expected to ask for three arrest warrants in libya. they are said to be for those against crimes against humanity. a source says leader moammar gadhafi will be among those named. those living around the mississippi river, will leave for higher ground, as homes and farmland as residents have been ordered to evacuate. and two additional floodgates have been opened on the morganza spillway. the space shuttle "endeavour" has been cleared for launch today. and weather reports indicate a 70% chance of favorable conditions. "world business today" starts right now. good morning, from cnn london. >> good afternoon, from cnn hong kong. you're watching "world business today." these are the stop stories on monday, may 16th. dominique strauss-khan in cuffs. it's crunch time for u.s. lawmakers, as the country's ballooning debt reaches its legal limits. and bankrolling bin laden. we'll investigate the terrorist networks money trail. pulled off a plane and arrested. that's how the chief of the monetary fund may be remembered if he's guilty of sexual assault charges. he is expected to appear in a courtroom in new york on monday to face charges of attempted rape, sexual assault and false imprisonment. as further details of the arrest of dominick strauss-khan come to light. we go to john in brussels. the first, most obvious question is, what does this mean for the imf, given the fact it's so instrumental in helping countries like greece and portugal in their bailouts? >> it's a fair point. uh you have added a level of intrigue and complication. i came out of a background meeting. and one of the spokespersons said it will be on the formal agenda. but intensely discussed. you can't avoid the obvious. the international monetary fund is one of the two key players on the bailouts. in the taxi ride over, on french radio, it was a top story. in a story that's used to having the european finance leaders here, they're not used to having sexual assault charges leveled against one of the major institutions in brussels. i should say this is a complicated agenda. one year after the bailout of greece. let's look at what they need to do. the portuguese agenda in the next few days. and mr. kenny talked to us about getting a lower interest rate to service the debt. and we were supposed to get an update on additional cuts for greece. it's becoming clear as the deficit grows in greece and the amount of payments due in june, that the existing package will be difficult to navigate. the layer of dominick strauss-khan, adding a layer of complication here. >> what's it going to mean to the leadership race? his deputy is due to step down in august. that's likely to leave the top two positions vacant at this crucial time. >> yeah. a complication even before that. and that is what's going to happen in the next 24 to 48 hours. john lipske, will be holding a hearing to see what happens at the court hearings. and then, the deputy managie ii director will be in attendance at the two meetings. normally, at the top of the imf structure, you have a european leading. his term was supposed to end in november of next year. there was talk of him running for the french presidency. that's off the table. and the deputy resigned last week, saying he's not going to renew his term at the end of august. and there's discussion on an emerge gent candidate stepping up. we go from the concept of a g-8 structure to a g-20. but they were hoping to keep a european at the international monetary fund. the toll, already $400 billion. >> john, thanks so much for the update. we'll go back to john later in the show, to be talking about what this means for the bailout recipients. >> it's the unwritten laws that the head of the imf tends to be european or someone from the usa. this could change. dominick strauss-khan's arrest isn't gist calling into question his future at the imf. he is widely regarded as the french socialist party's strongest potential candidate when elections are being held next year. he's the only contender with a chance to take over for the current president. it's a bombshell in the political scene of his home country. let's go to paris. jim bitterman joins us. as it looks clear, dominick strauss-khan was seen as a front-runner for the presidency. what does this do to the presidential race? >> well, i guess you can look at the mpaper this morning and see the thunderclap. sources could not stop talking about this. it does throw the presidential race in disarray. not only was he a leading candidate. according to opinion polls, he would have been the leading candidate. he would have easily beat, according to opinion polls, would have beaten sarkozy. he's out of the running, at least as far as a lot of the politicians and political analysts here are concerned. of course, there are other people moving in on the background to fill the vacuum. the psalm thing that john was talking about there with the imf. andrew? >> what is the reaction on the -- i know it's early in paris. but the reaction by normal people in france, if you've been able to talk to people. some politicians are suggesting this could have been a trap for dominick strauss-khan to walk into. is there sympathy for him? >> there is some sympathy. you see people on the street and they express reservations about rushing to judgment on this. dominick strauss-khan has had a reputation of being a lady's man over the years, to say the least. and the imf went back to 2008 and was accused of sexual harassment. he was cleared of that. and they say he had lack of judgment in the way he handled the affair with the young lady. they summarized things when they said it's a surprise. but not all that surprising because there had been these rumors for years. and the socialist party, with some of the writers for the socialist party were saying this morning, if there's any good news in any of this is it's happening now and not three weeks before the election, where they would be at pains to find someone to replace him. andrew? >> he's often described as charismatic. if you look at the major reports about dominick strauss-khan. he seems to have close relationships to some of the european leaders. what's the feeling that that is going to affect the e fktiveness, that they have such a delegate bailout packages. >> well, the imf has stressed all along, that it has to maintain the highest decorum. this is the lowest decorum. they go around the world preaching to heads of state. saying they have to maintain discipline. they have to be cautious in their approaches to banking and finance. and you have the head of the imf, in his own personal life, if