost everyone, so you can find one that fits your needs and budget. with all medicare supplement plans, there are virtually no claim forms to fill out. plus you can keep your own doctor and hospital that accepts medicare. and best of all, these plans are... the only medicare supplement plans endorsed by aarp. when they told me these plans were endorsed by aarp... i had only one thing to say... sign me up. call the number on your screen now... and find out about an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan. you'll get this free information kit... and guide to understanding medicare, to help you choose the plan that's right for you. as with all medicare supplement plans, you can keep your own doctor and hospital that accepts medicare, get help paying for what medicare doesn't... and save up to thousands of dollars. call this toll-free number now.