getting into southern somalia. the un declared a famine in two regions of southern somalia. they say nearly 3 million people are suffering from acute malnutrition. they say that this is hitting that benchmark, that nearly a third of the people could die if they don't receive food aid fast. the worst hit zain are the children. we've seen children here hungry, desperately in need of food aid and we've even seen children dieing here. one father told me they just came here to find help. they didn't get what they wanted, hi buried his child sarah in the ground near us yesterday morning, zain. >> how difficult is it, david, because of the fighting going on in somalia as well for aid agencies to operate? >> reporter: el shabaab controls parts of southern somalia. they kicked out the un some time ago t. world food program and the un refugee agency is asking for assistance, asking for access to those areas. they need to give them assurance they will have the corridors to bring in aid safely and effectively. this islam lick militant group in some areas is holding the key to whether these people live or die and if aid can get in in the coming days. >> cnn's david mckenzie reporti reporting. that's our major story right now. i'm zain verjee in london. "world busine "world business today" starts right now. hello. a warm welcome to world business today. i'm aneesh yeah tank in hong kong. i'm nina dos santos. thanks for joining us. these are the top stories on wednesday, july 20th. more light on some dark deeds. now uk legislators say news international deliberately tried to thwart a police probe into phone hacking. >> it's all over for yao ming as the most successful chinese player in the nba, calling it quits. apple strikes another rally in the tech sector after another blow-out quarter. media mogul rupert murdoch and his son faced certain questions from uk legislators. now the phone hacking saga rolls on with a new parliamentary report saying murdoch's news international, quote, deliberately tried to obstruct a police investigation into the now defunct "news of the world". in the meantime, prime minister david cameron is getting ready to make an emergency statement on this crisis after flying back early from a trade trip to south africa. many of us here in hong kong watched that testimony and we stayed up pretty late to watch it. rupert murdoch denied any knowledge of phone hacking at the "news of the world," but it was his son james who actually did most of the talking, intervening when his father seemed at a loss for words. it was murdoch's wife wendy who intervened in a very different way. dan rivers has the details for us. >> i would just like to say one sentence. this is the most humble day of my life. >> reporter: this was how rupert murdoch started. despite his apparent contrition, he surely had no idea what was about to literally hit him. what should have been a secure hearing room, a personal attack on one of the world's most powerful media tycoons. his wife, wendy, periing a protester with a shaving cream pie who was off camera. as the police run in, it was clear mr. murdoch was unhurt and proceedings were stopped. >> this is not an excuse. maybe it's an explanation of my laxity. the "news of the world" is less than 1% of our company. i employ 53,000 people around the world who are proud and great and ethical and distinguished people. >> reporter: one of them was sitting right beside him, his son james whose apparent lack of knowledge of the detail of the phone hacking scandal at times seemed almost comical. here questioned about key documents that weren't initially handed over from news international's laurs to the police. >> -- of the evidence line would be -- >> i cannot speak to other individuals' knowledge in the past. i simply don't -- i simply, mr. fairly, can't speak for them. >> stewart cutner? >> the same goes. i can't speeblg for them. >> reporter: critics would call this stonewalling. james murdoch was clear on one point. >> i would just like to say as well how sorry i am and how sorry we are to particularly the victims of illegal voice mail interceptions and to their families. >> reporter: at times rupert murdoch appeared overwhelmed or perhaps unsure how to answer, awkward silences following specific questions. >> mr. murdoch, at what point did you find out that criminality was endemic at "news of the world"? >> reporter: the overwhelming impression the murdochs gave was two men that were at best out of touch with what was happening at their company. at worst, willfully ignorant of what was happening at "news of the world." >> are you familiar with the term willful blind snns. >> mr. sanders, would you car to elaborate? >> it was a term that came up in the enron scandal. willful blindness is a legal term. it states that if there is knowledge you could have had and should have had but chose not to have you are still responsible. >> mr. sanders, do you have a question respectfully? i