the charges turn out to be true, apparently exercising the opposite behavior. as far as the imf is concerned, it has to be humiliating. that word was used before describing the way that chance is. a couple of the politicians here said all of this is very humiliating for chance because it damages the image of the country. andrew? >> jim, thank you so much. jim bitterman joins us live from paris. nina, this story is rattling through the currency markets. what about the equity markets in europe? >> we'll come to the currency in a second. here's the picture, about 90 minutes into the trading session today. you can see, some of the indices really, really falling quite a bit. and look at that. france, down by 1%. what's going on, we have 19 stocks or auto stocks driving some of the early morning losses. we've also we've also got a couple of stories in the mix. we also have the likes of the london stock exchange actually rising. and that's helping to counter some of the losses on the ftse 100. that stock's living after a rival bid for the toronto market, tnx. perhaps, it may back out of that particular transaction. let's talk about the currency markets. this is how things look on that front. we've got the dollar trading, as you can see at 1.41 -- the eu$1o trading against the u.s. dollar. it it's currently at 80.94. pretty downbeat on the equity market. at least in the first hour or so of trading. >> you're looking there at the asian numbers, obviously. a down start to the week here. not a big help of what happened on wall street on friday. certainly, the uncertainty of what happens next in the euro zone and possible bailout. talk of restructuring the bank debt. creating uncertainties here. we had another blow to confidence here. goldman sachses in their portfolio. it caused japan and south korea, exporting countries. hong kong, down even more. 1.4%. shanghai, down by 1 .3%. and australia, down 1.3%. nina? >> to how things stood on wall street. this week brings quarterly reports from jcpenney, and walmart. and the fed's last meeting they could give clues on how they plan to wind down. this is where the futures stand at the moment in premarket action. you can see all three of the indices currently trading down by 0.3% at the moment, in terms of their index futures. >> you're watching "world business today." coming up, playstation is back online for some users after nearly a month. we'll look at the ripple effect of the hacking outage. and we'll look how capitol hill plans to avert another financial crisis. ♪ [ lane ] here's the trouble with most anti-wrinkle creams. the cream disappears but your wrinkles don't. ♪ introducing neutrogena® rapid wrinkle repair. it has the fastest retinol formula available. in fact, it's clinically proven to smooth wrinkles in just one week. so all you have to do is sit back and watch your wrinkles go away. new rapid wrinkle repair. from neutrogena®. welcome back. you're watching "world business today." sony says its playstation network is coming back online, after it was brought down by hackers. a breach last month exposed personal details of some 77 million users. the gamers in europe and the u.s. will be the first to see a return to service. it will take a little longer in asia, though. it's making data protection a priority. >> i'd like to send my sincere apologies for the inconvenience the service outage has caused you. and want to thank you for all the patience you've shown, as we've worked through the restoration process. since the attacks on our networks, we've been working around the clock to bring game and media services back online. >> sony says the network will be available worldwide by the end of this month. taking quickly, a look at the stock. it was flat at the close in tokyo on monday. that security breach is a severe blow to sony's reputation in the eyes of gamers and developers. a senior vice president says the network outage has cost capcom hundreds of thousands in revenues that were planned for in if budget. capcom is one of the biggest developers using the play station store. it develops titles to buy online and through that network, nina. the 14.29 debt ceiling is the limit that congress is allowed to borrow. while the warning bells are ringing on capitol hill, there's not panic yet. president obama has warned congress it must agree to raise the debt limit. he says failure to do so trigger another reception. and disrupt the financial system. the national debt is climbing by the limit. and on monday, it's expected to hit the ceiling. that's the absolute limit the congress has allowed the u.s. to borrow. for the government to keep paying its obligations in full, congress must raise the debt limit. but both sides are staking out their positions. with republicans taking a hard line. >> without significant spending cuts, and changes in the way we spend the american people's money there will be no increase in the debt limit. and the cuts should be greater than the accompanying debt limit that is given. prosecutor democrats say tax hikes should be included in the mix. and they caution tying the debt limit too closely with deficit reduction. >> we think we can get deficit reducti reduction, in the same time frame. but it would be folly, as i said before, if we don't get the agreement that we want, we're not going to raise the debt ceiling, come what may. >> reporter: treasury secretary, tim geithner, has vowed to take, vote, extraordinary measures, to pay creditors, including borrowing from federal pension plans. because of this, the u.s. will not default on its debt immediately. but geithner says he will run out of options in early august. many believe they must act by then. and creditors will be watching every step of the way. creditors like china, that holds more than $1 trillion worth of u.s. treasuries. and japan. over the years, the u.s. has been forced to raise the debt ceiling 74 times since 1962, to pay for tax cuts, foreign wars and other spending increases. in fiscal year 2000, the debt has tripped since. not defaulting on debt would trigger a spike in borrowing rates and the confidence in the u.s. government to honor obligations. a high-stakes game is under way. and the debt clock is ticking. >> the deadline is closing in on bp today, as it tries to salvage its oil ambitions in the arctic sea north of russia. we'll be live in moscow. and examining the potential foulout from the arrest of head, dominick strauss-khan. from my worst allergy symptoms. so lily and i are back on the road again. with zyrtec® i can love the air®. glowing. -smooth. -flawless. [ female announcer ] it's more than just one thing. now aveeno brings all five factors of radiance together with positively radiant spf 30. with active naturals soy, it's now proven to visibly transform all five factors of radiance; tone, texture, blotchiness, dullness and brown spots. so now the definition of radiant skin... you're looking at it. [ female announcer ] positively radiant. and try skin brightening daily scrub, only from aveeno. discover the power of active naturals. welcome back. bp's dreams to explore for oil in the arctic are now nearing the 11th hour. it tries to prevent the collapse of the share swap with the russian company. right now, bp is trying to buy out its russian partners. "the wall street journal" says the deal could end up being worth more than $30 million. or more. joining us now is matthew chance. he's our moscow senior international correspondent. matthew, if this deal and deadline slips again, do you think the deal is going to collapse? >> i think that's certainly a possibility. but not the most likely outcome. this is very important for all of the parties involved. it's important for bp because it represents a huge strategic investment for them after the debacle of the gulf of mexico oil spill last summer. more importantly, perhaps, it's crucial for the russians, for the kremlin, that want not just a piece of bp. i think they would be getting 5% of bp stock. they also need to have the arctic oil deposits underneath the arctic icecap, to keep as one of the leading oil producers. >> all of the wrangling after this, after the deepwater horizon incident in the gulf of mexico. >> yes. of course. and this was one of the reasons why the ceo of bp, bob dudley, came out after he was appointed to that position in bp, and made this investment in russia. it was meant to be a step in the right direction for bp. a sign for investors they were going to turn the situation around. refocus their exploration efforts away from the west, perhaps. and focus on the vast oil reserves in russia. it seems to have gone belly-up, if you will. not least because tnk bp, get their way, that's the russian joint venture with bp, inside russia, for all of its share-swapping and investment in russia, bp would only get 50% of what it initially believed it was going to get. that would be a bad result for bp. >> let's put this into context. that's worth $30 billion. that's significant money, even if you only get 50% of it. >> it is significant money, certainly. but you have to put this into context. that figure of $30 billion is not being put out there by people i've spoken to. originally, according to my sources, bp offered their russian partners $27 billion. tnk said they were interested in the region of $35 billion. that's the kind of ballpark area of money that perhaps is being discussed now to try and find a resolution to this situation. but we don't know. it's, by no means, certain at this point. that that's what they're talking about. it's been reported in "the wall street journal." but the talking are taking place behind closed doors. >> matthew chance, our senior foreign correspondent, in moscow there. andrew? >> we're going to take a short break. when we come back, we will go back to our top story. the head of the imf is arrested hours before the meeting with world ministers. we'll see what it means for the debt crisis. and what the thoughts are on in the financial markets these days. from cnn hong kong, i'm andrew stevens. >> and i'm nina dos santos in london. welcome back. the chief of the international monetary fund is in hot water. he was marched off a plane minutes before takeoff and arrested. he's been charged with sexually assaulting a chamber maid at a new york city hotel over the weekend. he's expected to appear in a courtroom to face charges of acemented rape, sexual assault and false imprisonment. >> we're hearing about his colorful past. let's look at his track record. in the 1990s, he served as two years as france's finance director. and he had the backing of the man of the man he was tipped to challenge. he played a major role in coordinating the global response to the financial crisis of 2008-2009. and he's been a key proponent of global financial reform since then. >> strauss-khan's professional achievement seemed to blunt a series of sexual misdeeds. but this latest scandal has brought new light to the skeletons in the imf chief's closet. >> he was looked at after he had an affair with a member of his staff in 2008. there was an enquirery. after all that happened, he did issue a statement at the time, saying he apologized for his actions. however, he did add that he was, quote, committed to going forward, to uphold, as he put it, the high standards that are expected of this position. so, if he is charged in this case, of course, that could present some clear difficulties. >> let's get the view from the financial community. harold wielden is a senior strategist with partners in london. we see the euro down for a seven-week low against the u.s. dollar. what in particular, is concerning the markets with what has happened with dominique strauss-khan? >> with all of the markets, they don't like being surprised. while this is an unfortunate, regrettable and personal situation, affecting the imf leader, markets, obviously, have been surprised and they're reacting accordingly. my own view is it would be temporary, affecting the imf as an organization. above its leaders or any one individual. and indeed, so, too, does the european community and the ecb, all of them, rise to the occasion. and the unfortunate p.r. that surrounds there. >> he's been described in many reports of having a pivotal role in sorting out the european debt crisis. at that level, do you think the imf will not have as an effective voice at the table as it had? >> today, as we stand, the answer has to be question. you're right. he has been a pivotal voice. he's done a tremendous job over the last four or five years. and indeed, over the past year, as the debt crisis in europe has unfolded. we did know he was going to stand down next year. there is a succession, you know, base going on here. there are a lot of -- the imf is a very, very large organization. no one person does anything other than perhaps lead at his level. it's the others who do the real work, the real negotiation and make the thing work. yes, he's pivotal. very important. i do wish to decry that. it can and will move on without him. >> speaking of the imf as a body, we heard in this show, that dominique strauss apologized for an affair with an economist at the imf. there was no wrongdoing there. but p