don't know what you'd like me to say. >> i'm asking whether you are aware. >> i'm not aware of that particular phrase. >> reporter: it was now the time for rebekah brooks. >> we have paid police in the time for past. i have never knowingly sanctioned a payment to a police officer. i was referring to -- if you saw at the time of the home affairs select committee recently that you had various crime editors from fleet street discussing that in the past payments have been made to police officers. i was referring to that wide held belief, not widespread practice. in fact, in my experience in dealing with police, the information they comes to newspapers comes free of charge. >> reporter: the scandal has come at an incredible cost to news international. a year ago the name murdoch put fear into the hearts of many british politicians. today it was clear the politicians had no fear. dan rivers, cnn, westminster. there was no question about how investors felt about the hearing. news corp stock jumped by 5.5% on the nasdaq to $16.25 following an extended decline over the past two years. felicia taylor measures the impact this scandal has had on news corp's bottom line. >> it was a long day of testimony before parliament and a long day for investors listening for any clues as to what might be happening at murdoch's empire. we didn't hear any surprises. that lack of uncertainty was good for the stock price. it went up about 5.5% in trading. also the coo was listening very carefully. i had a chance to talk with chase kerry and he said he thought they did a good job. i had the clans to ask whether or not he would be the one to take over as ceo. at which point he giggled and said had some fun. the good news for news corp is that the television division is the one that matters the most. that is not involved in this phone hacking scandal that we know of yet. that's what investors like. that's the revenue stream that will continue. people aren't going to stop watching fox news or fox sports simply because of this newspaper scandal. however, when it comes to investing, we've seen the stock price go down about 11%. it climbed back somewhat. we still have some ways to go. there are many analysts on the street that say as a long-term play news corp is a very good-bye, especially at these levels. reporting outside news corp headquarters, felicia taylor in new york. the phone hacking scandal that started in the uk may actually have consequences for news corp in rupert murdoch's native australia. prime minister julia gillard says news limited faces some hard questions. >> there's been a major discussion overseas when people have seen telephones hacked into, when people have seen individuals grieving have to deal with all of this, then i do think that causes them to ask some questions here in our country, some questions about news limited here and obviously news limited's got a responsibility to answer those questions when they're asked. >> gillard also says that australians have been, quote, disturbed by the events unfolding in the united kingdom. however, australian investors are anything but, sending the shares of news corp up some 5% in sydney today. very much a reflection, also, of what happened on wall street, nina. let's have a look at how some of the markets have been performing. let's get a snapshot because it seems better than expected corporate earnings and a glimmer of hope particularly in the u.s. debt sent it higher. some of these markets opening higher to the tune of 1.1% for the cac 40, similar to the situation we had yesterday when some of the markets rebounded after starting out the week on a down beat note. some of the banks are rising, but also as some of the technologies on the back of better than expected figures coming out of apple. >> some of the numbers we've been getting from the u.s. have helped pep up these asian markets after what was praetity lackluster start to the week. showing signs of progress in talks of the debt ceilings. for the number, here is ramy inocencio who joins me now. we got some action. >> we sure did, min nearby yeah. >> the nikkei posted its bill guest daily jump in one mark, rising more than 1% with tech shares leading the way after apple topped earnings estimates on tuesday. here on hong kong, the hang seng entded up .50% higher thanks to cnooc closing down about 3.5%. over in the mainland, it was down just about a tenth of a percent. shares in the property and banking sectors fell on concerns about slower growth and higher inflation, and down under in australia the asx 200 rose nearly 2% led by jumps in banging well arizona mining. news corp, as you mentioned, rebounded to close more than 5% higher after rupert murdoch apologized for the phone hacking that tarnished the reputation of his media empire. >> i wonder if there was bargain hunting going on there. ramy, thank you. over to you, nina. as you were just mentioned, u.s. markets about two minutes ago. let's look ahead to the start of trade on wednesday on the other side of the atlantic. you can see the few furs market show us we could see a hire open once again, the nas dock composite leading the way, its features up by about .8%. let's update you on some of the other top business stories. the u.s. house of representatives has approved a tea party backed plan to cap, cut and balance the federal budget. it has very little chance of actually passing the senate. meanwhile, president obama is praising a plan six senators are proposing to win congress's approval for raising the nation's borrowing limit. the u.s. has until august 2nd to do it. this is before it runs into a severe money crunch. elsewhere, imf director christine lagarde says she'll attend a meeting of eurozone meeting on thursday for a second bailout. the imf is warning europe's debt crisis could spread and damage the global economy if the eu doesn't take quick and decisive action to resolve it. lawyers accusing dominique strauss-kahn of rape met together with new york prosecutors on tuesday. it's not clear what they discussed. a hotel maid in new york and a writer in france both say stras kahn sexually assaulted them. accusations he denies. u.s. basketball's ming dynasty is over. basketball star yao ming of china is leaving the hard word behind. we'll have all the details straight ahead. . hello and welcome back. you're watching "world business today." i have to admit i loved the script on this one, the end of the ming dynasty. yao ming, the tallest man in the american basketball association is leaving the sport as one of the best known athletes. stan grant joins me in beijing. perhaps you can tell me how this went down at home. >> reporter: what a dynasty it's been when you look back at this over the last ten years. he's cast such a shadow, not just on the game of basketball but also in china where he's inspired so many more people onto the court and has made a lot of money along the way as very much a global icon, not just basketball but in the world of finance and business as well with his many, many endorsements. this was big, big news here today. china's stlal television has been broadcasting now for five hours live after this announcement that has really captured everyone's attention. yao ming, of course, went to the houston rockets in 2002 as a tall, gangly kid, has since emerged as one of the leading players in the nba, someone who has played for the nba all-star team, has also represented the chinese team at the olympics and world titles and so on. he was able to reflect today on that journey and took some time out for a special thanks to those people in the united states who helped him along the way. >> special thanks for my friends overseas, especially the fans in houston. i would like to thank you forgive me a great nine years during my nba career. nine years ago i come to houston as a young, tall, skinny player. an entire city and a team changed me to a grown man, not only a basketball player. >> he did that very comfortably in english as well, something he wasn't able to do when he first went to houston. it really goes to show just how much he has grown and, as he acknowledges, not just as a basketball player but very much grown into a man as well. now there are two questions. what is he going to do in the future? he's saying he'll still remain associated with basketball to some degree and also will there be another yao ming? obviously a lot of clubs in the united states looking here and wondering if they can find another one who will be able to do what yao ming has done in the last decade, manisha. >> i'm sure other coaches in the nba will be looking for other talent to tap in china. i did wonder about the future. did he point to what he might be doing? he's attended olympics before. we've got london 2012 next year. would he have a role of any kind? >> reporter: he is saying he's going to be involved in basketball. he's quite emphatic, though, he's retiring as a player. in the end it was the injuries that got him. he has battled with foot injuries and ankle injuries for all of his career, this predates his time in the nba. first broke his foot in 1997 when he was still a teenager. this has been a recurring problem for him. in the end his body simply gave out. he's not going to be able to continue as a player. he owns the shanghai sharks, the team he played for before the nba. he'll probably have some role with the chinese national team, if not on the court, then obviously behind the scenes in the lead-up to london. he's a global phenomenon when it comes to en dormsments. he has multiple contracts, represented companies like coca-cola, pepsi, visa, mcdonalds. some call him a billion dollar brand. they'll be the financial and business aspects of his career to continue. he'll probably straddle the united states and china as well. his daughter was born in the united states. he considers houston home as well as shanghai. one door closes and another one or perhaps many, many more doors open, man nearby yeah. >> he's a guy that can straddle quite a distance. stan, thank you so much. >> unlike me. yao ming caps his nba career after eight years on the court. while many will lament basketball's loss, others say it could be an acceptable time for him to make this kind of decision. that's because in china the number eight is considered auspicious because the word sounds like the word for wealth. ramy inocencio has the details on just how wealthy yao ming is. >> thanks very much, nina. yao ming is one of the highest paid athletes. since joining the rockets in 2002 he's signed two multi-year contracts with this team, that's totaled this amount of money, $93 million. don't forget, there are numerous sponsorship deals from reeboks, mcdonald's, visa. estimated to bring in another $25 million, also helped cement his status as an international sports icon. also, he's made a few notable investments with his cash over the years. in 2009 he bought his former team in shanghai, called the shanghai sharks, after they faced some financial trouble. wealth ex estimates $8 million in this team. also part owner of yao restaurant and bar run by his parents in houston, texas. also has a stake in orca digital, the operator of top 100 that provides legal downloads in china. he runs his charitable foundation after the earthquake in szeshwan. he's only 30 years old. after that, you're watching "world business today" live on cnn. we'll be right back. wrinkles in just one week.ula ss why wait if you don't have to. neutrogena®. welcome back, you're watching "world business today." we're live on cnn. time now for your business travelers forecast. there seemed to be wet and windy conditions in many parts of europe this wednesday. jennifer delgado is standing by at the cnn weather center with the latest. i've got to say it's pretty chilly and damp here in london where i am. >> absolutely. it's actually pretty cool across western europe, all because we have rain on the radar, nina. you can see more sweeping into western parts of france as well as central europe. you can see it spinning right on top of switzerland. it's going to be a gray day. it's going to be a cool day. the same for parts of england as well. really we'll see the most activity with thunderstorms happening up through central europe. this is going to go all the way through the afternoon as well as into the evening. some of these storms are going to be quite strong. we'll see, of course, some thunder and we'll hear thunder and dealing with the possibility of some hail. potentially you could be dealing with delays if you're going to be traveling. as nina said, cool outside. look at the temperature, 16 degrees in brussels, 12 in milan. over towards the east we're talking about for belgrade as well as istanbul, temperatures in the 20s and 30s. as we look at tropical storm mayon, the winds continue to come down, at 102 kilometers. says take you over to our graphic, i want to show you on our radar, things are really starting to improve. you can see we're dealing with scattered showers. much of that has started to let up over the last several hours, spreading into parts of tokyo as well. this is from japan meteorological agency. we'll continue to track tropical storm ma-on. finally, i want to leave you with information regarding space shuttle "atlantis" as i take you over to our weather graphic. we know it undocked yesterday. we have to prepare for the final shuttle landing. how is the weather going to be for the big event? less than about 25 hours from now, expecting partly cloudy skies, southwest winds 5 to 10 kilometers perhaps, temperatures, 24 to 26, that's at 57 gmt. i know a lot of tears will be shed. more "world business today." stay with us. from cnn london, i'm nina dos santos. >> i'm mall nisha tank. welcome back to world business today. on wednesday, july 20th, rupert murdoch is denying he had any knowledge of phone hacking at the now defunct "news of the world" tabloid. he also dedpended his handling of the scandal. the news corp. ceo and his son appeared before british legislators in a dramatic hearing that the elder murdoch called the most mumble day of my life. stock jumped in australia and also in new york specifically in response to the murdochs' comments. the scandal has made a significant debt in the family's wealth pile. news corp. stocks fell by more than 12% in response to the hacking claims and the subsequent public outrage that followed. as a result, the shares owned by the murdoch family have loved more than $750 million in terms of their value. it's still worth remember that the family's stake in news corp. is worth more than $5 billion. the british prime minister david cameron could be in for a rough day as well today himself. he'll be facing parliament less than two hours from now addressing the news corp. phone hacking scandal head on and also what his opponents describe as a c